ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Darren Lewington has been fascinated by aviation for as long as he can remember. His Dad was an engineer based at Southend Airport and the Heralds, Viscounts and Carvairs plying their cross-channel trade were the soundtrack to his childhood. He’d take him every Sunday to the Historic Aircraft Museum there as a precursor to a lunchtime pint with his workmates and the die was cast. It was inevitable Darren would end up in aviation.
A regular ’spotter’ throughout his teenage years, Darren unsuccessfully applied to British Airways’ pilot scholarship in 1987 and fell into as an ATC Assistant. He eventually trained to become a Controller, successfully validating at Southend in 1993, before relocating to Gloucestershire, Staverton, spending 24 years there, rising through the management ranks to Ops. Director at the busiest general aviation airport in the UK.
Darren gained a Private Pilot’s Licence in 1996 with a log book including types as diverse as Tiger Moth, Stampe and Stearman, right up to Jet Provost and Spitfire, plus had right hand seat and passenger trips in everything from balloons, gliders, turboprops, bizjets, airliners and even Southend Museum’s Hawker Sea Fury. He currently part-owns a Cub and a Vans RV8. He has also flown air-to-air photo sorties with a variety of civil and military types including Avro Vulcan, XH558.
A volunteer trustee for aviation charities including fly2help and the Jet Age Museum has been instrumental in making the latter’s building project come to fruition. Awarded a Royal Aeronautical Society President’s fellowship in 2017 and is currently the part time UK Chief Instructor at Global ATS, one of only 2 ATC Colleges in the UK.
Darren met my wife at Gloucestershire Airport outside Cheltenham, plus his business partner, Daren Hales. They founded Aerotiques Ltd in 2016 and it’s been a labour of love for them both.
ABOUT AEROTIQUES LTD
Aerotiques' aim is to bring the art of aviation into your life.
Darren always had the notion of, some day, having a piece of an aeroplane on display somewhere in his home and office. He'd frequently driven past the dilapidated Beech Duke, unceremoniously dumped on the airport's fire training ground and made a mental note to take that propeller spinner off and polish it up.
Shortly before Christmas in 2015, while carrying out a routine airfield inspection, he was surprised to see the spinner missing. Taking a detour via the airport's maintenance department, enquiries were made and the, somewhat sheepish answer, "Err, Daren wants to talk to you about that..." was elicited...
A few days later, Daren H appears in Darren L's office clasping a beautifully polished spinner and proudly stating, "I've got some ideas..." Aerotiques was born.
The duo quickly combined their passion for aviation and flair for design and set about sourcing a supply of materials and components to transform into aviation art and practical furniture.
The concept isn't entirely new, with 'upcycling' being the buzzword in design at the time, but Aerotiques seeks to produce unique, bespoke pieces combining the sleek, flowing aerodynamic lines of aircraft components with the highest quality materials to produce a wide range of exceptional quality objects suitable for all budgets and locations.
From large, boardroom centrepieces, through functional furniture to simple, aviation-themed gifts, the pair want the end user to enjoy the products as much as they enjoy creating them.
Daren H says; "Sourcing, repairing and preparing our pieces is very time consuming. We want that work that goes into them to inspire our clients."
Darren L added; "Almost anything aeronautical will have clean, sleek, aerodynamic lines and our aim is to take those iconic shapes and bring them into our clients' homes and businesses. Saving old aeroplanes, otherwise destined for scrap, means the beauty of flight will live on."
Recycling old aeroplanes is probably one of the most environmentally friendly things you can do. The irony of the fact our pieces come from aircraft - not generally known for their green credentials - is not lost on us.
Wherever possible, we try to use recycled packing materials to ship our pieces too and we encourage you to do the same! Should be a very interesting talk in JUNE...