Jetex.org: History - Hall of Fame: Ian Dowsett




		Designers Hall of Fame


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	Ian Dowsett Many indeed are the aeromodellers who first discovered the unique pleasure of Jetex flying through launching a design by Ian Dowsett. From his first kits for Wilmot Mansour, Hotdog and the Jetex 200 Contest Model, through a veritable fly-past of successful duration models and Jetex helicopters, Ian Dowsett made an extensive contribution to the Jetex movement that earns him a deservedly esteemed place in the Jetex Hall of Fame. Ian's plans on the Jetex.org website include: Arrow 50 Fizzle Quick Fizzle-bug Ian began his working career at International Model Aircraft Limited, manufacturers of the innovative FROG range, as a model maker in the experimental department, making kit models and test flying them. In 1949, he was offered the role of Junior Designer for Jetex at Wilmot, Mansour and Co. Ltd., under their Chief Designer Harold Figgins, at their Totton factory in Southampton. Ian's Hotdog, released in 1949 for the newly-introduced Jetex 50, was to be Wilmot Mansour's first Jetex contest kit. He then designed the 200 Contest Model, which was kitted in 1951. He also designed most of the Jeticopters including the twin 50, twin 100 and a twin 350 demonstration model. Ian participated in initial development work on the ambitious twin 50 SARO A/1 fighter seaplane. With the same team he was also involved in designing a twin 50 Canberra that regrettably never made it into production. Ian left Wilmot Mansour in 1951 to join the RAF, but this was by no means the end of his aeromodelling career. In that same year, he won the Northern Heights Gala Helicopter trophy with his own Jetex 200 helicopter. During his three-year stint in the RAF, he won the F1B Wakefield event and the RAF Jetex Championship. We have a separate page listing Ian's contest achievements. Though a leading designer and flyer of Jetex models, he told Aeromodeller at the time of publication of the Arrow plans in 1953 that his main interest was in Wakefields, having been a member of the British Wakefield team in 1951. After leaving the RAF, Ian's skills enabled him to take up paid employment making display models for air shows and museums. His next career move was into producing architectural and prototype models for the prestigious architectural firm of Sir Norman Foster, before finishing his working life teaching Model Making and Industrial Design History at the Royal College of Art in London. Right throughout his working career and since, Ian has maintained a very active involvement in the aeromodelling scene.		Ian Dowsett with his interesting needlenose Jetex 200 design that placed 10th in the [1951] Jetex Contest. - Aeromodeller Annual, 1951 (p. 145) Ian Dowsett featured on an Aeromodeller cover in 1970, launching his monster helicopter - Aeromodeller, June 1970 Ian Dowsett, in patriotic headgear, prepares his 3rd placed 80g Wakefield model at Middle Wallop in December 1999. - Aeromodeller, Feb. 2000


	Acknowledgements Notes from Ian Dowsett; additional research by Bill Henderson

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