After a long wait due to weather conditions we extend particular congratulations to David Woodward who successfully completed his PPL Skills Test!

We would also like to congratulate Dominic Collier for completing his night rating.

Back in the classroom congratulations to our members who passed ground exams in March:

• Lee Williams – Aircraft General Knowledge
• Simon Rnic – Air Law & Operational Procedures
• John Straw – Communications, Air Law & Meteorology
• Jace Clarke – Principles of Flight & Navigation
• Radiotelephony also passed by David Woodward, Jace Clarke and Alan Tague

With the clocks going back we can now start offering flying lessons in the evening – with the airport being open until 19:30. PPL’s, don’t forget that the airport is also open until 19:30 on weekends for self-fly hire.

Staverton Flying School’s Flying Order Book is now online at www.stavertonflyingschool.co.uk in the member’s area. The FOB has been updated for 2014 so all school members must read and sign the original document when next in the school.

Kim Hampshire won a flight in a Tiger Moth through Pilot magazine and took one of his enthusiastic students along as the official photographer, both had a fantastic day!

Whilst our new students got off to a solid start in April, those approaching the end of the PPL course were hampered by variable weather conditions. We had hoped that Adam Knights would achieve his Qualifying Cross-Country flight this month, and that Jamie Turner would complete his trip to White Waltham, but luck with the weather has not been on their side. However, on the theory side, students have yet again achieved excellent results. Exams passed in April were:

Rowland Slatter – Air Law
Jamie Turner – Flight Performance and Planning
Tim Van der Hooft – Meteorology
Bob Pearce – Meteorology
Ian Hollingsworth – IMC written exam
Kirk Daly – Navigation

The diary is filling up fast for May (Saturdays are now fully-booked, meaning we can take reserve bookings only), so please book early to avoid disappointment!

It feels like Winter has arrived now the clocks have gone back and we are able to start night flying. October was a busy month for exams, with Sarah Kenwright and Adam Knights both passing their Radiotelephony practical exams. Jamie Turner passed Human Performance and Comms exams, Paul Jones passed Flight Planning and Performance exam, Kirk Daly passed his Air Law and Bob Pearce passed his Comms exam, congratulations to them all.

Derek Greenaway and Kevin Fisher finally made it to Pembrey after having to turn back the first time due to low cloud. They detoured overhead Talgarth on the way home as Kevin sometimes does some gliding there. We have the Pembrey details at the school if anyone else would like to visit, its an interesting destination as the airfield is in a Military Air Weapons Range - PPR authorisation required 24 hours in advance!

James Conolly flew out to Shobdon earlier in the month too and Paul Jones visited Halfpenny Green, he kindly took this great photo of our aircraft Mike Tango with an airship going by.

Hopefully the weather will be good to us this month, we have two students ready to do Qualifying Cross Country trips so they’re just waiting for good conditions. Night flying is in full swing so anyone wanting to start their night rating please get in touch.

One of our students Tim Van der Hooft has had a particularly successful month. After passing his Air Law exam and then two weeks later passing his Human Performance written exam, he then went on to complete his first solo flight and accompanied one of our PPL’s Graeme Nisbet to Enstone all in one exciting day. And he did all this before he left to go off to university! We will see Tim again in the holidays and wish him well with his studies.

Another of our students Bob Pearce also completed his first solo and Sarah Kenwright passed her Skills test, congratulations to them both. Paul Jones flew out to Coventry earlier in the month and he can be seen pictured there with our aircraft BFEK above.

With the onset of winter and the clocks going back at the end of the month it is time to think about night flying, so anyone who is interested in getting a night rating, please get in touch and we can get you going on the course.

July has seen the team at Staverton Flying School helping yet more people to explore the skies! We were delighted to take Peter Standley (pictured left with instructor Tricia Nelmes) on a 60 minute trial flight to celebrate his 80th Birthday. Congratulations Peter, we hope we helped to make this special Birthday one to remember.

Aside from all the other trial flights we completed in July we were also excited to welcome some new aspiring pilots to the school too. We’re sure it won’t be long before we get to mention some of their achievements in our monthly newsletters.

Of course our existing students have done us proud once again. Congratulations to Jamie Turner for getting out on his first solo flight, a truly exhilarating experience! Another solo success was Judith Wordsworth who completed her first solo land-away at Halfpenny Green.

