It's our pleasure to introduce Stuart Rowbottom.

Stuart Rowbottom – Aerobility Special Projects Manager & Military WIS Liaison Manager 

Stuart joins the Aerobility team in March 2018. His primary role will be management of the ‘Build a Plane’ project. He will be responsible for all aspects of the project delivery, ranging from personnel and time management (ensuring that the project maintains maximum momentum by ensuring a continuous number of volunteers are actively engaged in the project), through to budget management and close liaison with the LAA and CAA inspectorate. 

As a former soldier of 23 years, Stuart’s secondary role will be to engage with the Wounded, Injured and Sick (WIS) Communities of the Armed forces with a view to engaging more service personnel with the charity. 

Stuart joins us from the Army Air Corps, where he was a serving helicopter pilot and Qualified Helicopter Instructor. During his time in the Army, he has deployed on numerous overseas operations and gained experience flying the Slingsby Firefly, AS350 (Squirrel), Apache AH64D and Lynx Mk7 & 9A. He has had the opportunity to see much of the world and also conducted an overland expedition from London to Malawi in aid of the AMECA charity. 

“I am thoroughly looking forward to joining the Aerobility team and cannot wait to get stuck in.  It will be a huge change from the Army but something I feel will be both challenging and rewarding. The ‘One Rivet At A Time’ project will require a great deal of planning and I feel the real challenge rests with keeping the build going at a continuous pace. This is something I have no doubt we can achieve as a team, especially given the talents of those people I have already met on the project so far.  

The WIS engagement role is something very close to my own heart and I look forward to enticing more service personnel into the world of flying. The military has undergone significant change over the last few years and there are a large number of personnel undergoing difficulties, whether they be post-conflict related, service-injury related or due to unexpected redundancy. If we can provide some therapeutic respite through flying or even qualify people to PPL, I think that will be a really great achievement”.  

Stuart lives in Basingstoke with his girlfriend Charlie and outside of work enjoys travel & adventure, gym and fitness, dining out and socialising. He is a keen wakeboarder and skier and can be found most weekends at the waterpark or researching his next overseas trip!