It is with great sadness that the club heard that “de loights” had gone out for Les Simpson, a stalwart of RAFGSA gliding from the early 60s until his health forced him in 2019 to give up the hobby he so loved.

Les started his gliding journey with the Aden Service Gliding Club (ASGC) in the early 1960s whilst stationed in Khormaksar, Aden now Yemen.

‍ It was clearly a period of which he was very fond, and Les kept those memories very much alive through the Aden Service Gliding Club Facebook site.

‍ https://www.facebook.com/groups/381702802864

‍ for which he was the Admin.

Never short of the blarney, Les would tell us that:

every day in Aden was soarable,
because of the insurgency there was a 5 o-clock curfew,
the heat was oppressive and so fatigue was a factor, requiring an early exit for refurbishment at the bar.

He would recount tales of daring do about flying in sandstorms, aggressive buzzards and, err, camels that crossed the runway at the Sheikh Otham airfield on their way to the nearest waterhole……

……and then there were the bombs placed on the perimeter track; Les’s never-ending stories from Aden were legion.

Les soloed in a T31 whilst in Aden and on returning to the UK he was posted to St Mawgan where he was instrumental in researching the formation of Morgan Vale (Trebelzue) GC RAFGSA, a club that made its maiden launch in May 1970. At St Mawgan Les travelled to RNAS Yeovilton to progress his gliding and completed his instructor rating prior to being posted to RAF Wildenrath Germany.

Whilst there Les flew 1969/70 with the Phoenix GC at RAF Bruggen, Germany, and it’s there that he first met the Station Warrant Officer (RSM) whose son, Geoff Matthews, still flies with RAF Shawbury GC. Geoff’s introduction to beer was thanks to Les who, having got Geoff totally drunk on his first ever night out, then dumped Geoff at the door of the Station Warrant Officer’s (his Dad!) house!

In the early 1980s Les, now an Avionics Flight Sergeant at RAF Cosford, joined Wrekin GC where his expertise was put quickly to use. Les became an active contributor designing many bespoke electronic devices including our CB airfield communications and remote light signalling system……

……. although when on winch duty he would often complain in his Northern Irish taciturn manner that “Oi can’t see de loights” – they were his own lights of course!

And then there was THE BOMB! With the IRA active on the UK mainland in the 1980/90s the Bikinis state was BLACK. In 1992 a suspect device consisting of batteries and wires was discovered in Fulton Block at RAF Cosford. An immediate evacuation was ordered and amongst the evacuees was a young girl who was taking a Boarding School entrance exam in Fulton Block. She was evacuated by armed guards together with the exam invigilator who accompanied her the full length of RAF Cosford holding both the exam and answer papers at arm’s length so she couldn’t look at the answers. It later transpired that Les was to blame. He had left two batteries with their wiring on a window sill in Fulton Block!💣

Upon retirement from the RAF Les, despite THE BOMB, continued his employment at RAF Cosford as a civilian instructor. Although he ceased to fly solo in 2015, Les took every opportunity to get into the air, mainly with Geoff Matthews in the back seat who was the only one brave enough to fly with Les.

Les enjoyed driving and fixing our winch and was never short of giving advice to the young, his rapport and Irish banter being priceless. If he had a passion, it was to see young service personnel get into the air, just as he had had the opportunity all those years ago in Aden.

A generous and much respected pillar of the gliding community, Les’s knowledge and experience, and his enthusiasm in promoting gliding to the young trainees at Cosford will always be his legacy.