Sad News!

I have this morning heard from Keith Wetherell that his father, Ian ?Lofty? Wetherell, passed away last week, on Friday 21st January; after a long slow decline he died peacefully.

I know that many will remember Lofty for his professionalism and his character, both of which he possessed in abundance! He will be greatly missed.

It's very sad news indeed. Lofty was certainly a Fighter Control Character noted for not only his no nonsense approach but also his friendliness and kindness. I worked with him at Buchan on many a QRA Scramble and bumped into him on many occasions thereafter.

I have just received two e-mails, one from Penny Smith, née Wild, an ex-Fighter Controller who did the QWI Course flying in Lightnings and the other from John Ward, an ex-Lightning Pilot. Penny now lives in the USA, John runs the Lightnings of the Lightning Preservation Group based at Bruntingthorpe with whom I have the privilege of working. He was an instructor on the QWI Course. I've copied them below. It will give those who never knew Lofty a view of the immense presence he was in our Branch in the past.

Dear Penny,

Thank you for passing on that sad news, Lofty was a good friend. He and Judith called here for lunch several years back and  we really enjoyed reminiscing over our escapades. Judith was not so well but Ian coped with that admirably. Then I heard they had moved from Mill Rise and sadly we lost touch.

Penny, I would be very grateful if you could pass on the below few words to his son, perhaps through the FCA.   

Many thanks, with warm regards          John


IAN "LOFTY" WETHERELL                        

At the end of 1969 I was posted to No 5 Squadron as the weapons officer and tasked with leading a team to compete in the AFCENT Air Defence Competition a few months later. We were remarkably lucky that Lofty was one of the three Patrington controllers nominated to provide GCI direction ? along with Flt Sgts McDavitt and Johnson. I flew as lead ?eyeball? fighter, always with Lofty controlling, and we became very slick at the task. He had a calm confidence in what we were doing that rubbed off on us all; he could control a scramble on a supersonic target, record the tail numbers and have me back on he ground in twenty minutes. We won the trophy that year, largely because of the example he set.

We knew that the following year we would have to up our game dramatically, because of powerful competition from European squadrons, and it was Lofty who persuaded me to adopt an especially challenging tactic (and ensure that his fellow controllers were with him) that enabled 5 Sqn to win the trophy the following year as well. In fact, he was the key player behind the 1971 award to Patrington of the Burniaux Trophy for the top GCI team, an acknowledgement of their skill and his example. 

It?s a splash, Lofty, Pigeons when you?re ready. 

I never had the pleasure of working with Lofty but his name and reputation echoed around the corridors of every R3 I found myself in from Day 1.  The branch has lost a legend.

I attended Lofty's funeral up in Hull yesterday morning and received a very warm welcome from his Son Keith and all the family who were keen to share memories of Lofty's time in the RAF. In particular there were some great memorabilia there from when Lofty, earlier in his career as a SNCO controller, played a leading role as a member of the winning team in the AFCENT competition to which John Ward (ex 5 Sqn) relates in his earlier post.

I first met lofty when we both served on the RAF Air Defence Team at CRC Brekendorf in Schleswig-Holstein. Our German Air Force colleagues initially did not know what to make of this giant of a man who instantly took to controlling their F104s etc with such calmness and aplomb. It didn't take them long to catch on - Lofty very soon took a number of the young German controllers under his wing and was respected and admired by all (notwithstanding his propensity for not entirely 'politically correct' but nonetheless utterly hilarious good-natured 'banter'). 

Our paths later crossed off and on before he left the service as a Sqn Ldr and moved on to Dundridge College. He always delighted in calling me 'Trockett' (for some reason) and I well remember arriving at the RAFFCA Christas gathering at the RAF Club every year to be greeted by Lofty, cradling a pint, booming across the room - 'Ah - look out it's Trockett!!'. I'll miss that.

In every respect a larger than life character and a consummate professional, everyone who learned to know Lofty recognised him also as a very kind man and loyal colleague. As a fighter controller he was simply 'the best'.   I have tried to attach a photo of Lofty taken from the back of the order of service booklet - he is characteristically  'with pint' and has that twinkle in his eye - they could not have chosen better. (I hope it appears correctly). 

I raised a glass to his memory when I got home last night - RIP Lofty - you will be fondly missed by a great many.

AT