Not to be forgotten
Website for members of the former Hereford Parachute Club
This website was created on August 10, 2003.
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Bert, Shobdon air traffic control
This is from the newspaper 'This is Herefordshire' first published on Thursday 28 December 2000:
The voice of Shobdon Airfield is dead at 75
A MAN whose voice welcomed in thousands of pilots from all over the country to Shobdon Airfield has died at the age of 75, writes CATHERINE SHOVLIN.
Albert Frederick Wear was a lifetime engineer and a respected member of the Herefordshire Aero Club.
He helped to form the county's Parachute Club, which was allowed in to the top-secret grounds of the SAS at Bradbury Lines.
Mr Wear's interest in flying was boosted by his first engineering job working for Barronia Metals in Blueschool Street, Hereford, making fuel system parts used on Spitfires, Hurricanes and Lancasters.
In 1946, after serving in the army, he became a supervisor at Aeroparts, which was based at the site where Safeway supermarket now stands in Commercial Road.
Business interests
His first task there was starting production of Land Rover four-wheel drive components and Ford Dexter tractor parts.
He went on to work for Praills as a machine shop manager and then, with Teddy Praill, formed Midwest Engineering in 1965.
Mr Wear's other business enterprises included JD Engineering and Hereford Metal Finishers, which he set up with son Michael shortly before retiring. In his spare time he was a sporting motorcyclist and a member of the Wye Valley Auto Club.
His Herefordshire Parachute Club used aircraft based at Shobdon and trained at the SAS camp at Bradbury Lines. Members were also allowed to use the special service's equipment. Mr Wear made his first jump at Shobdon in 1960.
He qualified as a pilot in 1970 and served many years as an air traffic controller at Shobdon.
____________________
Paul Wayne Kibblewhite
(Kipper)
Paul was one of nine Swansea Parachute Club members that died together when the Chinook helicopter they were in crashed at Mannheim, West Germany on September 11, 1982. In all I believe 46 people lost their lives, 38 skydivers, seven United States soldiers and one United States airman perished when a synchronising gearbox failed on the helicopter.
The skydiver nationalities were 23 French, 9 British and 6 West German.
Paul is the middle being checked out on the manifest. Mark Owen is the static line jumper on the right and Sid Lippett is facing the camera smiling. Also looks like Rick Shaw with the white jumper on? Dave Fuller on left in white t-shirt and camera around neck.
Kipper on the top of the 2 man CRW and exiting.
Kipper's Story
Kipper was staying in the Mortimer's Cross one night (probably with a lady friend !!) (you wouldn't believe the number of lady friends that turned up at his funeral !!) when the following morning on the way to Shobdon he was stopped by the police, about 300 yards from the Mortimers, the police noticed he did not have a tax disc, unusual I know for a parachutist!!.
Kipper explained it away like
this
"As I opened the car door in the car park to get into the car the tax disc
dropped out and blew into the car park at that moment a passing dog picked
up up the disc and ran away up the road I was giving chase to the dog in my
car to reclaim the disc when you stopped me.
" I don't think the policeman believed him !!
Photo's and story by Andy Mann
___________________
Pat Keeley
(Pat the Carpet)
John Speight, Pat Keeley and John Coughlin
Paul Webb, John Speight, Phillip Ainsworth, John Coughlin, Pat Keeley
Photo's from Phil Ainsworth
I would welcome any information or photo's that anyone could send to me about the club during the years that it operated.
Have you got a story about the club or any of its members? to tell? Please send them to me, although in some cases I may have to edit them a bit!
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