It has been a huge privilege to chair the Association for the past six years during a pivotal period for model flying.  The Centenary celebrations last year were a clear reminder of our rich heritage and the responsibility we carry to ensure that our fantastic sport remains enjoyable and accessible to all despite the challenging environment.

As a lifelong aeromodeller with an interest in all flying disciplines I have been an active member of the RAFMAA since 1978 and was its Chairman and Areas Council delegate for 11 years before retiring as a Wing Commander in 2004. I was subsequently co-opted onto the BMFA Scale Technical Committee which I chaired for 7 years whilst also serving as Scale delegate to the Full and Technical Councils.  I was honoured to receive Fellowship of the SMAE in 2017.

My main competitive interest is judging and competing in both indoor and outdoor R/C and FF Scale contests but I enjoy regular R/C power and electric sport flying with Osbournby Flyers and the occasional trip to the slopes with the RAFMAA.

I am passionate that the BMFA continues to provide value to its members as we navigate the external threats to model flying and financial implications of fewer active model flyers. If re-elected I shall continue working to embed the slimmed-down BMFA governance structure and consolidate our administration onto a single site at the National Centre.  Thereafter, I would welcome the opportunity to hand over the reins and spend more time in the workshop.

My working life revolved around education in one form or another as a teacher, youth and community worker and various management roles in Norfolk County Council where I concluded my career as Head of the County’s commercial education services. I served as a Trustee and Board Chair of a multi faceted drug and alcohol misuse charity for 20 years until 2021 and I continue my involvement as by supporting people in recovery. I am also active in our local church.

Currently, I am chair of the East Anglia Area and previously served as Area Delegate. From 2021 to 2022 I was also Chair of the SMAE/BMFA Centenary planning Group.

Aeromodelling has been a thread throughout my life despite protracted diversions into sailing, windsurfing and ongoing cycling. Like many, I built Keil Kraft models as a child with intermittent success and am now surprised that they fly much better than they did 50 years ago. Maybe I have learnt something over the years.  I enjoy several disciplines and fly RC scale and sport aerobatic models on a regular basis but my real interest is   indoor FF scale.

I am a member of the South Norfolk MFC where I am a club examiner and Impington Village College MAC. The camaraderie and challenges of aeromodelling are important to me and therefore, I like to be able to give something back to our great sport.

I am a qualified accountant and have worked in both the private and public sectors, although retired I stay involved with the profession and teach financial management at the University of East Anglia.

I am married to June and have two grown up daughters.

AEROMODELLING EXPERIENCE

I have been involved in aeromodelling since the age of 8 and have flown control line and some radio control soarers. However, my main love has been competition free flight with some successes on both the home and international front. I have represented the UK in Championships on many occasions both as a flyer and team manager.

I am currently the Chairman of the FFTC as well as Secretary/Treasurer of the East Anglian Area.

Prior to being appointed as Finance Director I was Sporting Director.

I was awarded a BMFA fellowship in 2002 and in 2006 received the distinguished service award from The National Free Flight Society of America.

The role as Finance Director as being one of ensuring the financial stability of the BMFA during these currently changing and turbulent times.

Aged 56 I live in Peterborough, I manage an extremely active career as Chartered Architect running my own Practice based in Oundle with its diverse array of projects including hotels, offices and housing with an evolving emphasis on new technologies and environmental design.

I have been building, designing and flying all types of model aircraft since the 1970’s and a continuous active member of the Peterborough M.F.C.

I am a freeflighter both outdoors and indoor duration. Representing my country in F1B and F1D is a huge honour as well as competing at Area and National level. The promotion of the BMFA and our sport at international and domestic level being priority.

I am a current member of the Free Flight Technical Committee. In each of my volunteer roles I am always pushing to promote all aspects of our sport giving back to the BMFA , the sport I love!. An important role is the `In The Air Tonight’  zoom based weekly online presentation session for guests to present their specific interest and genre to all members. Teamed with others the ITAT live and YouTube casts are even more popular and promote our wonderful sport.

Currently as the interim Sporting Director on the BMFA board of Directors I would wish to continue and start to help our members benefit from the sport as well as to fulfil statutory duties. If I am elected, my focus will be ensuring we strive to improve our sport for all members.

Having always been interested in aviation having attended air shows and visited air museums; I was intrigued   to discover that model flying had a huge following in this country. This was because my future husband is a very keen competitive Control Line flyer. The more I travelled to competitions here and abroad [both F2d and F2b] and became involved the more interested I became in all forms of aeromodelling. The technical skills, accuracy and precision required are awe inspiring.

Although my experience has mainly been with Control Line and especially with supporting the organisation of the F2b events with my husband; I was keen to become more generally involved and therefore I volunteered to help with the 2022 Payload Challenge. Again the ingenuity and technical expertise of the entrants was amazing.

In 2023 I was co-opted on to the BMFA Board as Outreach Director with a professional background as senior teacher in an inner city primary school; where I was Safeguarding Lead with Mathematics and Special Needs as my teaching specialisms.

Now I am fully retired I would very much appreciate the opportunity to be able to fully develop this role, bring in new members and to be able to showcase the BMFA to other organisations. One major part of the strategy is to encourage young people to take up the sport and to demonstrate the clear benefits to them of becoming a member of the BMFA and for their future careers.

Since 1995 I have run Flyin’ Fish Model Helicopter Flight Training with my husband Dave, taking care of all the administrative work.  Prior to that I worked as the office manager for an incoming small-group tour operator.

In 2001 I became the Secretary of the AHA (Association of Helicopter Aerosports) before moving to the role of Treasurer in 2003.  I took on the fund-raising for the F3C team from then until 2010 when I stood down as Treasurer.  In 2006 I was the event co-ordinator for the F3C European Championships which took place in Blandford Forum, Dorset.  I was subsequently awarded the Royal Aero Club’s Certificate of Merit.

In 2013 I became the AHA’s F3N (Freestyle Helicopter) Competition Secretary, a role which I still hold today.  I run the F3N League of competitions in the UK and was also the F3N Team Manager from 2015 – 2023 where in August of this year we won silver team medals at the World Championships.

I thoroughly enjoy learning about all the various disciplines and representing their interests at CIAM. This is my 6th year as FAI Delegate.  I feel that I have a good grasp on the tasks involved and would very much like to continue my work for the BMFA in the role of FAI Delegate.