BARTON BIRTHDAY

For he’s a jolly good fellow…

A brilliant Barton birthday for Ernie Horsfall, who has turned 103. By Graham Clarke and Cliff Mort

There are hundreds of LAA members who have very good reason to cheer Ernie Horsfall and raise a glass to congratulate him on another birthday, this time his 103rd. On 24 April the LAA North West Strut and Jodel pilots from as far as Goodwood converged by car, Jodel and campervan on Manchester’s historic Barton Airfield – the first municipal airfield in the UK – to do exactly that. If you have ever flown a UK-registered Jodel, you have reason to cheer Ernie Horsfall, who spotted that the French were disposing of their wooden club machines in favour of Government subsidised modern alternatives. Here in the UK, sport fliers hungered for affordable, simple and efficient light aircraft for strip operation. Enter Ernie, to acquire the French cast-offs and register them in the UK for British enthusiasts. Ernie is still an LAA Inspector, and a few days before his 103rd birthday signed off another LAA aeroplane. He also remains active as an engineer and plans to renew his certification for another year! At the Barton birthday celebration, the North Western Strut chairman, Cliff Mort, put a wrapper around Ernie’s enormous contribution to light aviation. He said: “I first met Ernie nearly 50 years ago when he was just a young lad. As you can guess I was even younger and almost just out of short trousers. It was in fact 50 years ago that Ernie had the idea of creating the North Western Strut. So, in 1971, after a shaky start, it came into being and has continued ever since. To my regret I was not one of the originators of this Strut. “I now realise as I sat down to write this, that where Ernie has led I have followed. He was the chairman of the Strut – so am I. Ernie joined the committee of the PFA, and so did I. So basically, Ernie was my mentor and all I have to do now is reach 103. Well, I am trying, some say ‘very’. “We come now to the reason why I am here, apart from helping him eat his cake. Ernie has previously been awarded a Bronze Medal by the Royal Aero Club, plus the Old and Bold Trophy, so this year was proposed by the Association for a Silver Medal for services to sport flying, which I am sure we all agree he thoroughly deserves. “Ernest J Horsfall it gives me great pleasure to present you with the RAeC Silver Medal.”

EJH countdown…

Right Ernie had a great day at Barton with many fellow Jodel enthusiast’s, young and old, present.

Below Ernie was presented with his much-deserved RAeC Silver Medal for services to the LAA and Jodel community.

pilot flies less than 30hrs per year, it’s as if Ernest has been a pilot since the age of three! 1940: The year Ernie joined the Army to help win WWII. 1918: The year the Red Baron was shot down on the Western Front in WWI, and the year our own flying ace, ‘Ginger’ Horsfall, was born – on the same day, and just a few hours later. 1680: Number of Facebook comments for Ernie following his appearance on a national TV news programme in November 2019 for his send-off to the Festival of Remembrance. 104: Not Ernie’s age – yet, but two F104 Starfighter jets that intercepted him when, in the 1970s he flew from then communist Yugoslavia to Italy – without telling anyone! 103: Well, need we say more? An amazing 103 years of age and as bright as a button. 96: Ernie is LAA Inspector number 96, still active with a new-build aircraft two years ago and a microlight aircraft inspection just last month. 56: Number of Jodels he has owned, built, rebuilt, flown and sold – and a number of them were at Barton for his birthday bash. 6: Number of years Ernie spent as volunteer prison visitor at Leyland. And warders used to say that when Ernie visited it was hard to tell him from the inmates! 5: Number of logbooks Ernie has, to tell the tales of his 3,000 hours. 1: There’s only one Ernest John Horsfall, So LAA Members, if you happen to see the one and only EJH at the LAA Rally in September, pause a moment and give him a huge THANK YOU! ■