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.

August has passed and so has the official end of summer, many would say what summer? Thankfully we’ve still been getting out and about and there have been lots of student achievements again this month.

Graeme Nisbet flew out to Wellesbourne on a PPL trip and Peter Paul headed out to Welshpool. Halfpenny Green remains a popular destination for PPL trips with both Derek Greenaway and Andy Mellor flying there.

There have been plenty of exam successes too. Congratulations to Judith Wordsworth and Paul Jones who passed there Met exams, to Alan Tague who achieved his Navigation exam and Adam Knights who passed the Flight Planning and Performance test.

We’re now looking forward to 17^th September when we have our Annual Summer BBQ. And this is one event that the weather can’t spoil as we’ve always got the coverage of the hangar next door should we need it. If you’d like to come along and you’ve not yet let us know, then please email confirming your attendance to info@stavertonflyingschool.co.uk.

Next month we’ll be posting photos of the BBQ and reporting back on more student achievements.

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…

The warmest April on record for 100 years certainly brought us some good weather, although all that heat did harbour some poor visibility conditions. That didn’t hold us back though!

During April our students have achieved some great results. Derek Moore gained his PPL qualification. Duncan Stephenson passed his RT exam and is continuing well with his PPL training. We also had three students who all achieved their first solo flights; Craig Parker, Millie Joines and Paul Jones. Well done and congratulations to them all.

We have a busy May planned with new students joining and lots of trial lessons happening. Don’t forget to sign up to our newsletter to ensure you’re first to hear the latest from Staverton Flying School.

At the beginning of this year Staverton Flying School, became Staverton Flying School @ Skypark Ltd. Kathryn Williams took over as Chief Flying Instructor and we moved our headquarters to a brand new, state of the art building and hanger further down the airfield.

The first few months have been a very busy time, with lots of trial flights happening and new students joining. The weather has held us up a bit but we’re hoping that spring/summer is now on its way and that lots of perfect weather flying conditions are ahead of us. The good news is that now the clocks have gone forward our students get some extra time in the late afternoons for more practice.

Our team of instructors has been strengthen even further recently with the additions of Kim Hampshire and Richard Thwaites. Both Kim and Richard have a wealth of aviation experience, so we’re delighted to have them join us.

Other news, congratulations to Tim McMullan on gaining his Night Rating qualification and to all our pilots that have landed away recently. David Locke has been to Halfpenny Green and Shobdon. Frank Lauriello has also been to Halfpenny Green, as well as visiting Old Sarum and Compton Abbas. Ian Hollingsworth has been to Oxford, and finally Graeme Nisbet has visited Compton Abbas and Shobdon, along with Chris Hunt.

Here’s hoping to some more great flying over the next few weeks and some wonderful weather!