Episode 69 – Jon Hilton to Canada and Back in a Microlight

 

Ice Bergs

Ice Bergs

When we last spoke Jon had said that he wanted to fly round the world in his CTSW microlight. As part of the build up to doing just that, Jon told me that he wanted to fly his CT microlight to Canada and back.

Jon set off in May of 2013 and, as he was planning to go via the northern route, he had to prepare the aeroplane to cope with the cold weather. He had G-CGIZ serviced and modified slightly to cope with the conditions. It is worth noting though that the CTSW microlight is definitely not suited to Arctic flight.

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Episode 65 – Fly2Pole update

John Laity - wants 5 PulsRs for the expedition

John Laity – wants 5 PulsRs for the expedition

As you’ll remember from episode 63 the Fly2Pole team are endeavouring to get several disabled military personnel to the South Pole in microlight aircraft. So, when the Flying for Freedom team held a sponsor’s open day a few weeks ago I popped down to Kemble for a bit of a catch-up.

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Episode 64 – Popham Microlight Trade Fair

Popham Microlight Fair

Popham Microlight Fair

For today’s episode of Flying Podcast we’re looking at the world of microlights and light sport aircraft here in the UK and where better to do that than at the Popham Microlight Trade Fair held, not surprisingly, at Popham airfield in Hampshire. In this episode you’ll be hearing from most of the main manufacturers and importers of light sport aircraft in the UK.

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Episode 63 – John Laity – British Antarctic Microlight Expedition

John Laity - Flying for Freedom

John Laity – Flying for Freedom

Last year at the Flying Show I met a chap called John Laity. John is one of the founders of Flying for Freedom which aims to train injured ex-servicemen how to fly flexwing microlights as part of their rehabilitation into civilian life. In addition, Flying for Freedom is launching an expedition to the South Pole. Their aim is to get a team of disabled pilots to fly to the pole and back. No mean feat.

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Episode 61 – David Bremner – British Microlight Aircraft Assoc.

David Bremner, Chairman of the BMAA

Having missed Dave Bremner at the Flying Show a few weeks ago, I eventually caught up with him.
We all know what great strides microlighting has made in the last few years and what relatively cheap fun it provides for thousands of aviators but today I wanted to find out more about what the governing body gets up to. So who better to speak to than one of the bigger cheeses at the British Microlight Aircraft Assoc.

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Episode 60 – The Flying Show 2012

The Flying Show - NEC - 2012

The Flying Show – NEC – 2012

For today’s episode of Flying Podcast I went down to the Flying Show at Birmingham’s NEC. I had interviews lined up with Breezer UK, The Light Aircraft Company, Dave Sykes, GASCo and the Airspace & Safety Initiative. An interesting cross section of the people attending the show I think.
The show was pretty much as it had been in previous years, not overly busy but there were plenty of interesting folk to chat to. So all-in-all probably worth going down to if you’re into aviation. We arrived at 11.30 on the Sunday and the traffic into the NEC wasn’t too bad. The £10 parking fee is a bit steep but they have a bit of a monopoly going on there so we have to stump up the cash.

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Episode 58 – Jon Hilton – Microlight pilot

Jon and co-pilot Dave return from the Round Britain Rally

Jon and co-pilot Dave return from the Round Britain Rally

Jon Hilton is an adventurous microlight pilot, currently flying a CTSW out of Barton Airport, Manchester. Having read a couple of Jon’s reports in the BMAA’s monthly magazine he sounded like a prime candidate to appear on the Podcast.

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Episode 41 – Malcolm Howland – Thruster Air Services and Fly365

Thruster T600 Sprint

Thruster T600 Sprint

On a recent trip to Lincolnshire I found myself at Wickenby Airfield, home to Thruster Microlights and Fly365 flying school. The man I’m here to talk to is Malcolm Howland who heads up the flying school and also works for Thruster.

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Episode 32 – Peter Davies, a Career in Aviation

Peter Davies

Peter Davies

Episode 32 of Flying Podcast sees me back up to York to interview Peter Davies. Peter is an instructor on gyrocopters for the Gyrocopter Experience. He currently runs their Preston franchise. Quite by chance, when I was reading about gyrocopters I came across Peter’s name and I was fascinated to read about his experiences in the world of aviation. His flying pedigree goes way back to the early days of hang gliding and microlighting here in the UK and so I thought he’d make a good candidate to appear on the podcast.

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Episode 10 – Wanafly Aviation, France

Wanafly's Quik Flexwing

Wanafly's Quik Flexwing

Wanafly Aviation are Dave and Amanda Lord. They operate a microlight flying school in France. Today we chat about their background in aviation and how they came to set up their school in France.

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