News

Ben Ringland passed his General Skills Test today (30th March 2017) in the school Thruster. The weather relented just long enough to do the test and the cloud stayed out of the way , so a happy Ben took full advantage and is pictured here looking quite pleased with himself next to the Thruster.

The weather made Phelim Brady wait to finally achieve his First Solo Flight but eventually on 25th March the sun came out and the wind died down long enought for his First Solo. Phelim has already purchased a very nice Red Thruster along with his brother John and the pair will be flying away in it from a field behind their house by early summer. Well done to the Brady Bunch

Very few students achieve their first solo flight with less than 10 hours Instruction and it is almost unheard of to do it in less than seven hours. So Mark Smith is a bit special because he went solo in 6 hours 50 minutes. A future Airline Pilot ???

Ross Spence learnt to fly at Newtownards on the School Thruster Microlight and in 2015 gained his National Private Pilot’s License (Microlight) . He subsequently applied to join the RAF and was accepted for Officer training . Today (5/2/2017) we heard that from an intake of 19 only six Officers have been accepted to train on Fast Jets and Ross is one of them. We are proud of Ross’s achievement and hope that the other trainees in his squadron are able to keep up with a pilot that learned to fly on a Thruster.

Mark is concentrating hard on the CAA Air Law Exam which he ends up passing with flying colours .

There is no point in wasting a photo opportunity immediately after your First Solo flight. Look cool, wear the latest aviator shades, and hope Tom Cruise isn’t available for the next Top Gun movie.

On 18th December 2017 Bill Harvey added a further achievement to his already long list of adventurous activities when he took to sky on his own for the first time in Thruster G CGFZ . The flight only lasted 20 minutes but the grin was still on his face 2 days later.

Lawence demonstrates his commitment to flying every week when he and Carol drive all the way from Letterkenny for his flying lesson . On 18th December 2016 all his efforts payed off when he flew his First Solo in G CGFZ. You can see from the photo how chuffed he was with himself. The following day Lawence bought an X Air microlight which he intends to fly from the Airfield in Letterkenny when he has completed his course at Newtownards.

It is unusual to achieve your First Solo flight with under 10 hours of dual training but John Brady reached the standards of Airmanship and safety that are required and it was a beautiful day on 14th December 2016 so off he went on his own for a circuit of the airfield. A cool customer as you can see in the photo.

Proving that you are never too old to learn a new skill , Brian Patton achieved his first solo flight on 2nd December 2016 and is now looking forward to taking his grandchildren for a flight when he gets his flying license.

The new improved NiMicrolights website is now here, with many new features.