John Bowerman – Honorary President and Secretary
John was a mainstay of this Club since its formation, and over the years served on the Committee in virtually every capacity – often holding two posts at once!
He is also very much a modeller of the ‘old school’, in that not only does he build his models from scratch, he also designs them. He even taught himself CAD skills to aid him in drawing-up his plans.
A very capable pilot (BMFA examiner, ‘B’ Certificate holder) a few years ago he switched entirely from internal combustion to electric power – and the success he gets from them can make even the most diehard engine fan think again. But time marches on, and now John’s passion is anything small – and preferably scale.
His indoor masterpieces are just that – masterpieces, proven by the fact that in National competitions he is placing at the top of the results in building and scale accuracy. These free flight models are a delight – but only for the very skilled, which is an area where JB certainly qualifies.
On retirement John initially moved out of the area though still retained contact with the Club – just as well as in 2021 he moved back to his old house to become an active member once again, and then a couple of years later took on the role of Secretary when the position became vacant on Ian Heath deciding to step down after a mere 16 years of service.
Peter Richardson – Chairman
A club member now for over 25 years, during which time he has served on the committee and been newsletter editor (and printer/envelope stuffer/postman).
His modelling ‘career’ began at the age of 14 – much more than half a century ago. Consequently it has involved many aspects of control line, free flight and indoor modelling – together with the early days of radio control. Although ‘control’ is a contravention of the Trades Description Act, when it involved home-made Ivy/AM single channel equipment – complete with valves and ground-based transmitter – through to multi-channel Raven reed gear. Dreadful times. Forget those features you read about ‘vintage R/C’ – those days were stressful beyond belief. Only the introduction of proportional R/C and the then huge investment in Kraft equipment saved his sanity. Succeeding the legendary Ron Moulton as editor of AeroModeller (at the age of 21) gave him a 10-year insight into the hobby at all levels, while in later life there was 18 months of editing Aviation Modeller International, which he prefers to gloss over.
While in the mid noughties he became a rather irregular figure at the flying field due to work and conflicting hobbies, since full-time retirement in April ’14 he is to be very frequently seen at the field (ask his wife…) – and has not only forsaken ARTFs but refuses to recognise anything made from foam, preferring to build from plans or from scratch. Moving with the times, he has even embraced electric power and can be found at Ivinghoe Beacon when the wind is in the right direction.
Chris Smith – Vice Chairman/Field maintenance
If ever there was a prize for determination, it would surely go to Chris. He took a while to get his ‘A’ Achievement Certificate – but he made it in 2020. His preparation is immaculate; he listens to advice, learns all he can about the hobby and is very thorough in his approach. He has also suffered more than his fair share of bad luck on the flying field – but bounces back every time. Perhaps it is sheer bloody-mindedness!
As a member he has always more than pulled his weight, believing (correctly!) that you get out of a club what you put into it. If there’s a job to be done, Chris will be there – and when Graham Hemes eventually resigned from his ground care and mole-control activities, the mantle (or rather sledgehammer) was picked up by Chris.
Much of Chris’ work is unseen, but midweek will often find him sorting out the shed, filling in all the gaps in the take-off strip, and waging war on the moles. At times you almost feel sorry for them. Well, maybe not: they have acres and acres to enjoy, we just want a flat take-off strip. It’s basically war, but Chris will not be beaten. Which is great news for the rest of us.
Martin Rattigan – Treasurer
A Wicken club member from many years ago (also serving on the Committee), Martin has recently returned to the fold after a near 15 year break – but this time around he has opted for the unconventional end of the modelling spectrum. So if you see a VTOL machine flying backwards, an autogyro cavorting around or a figure perched on a chair while wearing goggles and flying a First Person View glider or quad copter, that’ll be Mart.
Having recently taken early retirement from the Royal Institute of Chartered Accountants he is clearly well qualified to take on the role of Treasurer, though his initial career choice was to be a pilot in the RAF. Unfortunately when it was discovered that he suffered from hay fever that meant an end to his full size piloting ambitions (it can get very messy inside an all-enveloping helmet. Still, that’s another bonus for our trainee members, as Martin is proving an excellent instructor with the theoretical knowledge to back his practical flying skills.
Paul Appleyard – Safety Officer
Paul was first introduced to R/C flying back in ’92 by his brother-in-law – along with now fellow Wicken club member Geoff Taylor – though he had some control-line aeroplanes a few years before that.
He started with a Precedent Hifly glider but soon sawed the nose off to bolt-on an old DC Sabre diesel engine…. He also tried a ‘proper’ powered plane but didn’t get on with it, but a friend introduced him to slope soaring and he was soon hooked, spending all his spare time at Ivinghoe Beacon flying gliders. Another friend there introduced him to aero-towing.
As with so many others, work and other things got in the way and he gave up model flying around 1998. Paul had joined the Civil Aviation Authority (National Air Traffic Services – now called just NATS) as an apprentice air traffic control engineer in 1977 and worked with them until early 2015 when he took early retirement. Since then his return to flying has been comprehensive (he is a VERY regular mid-week flyer), with a veritable air force. Firstly these tended to be electric powered ‘foamies’, then these were followed by ‘a few’ ic powered ARTFs, and more recently he has moved on to building from plans. He is also a very active in promoting slope soaring within the Club, and has had success in introducing several others to this very different discipline.
Most new members are introduced to Paul at a very early stage as he probably undertakes more training than any other instructor – especially as he is no doubt our most regular participant at the field.
Other hobbies include photography and his motorcycles: we could almost form a biking sub-section these days!
