Don’t just demonstrate…Teach!
FTN is delighted to announce that aviation luminary Alan Newton is joining FTN this month as our newest columnist, sharing experiences and wisdom gained during a career that has seen him rise to the top of the flight training industry. Alan is the Head of Training and Director of On-Track Aviation Limited. He learned to fly in the Royal Air Force in 1980 and served on a number of Squadrons. He gained an A2 Qualified Flight...
Norwich Aviation Centre gets airborne
FTN met up with Rob Clarke, owner and CEO of the recently formed Norwich Aviation Centre (NAC), at the academy’s new premises at Norwich Airport. Housed in the airport’s former Park & Ride building, one could be forgiven for thinking that it’s not the most prestigious location for a new flight academy to set-up shop, but it’s proved to be a wise decision. Clarke explains: “First, it’s a great building with sufficient space for us...
UK airfield round-up
In a general round up of airport news from around the UK, FTN takes a look at some of those airfields currently under threat and some which are living the high life. With apologies to those airfields that have been inadvertently left out from this report, here’s the current UK airfield scene as FTN perceives it. First on the threat list is Old Sarum airfield in Wiltshire, which has been very quiet for the last few years after the...
Cadet Pilot Protection Debate Heads to Parliament
The debate over the financial oversight of UK Approved Training Organisations (ATOs) has now made it to Westminster, with Tim Loughton, Member of Parliament for East Worthing & Shoreham, calling on the Department for Transport (DfT) to introduce steps to prevent cadet pilots losing their training investment when an ATO folds. In a presentation made at Westminster Hall on 12 September, Tim Loughton MP gave an impassioned plea for...
My helicopter FI course – Part 2 by Helen Krasner
Previously I described the first two weeks of my helicopter FI course, which I undertook more years ago thank I care to work out. As I explained last month, I found those two weeks really tough. The third week was similar and on top of that I was ill. Here are some extracts from the diary I kept at the time… Wednesday 12 Feb Crap visibility and low cloud, so no flying. Maybe just as well, as I have a bad cold and a pounding...
My helicopter FI course – Part I by Helen Krasner
It’s many years since I qualified as a helicopter instructor and nearly as long since I thought about my Flight Instructor (FI) course in any detail. But I was sorting through some stuff recently and I happened to come across the detailed diary which I kept during those weeks. The diary reminded me of just how hard I found that course. Indeed, it was probably the most difficult few weeks of my whole flying career. I wrote about it...
