After a short illness, George died on 2nd October 2009.

George was born in Kent but was evacuated to Sutton Coldfield during World War II and stayed in the Midlands. His National Service saw him become the youngest RSM ever in the Royal Military Police (the 'Redcaps'). He later went into engineering and sales, a career which took him all over the world when working for Cosworth. This brought him into contact with companies such as Ferrari and the revived Bugatti firm.

But it was early memories of watching dogfighting Spitfires and Messerschmitts over Kent during the Battle of Britain that fired his imagination and later influenced his modelling. As his skill grew, he gravitated towards the colourful racing aircraft of first the 1930s and later the 1950s. He became a key member of 'Bent Throttles', the Racing Aircraft SIG.

His lasting memorial will be the collection of 8th Air Force assembly ships which he started building because he was attracted by the wierd and wonderful colour schemes. Because of the lack of information then available on the subject, George carried out considerable research which resulted in his building models of all the 8th Air Force assembly B-24 Liberators. This project came to the attention of the 8th Air Force Association and led to his being contacted by many former aircrew. This in turn resulted in his collection going on permanent loan to the 2nd Air Division Memorial Library in Norwich, where they can be seen today.

Our sympathies go to his widow, Joan, his son Anthony and daughter Christine, and their families.

Over the years, this show has been a moveable feast. The first couple of years, it was held in March. We were in the main museum building on one occasion and it was warmer outside than in! Then they moved it to September. But this year, it was held in June.

As ever, the weather was variable - whenever it's held, this show seems to attract a downpour! But this year, it also attracted a number of well-stocked traders and quite a few clubs. The main Robin hangar where they put the clubs was heaving half an hour before opening time!

As with last year, there is no separate competition but instead every model on display is judged. Last year, Joe Bridges was a winner; this year, Andy Keane won 'Best military vehicle' with his Pz.Kfw.38(t). (See the photo in the collection for the Shropshire Scale Models Show at RAF Cosford earlier this year.)

Our regular meeting venue, the Fellowship Hall on South Parade, Sutton Coldfield, has been the subject of a major refurbishment project over the past year. This morning, it was formally re-opened by Councillor Peter Howard (though our own Doug Burchell, as Chairman of the Friends of the Fellowship Hall, has done a lot to drive the project forward but got no recognition for it). (Things were ever thus.)

The ceremony was followed by a display from various users of the Hall, such as ourselves, the Suttton Coldfield Flower Club, The Horticultural Society, The Guild of Artists, the South Staffordshire Bonsai Society, over-60s line dancers and a nice Turkish lady who demonstrated fitness through ethnic dance.

This show gets more and more popular - and more and more difficult to park at if you're at all late getting there. The adjoining Indestructable Sock Factory car park is no longer up to the job!

A crisp, clear Spring morning saw us off to Cosford, and a mega-display by the TSR.2.

To complement the collection showing the year's finalists, here are some pictures from the Awards Night, showing some models not included in the Finals competition (mainly Letter Night competitors). Also seen here are the entrants for the new Ivan Poyner Trophy, awarded for the first time by Dave and Mike Poyner, Ivan's sons. The trophy, in memory of Ivan, is given for the best World War 2 aircraft model.

We had been invited to have a stand at Miniatura, a dolls' house show at the NEC. Never wanting to miss a chance, Roy Poultney, Paul Barand, Peter Mells and I went along, and had a lot of interest.

It was a bit of an experience. The demographic was almost completely inverted from the shows we normally do. Here, at least 60% of the punters and probably 75% of the exhibitors were women; and it was amusing to see the number of husbands being dragged less than willingly around the show. Also, given the propensity of dolls' house collectors to go for the more ornate look, with the Victorian era appearing to be quite popular, it was very easy to get all chintzed out. One guy descended on our stand and the neighbouring Warley Model Railway Club stand with a cry of "At last! A proper Manly corner!".

Dolls' house collectors can spend a lot on accessories - some we saw were very pricy indeed. In particular, anyone wanting the working TV set for their house should probably put their bank manager on danger money. A lot of nice modelling was on display, though. And we made some new friends and contacts, too.

For an article about the Society planned for 'Scale Aviation Modeller International', we held a photo-shoot evening of members' aircraft models on the July competition night. Here is a selection of the pictures that were sent up to the magazine. The article appeared in the October 2005 issue of the magazine.

The Society was asked to put on a display at the 2004 Rolls-Royce Families' Day at the Ansty plant near Coventry, which produces gas turbines for a variety of applications, including aero engines. The European Cup football tournament was on at the time, so we were pleased to find ourselves placed in front of a large England flag!

The pattern for the day was that we had to be set up by 10am, so we would be on show for the families walking through the plant. Then, at 2pm, we had to be shut down and packed away for the field events, which was basically outdoor entertainment for the families, plus a small air display. 'Oh good,' we thought, 'aeroplanes!'.

