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.

Aerobility: Ballooning Update

Last Friday, thanks to the generosity of Gerald Bartram, Aerobility took delivery of its first Hot Air Balloon. This top end, or envelope, is an Ultramagic H-77, with a capacity of 77,000 cu ft. registered G-BXPT. Before donating to Aerobility, Gerald had rotation vents fitted, which will make the Balloon ideal for training would be balloon pilots using the ‘duo chair’ system.

We hope to commence training in the spring, but before this, we will need to finance and purchase the duo chair and appropriate insurance. Our immediate fundraising effort will be for an estimated £4,000. If anyone with an interest in ballooning for disabled people would like to get involved in fundraising for this exciting project, please contact Operation Manager Brian Catchpoole at Blackbushe and between us we can make this a reality.

BBC Children In Need: Be A Hero

Today the nation is celebrating the long-standing BBC Children in Need campaign with office fancy dress competitions, bake sales and every sort of sponsored event you could imagine. This day of fun is loved by many, and gives us all the chance to contribute to one of the most successful fundraising campaigns in the UK. It may seem that the money raised goes to projects you do not come across or hear about again, but we'd like to let you know about one Children in Need project that is a little bit closer to home.

Our ongoing Aviation Education Programme is in it's first year and is entirely funded by the BBC's Children in Need. The programme gives six young people with disabilities a year of aviation education sessions, with topics including Airfield Operations, Fire and Rescue and Air Traffic Control. The Aviation Education Programme is designed to teach the young people about the many areas of aviation, but also to give transferable skills that can be taken into working life and further education.

For our more avid blog followers, you may already have seen the update we posted on the Introduction Session. Since then, we have completed initial sessions in our first topics - Airfield Operations and Air Traffic Control. The sessions were a great success and Tony, one of our volunteers, has written a short report below:

"Here we are again with a summary of the first modular sessions, which took place on 29^th. October and 1^st. November. The students were divided into two groups of three, and each group attended for a full day to cover the basics of Airfield Operations and Air Traffic Control.

The sessions were led by volunteer Steve, with others on hand to provide one-to-one assistance to the students in carrying out the various activities involved. The morning session on Airfield Operations started with an initial evaluation of the students' current level of understanding of why airfields are needed, why people fly, what facilities are essential for the operation of a small private airfield, and what additional facilities would help to enhance the users' safety and comfort.

Following their input, which revealed a pleasing amount of basic knowledge among the groups, a short video was shown of a light aircraft leaving and arriving at a simple grass airfield to visually reinforce the basic requirements.

The session continued with student participation in a practical exercise to create a table-top airfield using a green cloth as the field, with various items added to provide topographical features, facilities and obstacles.

The exercise included coverage of airfield location, runway orientation and numbering in accordance with local topography and prevailing winds, and the requirements for safe approach and departure flight paths beyond the airfield boundaries.

Both groups proved to be enthusiastic participants in the exercise, and were able to contribute well.

There followed an exercise in which the students were asked to match four airfield diagrams with their corresponding aerial photographs, and all completed this without any problem.

 During the ensuing break for lunch, the PA28 simulator was put to good use by all!

The afternoon sessions covered the basics of Air Traffic Control, with Steve presenting on the Tuesday, and Andy on the Friday.

The session started with an explanation of why ATC is required, and continued with a listening exercise involving actual communication between pilots and tower at Wycombe Air Park, after which the students were invited to comment on the content and the techniques employed.

They were then introduced to the concept of the phonetic alphabet, and spent a few minutes practising with it by spelling their names and other familiar words.

The major part of the session involved a practical exercise in which the students took turns in playing the roles of pilot, tower controller and approach controller to act out a prepared script of ATC communication.

Two-way hand-held radios were used, and to add realism, the “pilot” was positioned in the simulator, with the “controllers” remaining in the classroom so that there was no visual aid to communication.

Given that this was their first exposure to the subject all acquitted themselves very well, and entered into the spirit of the exercise to the extent that they didn't want to stop at the end of the exercise!

All the students, although quite tired by the end of it, maintained their enthusiasm for the course throughout, and it was felt by the volunteer team that the sessions had definitely achieved the desired objectives."