Roger Salter – committee member
Like many of our newer members, Roger was a late-comer to model flying – but he has jumped in with both feet, and has progressed from ready-to-fly models to building his own, and tackling both electric and ic power. Having retired from gainful employment in mid-2018, he is now a frequent mid-week flyer, and gaining lots of experience of the transmitter sticks especially after gaining his ‘A’ certificate early in 2021.
An experienced diver (he is a qualified instructor with his local club), Roger has an equally professional approach to his new hobby and will be a real asset to the Club in his position as being a newly-elected committee member.
Ian Heath
A graduate of the Club’s training scheme, Ian has fulfilled the important role of secretary since an unguarded moment at the ’07 Annual General Meeting when he offered his services, and as other committee members have discovered, such positions are very hard to shed once accepted! However, in 2023 he sadly decided that the time had come to stand down – he will be sorely missed by all those new recruits during his tenure, as Ian was always the first point of contact with the Club, and he was a fine ambassador for us.
While most commonly seen flying electric models, he has been known to sully his hands with glow fuel, though he pretends that this is a slur on his character. A long term modeller, he is happy to (neatly) scratch-build, as well as succumbing to the delights of those ready-to-fly masterpieces from the far east.
Nick Beard
Known as ‘Little Nick’ to distinguish him from one of our founder members ‘Big Nick’ (Evans), Nick made the tragic mistake of getting both his sons to be equally enthusiastic, and now is regularly out-flown (and out-grown) firstly by Liam and then Elliot too.
Previously a prolific model builder of the old-school, Nick has now largely embraced ARTFs (while still keeping his hand in with the ‘real stuff), but his main activity seems to be giving a good home to all those ‘bargains’ on E-bay: when he comes to the field it is usually with a car load of very different model types, mainly electric powered. He is also heavily into steam power – but that’s on the (model) railway tracks.
Nick has been a Club member from the very early days and was Treasurer for no less than 19 years! At last he has managed to escape but remains an enthusiastic supporter of Club events, especially when a BBQ is involved: his wife’s fiery jerk chicken has set many tears rolling!
Brian Mather
He may have spent many years in South Africa, but there’s no mistaking Brian’s homeland – he’s not lost any of his Scottish accent! He actually returned to the UK when his wife became seriously ill, and then when she sadly died he moved from Edinburgh to Milton Keynes to be nearer his daughter.
Brian is a long time modeller, and prolific builder: indeed when in South Africa at one time he was building three Ugly Stik models a week for the local model shop owner, who would guarantee his customers that with one of these models he would guarantee that they would go solo after two months. Mind you, that’s not quite so hard when the climate is rather more conducive to model flying…
While Brian clearly has all the necessary building skills and more, his R/C flying lags a little behind, and he is still working towards his ‘A’. He has also proved to be a very willing worker for the Club, and whenever a call for help is put out, he is always one of the first to respond. A welcome addition to the committee.
Geoff Taylor
A die-hard ‘electric’ man, Geoff is not only very well versed in his chosen power system (feel free to pick his brains) but also not afraid to experiment with own-designed models: he has the happy knack of making bits of polystyrene sheeting loosely thrown together to flying indecently well! Check out his Concord as proof of that. A regular midweek flyer when he is not away exploring other parts of the UK with his caravan.he served on the Committee for a couple of years (thanks Geoff) and helps out with training when required.
Jim Waddington
Jim’s first foray into aero-modelling was as a teenager when he built a Keil Kraft Ajax rubber model. He then progressed to control line with an ED 2.46 up front, which he still has. Joining the Royal Air Force, he rested from modelling for three years, then with a friend built a Black Chiffon team racer just for fun. A couple of years spent in Aden again with no modelling, but when back in UK he got into radio with MacGregor single channel Rx & Tx built from a kit.
Another couple of years were spent in Singapore for which he purchased a Remcon reed set (just like the one in the window of Al’s Hobbies). This was a failure as the heat and humidity affected the reeds and they were always going off tune. He then purchased one of the original Skyleader sets with sticks (yes sticks, not switches!) which had to be sold on returning to UK for a house deposit….
Jim also got into free-flight flying A1 and A2 gliders, and managed to win Open Glider at the RAFMAA Championships one year.
More recently he joined Chichester club and also the Meon Valley Soaring Association flying from Butser Hill in Hampshire. Since joining Wicken MAC, Jim is now trying to get sufficient stick time to pass his ‘A’ certificate – something that never existed in his earlier days.
Graham Walker
If only all novice members were like Graham. He initially joined in ’20 – and uniquely turned up at the field for the first time with a model that was 100% set-up ready to fly and was fully conversant with how his R/C gear worked. He had also spent considerable time on a flight simulator and was clearly very competent from the start. This attention to preparation rapidly paid off, and he is probably the only member we have ever had who went from novice to gaining their ‘A’ certificate with the same model – and all within the space of one flying season, despite Lockdown restrictions. Indeed, it still had the same undercarriage which with a ‘foamie’ is a very real achievement – and now he is to be found racking up the flying hours with the same model (Riot) as he explores the world of aerobatics.
Peter Hardingue
Peter only took up the hobby in ’21, but he has made rapid progress due the simple concept of getting plenty of time on the sticks – aided by a very flexible attitude to ‘working from home’ which culminated in his gaining his ‘A’ certificate in the same year. Of course, being somewhat younger (anyone under retirement age is considered young in this club!) is another advantage. He has also been sensible enough to call on assistance from various instructors in the set-up and repair of his models: living near Ian Bagshaw has its benefits! In return, Peter is always quick to offer his services to the Club when manpower is required.