Flyer Magazine

What do you choose? A new car or an aeroplane? Yes, after last week’s show where we talked about expensive new high-performance microlights, we go to the other end of the price spectrum. You can buy a whole aeroplane, airworthy and flying, for less than £30,000. We identify a range of possible aircraft available now in the small ads - there’s something for everyone.

And on a similar subject, TV chef Jamie Oliver achieved his PPL at Andrewsfield over the summer - now he’s helped save the airfield from closure. To celebrate Jamie’s involvement in flying, we decided that Fantasy Hangar should look at aircraft to suit Jamie. Some great choices!

- Dave picks something Italian…
- Ian is thinking culinary…
- Ed reckons a cool family wagon is needed…

In the news
- Elixir grounds its entire fleet of aircraft
- Wormingford Airsfield closes
- Mike O’Donoghue, formerly GASCo, is now General Aviation Programme Manager for CHIRP
- Jamie Oliver, who is dyslexic, achieved his PPL ground exams with the help of Pooleys and an audio app
- New brooms at the top at Continental 
- Three Johns appear at a special Aerobility event

Plus
- SkyDemon tip
- Weekend weather forecast
- Events coming up

Links:
SkyDemon - https://www.skydemon.aero/
Join the FLYER Club - https://flyer.co.uk/membership/
FLYER - https://flyer.co.uk/
Aerobility Adventure of Flight tickets https://ow.ly/5zSX50ZSe2B

#generalaviation #flying #airfields #pilots  #aviationnews

Thanks to the latest Rotax 916iS engine with its 160hp max power, there’s a flock of superfast microlights becoming available - and the latest, the JMB VL3, has just been approved for the UK. As well as the power (cue: MORE POWER!), this new breed of 600kg microlights are also well-equipped, look sensational and, well, expensive.

In the News:
Owner of Wolverhampton Halfpenny Green killed
First UK JMB VL3 delivered
STOL UK Competition at Popham
Fairford RAT
Game Aerospace flies GB2 firebomber
Is NASA planning to fly an SR-71A Blackbird 
First UK Islander ready for delivery

In Fantasy Hangar
All the world’s talking about AI, it seems, so we’re joining in. This week’s Fantasy Hangar subject is aircraft that look as though they were designed by AI.
Dave picks a cross between a helicopter and a fixed-wing aircraft
Ian goes for what’s probably Burt Rutan’s strangest aircraft (and there have been a few)
Ed goes all Eastern Europe with a futuristic looking beast

Plus
SkyDemon tip on user waypoints
Weekend Weather forecast from Simon Keeling
What’s on this weekend

LINKS
SkyDemon - https://www.skydemon.aero/
Join the FLYER Club - https://flyer.co.uk/membership/
FLYER - https://flyer.co.uk/

#generalaviation #flying #airfields #microlight #aviationnews

Does general aviation have an organised crime problem? A report from the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) looks at the use of general aviation for smuggling drugs, weapons and people, and makes recommendations for tackling it. We discuss the report, the problems it identifies, and what some of its proposals could mean for GA pilots — including mandatory electronic conspicuity.

Plus: News
Popham remains under threat of development, with another consultation on the new local plan
Coventry Airport: the airport has closed, but the proposed gigafactory has yet to materialise
GloucestershireAirport sale back on the cards after the first attempt collapsed
The WT-9 Dynamic with the Rotax 916iS is now approved in the UK
The Propeller Inn at Bembridge is closed until further notice
A reminder of the 1 October deadline for LAPL revalidation requirements
Aviators Ball returns to the Fairmont Windsor Park in November

FANTASY HANGAR
This week's challenge is all about trousers. We pick our favourite aircraft with trousered undercarriages — and there are some spectacular contenders.

