Sadly on the 19th December Noel passed away in Alnwick Infirmary , aged 82. His family comprising Mel, Zoe and Lia were at his bedside. The funeral was held in St Pauls church Alnwick where the numbers attending indicated how much Noel was loved and respected-very much so. His family are greatly appreciative of the condolence cards and messages of sympathy they have received about their Dad. Noel was well known in the local area , clubs and societies of various kinds and from the aeromodelling community. Noel has been involved with aeromodelling since his early teens when building gliders, rubber powered models eventually lead the way to diesel/glow powered types. For many years during his military service he supported competitions organised by the RAFMAA in addition to those in civilian life. He himself was a very effective organiser and planner. His interests were in scale, aerobatics and team racing either as a pilot or pitman. Google defines Aeromodelling as “the building and flying of model aircraft”. In Noels case he took his hobby much more serious than that .For many years he was an accomplished designer of various type including the Spitfire(as shown in attached picture) plus Tucano, ME109,FW190, P51 Mustang and Martin Baker designs. Some of these have been published. Having personally flown several of these models they indeed go well. His determination to research his subjects whether it be in aeromodelling or WW2 designs made him a worthy adversary in debate, he certainly knew his stuff and deserves the credit accordingly. In my 42 years of knowing Noel I have found him to be a real gentleman in every respect. Furthermore he has been an effective guide when revising rules,great source of encouragement, very unselfish with his knowledge-the type of guy you would want in your club. Sadly in recent years his eyesight started to fail curtailing his driving and model activities. The ever shrinking world of aeromodelling needs people like this who sets standards high. Had any of you wished to donate to a worthy cause then Alnwick Hospice was supportive to him in latter stages of his life. Noel was a dear friend to me and I am very greatfull to Mel, Zoe and Lia for giving me the opportunity to share these thoughts.