Royal Aero Club

Awards & Trophies

BRONZE MEDAL OF THE ROYAL AERO CLUB

The gold, silver and bronze medals are awarded annually for outstanding achievement in aviation during the preceding year or over a number of years, principally, but not necessarily, as a pilot.

1913 H.A. Kauper
1914-18 No award
1919 Sgt. W.H. Shiers
1919 Sgt. J.M. Bennett
1920 No award
1921 S.Ldr. F.A. Baldwin
1921 H. Spencer
1922-25 No award
1926 A.B. Elliott
1927-49 No award
1950 F. Dunkerley
1951 No award
1952 Brig. Gen. A.C. Lewin
1953-55 No award
1956 R. Gibbs
1957 H. Harper
1958 Sgt. A.W. Gough
1959 No award
1960 B.F. Collins
1960 J.M. Houlder
1960 Sgt. J. Williamson
1961 No award
1962 T. Davidson
1963 A.D. Piggott
1963 Lord Trefgarne
1963 C. Masefield
1964 No award
1965 B.A.G. Meads
1965 P.Q. Reiss
1965 F.Lt. N.M. Williams
1966 Maj. M. Hearey
1966 R.G. Hubble
1966 F. Kirk
1966 P. Hillwood
1967 Joan Hughes
1967 L.H. Riddell
1968 G. Lowdell
1968 H.J. Shaw
1969-71 No award
1972 R. Monks
1972 D.Cameron
1973 M. Jones
1974 A. Carvell
1974 J. Philip
1975 P. Langford
1976 J. Nott
1977 G. Green
1978 D. Cook
1979 N. Couling
1979 J. Jeffries
1979 D. Ogilvy
1980 D. Benton
1980 A. Etheridge
1980 J. Jones
1981 S. Bannister
1981 C. Corston
1981 J. Crocker
1982 P. Hutchins
1982 R. Pooley
1982 M. Reeves
1983 Sqn Ldr. J. Maitland
1984 L. Benjamin
1984 A. Croft
1984 S. McKay
1984 J. Minshall
1984 T. Williams & H. Labouchere
1985 J. Fenton
1985 H. Hamilton
1985 S. Screen
1985 T. Warner
1986 L. Barr,
1986 J. Marriott
1987 B. Rolfe
1987 N. Slinger
1988 No award
1989 T. Smith
1989 J. Walker
1989 M. & A. Wright
1990 M. Allen
1990 H. Doktor
1990 H Nicholls
1990 D. Tennison
1990 N. Wright
1991 C. Freeman
1991 T. Prendergast
1992 V. Davis
1993 B. Kane
1993 J. Doswell
1993 R. Kingdon
1993 Lindsay Muir
1994 R. Walton
1994 P. Watson
1995 Peter Lovegrove
Peter Lovegrove recently retired from the Council of the British Microlight Aircraft Association after ten years. Brought in as Chief Inspector to reorganise the Inspectorate at a time of new directives from CAA, by sheer hard work on his own he raised the standards to the point where a full time salaried official was appointed to take the load.
1996 Pat Barker
For over 20 years, Pat Barker has played a significant role in the promotion of general aviation, particularly homebuilt aircraft. He served for 20 years as a Popular Flying Association Inspector, and has served three terms on the PFA's executive committee, He is an active member of two PFA struts, and has built and flown three aircraft himself.
1996 Brendan O'Brien
Brendan O'Brien obtained his PPL in 1972 and has participated in around a thousand air-shows in various roles, including display pilot, commentator and organiser. After starting ballooning in the late 1960s his aviation expanded to include hang gliding, parachuting, and gliding. He has flown 10,000 hours on 138 types and holds 201 FAI speed records.
1996 Cedric Vernon
Cedric Vernon has been involved with gliding's International Development Panel for 33 years, and the drafting of the OSTIVAS. He also edited many of the OSTIV papers and played a major part in preparing the UK BCAR Section E requirements. Later he was secretary to the JAR 22 study group from its inception in 1976 until 1980. His 1000 hours of gliding include test flying.
1997 Chris Bromley
Despite a serious health problem, Chris Bromley has served as technical secretary of the British Model Flying Association since 1986. He has worked tirelessly on such vital matters as airspace, radio frequencies and pilot standards. He was co-ordinator of the National Championships for the past five years
1997 Ernest Horsfall
Ernie Horsfall's unique thirty year fund of experience of Jodel aircraft has been invaluable to the PFA, for whom he is an Inspector, and to its members. He has undertaken several major rebuilds and restorations, and served on the PFA Executive Committee for several years. Almost eighty, he is still an active pilot and Jodel Club member.
