Happy New Year to one and all 🥳. For most, be it good, bad, happy or sad, this time of year is always a time for reflection of 2023... The whole team love to look back and be reminded of the achievements of the Members within the last year and we would like to share them with you. Including the reasons we love to fly and the memories of times spent flying "for there you have been and there you will always long to return" Leonardo DaVinci. Thank you to Andy Ager that the image above... It is also a time to looking forward to the coming year...We know the windy weather has made it frustratingly impossible to even get out of your car on the airfield lately, much less fly! But there are still opportunities; why not book a training flight and brush-up on your cross-wind landing technique? Better get in quick before the good weather comes 😜.
This is actually a great time of year, traditionally a little quieter and so easier to get a session with an instructor, for pilots to check the currency of their rating especially the SEP rating on their licence for the 2 year validity....Let's plan ahead people!
Last year we helped lots of Pilots to keep flying... including members: Tom Kemp, Daniel Yipp, Peter Frost, Gavin Johnstone, Nigel Collins, Chris Davidge and Martin Brigden-Gwinutt, Call 01608 678204 to find out when there is availability with an instructor and book it in advance. Don't forget to check your medical certificates too! In this newsletter we announce the winners of the Enstone Flying Club Awards 2023.
The Best Student and The Most Outstanding Student Pilot...
We also have winning photographic images to share again. Thank you everyone for sharing your images throughout the year on the facebook page, you are an inspiration to others thinking about flying.... it's never too late to put your flying pictures on the facebook page for others to enjoy: You might even win the prize next year! This was the first image of 2023... a calm and clear sunrise. If there is a theme for 2023 images, it seems to be mostly beautiful sunsets as you will see... Although there had been snow in December 2022, 2023 has been almost clear of snow. We couldn't choose between the following images of sunsets in January so we have included them all 🤷♀️ And now to the members! We started off 2023 with what we love to do best .... send people solo! Well done to Simon Read, Alex Sears and Kevin George.. in that order who all went solo in January What wonderful clear blue sky's there were. In February: each of the fleet aircraft are enjoying the low sun. ...especially BODO who just loves the clouds on her way to and back from Sywell Into March and here's the light smattering of snow we mentioned, hardly worth mentioning but... ...we all took Millie's example and stayed well and truly in the clubroom. We had more student wins in March:
March 18 our much loved student Simon Courtney went Solo! Simon has been flying with us since he was 10 years old when he didn't have to duck to get into BODO! He is a brilliant pilot but had to wait until his 16th birthday to go solo. And so, as the days are still short it's another sunset and the fleet are tucked up after a day of flying... Now into April, 2 days of sunshine and it was almost as busy as heathrow here! The whole fleet were up and off without a by your leave. Daniel Yip, below, popped in to renew his SEP and IR(R) with Gill. Daniel came from Hong Kong to train with us and gained his PPL. We realised from his training notes that due to COVID 19, it was 4 years ago since he was last here! Lovely to catch up again and although it was a tad on the windy side, he and Gill got lots of flying in!!! AZLN above hanging out with the Spitfire at Sywell... Just taxiing past...not at all intimidated! Speaking of Spitfires, we celebrated the spitfire fan above, Instructor Dave Stephens when he reached the tender age of 70th in April. I can't say it better than the little ditty that fellow instructor Gill McNeil wrote to him: A birthday wish to Dave from us He may be thinking “what’s the fuss?” 70 years and more to come Unless the Spitfire bites his bum His helpful ways are what is takes And what a difference a Dave makes! We had to include this lovely cloud image which Gill took when Mike Dorrien-Smith came back to Enstone Flying Club in his Cherokee 6 to do some IR(R) training... And this image above from a trial flight when one lucky young man over brize with cumulonimbus clouds in the distance....was heard to say "what a day"
June: This is John, Paul and Julian... (Who we are calling the new Beetles) took off to Cornwall. Quite a lot of planning had to go into this because of the changable weather and on the last leg they did have to leave one of the aircraft at Dunkeswell after she shed her prerotator bracket. An unscheduled extra night in Exeter and some careful packing to make room for Julian in WR meant there was no man left behind! Not to be down hearted they had a lovely flight home with great service from Brize and a spirited crosswind landing on 26 N side. We were all delighted to see them home. 25/06/2023.
Below a couple more of the wonderful images that John Gledhill took of their adventure We greeted the Steam Car Club of Great Britain who were touring in July. It was great to see their beautiful machines! And we also welcomed the BMW Motor Club Oxford Section. Can you believe that in July it just wasn't quite predictable enough to have a BBQ outside... so we were in the hangar for the party! A fair indication of the weather in August captured in this image below, taken by Judy Kelly when she was helping move aeroplanes to Sywell Aerodrome. When we also took full advantage of the better weather, you couldnt move for the next few months at the airfield for solo's and skills tests! Below is Hannah Whelan who went solo at the beginning of August.. Hannah was a scholarship student with Air Pilots and had 4 months to complete her PPL. Below is the lovely Judy who trained with Dave Stephens and gained her LAPL on 4th August with examiner Gill McNeill. We just love the montage of her journey that she shared with us. So August was the best of months but also the worst of months...We are still all deeply saddened by the tragic loss on Tuesday 22nd August, of friend and Spitfire Test Pilot Trevor Bailey. Trevor bounded onto the Spitfire Project and was an enthusiast supporter of the ACESquadron. He loved flying the Spitfire and he embodied everything that the project was set up to be. He said he was honoured to be able to be the Test Pilot for the Molly Rose Spitfire over 19 flights and, being a shareholder of the other MK26b Spitfire we also built here, was looking forward to flying that one alongside the Molly Rose. The AAIB and coroners investigating the accident have been able to give us some insight into why the tragic accident happened; Trevor suffered a heart attack but we wait for the full report later this year. He will be remembered for his kindness, generosity, fabulous laugh and beaming smile that could light a room. We talk of him and miss him.