This programme would not take place without the BBC Children In Need so please do consider supporting the campaign if you can. Thank you!

Aviation Education Programme - Introduction Day Update

Here at Aerobility, we are working hard to develop new services to ensure that aviation is accessible for all. Below is a report, written by one of our volunteers Tony, about our new Aviation Education Programme. This is a year long course funded by Children In Need for six young people, designed to introduce them to aviation and all of its various components. 

"We recently held the Introduction Day for our new Aviation Education Programme. Five of the six young participants and their family members attended an initial session, to welcome them to the programme and to those of us involved in preparing and delivering the course over the current school year. The sixth participant had attended a briefing by Geri the previous day, due to other commitments.

The session opened with a presentation by Geri explaining the plan for the day, together with an outline of the various course subjects to be covered in the modular programme. There will be five modules covering Airfield Operations, Air Traffic Control, Fire and Rescue, Aircraft Engineering, and “How We fly”. Geri then took the family members to the briefing room to complete the necessary paperwork on course monitoring and to discuss course scheduling.

Meanwhile, the students were being introduced to the course 

by the volunteer team and informally assessed as to their understanding of the proposed module content and detail. This was also a chance to establish any requirement for assistance with reading, writing and comprehension. The group completed an activity designed to establish the students’ existing level of knowledge of the subject matter, and their individual capacity for observation and logical thinking. 

It consisted of a video showing our CFI James arriving on site and preparing for a flight up to the point of taxying from the parking area, after which the students were invited to comment on it and to pinpoint any anomalies they may have noticed in the film.

There were two deliberate errors included, both of which were observed by the students if not by one or two of the volunteers - we jest, of course!

There then followed an exercise in which each student was given a set of still photographs taken from the video and required to arrange them in their logical sequence as shown in the film, and to answer a question relative to each picture. 

The family members were subsequently re-united with the students to “compete” against each other in pairs in a light-hearted aviation quiz, after which the winning student was presented with a souvenir of the occasion.

Geri then brought the session to a close by thanking the students and their family members for attending, and received good, positive feedback from everyone present. The next stage of the project will involve the finalisation of the programme schedule in discussion with the students and their families."

Thank you to Tony for this update - we'll let you know how the next sessions go. Its Airfield Ops and Air Traffic Control this week!

Boeing, The Air League and Aerobility

Today we were delighted to host Boeing and the Air League at Blackbushe as the BBC spent the day filming with Aerobility student Karl Hinnett.

Follow the link below to see Boeing's press release.

http://www.boeing.co.uk/News-Media-Room/News-Releases/2013/October/Boeing,-Air-League-help-a-hero-to-take-flight

Solo Success!

Congratulations to Karl Hinett and Matt Noakes, who have both achieved the very special milestone of a first solo. Karl has been training with us at Blackbushe, whilst Matt is a student with us at Tatenhill. Both have shown incredible determination and we would like to say a huge congratulations. Below, Karl talks about his training so far and Aerobility instructor Craig tells us how Matt has been getting on.

"Hello everyone, my name is Karl Hinett and I have been spending the past few months training with Aerobility in getting my PPL. So far the training is going well, on 19th September I had successfully completed my first solo flight in a PA-28-161 Warrior. I hadn't been that nervous in a long time, but as soon as I was lined up to take off, all the previous training taken control and everything went as smooth as the wind would allow.

It was quite ironic and also a huge milestone, because also on that day only eight years ago, I was serving with the British Army in Basra, Iraq. During that day I was supporting a huge operation in the rescue of two captured British Soldiers, and whilst I was operating the weapons system of my Warrior armoured fighting vehicle, I was critically injured by a petrol bomb.

I never would have thought when I was lying in a hospital bed years ago, accepting the end of my Army career, that I would be perusing anything as exhilarating and adventurous as I am now with aviation, and it's thanks to the likes of Aerobility and their hardworking team, alongside Boeing that I can peruse this amazing dream." Karl Hinett, Aerobility Student

Matt setting off for his solo....