Unfortunately, the English summer intervened, and there was the worst downpour of rain you can imagine. Visibility dropped to a couple of hundred yards; charter flights heading for nearby Coventry airport were having difficulty getting in, and the flying was eventually cancelled. We retreated to the works canteen for warm drinks and then made our way home.

For the 60th anniversary of D-Day, we chose the closest meeting to that date to hold a special competition for D-Day subjects, as well as a display of memorabilia provided by members. Keith Nightingale provides these pictures of the evening's displays.

A collection of pictures of members' models, taken at various times and various shows.

A wider selection of pictures of the Hinckley show in 2004 will in due course appear on my companion site 'The Show Circuit'. Go to:
http://TheShowCircuit.fotopic.net

Another fine day in Cosford saw us putting on one of our most diverse displays ever, which attracted so much favourable comment that we won the award for Best Stand! I went to collect the award on the club's behalf, taking Paul Barand's little friend with me (as seen in the first picture with Doug). Fun was had later as the same little friend attacked a visiting Dalek...

No Cosford show this year or next, as the museum is undergoing major building work to create the official RAF Museum of the Cold War. We shouldn't wish our lives away, but 2007's show should be an event to remember!

Now generally regarded as the show that kicks off the season, the Bletchley show is always good fun. Here's some of the models we took along in 2004. Further pictures of the whole show can be seen on my own show gallery, http://TheShowCircuit.fotopic.net (unashamed plug).

In 2001, we hired a coach for a Grand Day Out in Lowestoft - sun, sea, fish and chip teas - and Hannants! Much hilarity ensued as George was seen collecting kits in a supermarket trolley (he claimed to have a list from three or four people) and bank managers across Sutton were put on danger money. (The pictures of that need scanning in - one day, mes braves, one day...)

After a lie down in the proverbial darkened room for a couple of years, our collective finances had recovered enough to try again. And here's the result...

The Finals Night is the climax of the modelling year for members of the Sutton Coldfield club. Models that have won their individual classes in monthly competitions through the year are brought along so that the members can choose the best model of the year. The standard is high.

The Sutton Coldfield club is not affiliated to the IPMS, so we don't show at Telford. However, Doug's Red Cross display caused so much interest that he joined IPMS, almost with the sole intention of becoming a one-man SIG and showing his thematic display at Scale Modelworld. This comes in very handy for the rest of us, of course, as we tend to invade him and stack coats, hats, thermoses and above all bags of kits under his table...

Since the Society's 20th anniversary, we have held our annual show - the 'Model Spectacular' - in the opulent surroundings of Sutton Coldfield's Town Hall. We have become well-known on the show circuit for this very reason (as well as making visitors feel very welcome), and in my view the venue is only bettered by the Mainzer Modellbautage held in Schloß Mainz, in Germany. But I digress.

Since the renovation of the Town Hall in 2001, we no longer have to pray for good weather to avoid the leaking roof; and indeed, we normally get sunshine, which makes the view from the second hall over Sutton Park - well, spectacular!

We have struck up a friendship with the Burton Model Boat Club, and we were invited to their 'Venetian Night' at Branston Country Park, just south of Burton on Trent. In 2002, this was accompanied by a barbecue. A good time was had by all. (Apologies for the quality of photographs, all of which were taken by available light; these are the least blurred. Sometimes, you have to work on the basis of 'If you don't try, you don't get.')

We were invited by 655MAPS to visit their Vulcan, based at Wellesbourne Mountford airfield. A group of us duly turned up, and were treated to the Grand Tour of one of the most complete Vulcans in captivity. In fact, this Vulcan is in full working order, though it lacks a C of A, and can make fast taxi runs (once they raise enough money to fuel the monster).

The highlight of the visit was the firing up of the Vulcan's APU - and that was noisy enough! - followed by a full electrical systems check. (As the anti-collision beacons came on, followed by the landing lights, our guide commented 'Wellesbourne Tower will be starting to get worried just about... Now...!')

We were made to feel very welcome, and this group deserves all the support they can get.

Every year, the DH Moth Club hold a rally at Woburn Abbey (well, foot-and-mouth disease permitting). And every year, George Wright, a member of that august body, obtains tickets for those of us who want to watch veteran aircraft putter around the sky in sylvan surroundings. It's a great excuse for a picnic, too!

We have a relationship with the Staffordshire Regiment Museum at Whittington Barracks, and every so often we get invited to put on a display there. In 2002, that display was to coincide with a big family festival being run by the Army itself. We were bivouac'd outside the museum, but we coped well enough.

An earlier trip to Cosford, where our stand was directly in front of the TSR.2 and had some of our best work on it.