WIS at Wallop

Great to work with our friends and partners The Air League, Boeing UK, Historic Army Flight, The Museum of Army Flying and AAC Middle Wallop to provide such life changing activities and flights for the wounded, injured and sick veteran community and their families. 

The pictures tell it all… click here to visit our event flickr page. 

Aviation Education Programme 2016/17

Last Saturday saw the start of our latest Aviation Education Programme.



We welcomed eight new students with varying disabilities to Aerobility HQ where they met each other and the mentors.  They learned what they will be getting up to over the coming year.

It was a great start to our course and it was evident already that they are all keen aviation enthusiasts!  I think they may be teaching us a thing or two!

Touring Group Trip to France - Part Two.

D-Day Beaches, Adam Stone (PIC LAPL VFR) Pilot 16th-19th September 2016

Thursday  8th  September - LFRK - EGJJ    EGJJ  LFRK

I was refreshed ready for my first flight with Claire as my passenger into Jersey, again we’re blessed with good weather.  The approach into the airport was stunning, perfect VFR flying weather.  We were routed by ATC over Elizabeth Castle and St. Helier, such breath taking views. We were again treated to another surprise.

Just after landing, the roar of six Rolls Royce Merlin engines greeted us, up ahead were the  Avro Lancaster, the Hawker Hurricane and the Super Marine Spitfire in formation flight.  It was a true honour and an emotional moment for me, sharing the runway with the very same pilots who had chosen me for The Battle of Britain Bursary.

We had a wonderful welcome from Eveline Hawkin and her team at Helping Wings, based at the Jersey Aero Club.  We all had great afternoon sharing stories at the Jersey airshow. 

To complete our visit to Jersey we were treated to the amazing sight of the RED ARROWS landing.  This really was the icing on the cake. What an end to such a perfect visit.

I will always remember the view whilst departing Jersey.  My birds eye view from the cockpit of the Corbiere light house glistening white in the afternoon sunshine. 

Back in  Caen that evening we all went out to dinner with Didier.  It was a good time to share our experiences and highlights of the day.  It certainly was a very memorable evening. I feel as though I know people a little better and certainly feel part of a great team. 

 Friday   9th  September - LFRK - LFAT       LFAT  EGLK

Flying with Brain Catchpole in G-BSYY 

The dramatic French coast line bathed in glorious sunsine, we made our way up the coast to Le Touquet. 

At le Touquet  just after we shutdown the Aircraft, a Lockheed P-38 Lightning and Vought F4U Corsair (Red Bull display team)  took off together in formation.  What excellent timing on our behalf, it just couldn’t get any better and was the perfect ending to a fantastic trip!

Flying G-UCAN Home. After all this excitement and a well earned cup of coffee I  headed back to Blighty with Damian.  This time the weather was on our side, looking out I saw the White Cliffs of Dover in the distance, they were a true welcome home.  I  gave a thought to all those WW1 and 2 soldiers who were the lucky ones to make it back, how this view must have been a comfort to the air crews; you are home.

Thank you to all those involved on this trip, what an adventure!  

Adam C. Stone

Touring Group to France - Part One

D-Day Beaches, Adam Stone (PIC LAPL VFR) Pilot 16th-19th September 2016

Firstly thank you Aerobility for making this possible, I had such a wonderful time with the touring group to France and Jersey.

The  Journey Begins - Tuesday  6th  September

We are ready to go! But the weather at Blackbushe Airport EGLK doesn’t want us to leave.  The cloud base is unserviceable. We are left waiting for a break, which sadly does not arrive.  Our mission is terminated for now, but tomorrow is another day! 

Wednesday  7th  September EGLK - LFAT   LAFT  -  LFRK

The weather forecast is better but the cloud base at HQ Blackbushe is still very low.  The other more experienced members of the group managed to take off leaving me behind!  But I was not giving up, the clouds had to break sometime. We waited all morning for a break and finally it arrived. Wow! The green light, we are good to go!  Take off commencing at 13:30 Zulu Tecnam. 

