John Grover, Harvey Schwartz and Christopher Hamshaw Thomas were consultants to the Civil Aviation Authority, the Air Registration Board and the FAA respectively and were concerned by the standard of advice being given by some consultants. John discussed the possibilities of an association such as the BAAC being a separate section of the Royal Aeronautical Society, with Dr. Archie Ballantyne, the then Secretary to the Society. The enthusiastic Dr. Ballantyne put his proposal to the Council but it was not accepted, chiefly because of the problems with linking a learned, chartered, body with aspects of a commercial enterprise. Undeterred, Dr. Ballantyne discussed the proposals with the Society’s long-time solicitor, Lawrence Wingfield.
Lawrie Wingfield was an even more enthusiastic aviator than Ballantyne, having been the original Clerk to the Guild of Air Pilots and Air Navigators. He rebuilt the Guild virtually single handed following the deaths of almost the entire Court of the Guild in the crash of the R101 Airship. With his characteristic zeal he suggested the appropriate procedures, drew up a constitution and, in company with Grover and Ballantyne, called a series of meetings at the Royal Aeronautical Society’s premises at Hamilton Place.