Aeroplane Magazine No.488 Mosquito Special Back Issue

I was once again honoured and delighted to be asked by Lord March to be a
judge for the Freddie March Spirit of Aviation at this year’s Goodwood Revival.
This was my third year as a judge for this fabulous aspect of the Revival, which
brings together around 30 aircraft of pre-1966 design. Each year there are aircraft there
that are simply amazing, and 2013’s gathering was no exception.
The winner was James Miller’s Ryan ST-A NC14986. This gleaming polished metal
aeroplane was a real eye-catcher, and we plan to bring you a full article on it in the near
future.
I was deeply saddened when I recently heard that Flt Lt Ron Clark DFC had died on
September 29. Since I met Ron at Duxford some years ago I had grown to know him
and his family very well. Ron often attended events organised by the RAF Battle of
Britain Memorial Flight at RAF Coningsby in Lincolnshire, where from 2007 to 2012 Avro
Lancaster I PA474 was painted as his wartime Mk III Phantom of the Ruhr.
I was delighted to be at Coningsby to see Ron fl y in the Lancaster in June 2012, when
he opened the bomb bay doors to drop poppy petals over the unveiling of the Bomber
Command Memorial in Green Park, London (see Aeroplane September 2012). Ron
was a delightful and very modest man, and was given a very fi tting and moving
memorial service on October 15 at St Clement Danes, which is the central
church of the Royal Air Force, located on the Strand in London. An obituary
for Ron appears on page 30 of this issue, and all of us here at
Aeroplane send our sincere condolences to his wife Mollie and daughters Lora and Nina.