There’s also been more exam accomplishments with Paul Jones passing both his Aircraft Technical and Navigation exams. Bob Pearce achieved some further outstanding scores this time on the subject of Human Performance & Limitations. While Tim McMullan passed his IMC exam.

To go along with this ground school news we’ve had our fair share of PPL trips to report back on too. Jonathan Maddocks flew out to Shobdon, both Dominic Collier and Paul South visited Welshpool, with Paul then following up that trip with a flight to Kemble, and finally Tim McMullan landed at Halfpenny Green.

August looks set to be another busy month so let’s hope the good weather continues.

COMING SOON! We’re also looking ahead to September when we’re planning a special event at Staverton Flying School. Details will be posted up in the school shortly and we’ll be sending out email invitations too, so if your not already on our mailing list then please subscribe at the bottom of our website page to ensure you don’t miss out.

Staverton Flying School had a stand in the main terminal hangar, where G-EK was on show. We had lots of visitors who wanted to take a closer look inside a light aircraft and of course chat to us about planes and flying – our favourite subject!

For those that wanted to really experience the thrills of flying we were able to give them a short taster in the form of a 15 minute trial flying lesson. Our instructors Kim Hampshire and Richard Thwaites were kept busy with lots of people keen to sit behind the controls and see the sights from 1500 feet. And it wasn’t just our instructors that got involved; all the pre-flight briefings were completed by our very own students, Duncan Stephenson, Adam Knights and Paul Jones. Thanks to you all for helping make the day so much fun and such a success.

You can see a photo of our stand and some of the team above, and a few more photos from the day in our gallery section at the bottom of the page.

All in all, a brilliant event in aid of the extremely worthy cause; Help for Heroes.

Our first congratulations must go to Duncan Stephenson who after finishing his skills test has now gained his PPL, great news!

We’ve also had two successes in the ground school exams with Adam Knights passing both his Navigation and Technical tests, and Craig Parker securing his Human Performance and Limitations exam. Well done to both of them.

It seems that Halfpenny Green is the destination of choice in June; Frank Lauriello, Peter Paul and Dominic Collier have all been out on PPL trips there. In addition, and after a long wait for suitable weather conditions, Judith Wordsworth flew out to visit White Waltham with Kathryn, our Chief Flying Instructor. You can see a photo of Judith with our aircraft G-MT above.

We’re also delighted to share news from one of our former PPL students, Ian Hollingsworth. He took a trip out to Turweston where he collected his new Robin Alpha 160A aircraft, which can be seen looking very impressive in the photo above. Shortly afterwards he completed his first solo flight, which we’re sure will be the beginning of a long list of future flights. Happy flying Ian! We’ll be looking out for you around the Gloucestershire airways and of course we’ll see lots more of your new plane in its new home – the hangar next to the school.

Now, if you’re reading this on our website and you haven’t already seen it in your email inbox, then why not sign up at the bottom of the page for our newsletter. That way you’ll get the latest news from Staverton Flying School and be right up to speed with all our students’ progress.

Until next time…

All our students have been progressing well and so there are congratulations in order for many of them.

Alan Tague went out on his first solo flight, and after a long wait for suitable weather conditions Duncan Stephenson achieved his qualifying cross country flight to Cardiff and Halfpenny Green, well done to both of them.

We’ve also had three students go on PPL trips; Bob Mulkerrin went out to Halfpenny Green, David Locke flew to Wellesbourne and Derek Greenaway went out on a sightseeing trip to Haverfordwest.

To add to all those flying achievements we’ve also have several students pass their ground school exams; Bob Pearce passed his Air Law, Adam Knights successfully achieved his Aircraft Technical exam and Alan Tague got his Communications qualification. Congratulations to all of them.

Some other exciting news for two of our other students too; Chris Hunt and Chris Armitage, accompanied by Graeme Nisbet, have flown out in our BEZO aircraft to Pansanger to collect their new TB10 aircraft. No doubt they will be busy having fun flying in their new plane of the coming months. We look forward to seeing them around the Gloucestershire airways soon!

Well, that’s about it for this month. As always we’re excited for more flying in June and will be busy with both our current students and those who come to experience trial flights. We also have the Gloucestershire Airport Charity Open Day to look forward on Sunday, 3rd July. We’ll have a stand there, so if you make it along please come and say hello.

Finally don’t forget, if you know someone who is currently learning or would like to experience a flight in light aircraft then why not check out our website where you can purchase both trial flying lesson vouchers as well as gift vouchers towards tuition fees.