Individual of the Year

PAUL NICHOLLS

Paul is a Trustee of The Blackbushe Heritage Group and has been the project lead on two restoration projects at Blackbushe Airport.

1. The 1946 Vickers Viking
2. The recovery and restoration of the RAF Valletta from RAF Cosford, He and his team accomplished the rebuild in 4 weeks and is now open to visitors.

Museum/Group of the Year

THE HELICOPTER MUSEUM

Instigated in 2020 as a development of the ‘Weston Aviation’ exhibition opened in 2016 in the restored WW2 Pilots’ Block, this new hangar was officially opened on 3rd April 2026.

Its planning and design was part of a deliberate strategy to showcase local aviation heritage and it was constructed and fitted out in stages over four years for a total cost of £400,000.

Four helicopters (Belvedere HG454, Lynx G-LYNX and Sycamores G-ALSX and XL829) plus a T.21 Sedbergh glider (VX275) – all with local connections - are now displayed inside the spacious building.

New standards of presentation include using large artistic backdrops, model dioramas, touchscreen displays and even an Edwardian-themed Punch & Judy cinema about Weston-Super-Mare’s aviation history.

All of this was funded by Museum events and other in-house resources which is a highly commendable achievement.

THM’s founder and past chairman, the late Elfan ap Rees, was also involved with this inspirational project and must have been very proud and pleased to see it completed before he passed away on 24th July, and is now part of his legacy.

The Award was received by Museum Chairman, Clive Elks

The Robert Pleming Memorial Award for Innovation

MORAYVIA AEROSPACE MUSEUM

Nine years ago, Morayvia was gifted what can only be described as a corroded hulk of Whirlwind XJ723 in three pieces from Mr Brian Dixon.

With the expertise of the majority of the volunteer artisans at Morayvia of various trades and skills, and taking seven years of restoration, the restored helicopter was recently unveiled to the public looking as though it had just been completed at Westlands.

Some major parts, including the main rotor gearbox mounting platform, had to be reproduced using a CNC machine and other parts using 3d printers.

This technology was new to the team and involved a steep learning curve. The restoration team used spreadsheets and databases to control and monitor the progress of the task.

This aircraft had been involved in the Sea Gem rescue in December 1965 in which the Winchman, Sgt John Reeson, received the George Medal.  John’s two sons were able to attend the unveiling and see their father’s name on the side.

The Award was received by Museum Chairman, Mark Mair

Young Preservationist of the Year

ASH RILEY KIRSHNICK

Ash has been with the Aircraft Restoration Group for just over a year and has made an impact since she joined us.

She is currently studying aviation at Middlesborough college and comes to us for practical one day a week mainly Saturdays.

Her ultimate goal is to get into air traffic control.  Ash has a very positive attitude once she has a job explained to her, she gets on with it and when she is uncertain, she will ask.

She is a real asset and amongst new skills has been making repair panels surface preparation and applying paint both by roller and with a low-pressure spray gun to finish our Hawker Hunter and it is a credit to her.

We have no hesitation in recommending Ash for this award and we are sure she will display a positive attitude in whatever work role she obtains in the future.

This award is sponsored by Ross Sharp and he is pictured holding the trophy while Ash receives her framed award from AHUK Chairman Allan Winn.

Lifetime Achievement Awards

AHUK Lifetime Achievement Awards for 2026 have been made to:

HELEN BLAKE-EDWARDS, Chairperson and Founding Director of the Wight Aviation Museum.

Helen has demonstrated outstanding, altruistic leadership in preserving the Isle of Wight's rich aeronautical history. Moving beyond basic museum oversight at Sandown Airport, she also co-founded "Men in Hangars"—WAM’s highly successful aviation-themed adaptation of the Men’s Sheds initiative. By establishing a dedicated woodworking and engineering workshop inside the museum's hangars, she has seamlessly blended aviation heritage with vital community outreach, creating a lifeline that combats isolation, fosters camaraderie, and teaches restoration skills to local men. Her exceptional ability to leverage aviation history for social wellbeing, alongside her years of tireless voluntary service which was locally honoured with the High Sheriff’s Special Award for exceptional, unsung community service, makes her an exemplary candidate for this lifetime achievement recognition.

BARRY JAMES, Chairman of the Board of Trustees and Curator of the Midland Air Museum.

Barry has been a member of the museum for 45 years, serving as a Trustee for 38 years including 32 years as Chairman. He has served as a Director of the West Midlands Area Museum Service and as Vice-Chairman of British Aircraft Preservation Council. His involvement with BAPC over many years representing the Midland Air Museum included membership of the BAPC Standing Committee which oversaw the establishment of the very successful Training Initiative for aviation museum volunteers which ran for 6 years. Barry remains very active in his roles as Chairman and Curator of the Midland Air Museum and oversees the museum’s programme which recently included the very rare Flettner Kolibri helicopter which has since featured in a television programme.

