Aerobility Christmas Closure

The Aerobility office will be closed for Christmas from the end of the day on Saturday 21st December until we return on Thursday 2nd January.

Should you have any questions or require assistance, please email us at info@aerobility.com and we will get back to you as soon as we can.

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year - see you in 2014!

The First Aerobility Flyers Party!

Friends, we are pleased to announce the new social event of the year.. The Aerobility Flyers Party! 

Please see below for a message from event organiser and long-standing Aerobility friend, Simon Rapkin. If you are interested in coming, please register your interest with Simon ASAP to give us an idea of numbers. Further details to follow in the new year.....

Aerobility Flyers Party

With the Aviators Ball doing brilliantly raising funds for Aerobility and introducing the aviation community to us and what we do – it is high time to do a secondary annual event specifically for the people who are directly involved with Aerobility and hopefully previous members of the BDFA too including ex members, helpers, volunteers and their friends and families and especially those have flown and do fly with us!!

The Aerobility Flyers Party will take place at the beginning of the season in March and the first one will take place in the London area. The price will make it accessible (being all at cost price) to all with a meal, great music, dancing, cheap drinks and lots of fun guaranteed till late but most importantly this will be the opportunity to meet and have fun with past and present Flyers and supporters and all the people who make the magic happen – we want you ALL to be there!!

The Date, timings, venue and reasonably priced accommodation details will follow shortly.

To register your interest and get your names on a list to attend – please email Simon Rapkin simon@foodevents.co.uk

Really cant wait to see you all there in March.

Simon

Christmas Simulator Open Day

We had the first of our Christmas Simulator Open Days yesterday and had a great time! Come along next Tuesday for mince pies, flying, and Christmas fun...!

Student Report: First Land Away - A Success!

Cliff has been working hard on his PPL training and we're very pleased to report that he completed his first land away last week. Below, he tells us how he got on!

My first land away

After completing my first solo circuit and local flight, I was eager to experience more. All those hours doing ground school and driving home with my head spinning from information overload was starting to pay off! As I slowly started putting everything together, it all started to make sense. The planning was the hard part and the flying was the easy and enjoyable part.

When my Instructor said it was time to do my first solo land away, I was eager to get going but also knew that prior flight planning had to be perfect to meet the high standard Aerobility set. When I was let loose on G-Tale the excitement was great – I was finally in control but also knew there would be no prompting from an instructor if things went wrong. It was time to man up!


After completing the necessary pre take-off checks I taxied to runway 25. Everything felt calm and smooth and before I knew it, I was in the Blackbushe overhead on my way to Goodwood passing through the Farnborough ATZ on a glorious English day (i.e. grey skies). Still, everything was going well and the journey down to Goodwood was great.  When I joined overhead I felt that something must be wrong as things were going too well. Had I missed something? Still, I carried on and the final approach was good. Then it happened... I touched down!  On a grass field I could feel the bumps and the plane slide ever so slightly from damp grass. I couldn't believe that I’d made it.  I parked G-TALE and quickly paid the landing fee (£18), conscious I couldn’t delay the return trip too long as the day was getting on and I knew I had to be back by sunset. A quick toilet stop to get rid of any last minute nerves (oh dear) and I was back in the air on my way back to Blackbushe.   The journey back was something I’d not expected as the world started to come alive with the lights of towns beginning to glow and airfields from all directions looked so colourful. It is an experience that most people will never see.

After landing back in Blackbushe on Runway 07 I knew that this was only the start and I still have more land away flights to do. I can’t wait! All the ground school and pre-flight planning fills your head quickly with a lot of information. But it makes you a better pilot and I find myself wanting to learn more to see what else is out there.

Cliff’s top-tip:  After flying, when you’re driving home, why not practice your RT calls, pretending that as you join a new road/area/suburb that you have to change frequency and/or obtain a service from a different station.

Christmas Simulator Open Days: Thursday 12th and Tuesday 17th December

With festive cheer all around, Aerobility are getting in the Christmas spirit and opening our doors even wider than usual! On Thursday 12th December and Tuesday 17th December, the simulator will be available for use all day with Volunteer Simulator Operators on hand to show you how its done. 

So, whether you're an aviation-pro or a complete newbie, come down and say hello! There might even be a few mince pies lying around.. Email Geri (geri@aerobility.com) with any questions or to register your interest. 

We hope to see lots of you soon!

Winter Aviation Evenings

With winter well and truly upon us now, we're pleased to announce that we will be running a series of Winter Aviation Evenings. It may be dark and windy outside but that's no reason to miss out on your aviation fix!

The Winter Aviation Evenings are a chance to get together with like minded aviation enthusiasts, meet new Aerobility friends and generally learn more about aviation. We are securing guest speakers to give lectures and workshops on all things aviation and we will be publishing the programme shortly. 

We currently have a provisional programme of dates for Winter Aviation Evenings at Blackbushe and Tatenhill, which are our two main operating bases. However, we would like to hold evenings across the UK and so we are looking for a bit of help! If you think you might be able to host an evening at your local airfield, or know of an interesting aviator that might like to speak, or just want to help out and spread the word then please email Geri (geri@aerobility.com) or give us a call on the number below.