Mike enjoyed his first Aerobility flight!

Mike used to be in the RAF and was a keen flyer. For the past few years he has been living with Alzheimer's. His daughter brought him to Aerobility yesterday for a flight with our chief flying instructor James Brown. 

Mike thoroughly enjoyed being back in the flying seat and will be returning again soon!

Help for Heroes launch new 'Hidden Wounds' service

The new Help for Heroes Hidden Wounds psychological wellbeing service has been launched  to help veterans, their families and the families of those who are serving, manage and overcome the everyday challenges of living with anxiety, depression and stress.

This service is delivered by H4H Psychological Wellbeing Practitioners (PWPs) with knowledge of the Armed Forces community and support is easily accessible from around the country as sessions generally take place over the phone.

Hidden Wounds also welcome calls from those who are worried about a loved one they think may benefit from contact with the H4H Hidden Wounds service.

For more information about this service visit http://www.helpforheroes.org.uk/get-support/access-h4h-hidden-wounds

To chat to someone about whether Hidden Wounds can help you, please get in touch with the H4H Hidden Wounds team between 9am and 5pm, Monday to Friday.

Tel: 01980 844 300
E-mail: hidden.wounds@helpforheroes.org.uk

Touring Group meeting scheduled on Saturday 21st February 2015

Great news - the 2015 touring group is taking shape with visits to North Wales, Norfolk and the Isles of Scilly planned from April onwards. If you would like to be involved then please contact stuart@aerobility.com to add your name to the list of interested people. 

There's a meeting (about all things touring group) on Saturday 21st February at 10.30am. Let Stuart know by email if you would like to come to that meeting and he will put your name down - expect good coffee and great Aerobility flying chat!

David Keen … The RAF Hendon Collection Thursday 26th February, 7pm

Where? Aerobility HQ, Blackbushe Airport
Date? Thursday 26th February 2015
Time? Arrival from 6.30pm. 
Guest speaker David Keen 7.00pm start

David Keen, Head of the Access & Learning Team at the RAF Museum, has the dream job … he gets paid to talk about his passion for aviation.

The Museum which opened in 1972 has an unrivaled collection of aircraft, many of which cannot be seen anywhere else in the world.

David’s talk will cover the history of the site at Hendon, the development of the Museum and will include elements of RAF history. He will show images of many of the aircraft in the collection and relate some of the stories behind these amazing aeroplanes.

These are free events although we do ask for a small donation for refreshments.

For more information or to book your place contact bridie@aerobility.com

TV Producer wants to talk to disabled people who love – or dream of trying - extreme sports!

Aerobility Flyers! We recently received this message from a TV producer who wants to talk to disabled people who love - or dream of trying extreme sports:

'We’re researching a new Channel 4 documentary about disabled people who take part (or want to participate) in action/extreme sports. We’ve seen amazing clips of wheelchair scuba diving, bungee jumping and even base jumping for starters!

We want to surprise and amaze people, as well as challenge pre-conceptions about what’s possible in an entertaining and occasionally humorous way. We’re looking for strong personalities and characters. People with an unfulfilled dream, or perhaps a clear idea about an extreme challenge. It’s about ambition, aspiration, adventure, thrills and fun. We’re not ruling out including athletes but we’re really keen to find ‘regular folk’ with a crazy idea - perhaps unlikely people - and even better if they have with a quirky sense of humour or a unique outlook on life.

We are also interested in finding people who make these activities possible for others, regardless of whether they themselves have a disability. They may be specialist travel agents, charities, facilitators or trainers.

The film is being directed by Mike Christie who’s made a long list of films about both extreme and Paralympic sports, including Jump London, Concrete Circus and Inside Incredible Athletes. The film is being produced at TwoFour, the BAFTA award winning production company known for inspiring productions such as Educating Yorkshire.'

