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20
WING
SPAN
NOVEMBER
HERITAGE MEANS EVERYTHING TO MODELLER ROSS WOODCOCK
FROM the very first time 12-year-
old Ross Woodcock heard a
model aeroplane soaring above
his head, he set his sights on
flying.
That was in 1950 and ever since, he
has stuck to his dream to fly and
build model aeroplanes.
In fact, he was so passionate about
pursuing his dream of flying, he
even landed an apprenticeship
with de Havilland in Bankstown in
1953 before taking up a full-time
position with Qantas in 1959.
Like most clarion moments, when
Mr Woodcock first heard the
sounds of a control-line engine
overhead, he was in no position to
act.
He and his family were in a
cemetery in Windsor, central
New South Wales, checking out
gravestones to trace their family
tree.
But less than two years later, the
young Ross and his mates were
regularly flying their hand-made
balsa planes in local parks.
Their fanaticism was catching and
it took father Les Woodcock no
time at all to realise the scope of
the sport extended further than the
local park.
“Dad was of the belief that for you
to belong, you had to take part,
which is why he started up the
Epping District Model Flying Club,”
Ross said.
“As a 15-year-old at my very
first NSW state association club
meeting, I still recall a major
subject of discussion was how to
include juniors in activities and get
them involved – which is still up for
discussion today.
“Back then, the aeroplane model
luminaries were all in their late 40s
or 50s and that’s the same today
– nothing’s changed in the sport’s
appeal.”
Although the sport still attracts
both young and old, Ross said flying
was becoming more accessible to
the time-poor but cash rich rookies
who could buy an aircraft off the
shelf.
“Today, you don’t have to be a
modeller to be a model flyer,” he
said.
“But I am from the old school and I
still believe that to be a real flyer,
you have to build your own.
“It can be all too easy today to buy
a ready-built plane off the shelf
which means the only equity some
have invested is the price they
paid, so when the novelty wears off,
they move on to the next fad.”
Flying was never a fad for Ross,
who counted the sport in his top
two life priorities along with wife of
55 years, Margaret.
His dedicated determination for
model aeroplanes was evident
when he led a team of Qantas
retirees and apprentices to build
two full-sized Avro 504 (Dyak) craft
in time for the 1988 bicentennial
air show at Richmond in Sydney.
The Avro is now housed in the
Qantas domestic terminal at
Sydney Airport and the other at
the Qantas Founders Museum at
Longreach.
While working at Qantas, Ross also
built a quarter-sized DH50 for the
Royal Flying Doctors. After retiring,
he built a quarter-sized replica of
the Southern Cross, now housed in
the US.
pioneer’s lasting
legacy