1997 Jeremy James
Jeremy James has been the lynch-pin of the Helicopter Club of Great Britain for over ten years, during which he has organised its events and ensured its membership has steadily increased. He attends numerous committees on the club's behalf and this year is organising the Heli-meet event on behalf of the Army Air Corps.
1997 Brian Lecomber
Brian Lecomber is one of Britain's most respected acrobatic display pilots. With over twenty years of display flying experience, he is always willing to advise others and to share his experience, while promoting the highest standards of airmanship and flight safety directly and through articles in the aviation press. He currently chairs the Air Display Council.
1997 Stuart McConnacher
Stuart MacConnacher has been a Popular Flying Association Strut Coordinator for twenty years and founded the Bedford Strut. He served for six years on the PFA executive committee. He was chief marshaller at many of the PFA rallies and is editor of the Home-Built Aircraft Guide book.
1997 D. Moran
Darryl Moran was leader of the Another Planet 16-Way Formation Sky-Diving Team, which became European Cup Champions in 1997 and has won every British competition since 1993. He co-ordinated the British 62 way FS record and is a well-respected load organiser on the European circuit.
1998 John Hitchen.
John Hitchen has been Parachuting since 1973. For the past 16 years, he has been the BPA's National Coach and Safety Officer, and also UK delegate and safety adviser to the FAI Parachuting Commission. He has been appointed by FAI as the Controller at three World Championships. He helped introduce tandem parachuting in the UK, which has allowed disabled people to experience the sport.
1998 Mike Rockliff.
Mike Rockliff has managed Yorkshire Light Aircraft Ltd for 40 years. Despite the demands of the business, he has found time to help other enthusiasts, as a PFA Inspector of many home-built projects, and as an evening class tutor. He is restoring a 1928-vintage Avro Avian.
1999 Marc Asquith.
Marc Asquith joined the South Wales Hang-gliding club while a student in 1977. He became a Committee Member of the Swansea HGC in 1986 and soon progressed to a Council Member of the BHGA. He played a major role in the successful merger of the Hang Gliding and Paragliding Associations. He has been Chairman of the BHPA for five years until his retirement in 1999, and is continuing as their Insurance Officer. He is a Trustee of the BHPA Flyability Charity and of the RAeC Trust.
1999 Tom Beardsley.
Tom Beardsley started parascending in 1974, rapidly becoming the CFI of his club. He became the Safety and Development officer of the BAPC in 1984, with a wide range of responsibilities, including liaison with equipment suppliers, attending Inquests, organising competitions and running Instructor training courses. He played a leading role in planning the merger of the BAPC with the BHGA to form the BHPA in 1992. He continued to support the expanded Flight Safety Committee and several specialist committees, and to maintain the Technical Manual. He recently retired from full-time involvement, and will be remembered for his commitment and dedication to the sport.
1999 William Brooks.
For many years, Bill Brooks has been Chief Technical Officer and Chief Test Pilot of the BMAA. He has made a major contribution to understanding flex-wing aerodynamics and to safety. He led much of the test and development program for the Pegasus Quantum, used by Brian Milton for his round-the-World flight in 1998.
1999 Tony Butler.
Tony Butler has been parachuting for 26 years. For19 years he has served as the National Safety and Training Officer of the BPA, and lately as its Chief Technical Officer. He was responsible for developing the regulations and training manuals for many branches of the sport. He played a major role in gaining recognition from the CAA for the BPA as the national governing body of sport parachuting. He has been responsible for training many hundreds of Parachute Instructors. He regularly represents Britain at international meetings where his expertise is highly respected.
2000 Arthur Doughty.
Arthur Doughty has been gliding for over 50 years. He gained a Gold in 1966 and two Diamonds and was an instructor until 1995, also a FAI observer for record attempts. He has served on the BGA national safety panel for nearly 30 years, including eight years as its Chairman. His work in accident analysis has made a major contribution to safety.
2000 Tony Knight.
Tony Knight has been parachuting for 36 years, and is a parachute club director. He has made many thousand jumps and has a wide range of instructional qualifications. He was on the BPA Council for seven years, Chairman of the Safety and Training Committee, and Chairman of the International Parachuting Technical Congress. He was responsible for establishing the BPA as a CAA approved organisation and has served for several years as the BPA Liaison Officer with the CAA on technical and safety issues.
2000 Nick Neve.
Nick Neve has served the BMFA for 25 years as an organiser of radio-controlled glider competitions. He has been manager of successful UK International teams for nearly 20 years, and was Deputy Head of Delegation at the World Air Games. He is UK delegate to the FAI Model Flying Commission.
