Gloster Strut Newsletter

The image depicts SE5A scale replica G-BDWJ sporting the colours of a real SE5A namely F8010. The aircraft was built by the late Mike Beach but is now owned by Mike Linney. It was brought to our Strut meeting on 11 June 2025 at Croft Farm where the photo was taken. Our own Mike Waldron was inspired to build his own SE5A replica (which he keeps at in his Croft hangar) when he saw this example created by Mike Beach who gave him much valuable advice about the process of building from the same plans.

Back in 1977 I had joined the Popular Flying Association, as it was then and had started looking around for plans of aircraft that I could build, nothing too complicated! At the time I was gliding at Booker airfield, near High Wycombe.

One evening I had taken an aerotow up to 2,000ft and was enjoying stooging around, no lift, but with great visibility, so I was happy to float about. Suddenly, an SE5a biplane was off my port wing, a wave of the hand and he was diving away and completed a beautiful loop, now that was impressive! I landed back at the launch point and there it was, sitting parked up with a small group of admirers surrounding it. Naturally I made a beeline for it to find out more. It was built from Canadian plans, 85% scale, it looked just great, my search for an aircraft to build was over, I needed an SE5a, but was I capable of building it? I persuaded the owner / builder that I should visit him at his workshop in Twickenham, at the time he was not too impressed by that idea as he was surrounded by people who were all THINKING of building one too!! Anyway, I turned up on the visit time and talked through the project with him, covered the “Pros and Cons” and “ifs, buts and maybes”. Start looking for an engine, came on top of the list. I found one a few weeks later, as advertised in “Exchange and Mart”, £400 ( do you remember that ? ). It was in good condition, but had one cylinder u/s.

Fast forward a few weeks and I was helping a friend out replacing the bungees on his Tipsy Nipper. I mentioned that I had found a C-90, but it required a new cylinder head, “ I have five spares if you want to pick one, £10, take your pick “. I had an engine!!

Within a month I had made all the wing ribs for the SE5 and arranged another visit to Twickenham, ringing the doorbell, I had all the ribs hanging on a broomstick ready for inspection. The door opened, “you are serious then” my now inspector uttered, from that moment, I had all the help and advice I needed.

Fast forward some years, and I had completed the aircraft and was flying it in Belgium, I had gained my PPL flying Piper Cubs, tailwheel was my thing!!

The moral of the story is that the work to build an aircraft, such as the SE5, is not complicated, no great skills required ( much the same as the old Keel Kraft models ), but it takes many hours if you are building from plans.

You need a network of friends along the way to help you out or find you bits and pieces, ask enough people and you will find your parts, the LAA FLEA MARKET is a great place to start. An Aladdin’s Cave to search through, but you will find your bargain eventually.

Got to have a project on the go!

As an update, the Pietenpol has rolled out of my kitchen and has been trailered to the airstrip, get the tank in, engine on, connect the plumbing and fire it up, watch this space!!

Blue Skies - Mike

PS. Don’t forget we are back at The Victory Club / Sept 8th / 7.30, see you there.

Copyright (c) Tim Badham

Our last summer meeting of the year brought it to an end on a high: 30 members and guests were present to hear our programme organiser, the well-connected Jeremy Liber, who had managed to borrow a Stits Play Boy for a `show and tell’. It’s a pretty little machine, managing on a mere 65 HP and a braced wooden wing but, as Jeremy told us, a dramatic stall. Pilots are warned to do wheeler landings, rather than the usual 3-pointer used when landing a tail-dragger.

Jeremy mentioned that the Play Boy played a major part in launching the Van’s Aircraft range of kit aircraft. Van had owned one, but, being an aeronautical engineer, set out to improve its performance. He built a metal wing to replace the wooden version, thus obviating the need for struts. This became known as the RV-1. An all-metal aircraft, using the same wing – again a single-seater, became the RV-3, for which he firstly sold plans and then kits of materials. A tandem 2 seater followed, then one with side-by-side seating. Over 11,500 have since been completed.

In addition, we had 6 other visiting aircraft, which included Strut worthies, Angus and Fiona Macaskill in their Jabiru which fortunately is large enough to accommodate them and their dog. To add to the show, Barrie Towers kindly brought out his lovely Stolp Starlet and our Chairman’s splendid SE5A formed the backdrop to the BBQ.

Strut Chairman and Chef, Mike Waldron, was kept busy at the BBQ, and had prepared accompanying salads and desserts. By evening’s end, the food had all gone and the bowls were empty. In short, a good time was had by all.