 G-UCAN with Damian as my passenger. I was playing catch up with the rest of touring group. When Mike rang me from le Touquet and said that the weather was lovely and that they were all having a wonderful lunch in the sun, I had a Top Gear Moment playing in my head. James May left behind as Hammond and Clarkson steam ahead.   

The first leg Blackbushe to le Touquet France. We arrived safely, my first flight abroad as pilot in command conquered! What a sense of achievement and a fresh pair of pants required!

The second leg, le Touquet  to Caen ( Northern France).  Such amazing weather. My personal high-lights on this leg were the views from the cockpit, seeing a  French Chateau, the meandering curves of the River Seine, the D-Day Beach, WWII code name (Sword), the famous Pegasus Bridge, the Horsa Glider and the Northern approach over the city of Caen. 

After we Landed at Caen I went to re- fuel, the rest of the touring group had the same idea!  Finally we were all together.  Whilst at the fuel pumps we had an amazing surprise, an original World War II Corsair, restored by RED BULL, came in to re-fuel along side us. What were the chances of that happening? We even managed to say hello to the pilot before he had to take off to Jersey.

We all made our way to the holding hanger at Caen where we received a wonderful welcome from  Didier and his team. I cannot thank them enough for their warm welcome and hospitality during our stay. 

Read about the remainder of the tour in Part Two, by Adam C. Stone. 

Garden Party raises £800 for Aerobility

On 28th August friend of Aerobility, Jason Buglass hosted a summer Garden Party at his home in aid of Aerobility. The  evening included a BBQ, Bar and Teepee Tent. 

Tickets were free and included entry and food with donations to Aerobility being asked in lieu of a ticket price. 

The event was a great success and raised a fantastic sum of £800 for the charity. Aerobility would like to thank everyone who attended and donated as well as Helen for her administrative efforts and Jason for putting on such a special event.

Dragon Rapide returns to Blackbushe.

The beautiful 1940's De Haviland Dragon Rapide will be returning to Blackbushe to offer champagne pleasure flights on Saturday 24th September.

You will find the pleasure flight crew near the control tower.

Flight bookings will be taken on the day from 10:30 and will be allocated on a first come first served basis.

First flight at 11:00
Last flight at 17:30
(Times are approximate)

Prices:
- £99 for individuals.
- £180 for two.
- £60 for children (under 12's must be accompanied)
- Infants FREE (under 24 months, one per flight with a paying adult)

Andy Taylor completes the Maastricht Ironman in support of Aerobility

A HUGE thank you and CONGRATULATIONS to Andy Taylor, for recently completing this years Maastricht Ironman in support of Aerobility, raising over £400!

This Ironman involves a grueling 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile cycle and a 26.2 mile run!

Andy told us a few days on: "My legs are getting better but definitely still have an nice ache to them! I completed it in a total of 12 hours 9 minutes (Swim - 1:06:13, Bike - 6:34:50, Run - 4:18:32, transition 1 - 5:37 and transition 2 - 4:17) which I was delighted with. I would say it was the best and worst thing I've done! I was feeling good on the swim and bike but started to suffer when it came to the run, the run course was 4 laps of the centre of Maastricht including a large hill that I had to face on each one so it was mentally quite tough.  I'm happy to say that I made it though and heard the words I'd been waiting for - 'Andrew Taylor you are an Ironman!'

I was thinking never again after I finished but now the aches and painful memories are subsiding I am starting to look towards next years challenge!"

 What an incredible achievement - thank you again Andy. 

Aerobility Aviation Evening - My Lucky Life in Aviation

Aerobility HQ, Blackbushe Airport

Wednesday 26^th October 2016

Arrival 6pm

Nick will be talking to us about his journey from PPL to ATPL and flying executive jets, with a few stories along the way.

Join Nick and the Aerobility team at Aerobility HQ, Blackbushe on Wednesday 26th October from 6pm for an interactive talk and Q&A session about gaining your PPL, ATPL and Nicks career in aviation.

All Aerobility flyers and friends welcome. This is a free event although we do ask for a small donation for refreshments.

If you or someone you know is interested in attending this talk then please email info@aerobility.com or call 0303 303 1230 to book your place.