John Stokes
John Stokes 1927 - 2007
A few words from Robin Gowler FSMAE
It is now over 30 years since I first met John - it was on the Ramsey Model Aero Club flying site then located at RAF Upwood. At this time in the mid 1970s John was following his chosen profession as a teacher and was in fact head of a school in Sandy but he was already working towards what was to become his retirement occupation. The early beginning of Inwood Models was the manufacture of flight box and model stand kits, sold through adverts in the national model press and sent to the four corners of the country in flat pack form (where do think MFI got the idea from).
Following his retirement from full time teaching Inwood expanded into the preparation of balsa wood, the staple diet of all aeromodellers. To sell this into the market place meant packing the car and caravan and travelling most weekends in the summer monhs to model flying shows all over the country and several of us
have fond memories of this circus. This led to customers asking for items other than those John had in stock and John being John promptly sourced the goods and yet another item joined the Inwood inventory. Slowly but oh so surely Inwood Model Supplies was taking over his life and John decided to sell the business on to it's present owner and now Inwood Models is a by-word in the model flying hobby.
Since selling Inwoods he had become quite a prolific model builder many of them to his own design and a regular at the flying field. Always ready to help a newcomer to model flying with his many years experience and latterly when his eyesight began to fail him and he had to give up flying he could be seen offering his assistance to anyone who may need it.
When the United States Airforce moved into RAF Upwood and it became increasingly difficult for our club to operate there it was John who came to the rescue by arranging the use of an area of land on the disused airfield at Warboys
This field has now become universally known as one of the finest club fields in the country and it was when the club started to host an annual scale contest that John embarked upon his next career move, as a commentator. Some nine years ago the scale flight line at our National Championships lost its commentator only a few weeks before the event and I approached John, I was at that time a member of the scale sub-committee of the British Model Flying Association, to step into the breach. This he did without hesitation and he has kept the paying customers fully informed of the proceedings every August bank holiday since up to and including last year. In all of the years that I have known I can only once remember seeing John get rattled, he took this job very seriously and insisted upon the details of every entry in advance so that he could research the history of the aeroplane before the contest. If he did not get this information someone, often me, would get their ear bent quite forcefully. His informed commentary will be greatly missed by the regulars at RAF Barkston Heath when the August Bank Holiday weekend comes around this year.
He has been a member of the club committee now for longer than any of us cares to remember and has held the post of Public Relations Officer for most of that time and through his good offices we enjoy the excellent facilities of the Priory in Huntingdon for our monthly club evenings. Johns love of teaching has spilled over into his modelling activities in the form of chuck glider contests he has organised for youngsters at local school and church fetes over the last several years.
John will be sorely missed in many walks of life but none more so than in the model flying world in general and the Ramsey Model Aero Club in particular. He has gone from us now but he will never be forgotten.