Many thanks to Mike and Jeremy for another outstanding meeting, and thanks, too, to Clive and Michael Porter for allowing us use of the Croft Farm airfield.

If you push the stick forward, the houses get bigger. If you pull the stick back, they get smaller. That is, unless you keep pulling the stick all the way back, then they get bigger again.

The fax offered me a contract based in Nairobi for one year to train local pilots of Kenya Airways on their new Boeing 767. Previously, they had been operating the Airbus A300 on their long-range routes, but those did not have the same passenger-carrying capability or be able to do really long flights. The Boeing 767-300ER (extended range) could fly the same distance as a Boeing 747 with a full passenger and cargo load. The brand-new aircraft was supplied by the manufacturer to an Australian leasing company called Ansett Worldwide Leasing, who then leased it on a long-term contract to Kenya Airways. This aircraft was specifically designated to operate the Nairobi to Amsterdam route, one of the airline’s prestigious ‘blue riband’ services. Alongside five other training captains, I was kept thoroughly occupied, tasked with bringing all the pilots of their new fleet up to operational standard as quickly and efficiently as possible. Each day, I would arrive at the flight briefing to collect detailed weather reports and load information and to discover who I would be paired with for the flight. This could be either a captain or a co-pilot, and frequently there were also two observers, either captains or co-pilots, occupying the jump seats. During every flight there was a constant stream of questions, covering procedures, aircraft systems, and operational techniques, all while I maintained careful oversight of our progress. At the same time, I had to allow the other pilot to perform their designated duties, monitoring their performance and readiness, balancing instruction with the practicalities of a demanding, long-haul operation.

Nairobi is quite high – around 6500 feet above sea level – and during the day can get very hot. These conditions can mean that the performance for take-off can be limiting. The main runway is very long to enable aircraft to accelerate to take-off speed, and from the start end, it is not possible to see the far end.

I arrived at the flight briefing to collect the route weather and flight plan, which were pretty much the same day after day. I met a first officer, a very amiable chap, who had flown with some of the other training captains but not with me. This time we had no observers on the jump seats, so it should be a more relaxing flight. We calculated our take-off weight, factoring in the amount of freight, fuel, and passengers we could carry on this particular flight. It was eight o’clock in the morning, and the temperature had already climbed to a sweltering 29°C. I decided that he should handle the aircraft for this leg, giving him valuable practical experience, while I would manage the radio communications and serve as the non-handling pilot, overseeing the flight. We taxied steadily out to the runway, engines humming, and lined up in preparation for take-off. I handed control of the aircraft over to him and called for clearance. As the throttles were advanced, the speed steadily built, the runway rushing beneath us, and I kept a close eye on all the engine parameters, ensuring everything remained within limits, while he focused on maintaining the aircraft perfectly aligned with the centreline. The sense of anticipation and responsibility in the cockpit was tangible, each second stretching as we prepared to lift into the skies.

I called, “Eighty knots,” and got the required response of “Check.”

My next call would be V1, the speed at which, if an engine should fail, there would be enough runway left to stop. After this speed, there would be enough runway left to accelerate to safe take-off speed on one engine. These speeds had all been calculated by us during the flight briefing. I had just announced “V1,” when suddenly a black shape shot past my peripheral vision accompanied by a loud bang. As I was monitoring the engines and speeds, all appeared normal; then the smell started – roasted flesh!

“Keep going,” I shouted to the co-pilot then, “Rotate,” which indicated to him to slowly raise the nose of the aircraft as we were now at take-off speed.

“Fly the departure normally,” I said to him as we cleaned up the aircraft with landing gear and flaps retracted. What had happened? I asked myself if something had gone into the engine because of the smell. The engine instruments appeared completely normal, yet there was no way of knowing if something more serious had occurred internally. I called the tower to ask if they could see any debris on the runway, but their vantage point was a long way from the surface, and they couldn’t confirm anything. I asked if they could send a vehicle to investigate, but they warned it could take some time. ‘Not good,’ I thought. I had to make an executive decision there and then. If the engine had indeed sustained damage, there was no way I could contemplate a ten-hour-plus flight over the Sahara Desert, with so few diversion airfields along the route. The safest course was clear: we needed to return to Nairobi. However, we were ten tonnes over our permitted landing weight. There was no alternative but to dump the excess fuel, over 14,000 litres of kerosene. To ensure it evaporated safely before reaching the ground, we climbed to 33,000 feet, heading to a designated dumping area near Mount Kenya. Every moment of the climb was tense; my mind raced with the possibility that any hidden damage could worsen, potentially with catastrophic consequences. At last, we levelled off at 33,000 feet and set up a race track pattern. I decided during the climb I should tell the passengers what my plan was, especially as they would see fuel pouring from vents at the end of the wings.

