I worked for Ron at Siemens Plessey.  One Christmas I was given a radio-controlled aeroplane kit as a present and it took me several months to build it.  Ron and the technical director (Trevor Hewson) were keen model aircraft flyers at that time and said that they would teach me to fly after work one day.  So together with others from the company we met in a grass field at Stanpit Mashes Christchurch.

Ron took off and expertly flew the plane for a couple of minutes before handing me the control box.  I soon tired of doing simple loops and tried something a bit more adventurous.  Unfortunately, at this point the model began to tumble from the sky and I rapidly gave the controller back to Ron.  My assembly skills were found wanting and one of the wings broke off.  Whilst the wing descended gently like a sycamore seed, the fuselage hurtled towards the ground smashing into a hundred pieces just a few yards from a ring of girl guides that were sat on the grass by their hut at the far end of the field.  Thinking that Ron was the culprit of this disaster, Brown Owl came storming across the field to Ron a piece of her mind!  The plane was of course a right-off and I never flew again.  Happy Days.