forum member Mike (Mike Branford)

[andygolfer]

Some of you may be aware that Mike and I are the co-admins on Civilian Aviation the civilian counterpart of FC and are thus very good friends.

I'm very sorry to have to inform you that I had a call from Mike's wife Sandie earlier this morning to say that Mike died in his sleep during Monday night. She has asked me to inform the memberships of the forums that Mike frequented - sadly I doubt I know all of them.

I'm certain that our collective condolences go to Sandie and family at such a sad time. I'm sure all that knew him well will miss him sorely and FC (and CA) will be a poorer place for his passing. Over 22k posts says a great deal about his dedication to the forum.

He was a wonderful guy and I had great laughs with him both as a friend and as my co-admin, unfortunately he was far more knowledgeable than me on the admin side and that's going to leave a big hole in CA but I will soldier on best I can with Paul assisting me.

RIP Mike and thanks for all your help
Andy

[Nighthawke]

Very sad news indeed - another stalwart passes on. Thank you Mike and RIP.

[Blackcat1]

R.I.P. Mike

[Pune]

Very sad news indeed, please pass on my condolences.

[H.A.Bucken]

Is that the Mike whose Forum c/s was simply "Mike", latterly posting movements up North, especially Inverness? I wondered why he wasn't online this morning.
I'm so sorry to hear this news; I did PM a couple of times about my observations on the FC Forum as I believed him to be a founder member. Indeed he had been, but on the re-creation of Fighter Control he stood back from administrative duties. I know not anything of him personally other than he was very well respected.
My thoughts go out to his wife and family.
R.I.P
Roger

[andygolfer]

Yes Roger, that's him . It's a sad day for this and civilian aviation, he was a key figure in the formation of both forums
Andy

[Mark Owen]

RIP Mike.

Regards.

Mark.

[garyscott]

A loss to the community as a whole, god bless Mike. Condolences to the family at this most painful time.

[Plane enthuiast]

RIP Mike my condolences and thoughts to his family and friends

[Thunder]

Lost for words . Despite living not that far from him, I only met him a handful of times in person. It was on here that we communicated frequently not just about local air movements but quite often the gripes about daily living in Inverness

I for one will miss him not only for his knowledge but his particular sense of humour and sarcasm.

Thanks for all the “heads up”, over the years Mike it was greatly appreciated

[turbosix]

I had the pleasure of meeting him at Waddington Airshow many years ago. He was a lovely man. This is very sad news.

[Blackcat1]

Wasn't he the best spell checker in the UK?

[Condor68]

Had a few wind ups with him sadly didnt get to meet him.Will miss these interludes.

R.I.P. Mike

Keith

[Callum1998]

Very sad news. Thoughts go out to his family.

RIP Mike

[Steven]

Absolutely shocked and genuinely saddened to read this news.

A true pedantry prince (meant as a compliment of course!) - I don't think there was anyone quite like him on the forum and whilst he certainly had his run ins with plenty of people on FC and elsewhere I personally found him to be a thoroughly decent chap and will miss his presence on the forum and his amusing messages in my inbox.

Bless you, Mike.

Edit: I was thinking of moving this thread to the Mess so that more people could be made aware of the news but then I imagined Mike would have certainly reported it as being in the wrong section so I suppose it's a better tribute to Mike that it remains here in the correct section

[Yunglee]

Really sad news
My condolences to his family & friends

Lee

[Punkrunner62]

RIP Mike, always enjoyed reading his posts on FC, will be sadly missed by many on the forum, my sympathies to his Family and Friends.

[BOLLO]

That's a damn shame to hear.Rest easy fella.

[Morseman]

RIP AR

[dannyboyo20]

Very sad news to hear. Sending condolences to his family and friends. Rest in peace Mike, blue skies sir.