Royal Aero Club
Awards & Trophies
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GOLD 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.
| 1908 | Wilbur & Orville Wright |
| 1909 | Louis Bleriot |
| 1910 | Hon. Charles Rolls |
| 1911 | No award |
| 1912 | S.F. Cody |
| 1913-18 | No award |
| 1919 | Capt. Sir John Alcock & Lt. Sir Arthur Whitten Brown |
| 1919 | Capt. Sir Ross & Sir Keith Smith |
| 1920-22 | No award |
| 1923 | Lt. Col. S.F. McClean |
| 1924-25 | No award |
| 1926 | A.J. Cobham |
| 1927-28 | No award |
| 1929 | Capt. C.D. Barnard |
| 1929 | Sqn Ldr A.C. Jones-Williams |
| 1929 | Flt Lt. N.H. Jenkins |
| 1930 | No award |
| 1931 | H.J.L. Hinkler |
| 1932-33 | No award |
| 1934 | C.W.A. Scott & T. Campbell Black |
| 1935 | No award |
| 1936 | Amy Mollison |
| 1937 | Jean Batten |
| 1938-46 | No award |
| 1947 | G.R. de Havilland |
| 1948 | J.D. Derry |
| 1949-51 | No award |
| 1952 | P.A. Wills |
| 1953 | W.Cdr W.F. Gibb |
| 1953 | Sqn Ldr N. Duke |
| 1953 | Lt Cdr M.J. Lithgow |
| 1954 | No award |
| 1955 | J. Cunningham |
| 1956-57 | No award |
| 1958 | Lord Brabazon of Tara |
| 1959-62 | No award |
| 1963 | Sir G. de Havilland |
| 1964 | J. Martin |
| 1965-66 | No award |
| 1967 | Sir D. Pearson |
| 1968 | No award |
| 1969 | N.A. Armstrong, E.E. Aldrin, M. Collins |
| 1970 | No award |
| 1971 | Sheila Scott |
| 1972 | No award |
| 1973 | A.S. Butler |
| 1974 | J. Nott |
| 1975 | No award |
| 1976 | G. Lee |
| 1977 | No award |
| 1978 | D. Cameron & C. Davey |
| 1979 | No award |
| 1980 | Judith Chisholm |
| 1981-83 | No award |
| 1984 | C. Lyall |
| 1985 | No award |
| 1986 | J. Pendry |
| 1986 | D. Rutan & J. Yeager |
| 1987 | E. Jackson |
| 1987 | S. Spreckley |
| 1988 | P. Lindstrand |
| 1989 | R. Whittall |
| 1990 | Helen Sharman |
| 1991 | R. Branson & P. Lindstrand |
| 1991 | R. Brien |
| 1991 | R. Whittall |
| 1992 | No award |
| 1993 | A. Davis |
| 1993 | M. Peckett |
| 1994 | M. Foale |
| 1994 | P. Halman |
| 1995 | Judy
Leden. Judy Leden won the Women's World Champion title at the 1995 FAI Open Paragliding World Championships in Kyusha, Japan and contributed to the Silver Medal gained by the British Team. |
| 1996 | David
Bareford. David Bareford is the United Kingdom's most successful balloon pilot and one of the best in the world. He has won two European Championships, four British Nationals and placed second or third in eight more. In 1981 he was ranked second in the world. He is the first British pilot to be awarded a diamond badge to add to his gold. |
| 1996 | Ann Welch. Ann Welch set up the Surrey Gliding Club in 1936 and flew Spitfires with the ATA. She served for many years at the top level of international gliding as a competitor and administrator. She has passionately campaigned for both traditional and less conventional forms of flying within and outside the Royal Aero Club and the FAI. She set up and was president of two new FAI commissions, for hang gliding and paragliding, and for microlights. Ann is president of honour of both commissions, and president of the BHPA and the BMAA. |
| 1997 | John Pendry. John Pendry has been at the top of air-sport since 1985. Firstly in hang gliding, in which he has won more competitions than any other individual. Then later in paragliding where he won both the World Paragliding Championships and the paragliding World Cup in Spain in 1997. |
| 1997 | Walter
Neumark. Walter Neumark served paragliding for over thirty years. He advocated soaring with foot launched ultra-light back-pack gliders in 1953. He was the pioneer of paragliding, the founder of the sport's national governing body and a tireless worker within the RAeC and the FAI. His originality, foresight and commitment have helped to bring the joy of soaring flight to tens of thousands. |
| 1998 | Jackie
Smith. Jackie Young (formerly Jackie Smith) has been Britain's most successful parachute competitor. She has won 37 gold medals and 9 silvers, in individual free-fall Style and in team competitions. When winning the World Championship in 1978, she is the only person ever to have achieved ten dead centres. She has retired from top-level competition, but for many years has continued to make a valuable contribution as a coach at Netheravon. |
| 1999 | A.
