WHAT I AM CALLED: John Broad.

MY AGE: Stealing a comment a friend received on this subject, I’m 20 with 48 years of experience.

WHAT I DO: Retired from engineering jobs at Pressed Steel through to BMW and then from Jacobs Civil Engineering. “Working”, unpaid, for General Aviation and supporting the community. Supporting vintage aviation as a committee member of the Historic Aircraft Association and the Vintage Aircraft Club. Helping to defend the continued use of airfields for aviation with the General Aviation Awareness Council and in particular historic Bicester Airfield. Helping to prevent the destruction of the countryside as a member of CPRE.

WHERE I LIVE: Bicester Fields Farm, Langford Village, Bicester.

WHO I LOVE: My brother and family.

HAPPIEST YEAR: Every year has both good times and not so good times but there has not been any whole year of pure happiness.

DARKEST MOMENT: Death of my father and trying to contact my brother, who was in Eastern Europe.

PROUDEST BOAST: I try not to boast about things as I’m usually part of a team. Receiving the Royal Aero Club Bronze medal in recognition for all the work I have tried to do for General Aviation was good though, as was getting my private pilot’s license in 1978.

WORST WEAKNESS: Virgo self criticism – can also be an advantage.

LESSONS LEARNED: Make sure you know where emails are really going to; I sent a reply to what I thought was one member of a small committee suggesting they were a bunch of “prima donnas”, only to find that it went to them all.

DULLEST JOB: And one of the noisiest; standing in a metal stamping building alongside the presses waiting for something to go wrong as part of my apprenticeship.

GREATEST SHAME: Flying through power cables and blanking out the finals of Wimbledon on television for many in surrounding villages. Lucky to be alive though.

LIFE LONG HERO: My father; A keen racing cyclist, started his career as a bricklayer, worked incredibly hard to bring up his family, finished as a Clerk of the Works. He was a real gentleman and, working with my mother, brought us up so well.

OLDEST FRIEND: My brother.

WIDEST SMILE: Almost every time I ride my bike: freedom, me and the bike at one flowing through the wonderful countryside and getting road position, gear selection and speed just right.

FAVOURITE DREAM: Try to live the dream, as you only get one shot at life. I’ve dreamed of travel to places around the world and been to most of them. I dreamed of flying and achieved that. I dreamed of sailing and had great fun in a small racing dinghy. I dreamed of going to the Isle of Man TT but never made that, although I did ride to the Manx Grand Prix a few years ago.

BIGGEST REGRET: Not finding out more and recording details about all those family members who have now passed on; now it is too late.