• Home
  • About us
  • Events and Visits
    • Social Gatherings
    • RAF Scampton
    • The Shard and the Emirates Air Line
    • Battle of Britain Bunker
    • AEG Visits Ken Wallis
    • South Yorkshire Aircraft Museum
    • Peter Twiss
    • Capt Eric 'Winkle' Brown
    • Serendipity
    • The Dart Kitten
    • Heinkel 176
    • FAST - Farnborough
    • Vintage Gliding Rally
    • Accident Investigator
    • La Coupule
    • Wellington Aviation Museum
  • Articles
    • Inflatable Aviation
    • Boeing Strato-tanker
    • RAF Distance Records
    • The RNAS in Belgium
    • Boeing's Stratocruiser
    • Beau Flies the Flag
    • The Croydon - Its Timor Terminus
    • The Flying Flea
    • Derek Piggott
    • Sidney Cotton
    • Empire State Encounter
    • Amelia Earhart
    • Schneider Trophy
    • Brainfade over Brazil
    • Supermarine Stranraer
    • Wiley Post
    • RAF Spilsby in 1945
    • BailOut! Bail Out!
    • Frank Tilley - 617 Squadron
    • Slingsby
    • The Magnificent Hercules
    • The Gugnunc
    • Louis Strange
    • The Caspian Sea Monster
    • Bob Hoover
    • Zeppelin
    • The Bungee
    • Under the Bridge Fliers
    • Chuteless Survivors
    • The Rutan Branch Approach
    • The Canard - Its Rise and Fall and Rise
    • A French Fighter Ace
    • Lockheed U-2
    • Shoo Shoo (Shoo) Baby
    • Looping Ad Nauseam
    • The Forgotten Air Race
    • Howard Pixton
    • The Dole Air Race
    • Gliders at War
    • Jean Batten
    • Arthur Edmond Clouston
    • Clouston and the Comet
    • The Roaring (Early) Twenties
    • Tension Over the Tasman
    • The One Who Did Get Away
    • 1935 - 80th Anniversary
    • Gordon Vette
    • The Ghost of Speke
    • Signora Essere Buona
    • Subaeronautical Tales
    • Golden Age of Air Racing
    • Steaming through the Skies
    • Wulf-pack Disintegrates
    • Surreptitiously to Sweden
    • Don Berlin's Bitsa
    • A Blind Landing - Really Blind
    • Alex Henshaw
    • Aeronautical Oddities
    • Aircraft Enthusiast's Bookshelf
    • Sir Francis Chichester
    • Balloon Bale Out
    • Animals in Aviation
    • Convair's Mighty B-36
    • Tiger Tales
    • Zaunkoenig
    • The Helping Hand
    • Harriet Quimby
    • Might Have Beens
    • Who Won the Channel Prize?
    • The 50th Anniversary of Human-Powered Flight
    • Early Days at Heathrow
    • Spitfire over Scapa
    • Igor Sikorsky
    • Runway in the Sky
    • Australia's First
    • Mental DR to Morocco
    • John Dunne's Uncapsizable Aeroplanes
    • A Sideways Look at the Battle of Britain
    • The First Flight Over Everest
    • DC-4 Incident Report
    • Low, Slow and Don't Know
    • The Comper Swift
    • The Convair Sea Dart
    • Piaggio Pegna Pc 7
    • The Blackburn B-20
    • A Pathfinders' Memorial
    • Experiences of a PR Pilot
    • Balbo - Chicago Bound
    • Swept Wings
    • Bleriot's Centenary
    • Unpiloted F 106
  • Recognition Challenge
Picture
In June 1999, the third year of a WEA course of lectures on the history of aviation was coming to an end.  The twelve regulars who had attended the lectures at the Weatherly Centre in Biggleswade were disappointed that there no further lectures were planned.  They were sufficiently enthused by the course to wish to continue their association and determined to keep together as a group.  Thus the Aircraft Enthusiasts’ Group was formed and the course lecturer, Barry Lance, became an active member.  Paddy Weldon was nominated as Chairman and his energy drove the Group forward.  Paddy is now the Group’s President.

Monthly meetings were organised but it was a nomadic life - Ickwell Cricket Club, local pubs and so on.  Thanks to sympathetic supporters, such as Chris Morris, then Chief Engineer at the Shuttleworth Collection, the Group was able to use the SVAS room above Hangar 1.  This was a welcome refuge but was small, with inadequate blackout for showing slides and videos.  As membership increased it was obvious that a more business-like footing was desirable and we moved to the Princess Charlotte room alongside the newly developed restaurant.  We've settled into the enjoyable pattern of starting the meetings with a relaxing lunch, followed by a talk from an invited speaker.  

Since the meetings are held in working hours – on the afternoon of the first Wednesday of every month – most of our members are retired, but they bring a wealth of experience in the services, in engineering and other aviation-related activities or, indeed, they have just sheer enthusiasm for the subject.  Several are ex-pilots (one a test pilot) and a few are still flying as aircraft owners or club members.


The Group organises visits to a wide range of venues, museums and air shows, both in the UK and abroad.  Other trips are purely social and are popular with wives and non-member friends to the extent that an extended 3 or 4 day holiday break – which always includes a related visit as a nod towards aviation interests - has become a regular feature of the programme.

An early host for the group was Wg Cdr Ken Wallis and the trip to Norfolk to enjoy his engineering and demonstration flying of his autogyros became an annual event.  The frequent visits to his home formed a special bond and at the annual lunch in 2007, Ken became the Group’s first Honorary Member.  In 2008, a similar invitation was extended to AVM Alan Merriman, former CO of the Empire Test Pilots’ School, who has been a speaker on several occasions.  We are honoured and proud of our association with these distinguished aviators.  


                                                        This picture of most of the members was taken in October 2018
Picture


Extract from the Chairman’s speech at the 10th Anniversary dinner


The principal theme of this evening is to pay tribute to the Group, to teamwork, involvement and contribution.  So it might seem wrong to single out any individual for special mention.  But we cannot review our history and our success without paying special tribute to two people.  

It’s well known that we grew out of a course run by Barry Lance who nurtured the interest in aviation that led to the Group’s founding.  Barry can’t be with us tonight but we shall give him our thanks at next month’s meeting.

The other man is Paddy Weldon. 

Paddy towers over the early years of the Group because of his tireless and largely single-handed work in arranging meetings, speakers, and activities that established the momentum which fostered our rapid and healthy development.

Without Barry, the Group would not have existed.  Without Paddy, the Group would not have survived to become what it is today. 

Paddy, we are delighted to offer you this token of recognition for your sterling work – which still goes on – of appreciation for your care and friendship – and of our sincere affection.

Picture
Paddy Weldon and the Chairman, Ernest Hart
Picture