I was introduced to Ian by my good friend Ian cockram when I got my SEP rating back and joined the VL flying group at White Waltham in 2006.

Ian was a staunch labour supporter and would often become quite animated complaining of the Tory greed in the country. So it was a huge insult when one day at Reading station, whilst waiting for his train, that a little old lady seeing a large man with dishevelled spiky grey hair, became convinced he was Boris Johnson. She approached him and shook his hand saying how much she admired him.
Poor Ian was mortified and it took a few weeks for him to stop talking about it. It did make us all smile though.

His enthusiasm for all things aviation was quite infectious . Ian was so positive about everything and was always interested in what you had to say but he yearned for the old ways of doing things and his knowledge of those ways was a pleasure to listen to.

He also had a tremendous gift of thinking of others and making sure he kept in contact with those he knew were having a hard time.

Not having a driving licence never stopped Ian from travelling. He was an expert on public transport and used it extensively.

I will miss Ian more than I can say , he helped me more than he knew with his uplifting, generous and selfless character.
A wonderful example of a British eccentric character
'Goodbye my dear friend'