Annabel goes for the Northrop Gamma 2G, with its streamlined looks and rather elegant trousers
Ian chooses the Supermarine Type 224, predecessor to the Spitfire, with cooling trousers
Ed picks the Miles Hawk Speed Six, which he reckons has the ultimate trousers

PLUS
SkyDemon Tip of the Week: Creating and completing an aircraft profile
Weekend Weather Forecast from Simon Keeling
Weekend flying events

LINKS
RUSI report on organised crime and general aviation - https://www.rusi.org/explore-our-research/publications/research-papers/organised-crime-and-general-aviation-uk-and-benelux
SkyDemon - https://www.skydemon.aero/
Join the FLYER Club - https://flyer.co.uk/membership/
FLYER - https://flyer.co.uk/
Aviators Ball - https://www.aerobility.com/aviators-ball-2026

#generalaviation #flying #airfields #crimestories #aviationnews

New guidance from the CAA sets out what instructors should cover during the one-hour refresher flight for SEP revalidation by experience. They make it clear that the hour is more than simply going flying with an instructor. For instance, they want pilots to improve they can navigate by dead reckoning and a paper chart rather than rely on SkyDemon (there are other moving map displays available)! We run through the CAA’s vision for the ideal instructor hour and ask, isn’t this really a mini Skills Test? Would we be better off with a US-style [Biennial] Flight Review?

NEWS
Swansea Airport swans off with Aerodrome of the Year Award while losing CAA licence
Solent Airport gets digging
Politics and Red Tape at the CAA? No, really?
Hello, Good Bye. Yes, Bye’s eFlyer2 electric aircraft is finally ready for its first flight
Risen gets another speed ticket for its 916iS SuperVeloce

FANTASY HANGAR
Ed sets a really tough challenge: choose a flying car…
Dave refuses, choosing an Extra 300NG for the flying and a super–sized car rental deal for any car, any place, any time
Ian gets into the spirit of the idea with the Fulton Airphibian, perfectly proving Dave’s point
Ed comes up with the equally ancient Taylor Aerocar, thus also proving Dave’s right (guess who’s writing this bit)

PLUS
SkyDemon Tip of the Week: Turning Points
Weekend Weather Forecast from Simon Keeling
Weekend flying events

LINKS
Flyer - https://flyer.co.uk/
Join the Flyer Club - https://flyer.co.uk/membership/

#flighttraining #flyingcar #aviationnews #aviationlaw #generalaviation

Airfield, airport and air strips: They’re the life-blood of General Aviation. We take a look at what’s going well, what’s not and what’s in between. It’s a subject we’ll return to in future shows. Be assured: painful though it is to lose an airfield, there are also lots of good things happening.

Plus: News
LAA Rally 2026: A huge success for the Light Aircraft Association and for Leicester Airport. Watch our video “Best of the LAA Rally”: https://youtu.be/S_3UJG7xvz0
GippsAero GA10 Airvan single-engine turboflight flies again
Free money! BWPA scholarships - there’s loads
Fred To, British aviation pioneer, to fly with SolarStratos this autumn
Electronic Conspicuity: The CAA’s consultation ends soon so have your say

Fantasy Hangar
Is there such an aircraft as a beautiful single-engine turboprop that grown out of a piston engine version? The question is prompted by the GippsAero GA10 Airvan - useful it may be, pretty it ain’t. So who chose what?
Ian went for the Taylor Speedstar 850, an oddball aircraft fitted with an 840hp Garrett TPE-331 turboprop engine, called “a beautiful masterpiece”
Dave plumped for the Tarragon Turboprop, fitted with TurboTech’s 141hp regenerative turbine, which made its first flight in July this year. It’s very very sexy!
Ed went for the Turbine Toucan, a one-off Pitts Model 12 usually powered by a giant Vedeneyev M14P radial piston engine but now equipped with an equally giant 750hp 601D turboprop engine

Plus: SkyDemon tip of the week, weekend weather forecast and events coming up.

LINKS
BWPA Scholarships https://bwpa.co.uk/scholarships/
CAA Electronic Conspicuity Consultation https://consultations.caa.co.uk/safety-and-airspace-regulation-group/ec-mandate/
Join the FLYER Club https://flyer.co.uk/membership/
LAA Rally - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_3UJG7xvz0

#generalaviation  #ukaviation  #pilots  #aircraft  #airfield #aviationnews