2001 Alistair Hodgson.
Alistair Hodgson was serving with the Parachute Regiment in Northern Ireland when a terrorist explosion caused him to lose both legs above the knee. Overcoming his disability he learned to skydive and to date has over 200 jumps recorded. He has achieved his BPA Formation Skydiving Grade 1 and his Freefly Grade 1.
2001 Hugo Trotter, DFC.
After service in the RAFVR flying Lancasters and Dakotas, Hugo Trotter took up gliding at Redhill and soon became Chairman of the Surrey Gliding Club. He served as Team Manager of the British team in the 1954 World Gliding Championship. Since its formation in 1971 Hugo has served as a Trustee of the Guild of Aviation Artists.
2002 Jim Bowyer.
Jim Bowyer has been hang gliding since the earliest days of the sport in Britain. For many years he was a test pilot with Hiway and then became CFI of the Joint Forces Hang Gliding Centre. He was Meet Director of the National Hang Gliding Championships for many years. He was elected to the Executive Council of the BHPA, and took responsibility for all UK competitions. Since 1993 he has been a UK Delegate and Treasurer of the FAI CIVL Commission.
2002 Luc Trullemans.
Luc Trullemans has established a reputation as the most successful meteorologist for long-distance balloon flights. His successes include several competitive and World Record flights, including Breitling Orbiter 3 and Steve Fossett's Round-the-World missions, and David Hempleman-Adams's flight over the North Pole.
2003 Nigel Beale.
Nigel Beale's first sporting interest was Hovercraft racing, where he made the first solo Channel crossing and was national champion for 14 years. He learned to fly microlights in 1984. In 1986 he won a Silver Medal in an FAI Championship in a microlight he had designed and built himself. Since then he has been a regular member of the British team, taking part in 17 FAI competitions and winning six silver medals. In 1981 he became the UK distributor for Rotax engines and has greatly helped the British team and other competitors with advice, spares and the loan of equipment.
2003 John Smyth.
John Smyth started Skydiving in 1973 and has been a Gold Medal winner in the British Team Skydiving Championships. He has served on the Council of the British Parachute Association for 13 years, including seven years as Chairman. His greatest contribution has been in developing the UK Skydiving teams to an unprecedented level of international competitiveness. At the 2003 World Championships, the Women's 4-way Formation Skydiving team won Gold, the 4-way men's team came 4th and the 8-way team 5th. He set up the scheme whereby successful team members became Coaches for the Junior and Intermediate levels. This resulted in a record 57 teams being entered for the 2003 UK Championships, now the biggest domestic competition in the World.
2004 Andy Cowley.
Andy Cowley started parascending in the 1960s, rapidly becoming an instructor and a top competitor. In 1977 he collaborated with John Harbutt to produce the first ram-air canopy, which gave a big improvement in performance, and they started the Harley company to make them. This led on to a career in design and development of parachutes. He was the national Accuracy Champion three times and won Gold at the first World Championships. He gained Silver in the first European Paragliding Championships flying a glider which he designed and built himself. since retiring from active competition nearly twenty years ago, he has been involved in judging and formulating rules and competition standards. He serves on the FAI CIVL Commission and will be Jury President at the next World Championships. He has served on the BHPA Safety and Training committee for 24 years and is Chairman of the Examiners Panel.
2004 Kevin Stass.
Kevin Stass has played a major role as a volunteer working in the organisation of many balloon record flights. He started helping Richard Branson and Per Lindstrand in 1995 and was involved in their round-the-World attempts. He then worked for Steve Fossett with his record attempts, including his solo round the World flight. In 2003 he supported David Hempleman-Adams with several flights, culminating in the successful transatlantic flight in an open wicker basket. He was responsible for obtaining all of the advance clearances for the flights, liaising with ATC and Search and Rescue, and manning the ground control centre during the flights.
2004 Derek Thomas.
Derek Thomas started skydiving in 1975. Since then, he has made over seven thousand jumps, clocked up 120 hours in free-fall, represented the UK in numerous skydiving championships, and has established nine world records. To date, Derek has won over 130 medals at national and international competitions. He is still competing at the top level and was in the UK Team at the 2004 World Championships. He became a free-fall instructor in 1984 and was involved in the development of equipment for tandem parachuting. He took over Sun Path Products in 1992, and this has grown to become the biggest manufacturer of parachute rigs in the world, selling 2,500 a year and employing 70 people.