If you’re interested, know someone we should speak to, or have heard of a great story along these lines, email Merle.Currie@twofour.co.uk

Air Traffic Control was the subject of the latest AEP.  The boys brushed up on their phonetic alphabet and learnt about the emergency call signs 'MAYDAY' and 'PAN.'  Then they played a very exciting game that Mick had devised, using headings and a grid, in order to get their imaginary planes to take off and land safely.  The boys all worked brilliantly together and seem to be enjoying learning about all things aviation.  Our next session is early February and includes a visit to the Fire Station at Blackbushe.

Sir John Allison – Flying Backwards in Time – 2015 Winter lecture

Sir John Allison hosted a Winter Lecture this Saturday sharing his passion of flight with Aerobility flyers.

Throughout his career Sir John has flown over 100 different types of aircraft including the Lightning, the Phantom and the Tornado. His passion for flight, literally flying everything from vintage gliders, vintage warbirds, home built light aircraft, to the latest military hardware – truly shone through. John's reflection on his last Phantom flight in particular was very moving.

This sociable evening was enjoyed by over 35 of Aerobility's flying community which we ended with a raffle raising £120 for Aerobility.

If you are interested in attending any of our future events please email bridie@aerobility.com

Sir John reflects on flying some of his favourite aircraft, including the Spitfire,
Bear Cat, Miles Gemini, Lightning and the Phantom

Building links with Castel Mauboussin

We were very pleased to recently welcome a French visitor to our Blackbushe HQ, Luc Adrien from Castel Mauboussin in the south of France.

Association Castel-Mauboussin (ACM) is a French charity that aims to use aviation as a rehabilitation tool and potential employment for disabled people.

In particular the organisation has trained disabled people and wounded veterans not only as pilots, but also as firefighters – delivering aerial fire surveillance and medical support. These two branches of general aviation are of vital importance in France, tackling wildfires from the air and spotting their development is critical. In addition the use of medically equipped helicopters, and training disabled people as medical support professionals, delivering medical support is another development area.

Luc Adrien flies with Dave Rawlins from Aerobility

Aerobility is very pleased to collaborate and share experiences supporting disabled people and wounded veterans to enter employment in aviation.  We look forward to further developing links with ACM and exploring collaborative projects – supporting employment within aviation for disabled people.

You can learn more about ACM at http://www.castel-mauboussin.com

Marathon Runner 2015

Paul Yates is in training to run the 2015 London marathon, raising money and awareness for Aerobility.  Paul chose Aerobility as a cause close to his own heart as he works in the aviation industry.  A big thank you to Paul and the best of luck.
To make your donation please go to http://virginmoneygiving/flyingprop

Aviation Education Programme

Open Morning

Aerobility

Blackbushe Airport

Thursday 19th February 2015

10.30am - 12.30pm

2015/2016 Course Places Available

A fun, sociable course for young people (14-19) with mild/moderate learning disabilities and/or physical disabilities to learn all about the world of aviation.

For more info. contact Nicola Saunders

nicola@aerobility.com

RSVP Bridie Collins

bridie@aerobility.com

tel.. No. 0303 303 1230

Medium sized airfields was the latest AEP topic.  The group designed their own airfield using lego models and pictures of all things airfield related.  They discussed Farnborough as an example and looked at the services that Farnborough Airport provides.  This included everything from passenger care to aircraft maintenance.  As always it was a fun and interesting morning.

Campaign to save St. George's RAF Chapel of Remembrance, Biggin Hill

The chapel was built in 1951 and is a simple brick building copying the style of the original station chapel destroyed in 1946. It is a memorial to air crew who died flying from the Biggin Hill sector during WWII. There are 17 beautiful stained glass windows and many mementos of those who served in the RAF and Allied Forces.

By March 2016, the Royal Air Force/Ministry of Defence are withdrawing all support from the Chapel. If no one or group takes on the responsibility of this magnificent Memorial Chapel, it will be closed without access to the public or church services.

To vote to keep St. George's RAF Chapel of Remembrance open please click on the following link: https://submissions.epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/73191