John Robert Christian 3rd June 1946 – 23rd May 2012
During our annual static show at Barton Airport, I was approached by yet another punter who declared himself an old flyer that wanted to get back into the habit, and that after a long illness he was now clear and ready to start again, this gentleman (and he was a gentle man) soon joined our bunch at Tyldesley Model Flying Club and I had the great pleasure in helping him and teaching him to fly once again. John was super enthusiastic and what he lacked in talent he more than made up for in perseverence and repetition. John would not let any manoeuvre I showed him to beat him, he would practice it again and again until he had it pretty much sorted and he always had a smile on his face. He was retired, had a lovely new wife and was doing loads of flying at numerous clubs, he was a very happy man. A year later John was once again diagnosed with bowel cancer, he took the decision to refuse treatment and live the rest of his time in relative good health, until the end John was flying as much as he could, and despite the fact we all knew the news was coming, it still hit us all hard, myself included. I may have taught him to fly again, but John taught me far more than I ever taught him. All of us here at Tyldesley MFC will miss him terribly and our thoughts and best wishes go to his wife Lorna and his family at this trying time, fly long and high John!