2005 Robin Bailey.
Bob Bailey has been a model flyer for over 50 years. He has represented Britain in three different free-flight classes at World Championships and has taken part in international competitions regularly since 1967. Since 1984 he has specialised in the F1D extremely lightweight indoor class, and has been responsible for several technical innovations. He has won two World Championship medals, and won team Gold at the 2005 European Championships.
2005 John Curtis.
John Curtis has made a very major contribution to Parachute safety through his work on rigging. He started to develop expertise in this area in 1964, and soon qualified as an Advanced Rigger and Rigger Examiner. He was a founder member of the BPA riggers committee and became its Chairman. He set up the BPA Riggers Safety Manual, which established the reliable working practices still followed today.
2005 David Wright.
David Wright is a glider pilot and holds a FAI Silver Badge. He has served the BGA for 20 years as volunteer manager and developer of its Accident and Incident Database, and also supplied accident summaries to Sailplane & Gliding magazine and safety publications. His experience has often led to the correct resolution of conflicting accounts and data, and to reappraisal of evidence. He has also given long service on the BGA Safety Committee where his advice has been invaluable.
2006 Trevor Birkbeck.
Trevor Birkbeck has been a hang glider pilot for over 30 years. This has included competing in the nationals and at international level. He soon joined the Competitions Panel, becoming its head for 10 years, and responsible for selection, management and funding of international teams for European and World championships. He has been the popular and respected Chairman of the Dales Club for 25 years, particularly establishing good relationships with local landowners
2006 Tamsin Causer.
Taz Causer had been skydiving for seven years and made about 700 jumps. She had been involved in a series of record-breaking teams, including the UK women's 60-way formation in 2004. Then in the USA she took part in two World Records - a women's 151-way formation skydive and an 85-way diamond canopy formation. Next in Thailand two more World Record jumps, a 400-way skydiving formation followed by a 960-way mass drop. Unfortunately Taz was killed in the training accident in Spain in which Chris Gay rescued the other casualty, and the award was made posthumously.
2006 Peter Grange.
Peter Grange has been regular pit man and occasional competitor for the British team at F2D control-line combat model-flying competitions for over 25 years. His record of 22 international competitions as pit man is unique. He has contributed to 18 team and individual medals, including five golds.
2006 Robin Jones.
Robin Jones was responsible for introducing the Fun Fly competition alongside the BMFA National Championships, and he has chaired its organisation for over 20 years. The competition is now well supported and this has triggered several design improvements in the Fun Fly model. It has provided an introduction to competition flying for many people.
2006 Mike Scholes.
Mike Scholes has been flying hot air balloons for nearly 20 years. He now has a commercial balloon rides organisation and instructs new pilots. He has taken part in several competitions. In 2006, he made two notable flights in a small balloon and using a sack instead of a basket to save weight. He ascended to 31,976 feet, qualifying for a BBAC Diamond badge. Later he made a cross-country flight from Cambridge to Shropshire in 23 hours to establish a new British duration record.
2006 Nigel Tasker.
Nigel Tasker was one of the first balloon pilots when the sport revived in the 1970's. His main contribution has been on organising competitions and defining rules. The rules he introduced for the 1977 World Championships were adopted by FAI and have been used ever since. He went on to direct the UK national championships for 12 years, and after 30 years he is still involved as an event official.
2007 Martin Fardell.
Martin Fardell has been a strong supporter of Scale modelling in the UK since 1978, when he started writing articles for the modelling press. His main contribution has been with the Scale Technical Committee starting in 1989 as Scale Contest Manager, and he has done a variety of other committee tasks. For many years, he has been a judge at the National Championships for Scale free flight, radio and indoor events.
2007 Lesley Gale.
Lesley Gale is a skydiver with over 3,300 incident-free jumps in 21 years. She has taken part in several World Record skydiving formations, won a series of National and European skydiving medals, and was in the UK team at the World Championships in 2004. She is Managing Editor of the BPA Skydive magazine and was awarded the RAeC Nexus Trophy in 2000. She has organised several special events, including a female world-record formation jump and the Brit Chicks formation team, which have raised many tens of thousands of pounds for charities and raised the profile of women skydivers.
2007 John Glossop.
John Glossop started gliding while an RAF apprentice in 1954 and continued with Cambridge University Gliding Club. He has held the UK Open Class 400 km triangle record and holds all three diamonds. He became involved in managing the Club, including a major role in moving from Duxford to Gransden Lodge. He has been Competition Director at many National and Regional Gliding competitions held there. Until 2006, he was a regular entrant in the Open Class Nationals. He recently suffered a stroke, but returned to direct the 2007 gliding competition at Gransden Lodge.
   
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