DIANNE JAMES, Midland Air Museum.

Dianne has worked for the Midland Air Museum for 36 years. She was originally asked by a previous chairman around 1990 to take on the role of full-time manager. Since stepping into this extremely challenging role, Dianne has worked tirelessly alongside her husband Barry to transform the Midland Air Museum into the organisation that it is today. Together they led the way for modern museumship - 7 days a week, full year opening - and brought the story and history of aircraft in the Midland region to a local and national audience. Dianne was pivotal in ensuring that the collection reached younger audiences through her regular guided visits for schools and evening guided visits for Cubs and Scouts, not to mention many other adult groups such as U3A. Alongside these significant achievements, Dianne also co-ordinates all the administration requirements and has always worked closely with the Board of Trustees and volunteers. Her sustained and varied contribution to the museum and role in telling the history of aviation in the Midlands cannot be underestimated.

KARL LAKE, City of Norwich Aviation Museum.

The award is in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the museum over more than 40 years.  Karl has been a fundamental and dedicated member of our museum for decades. He is always willing to get involved, from cutting the grass and maintaining the site to painting and improving our buildings. Karl has also played an important role within our events team, helping our annual events grow and develop.  Karl is always there to help when he can be and simply gets stuck in wherever he is needed.

PAUL RASH, the Hawker Association & Brooklands Museum.

Starting with Rolls Royce, Paul later moved to British Aerospace, becoming Chief Flight Test Engineer. He was involved in flight-testing Concorde’s engines, commenting that, when an engine had to be shut down due to surge, no-one knew what Concorde would do, but, he said, the aircraft ‘just flew on’. He is one of few who can claim to have glided in a Harrier, before engine re-start and was also instrumental in signing off the X35 with the USA. He currently volunteers at Brooklands Museum, maintaining G-HAWK, G-VTOL and Hawker-Siddeley heritage, leading on cleaning and installing the unique P.1121 for display.

JOHN 'SMUDGE' SMITH. Aircraft Restoration Company

John has been a long-time employee of the Aircraft Restoration Company at Duxford, and spent many volunteer hours restoring two Bristol Blenheim (Bolingbroke) aircraft to flying condition, and subsequently converting one of these into a Mk1 configuration. He is a well-known individual at Duxford.

JOHN STELLING, Founder Member of North East Land, Sea and Air Museum.

The museum owes its genesis to John and a few other enthusiasts in the North East of England.  John became member number 1 when the original society started as the North East Veteran and Vintage Aircraft Association. John still attends on an almost weekly basis as part of the restoration team on Anson G-AWRS, an aircraft he was instrumental in saving alongside Alex Murison. John has a passion for the Royal Flying Corps and the RNAS and with a small team built the Morane Saulnier Type N replica displayed in the museum.  John is also building a Sopwith Tabloid replica and can be seen displaying it at many events over the summer as part of his Hangar 1914 re-enactment display. It was an honour to present John to the Lord Lieutenant as part of our Kings Award for Voluntary Services presentation.

ALISTAIR WHITE, Croydon Airport Society and Kenley Revival

As a staff cadet with 615 Volunteer Gliding School at RAF Kenley back in the 1960s and 1970s, Alistair was instrumental in the formation of the Surrey Hills Gliding Club which has operated from Kenley since 1985. Later gaining his PPL and operating a Piper Super Cub, Alistair also ran Acebell Aviation for many years in the Tiger Club’s old Hangar 9 at Redhill Aerodrome. Here he looked after various airworthy historic aircraft including the Robinson Redwing. The Short Scion floatplane recently restored by the MAPS at Rochester also resided in Hangar 9 in Alistair’s custodianship. More recently, trading as Aviation Antiques, he has specialised selling in aviation collectables and memorabilia.

As a long term active member of the Croydon Airport Society (now the Historic Croydon Airport Trust), he installed the pole-mounted de Havilland Heron outside the Terminal, suspended a Tiger Moth inside this building and organised regular New Year’s Day aero jumbles there too. He is currently involved with the archives at Croydon Airport and apparently still “officially” the director of Imperial Airways!

He has provided Kenley Revival with lots of stories of his time at Kenley as well as photos, taken both on the ground and from flights over the airfield. He has also allowed us access to lots of photographs from fellow 615 VGS instructor, the late Peter Skinner, which have been invaluable to our research. He also organised aero jumbles and the last two air shows held at Kenley as well as memorable aviation events elsewhere.