If we thought August was busy for student wins, then September took it up a notch: Congratulations to Robert Dykas, who went solo in September; he is completing a LAPL with Instructor Dave Stephens above. Congratulations to Ben Holden who gained his PPL in September with Examiner Matt Lane Matt was back when Alex Sears passed her skills test to gain her PPL... she is currently looking at aeroplanes to buy a share in! And Hannah, who you may remember when solo in August, did complete her target of a PPL in 4 months....All three were trained by Gill McNeill, with Dave Wilkinson stepping in to keep Hannah on track when Gill was unavailable, training other students... What a team! Huge congratulations to all our students for their commitment to passing! Jack Larkin had bad luck with the consistently bad weekend weather this year, but we finally managed a good enough day and he went solo in October. Gillie Barlow came to us to regain her confidence and complete her PPL... There is no where better than Enstone Flying Club to get you back on track and no others better than our instructors. I can't think of another student now who is as excited about flying as Gillie... she went solo in November and plans to complete her PPL soon! We also celebrated with Kevin when he gained his PPL in November... Kevin is away on business alot so we had to get lucky with the weather and his availability!
Below a November sun setting for you.... aaaaaahhhhhhh We had to include the following November layers of clouds, very mystical and the beautiful sunset from the cockpit. Both taken by Instructor Gill McNeil Interestingly below are the same November sunset, one from the air, by Gill and one from the Airfield by Skipper. What stunning colours! Below, the last solo of the year before the windy weather came: I thought I might round off the year for the students and say thank you to all the instructors who have helped us, by going solo myself 🍾. Especially big thanks to Gill who got out of the aeroplane on 11th December this year! What fun it is to fly Solo! Then the windy wet and horrid weather for December set in with a vengence. The only advantage we can tell from bad weather is that it brings the wildlife out on the airfield... Herewith proving that it is not a very nice day to be outside unless you are an Enstone Deer And finally the last sunset of 2023, we were sorry to see you go 2023 but we are looking forward to great things in 2024. We loved spending time with everyone at the Enstone Flying Club Christmas Party this year when we traditionally announce awards, but the time the party went far too fast!
Student Awards for 2023 go to :
Judy Kelly for Best Student
With high average scores on the theoretical exams and consistently good flying on all cross country and oral tests. and Hannah Whelan was Most Outstanding Student
for her commitment to a 4 month PPL Photographic compitition winner this year is John Gledhill with the image below on his trip to Cornwall with Julian Hilton-Johnson and Paul Cullimore... Doesn't that picture just want to make you take to the sky? No prize is given but we do enjoy your contributions to our facebook page.. keep posting! Despite weather challenges we have managed some wonderful flying this year. Not just with students, we also really enjoy sharing the experience of flying with people who have been gifted flying experiences. Even if they don't want to take the trial flight further, people really enjoy taking control of the aircraft over the Oxfordshire countryside and their grinning faces lift our day! As you can see from all of the new pilots we have produced we have vacancies for students ... please apply to info@enstoneflyingclub.co.uk and meet our wonderful team.
We are planning to have many more fly-in events this year and will let you know more when we have confirmed the dates. If you have contact details for specialised aircraft who would like a place to fly to, let me know and we can do the rest.
We are expecting another Mk26B Spitfire to join us early this year, Bob Stimpson and Dave Stephens have been tirelessly finding a way to get here from Canada since before Christmas and we will give out further details as they become available. We will be holding ACESquadron Open Days and are in the process of putting those in place.
'Bacon and Bandits' will be starting again from March 2024. On Saturdays, Tuesdays and Fridays, people can book via the telephone 01608 678204 to fly in to Enstone Flying Club for a bacon roll and a 20 minute flight in the Spitfire Simulator. We hope to see you at an event or if you are passing call in... we are open every day. And all the volunteers who come to the Club and give their time and expertise. If there is any news or comments you would like to add to the newsletter, you can email: angela@enstoneflyingclub.co.uk or call 01608 678204 to talk to a pilot. We do so love to hear from you! All the best for a healthy and happy 2024 from the whole team, including Millie Mog who modestly and singlehandedly keeps the hangar clear of rodents. We look forward to seeing you flying again soon ✈️✈️✈️✈️✈️✈️✈️✈️✈️✈️✈️✈️✈️ | 
