personal profiles

Meet Brian Collins

Brian is 38 years old and lives in Whickham near Newcastle, UK. He has only been into the hobby for 8 months or so. Brian had a really bad motorcycle accident last year, and is now paralysed from the waist down. As a result, he is wheelchair-bound for the rest of his life so all of his modelling, whether building or flying, is conducted from his wheelchair.

Brian builds all of his models on his lap! So far he has built a 56" i/c 40 powered trainer, the Bobcat. He also has a Picojet, Twinstar and a Mirage 2000-5 and is building the new Multiplex Cargo and a Ripmax electric Spitfire (he promises photos of these on another occasion). He has also just had a Galaxy Models Aerojet 600 aerobatic model delivered so reckons that lot should keep him busy over the winter! On top of all that, Brian is also in the middle of organising an indoor swapmeet up in the northeast of England, as he feels there seems to be a distinct lack of events there. He has just started a new job, and is in the middle of moving house. "You could say I am rather busy at present", he says - that sounds a bit of an under-statement!

"I love this hobby with a passion. It has given me a purpose in life. I can build my models in my spare room giving the brain some exercise and it gets me out of the house in the warmer weather. Having said that I took these pictures for you on a freezing cold damp Saturday in November!! [see photo gallery]

"I have joined a local club, the Newcastle Model Flying Club, and also a new spin-off club which only flies electric models. I find electric much easier (and cleaner) to operate from my chair, but I have to say it's a little restrictive with constant worries regarding power, duration, weight, etc. But with technology improving very fast it is getting better all the time. Thanks to the club I have made one or two good friends, such as Tony Whiteley who has been great in giving me lessons and advice. I learnt the basics simply by using flight simulators on my pc. I say basics because to me that's all they do give you, the basics, and even that took me hours and hours. But there is no doubt the sims have really helped me. I am ready to take my A certificate after only about a dozen flights or so at the electrics field."

Right now, Brian is talking to a couple of the model publications regarding writing/contributing on a regular basis. "Certainly," he says, " if I can do quite well flying from a wheelchair it can prove that anyone can get into this great hobby, even those people with a disability, and that has to be very good news". It will be interesting to see if any of them take him on.

Brian gave me the 'thumbs-up' to publish his e-mail address, so that if anyone wants to e-mail him regarding his modelling with a disability they are welcome to do so. He's on bricol@blueyonder.co.uk

Join in the fun, send ModelFlight an e-mail and tell us about yourself, your family, hobbies and interests, what you do for a living, how long you've been model-making, what club you belong to, etc. - in fact as much or as little as you see fit. Include a picture of yourself if you can.

Your e-mail address will be shown unless you specifically ask for it not to appear. Picture files ideally need to be in JPG format for best colour reproduction and to minimise time on-line.

If you want to send me pictures by conventional mail, my address is

Reg Heath, 60 South View Gardens, Andover, Hants, SP10 2AQ, UK

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