"Matt has done very well, he completed his first solo after only 14 hours training!!  He has been flying with me since July and he has taken to flying very well. He is very enthusiastic and always looks forward to his lessons. 

This month, Matt completed his first solo in the PA28 G-TALH and his landing was a "greaser " on runway 26. Obviously afterwards he was extremely happy and commented about the fact that it was a little strange flying with an empty right hand seat, no instructor nagging at him!!" Craig Knott, Aerobility Instructor 

Mike Miller-Smith was pleased to be able to congratulate Matt and the Tatenhill instructors in person.

Concorde Chapter UK: Great Opportunities For You!

Aerobility members, students, pilots, friends....

Take note! The Concorde Chapter UK has some great opportunities that we'd love for you to take up. 

Concorde Chapter UK is a group of aviation enthusiasts and professionals who support each other in various aspects of aviation.  On Saturday 30th November 2013 they are delighted to invite you to a lunch at the Heathrow Sofitel.  The event will commence at 11am with networking opportunities and speakers.  The price is £25 per head but we do have 2 sponsored places available for Aerobility pilots. If you are interested, please let Geri (geri@aerobility.com) know or visit the website for more information: http://www.concordechapter.org.uk/

Concorde Chapter also have a super scholarship opportunity to attend the Women In Aviation conference in Orlando (March 6-9) I. 2014.  To apply candidates need to send a letter saying why they should get the chance to attend and explain their hopes and dreams in aviation.  Please send in your letter of application by 15th November to: melinda.benson1@aol.com or telephone 01924 456704 

The Concorde Chapter UK look forward to seeing you at a future event soon and do hope that you can join them at the Sofitel on 30th November. If you already have your ticket for the Aviators Ball, then why not make a day of it! And if you haven't got your ticket then call us now - we expect to be sold out by the end of this week!

Tecnam: Progress Update

We are very pleased to be able to unveil the colour scheme for our brand new Tecnam. The aircraft was painted last week and test flights will be continuing this week.

We hope you are all as excited as we are!

Community Support: A Big Thank You!

The work we do here at Aerobility wouldn't be possible without the hard work of many of our supporters and the generosity of donors. In the past few weeks we've had some fantastic donations from our local community and further afield...

Penningtons Solicitors LLP

Following a very successful family fun day last month and what we hope will be the start of a long partnership, we were very pleased to receive a donation of  £500 from the Basingstoke branch of Penningtons Solicitors.

The brilliant team from Basingstoke Penningtons!

Waitrose - Sandhurst

This week, we visited our local Waitrose store to collect our 'Community Matters' donation from the lovely staff there. This is the second time a Waitrose branch has included us in the scheme, which allows shoppers to vote for their favourite of three chosen charities. We very much appreciate the support and were delighted to receive £448!

CEO Mike Miller-Smith and Fundraiser Geri Burton with the lovely Waitrose staff!

Kimpton School - Fundraiser and Flying Day

Long-standing volunteer and Aerobility supporter, Mick Simpson, organised a fantastic day of fun at his local primary school near Thruxton Airfield. With the mobile simulator, model making, the Army Air Corps and lots of tea and biscuits on offer there was something for everyone. 

An Aerobility volunteer tests out the model making and confirms that it is a lot of fun!

Headteacher, Pam, told us afterwards that: 

"I was thrilled to be able to use my school as a venue for an Aerobility Day, which was a great success, helping to raise awareness of what Aerobility has to offer disabled people who would like to fly. The portable flight simulator was hugely popular with children and adults alike and it was lovely to see families playing together as children decorated, made, and flew model airplanes. It was a fun day!

Aerobility sends an important message to everyone - disabled and able-bodied - that the sky literally is the limit and there's no reason on earth why we can't all be equal."

A keen student learning the basics with Aerobility's Mick.

The Kimpton, Thruxton and Fyfield Church of England Primary School were fantastic hosts and the students and parents were very supportive, raising just under £200 on the day. We'd like to say a huge thank to both Pam and Mick, as well as the Kimpton community for all of their support. 

What Next?

Would you like to help Aerobility and do some community fundraising of your own? We'd love to hear your ideas and support your fundraising projects. Contact Geri (geri@aerobility.com) for more information.