Dear Member,
Hello and welcome to the Spring (late spring) newsletter
from St George Flight Training. The weather has not
been very kind to us during the first part of the year
but we have managed to get in some course completions
and some solo cross countries have been flown which
seem to have been on hold for ages - however summer
always arrives with the promise of good flying weather
and I hope that we can catch up with our backlog hangover
from last year! I still hope to get instructor levels
back to normal soon, Andy Watt, Gaby and Rob Scarre
are helping out where they can (not forgetting Paul
Booth and his trusty 777 kitted 150) - I am very grateful
to them.
It was my sad duty during February to attend the funeral
service in Darlington of Peter Gray. As many of you
know Peter had been gravely ill for some time and spent
his final days in a hospital in Sedgefield. As well
as close family, many of Peters friends from aviation
were present at the service to pay their respects,I
noticed people from the Club and Professional flying
world as well as from Air Traffic. Peter will be greatly
missed and in the short time that he was instructing
here at St Georges I came to respect him as a very high
quality instructor who always seemed to get the best
from his students in his own gentle inimitable manner.
His input at weekends here at the school will be missed.
Memberships/Security.
We seem to spend a considerable amount of our time in
this company complying with and ensuring that others comply
with security procedures both in place and forever ongoing,
sadly this is a sign of the times and if we wish to continue
operating from airfields such as this we'll just have
to grin and bear it! - a new requirement is now in place
when applying for or renewing Gate 8 passes, it is a procedure
called GSAT and a certificate to prove that you have attended
this course on airfield security must now accompany your
pass application - you may however obtain this by an online
procedure at a cost of £10 plus vat, details are
available from the office. It is becoming increasingly
difficult at times to remember our reason for being here
particularly when jumping through the hoops being placed
before us by administrators, how wonderful things must
have been in the 'good old days' when you boarded the
aircraft, taxied around the meadow, pointed aircraft into
wind, had a good look around and took off - heaven!
The next paragraph is repeated from a previous newsletter
- please comply!!
Finally do not be caught 'airside' without current
membership or a valid pass, trial flight customers who
decide to proceed with training should complete these
formalities after their first taster flight - all passengers
boarding hired aircraft must have Visitor passes and
carry their means of ID (passport or photo drivers licence)
with them at all times when 'airside'. Failure to comply
with the above may cause permanent withdrawal of your
airside priveledges.
Training/Rental
slot bookings.
Fuel again dominates the agenda and unfortunately we will
have to increase our rates slightly at the end of May
- but we are still offering the keenest rates for training
and hire in the area, the new two seater training rate
is £135 inclusive but our Bonus Scheme reduces that
to £122 hourly, very good value today. I am doing
as much flying as I can at the moment being scheduled
for 6 days a week, when we manage to start some new instructors
I should be able to cut back a bit.
A new 'booking out' method is currently being trialled
by ATC and that involves the use of a computer and not
by using the internal phone - we are awaiting the software
to run it and hopefully the transition will be painless
- we shall see.
You may recall in the last newsletter I suggested it
would be time for me to consider stepping down and to
look for a successor to run the school, although the
company has not yet been formally marketed my remarks
drew some response, some enquiries 'casual' but one
or two people have shown more serious intent- I shall
keep you informed, I still think it could be some time
before I head for that extended break in South Africa!!
People.
Bill and I are still beavering away and with the aid of
one or two part time instructors and we are managing to
keep most customers happy, we still have a two to four
week waiting list for training flights but with new instructors
coming on line in the next month I hope to reduce that
waiting time to one week, maximum two weeks and improving
- thanks to all those who help out with telephone answering
and taking bookings, their help is much appreciated -
incidentally on the website 'Community' page you may now
request advance booking dates and also for those of you
who enjoy our Bonus Scheme discount flying you may make
secure online payments to your account.
Brian Taylor is still managing to help us out doing
our FI courses and for that I am grateful.
Our
Price List.
Our new price list is now online w.e.f. 1st June 2008,
and like any half decent bean counter I have tried to
make those increases as painless as possible, although
the oil companies don't seem to have read the script!
- by the way if ever you require any other items, i.e.
GPS, Headsets and other pilot items support your company
and give us a chance to give you a price - we can usually
match or sometimes better prices offered by the 'discounters'in
the popular aviation magazines. Every little helps as
they say, help us to keep flying costs down by buying
from your school.
Recent PPL Issues/IMC and Night
Ratings/1st Solos/New Members.
Our congratulations to;
| PPL Licence Issue; |
Richard Robinson |
| |
Ashley Chessher |
| |
Andrew Egan |
| |
|
| IMC Rating; |
Pete Spoors |
| |
Eddie Burgham |
| |
Graham Whittle |
| |
Mike Golding |
| |
|
| Night Rating; |
Gavin Ward |
| |
|
| 1st Solos! |
Pat Kaina |
| |
Grant Readman |
| |
Edward Clarkin |
| |
Jamie Davies |
| |
Chris Ginet |
| |
Fred Nightingale |
| |
John Rutter |
| |
Dr. Jonathon France |
| |
|
And Finally...
Let's hope that the weather
is kinder to us this year - and if any of you would
like to speak to me about anything connected with the
school or a flight training matter please give me a
call on either the school numbers (01325) 333431/335806
or my mobile 07970 072559,
kind regards
Eric Reed. CFI
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