To kick off the month, the SFS fly-away day to Aero Expo in Sywell was a great success. Instructors, students and PPL’s had a productive and fun day out with everyone flying a leg to or from Sywell.

With the continued good weather Staverton flying school has helped many people take to the skies with trial lessons this month and we’re pleased to welcome those who have joined the school to start their PPL’s. Aside from the many trial lessons this month we congratulate Lee Williams for completing his qualifying cross-country. Our PPL’s have also been making the most of the fantastic weather.

Chris Greenhalgh had an extremely enjoyable trip to Llanbedr. Andy Young enjoyed his local trip to take photos of crop circles near Defford. Ian Hollingsworth flew into Goodwood’s festival of speed.

Kathryn and a previous SFS student Jamie Turner flew  to Le Touquet for lunch.

As well as a busy month flying, well done to those who have passed ground exams:

• Freddie Atac – Meteorology & Principles of Flight
• Alex Busby – Navigation & Flight Performance and Planning
• Chris Edwards – Flight Performance and Planning

Project propeller was a great success on Saturday 22^nd and reunited 163 WWII Veterans!!

Spitfire and Hurricane flypast for Project Propeller!

There are a few spaces left on the next SFS fly away day to Newquay on Sunday 10^th August. Give us a call if you would like to take the opportunity and to meet other SFS members.

July and August look to be busy if the good weather continues.

 

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!

This was followed by some basic water survival skills and life raft training.   The unanimous verdict was that the training was not only a fun day out but that extremely useful tips to surviving a ditching in the sea had been learned.  A full account of the day’s activities and lessons learned can be found by following the ‘news’ link on our website  www.stavertonflyingschool.co.uk.

At the end of the month, Staverton Flying School was delighted to fly with the first recipient of a newly-established Air Cadet award, set up by the family of the late Flight Lieutenant ‘Dit’ Thomas RAFVR(T), Officer Commanding No 614 (Lydney) Squadron, Air Training Corps.  Each year a Cadet will be chosen by the Squadron to receive a 30 minute flying lesson and Staverton Flying School looks forward to a long and successful affiliation with this award. 

Amongst our members, we congratulate the following successes achieved in October:

Rowland Slatter – First Solo

Kirk Daly – First solo landaway

Dion Robertson – Qualifying Cross Country, RT practical

Craig Parker – Qualifying Cross Country

Written Exams:          

Dion Robertson – Performance & Planning (100%), Aeroplane Technical

Rowland Slatter – Communications (100%)

David Savage – Human Performance & Limitations, Communications

Bob Pearce –  Performance & Planning

Slots are still available for night flying training, so please do contact us to make a booking (please note, however, that the airfield closes at 1930 Mon-Fri and 1800 on Saturday / Sunday).

The weather was not so kind to Kim Hampshire, Kirk Daly and Rowland Slatter who made the trip to Duxford for an AOPA Bonus Day at the end of the month. Although the weather prevented them from making the trip by air as planned, they braved the 3-hour car journey to get there and reported having a great day out with some memorable presentations, especially that of Cliff Spink, a retired RAF Air Marshal who has flown a remarkable variety of aircraft during his long and distinguished career and is now a Spitfire display pilot, and who has many amusing and captivating anecdotes to share.

Back at the School, we congratulate our members on the following achievements this month:

First Solo – David Savage

Ground Exams – James Lingard: Human Performance and Limitations; Meteorology
David Savage: Air Law
Tony Waghorn: Human Performance and Limitations
Craig Parker: Radio Telephony (practical)
Tim Van Der Hooft: Aeroplane Technical; Performance and Planning

We extend a warm welcome to Heli Air as they moved into the Skypark Hangar this month. As with the barbecue, the weather smiled down on Heli Air on Saturday 22nd September as they launched their new Gloucester base with a flourish. The Skypark apron was packed with a number of helicopters throughout their Opening Event and it was great to see so much interest in both fixed wing and rotary aircraft come together in one place.

Looking ahead to October, we are now taking bookings for night flying for any PPLs who are interested in adding a night rating to their licence – book now to make the most of the dark nights.

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.

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.