Qualifications & experience
I have held a PPL(A) since 2005, and a CPL(A) since 2011. In total I have more than 5000 hours, including 4000 hours as an instructor. I also have a Night rating, an IR(R) (also known as the UK IMC rating), together with an unrestricted instructor rating FI(A) and IRI rating. I hold SEP, TMG ratings, and have signed off differences training for tailwheel, complex (variable pitch propeller / retractable undercarriage), single-power lever, Dynon glass cockpit, and 3-axis Microlights.
I also hold a PPL Flight Examiner (FE) certificate. This means that I can conduct LAPL(A) and PPL(A) skill tests, IMCR / IR(R) skill tests, LST’s for SEP or TMG rating issue and LPC’s for SEP or TMG rating renewal and re-validation.
In the past, I have also held an MEP rating, a Dutch ZVB (glider pilots licence) and a Dutch RPL(A) (similar to the
UK NPPL).
I have flown a range of GA aircraft: the Grumann Cougar GA7, Cessna 152, Cessna 172, Cessna 182RG, PA28 Warrior, PA28R Arrow, Cherokee 6, Diamond Katana, Dimona HK36TTC motor-glider, Sperber RF5 motor-glider, Falke motor-glider, Europa, Sportcruiser / PS28 and DeHavilland Chipmunk.
What I offer
I offer training for
- PPL flying and theory exams
- Skill test and LPC preparation
- PPL initial skills test and LPC (renewal) tests
- IMC rating
- Complex SEP sign-off
- Bi-annual instruction flights
- The Sportcruiser and similar LSA types, including briefing on the characteristics and handling of Rotax engine
- Post-PPL training in advanced navigation techniques and short strip flying.
- Having flown extensively in the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium and France, I can provide briefings and check-out for cross channel flights.
I do much of my training at Andrewsfield Aviation but for differences training and bi-annuals, I can come to you.
My journey as a pilot
I started flying gliders in 1985. I was working in the Oman at the time so was only able to manage a 1 week gliding course each year at the Cambridge Gliding Club. On the first day, after several long thermalling flights, I felt seriously air-sick. However, having paid for a whole week, and being a Yorkshireman, I persisted (that’s Yorkshire grit for you – or was it the fabled tight-fistedness?). Later, moving to Cairo, I joined the Egyptian Gliding Institute, where I flew my first solo in a Sperber motor-glider.
I continued with gliding at the Dutch National Gliding centre at Terlet the Netherlands, where after more ‘first solos’ I gained a Dutch GPL. Back in Holland, after another spell in Oman, I thought it would be interesting to have a go in the club’s motor-glider. Some intense ground school and PPL theory exams, in Dutch, led to a Dutch RPL with motor glider rating. From there, I upgraded to a full JAR PPL with SEP rating. Juggling a lot of business travel and weekly commuting from the UK to the Netherlands, I started flying around France, Belgium, Germany and Holland.
Having parted company with my employer Shell International (which they euphemistically called voluntary severance) in 2010, I returned to the UK and at Andrewsfield gained a Night Rating, CPL, IMCR and FI rating. Meanwhile I had spent part of the severance package on a Sportcruiser which I flew back from the factory in the Czech Republic. And the rest, as they say, is history.