Straight and Level

Rekindling the fun of flying

Eryl Smith Chairman

The recent spell of fine weather across the country has seen Flight Radar 24 awash with sport and recreational aviators taking back to the air. Hopefully a portent of a great flying summer to come!

It’s been a long winter and an even longer period in which the pandemic has constrained us from fully enjoying our flying, so as we look forward to the coming summer it’s time to put some fun back into our flying. Hopefully we have been able to put the winter months to good use, whether that has been toiling away to progress a build project, getting on with essential maintenance or ensuring our pride and joy receives some TLC.

But what of our flying plans for the coming summer? Some will no doubt have been planning an epic adventure, maybe not on the scale of Zara Rutherford, but nevertheless contemplating our own flying challenge. Others may be looking forward to returning to Europe or undertaking a flying visit for the first time, perhaps inspired by one of Martin Ferid’s articles in past editions of Light Aviation. There is also the welcome return of Schaffen-Diest’s Old Timers event which many members have regularly attended. Even further afield there is Oshkosh and whether you are going on the LAA organised trip or under your own steam it’s always

Updates from the Chairman and CEO

awesomely impressive and definitely has the ‘fun factor’!

Closer to home, the UK’s flying calendar is already packed with events from major airshows, to Strut organised fly-ins and Meet the LAA days, as well as many more informal activities. One event yet to be finalised is our own Rally. Regrettably, Sywell is not able to host us for 2022 but we continue to pursue options to hold an event in September and will update everyone on our plans as soon as we can.

It may be that it’s just about getting back in the air, just enjoying our freedoms with an early morning or late evening flight around the local countryside or simply getting back to the airfield, meeting up with old friends and chewing the cud about all matters aviation wise and more.

The fun and enjoyment we gain from our passion for flying also comes from sharing our knowledge and interest with others, be that in the air or on the ground.

Having participated in the recent YES annual conference, held this year over Zoom, I was struck by the many and varied ways in which members are sharing their skills, knowledge and experience, particularly with young people. Whether that’s introducing young people to the joy of flying, sharing technical skills through Build-a-Plane and STEM initiatives, to participating in a growing number of initiatives that recognise the value of our local airfield to the environment.

There are many ways to get involved and share our passion for flying with others. Whatever your plans are for the coming summer make sure you rekindle friendships and the fun of flying! ■

Spring is here at last!

Steve Slater CEO

At last, no more sub-zero, hypothermic aviation! (Neither my Cub nor Currie Wot have heaters). Lighter evenings may allow post-work ‘sunset flights’ and best of all, grass strips that are ceasing to resemble Everglades swamps. Yes, spring is definitely here and hopefully we can all get back into the swing of flying again.

Speaking personally, a combination of office workload, a soggy airfield and when the rain stopped, blustering winds, has meant that I actually flew less hours in the opening months of 2022 than I did last year – and that included the Covid lockdown! Needless to say, I’ve eased myself back in reasonably gently, taking some of the advice from our Head of Training David Cockburn about choosing benign conditions, pre-planning any trips and avoiding unnecessarily high workloads and distractions until I get back up to speed. Take a look at his latest advice in Coaching Corner on p32.

Looking ahead to summer, we’ve got a full programme of activities where we hope to meet as many members as possible around the country. We have extended our agreement with LX avionics to share branding and the use of its display trailer for events during the 2022 season. Among planned events look out for our ‘Flying for Fun’ trailer at events including the 30 April-1 May Microlight Fayre at Popham and an associated VAC fly-in there on Monday 2 May.

The end of the month will see us at Old Warden for the British Rotorcraft Association gyros event at Old Warden on May 21, then we head to Scotland for the finale of the Scottish Tour at Perth on 27 May. We are also planning an en route weekday event on the way north! June will see us at Aero Expo at Kemble, while the first weekend in August will see us in Yorkshire for the ‘We All Fly’ and Meet the LAA event, celebrating ‘Yorkshire Day’ at Rufforth. Another ‘Meet the LAA Day’ will see us at Monewden on 17-18 September, for the Suffolk Coast Strut Fly In. Come and join us!

You’ll notice that the traditional Rally weekend of 2-4 September is missing from our list. That is because, with the deepest regret, I have to tell you that we won’t be hosting the event at Sywell this year. As many of you know the airfield struggled with CAA permissions in recent years, a situation not helped by the loss of staff during Covid. Currently Sywell is in the process of a transition from FISO to air-to-ground radio services and, as part of this an hourly cap on the number of movements has been agreed. Clearly the Rally is well over this cap!

After a successful decade of support from Michael BletsoeBrown, we wish him well with his restructuring, and meanwhile we are planning something different. Do please keep the date in your diary as we’ll be making an announcement in the coming weeks. Where? Well, I can’t tell you yet, but watch this space! ■

Compiled by Mike Slaughter