We’d firstly like to congratulate Lee Williams for passing his skills test this month, especially as he was unable to fly much this year, well done Lee!

Kev Bennett an SFS student married his fiancé Claire this month, congratulations to you both from everyone at the school!

Kev and Claire

Ken Magowan has completed the aerobatics course, he passed his exam with AL Cleaver and now has is AOPA Basic Aerobatics Certification.

Ground exams passed this month:

• Freddie Atac – Aircraft General Knowledge
• Chris Edwards – Communications and Navigation
• Lee Williams – Principles of Flight

Although the weather in February has slowed down our flying it hasn’t managed to ruin the enthusiasm which has still been high and carried us through the month. The persistent fog and haze has encouraged plenty of ground school.

We would like to congratulate Craig Parker who successfully passed his Skills Test along with our own instructor Kim Hampshire in renewing his IMC rating.

When we were lucky enough to get better weather Adam Knights and Rowland Slatter had a successful trip to Wellesbourne.

Here’s hoping for much improved weather in March.

New charts are now available to buy! Issue 39 valid from 7^th March – same price £16.00.

Particular mention must go to Dion Robertson, who rounded off the month with a successful Skill Test.  We extend our warm congratulations to Dion, who arrived at the School last Christmas with the intention of completing his PPL within a year and has done so.

Very many congratulations too, to Tony Waghorn for completing his First Solo flight.  That he enjoyed it (to say the least) can be seen clearly from the picture!

Staverton Flying School features heavily in an article on Gloucestershire Airport in this month’s Pilot magazine; still available in all good newsagents’!

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

Francis Sanderson – Air Law; Human Performance & Limitation

Kirk Daly – Meteorology

The School will be closing for Christmas on 22^nd December, and will re-open on Wednesday 2^nd January 2013.

May we take this opportunity to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New
Year.  We look forward to seeing you soon in 2013!

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

A recent visitor to the Skypark apron

We extend particular congratulations to Paul Jones who successfully completed his PPL Skill Test and to Peter Wood who obtained his IMC rating at the start of June.

On 24th June the School took part in the annual Gloucestershire Airport Open Day. We were slightly concerned that the initial drizzle would deter the crowds, but we needn’t have worried as the event was a great success as evidenced by the large numbers who attended. G-BFEK drew a queue of (very) young aviation enthusiasts keen to have their photo taken behind her controls, and G-BIMT and G-BEZO were used throughout the day for 15 minute trial lessons conducted by Richard Thwaites and Kim Hampshire. A huge thank you to all those who helped on the day, in particular to James Connolly, Richard Clark, Jamie Turner and Adam Knights who not only briefed the trial lesson students but also chatted to visitors and kept the children entertained!

Our stand at the Open Day (with friend!)

Back in the classroom, members passed the following exams in June 2012:

Craig Parker - Metereology

Richard Clark - Air Law, Human Performance and Limitation, Communications, and Navigation

Bob Pearce - The Aeroplane Technical

Mark Gwilt - Air Law

For those of you planning trips in July, a reminder that Olympic airspace restrictions start on Saturday 14th. The sanctions for infringing these are severe, so please make sure that you familiarise yourself with the restrictions in good time. Close to home, crossing procedures for the Brize Norton zone are also affected. We have the details at the School.

G-BEZO at White Waltham

Finally some fine weather! After what has seemed like months of grey and rain, we all enjoyed some fantastic flying opportunities in May.

The month started with Adam Knights finally getting the weather he’s been waiting for, meaning he successfully completed his Qualifying Cross Country. Adam visited Halfpenny Green and Sywell and reported that he thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

The month was then brought to a great end by Judith Wordsworth who passed her Skills Test. Everyone at SFS extends warm congratulations to her on this success.

Jamie Turner completed his trip to White Waltham and Craig Parker his to Coventry. Other members have jumped at the chance to take up lesson availability and self-fly hire opportunities during the sunny spell, meaning that the SFS aircraft (and instructors!) have been kept very busy this month.

On the ground, members have been just as busy, notching up the following exam successes:
Kirk Daly – Communications (written)
Alan Tague – The Aeroplane Technical
Jamie Turner – Radiotelephony (practical)
Gareth Fyles – Human Performance and Limitations
Ed Gait-Carr – Air Law

A reminder to everyone that Staverton Flying School will have a stand at the Airport Open Day on Sunday June 24th. We’ll be offering 15 minute trial lessons on the day, costing £45.00 per lesson, so please do bring along your friends and family.

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!

Race week passed by smoothly as the restrictions to flying were minimal and, in any case, persistent fog and haze during the month meant that many lessons were ground-based. The seemingly glorious sunshine at the end of the month brought poor visibility and haze with it, which presented an ideal opportunity for ground school and exams. Five exams were successfully completed, namely:

Dion Robertson – Navigation; Meteorology
Craig Parker – Navigation
Kirk Daly – Human Performance & Limitations
Jamie Turner – The Aircraft General & Principles of Flight

Our students had success in the air, too, in March. Paul Jones completed his Qualifying Cross Country at the start of the month, and Dion Robertson successfully completed his First Solo at the end of the month. Adam Knights has been trying to get his Qualifying Cross Country done, but has been consistently thwarted by the weather. Here’s hoping he is successful in April!

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.