Elson &C. Prescot. They flew the Cable & Wireless balloon in an attempt at a round-the-world flight, achieving a flight from Spain to Japan in 17 days. Though subsequently overtaken by the Breitling Orbiter 3, they established a World record for unrefulled duration in any sub-orbital flying machine. |
| 2000 | D.
Hempleman-Adams. In May 2000, David made a solo flight in a Cameron Roziere balloon and succeeded in his target of passing within 60 miles of the North Pole. As well as enduring a flight of 5½ days, over the Arctic in an open wicker basket, this showed considerable skill in weather judgement. |
| 2001 | R. Meredith
Hardy. Since acquiring his microlight licence in 1984 Richard has successfully competed both nationally and internationally. He organised, funded and flew the Trans Africa Microlight Expedition. Richard has appeared in many aviation films. He co-ordinated the largest mass crossing of the Channel during the Paris-London-Paris Rally in 1993 and organised and participated in the Great Adventure Microlight race from Madrid to London. He also serves as Secretary of the Association of Microlight Professionals and is a member of BMAA Council. |
| 2002 | S.Fossett. Steve Fossett has made seven attempts at flights round the world by balloon. Some of his earlier attempts achieved more than half-way and established World records. This culminated in the successful flight of the Breitling Orbiter 3 in 1999. He followed this in 2002 with the first solo circumnavigation, using a similar envelope to the Orbiter but with an unpressurised gondola, again made by Cameron's in the UK. This flight took 14 days, operating mainly between 25,000 and 35,000 feet. |
| 2002 | Caroline
Gough-Cooper & Imogen Asker. Caroline Gough-Cooper & Imogen Asker won the Ladies Championship at the 2002 World Helicopter Championships. They overturned a dominance of this event by Eastern-bloc crews since its inception in 1971. |
| 2002 | Kathleen Rigg. Kathleen Rigg started hang-gliding in 1986 and has been the UK women's champion seven times. She is the current European Women's Champion and won a Gold Medal at the 2001 World Air Games in Spain. She has been very active as a coach and competition organiser. She has served on the BHPA competitions panel for many years, and has been UK team manager at recent competitions as well as competing. |
| 2003 | Paul Dewhurst.
Paul Dewhurst has been representing Britain in international Microlight competitions since 1989. He has won ten Medals including six Golds, having been European Champion twice and World Champion four times. Uniquely, these Gold Medals include all four microlight classes, single and two-seat flex-wing and single and two-seat fixed-wing. He is CFI of the Flylight Microlight School at Sywell and is an Examiner and Test Pilot, with over 8000 hours logged. He is Vice-Chairman of the BMAA Council and Chairman of its Training Committee. |
| 2003 | The V-Max
Parachute Team. The V-max Team is the British Women's 4-way Formation Skydiving Team, comprising of Claire Scott, Liz Groucott, Sacha Chilton and Sarah Laughton, with Andy Ford as team camera flyer. They won the World Cup competitions in 2000 in Australia and 2002 in Spain. They then went on to win the 2003 World Championships at Gap, against the biggest ever field for a Women's FS competition. |
| 2004 | Russell
Cheetham. Russell Cheetham started gliding in 1985 and flew his first competition in 1989. He won the UK Open Class Nationals in 2003 and became the European Open Class Champion in 2004. In June 2004 he achieved the first FAI 1000 km Diploma to be flown in Britain, starting and finishing at Husbands Bosworth in Leicestershire and with turns on the Suffolk coast twice and in Wales. |
| 2005 | Vijaypat Singhania. Vijaypat Singhania is an Indian who has had a life-long interest in aviation. He has been flying for 40 years and has more than 5,000 flying hours. In 1988 he made a solo flight in a microlight from the U.K. to India. In 1994 he won the first Round-the-World Air Race, receiving the FAI Gold Medal. On 26th November 2005 he achieved the world altitude record for hot air balloons. He flew in a pressurised gondola containing life-support systems and carrying special burners designed to function in the rarefied atmosphere. He reached 69,852 feet, beating the previous record by nearly 5,000 feet. |
| 2006 | Phil Jones. Phil Jones won the Gold Medal at the 2006 World 18-metre Gliding Championships. He is an established member of the British Gliding Team and had previously won Bronze in 2003. He holds ten UK Gliding records, including the third-longest flight ever in the UK, and the longest in an 18-metre glider, of 982 km. |
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