We extend our congratulations to Mark Gwilt on achieving his First Solo flight and to Jamie Turner who, having waited for some time for a break in the weather to achieve his Qualifying Cross Country flight, completed the trip this month.   His route included a leg to Cardiff so it was perfect timing that he completed the trip the day before the Olympic events started at the Millennium Stadium and airspace restrictions came into play!

Successful Licence Skills Tests were flown by David Nicholson and Shane Touhey, and Jonathan Maddocks successfully completed his IMC Skills Test (ironically on one of the best weather days July had to offer).

On the ground, the following exams were passed this month:

Craig Parker – Performance & Planning

Rowland Slatter – Human Performance & Limitations

 Jonathan Maddocks – IMC written

Tim Van Der Hooft -  Communications

Tony Waghorn – Air Law

Richard Clark – Meteorology

The Staverton Flying School barbeque will be held on Saturday 8^th September this year and we’re looking forward to seeing many of you at what promises to be a great evening.  Partners are welcome and it’s free food and drink! RSVP to info@stavertonflyingschool.co.uk

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!

The silver lining of these particular clouds was, however, that no fewer than 7 written exams were passed this month (including a 100% pass for Dion Robertson in his Human Factors and Performance exam).  Additionally, Paul Jones and Judith Wordsworth each passed their RTF practical exam.

Special congratulations go to Benedict Newman who rounded off the month by successfully completing his First Solo flight.

With the arrival of BST on 25th March, the opportunity for night flying has, realistically, passed.  We are still able to offer IMC training, though, so do get in touch if you’d like to add this to your existing PPL.

On the subject of PPL holders, did you know that the SFS aircraft are available to members to hire for self-fly hire on a Sunday?  Just ‘phone or drop in to make a booking.

However, once the weather calmed down, we had some really productive days of flying. Jamie Turner had a busy January as he not only completed landaways to Shobdon and Coventry, but also passed his Navigation exam.

On the same day as Jamie’s landaway at Coventry, Adam Knights completed his landaway at White Waltham. These landaways were achieved using the same aircraft on a busy Saturday, so SFS really has been making the most of the flying opportunities!

We were also represented at the Gloucestershire Airport Leisure Event held in the Terminal Building on 21st and 22nd January. Kathryn was pleased to see that there is a high level of interest in learning to fly, so we hope to be welcoming more students in the near future.

Welcome back after the festive break; hopefully everyone is feeling refreshed and full of vigour for a great year’s flying.

December already seems a long time ago but even though it was a short month in terms of flying days, students and PPLs made the most of the available days. We were pleased to welcome back some ‘old’ faces who returned to flying in December 2011, and we were delighted to welcome new students too.

Successes during the month included the excellent results achieved by Alan Tague in his Met exam and Judith Wordsworth in her Technical exam. Particular mention and congratulations must go to Kirk Daly who completed his First Solo on 9th December.

Jonathan Maddocks received some fantastic news in December 2011 with the offer of a place in the British Airways Future Pilot Programme; selection for such a sought-after place is a tremendous achievement and will no doubt be an inspiration to many of our students. We extend our warm congratulations to him.

The flying programme for January is already filling up fast, so please don’t hesitate to call to book your lessons if you’d like to fly this month. It’s not too early to book for February, either.

We look forward to seeing you in 2012.