I tried to reassure the crew that everything was under control, explaining that the dumping of excess fuel, though unfortunate, was a necessary precaution. Once we were safely back on the ground, the engineers would thoroughly inspect the aircraft, and after perhaps a short delay, we would be cleared to continue our journey to Amsterdam. We had practised this scenario in the simulator countless times, yet it felt very different performing it in reality, with the engines humming beneath us and the vast expanse of the Kenyan skies stretching out below. The process took around ten minutes, during which I couldn’t help but feel a pang of guilt, imagining how long that fuel could have kept a paraffin stove burning, perhaps for a lifetime. Even in a technical, procedural task, the sheer scale of what we were releasing made the event strangely humbling. We now commenced our approach back to Nairobi’s Jomo Kenyatta Airport, all the time letting the first officer handle the aeroplane; it would be of enormous benefit to him to gain experience and confidence in himself and the aeroplane, and, who knows, maybe in the future when he becomes a captain he may have to face a similar situation, and he could happily deal with it. We landed without incident and taxied back to the stand, and the relieved passengers all disembarked, hoping this would be only a short delay.

As I descended the service stairs from the terminal towards the aircraft, my eye was immediately drawn to a red streak just above the cockpit window. Turning my attention to the engine on that side, I could see that several of the massive fan blades were bent and protruding forward. Remarkably, despite this level of damage, the engine continued to operate as if nothing had happened, a testament to its extraordinary reliability. Walking around to the other side with one of the ground engineers, the full extent of the problem became clear: we hadn’t merely suffered a typical bird strike. This time, the culprits were vultures, and multiple strikes had wreaked havoc across the aircraft. Apart from the one that had gone through the engine, one had lodged itself in the flap mechanism and another had hit the vertical stabiliser. Sadly for the passengers, the aircraft wasn’t fit to fly and needed repair, so they were advised that there would be a lengthy delay before they could resume their journey. Unknown at the time, it meant a whole day.

Because the runway was so long, one could not see in any detail at the far end, the previously departing aircraft had hit either a small animal or bird, which was then lying on the runway, which attracted a flock of vultures just ready and waiting for us to fly into on our departure.

Part 2 next Month

No doubt, avid readers and those with good memories will recall I wrote a piece about the LAA Wings Award scheme in the September 2024 Newsletter (available via the Archive Page). Time moves on and after qualifying for the Bronze award, took a break from collecting but eventually started to look at the requirements for the Silver award.

The Silver award runs on similar lines, requiring a minimum flight time, in this case 250 hours total with 200 of them as PIC. It also requires three achievements, which can be courses, license qualifications etc and then attendance at two safety events.

I started to gather the requirements. The total hours was no problem, I'd done more than enough for that. As for the achievements, it is allowable to carry one over from the Bronze, which in my case was the Night qualification. To that, I added a Meteorological Seminar (held at the Met Office in Exeter) and an Upset Prevention and Recovery Training Day at Goodwood, run by the Ultimate High training school.

I have to say, that the additional achievements were not because of the award, but in spite of it. Both were excellent and I learned a lot about weather from the Met Office and had a superb day with Ultimate High, having both a classroom session, learning the theory of what to do if you find you and your plane in an orientation that was not deliberate! The afternoon was taken up with a flight to put the theory into practise. I have never spent so much time in a plane wondering which way is up, which way we were headed and what was coming!

Finally, a couple of safety evenings, organised by GASCo (no longer operating), the first covering general aviation safety and the second on how to avoid airspace infringements.

The final piece was a 200nm or 400nm flight, landing at three different airports. If the 200nm flight was chosen, a 20nm sea crossing needed to be included in the plan. I elected to do the 400nm flight AND a sea crossing.

This is an account of my qualifying flight.

I left Gloucester at 09:15 local and took a direct route across to the North West of Wales. To be on the safe side, I transferred to London Information to look after me with a basic service. My route passed close to the summit of Snowdon, where I could see Caernarfon airfield so transferred to them for a join. Unfortunately they were still too far to get a decent reception, but a few minutes later, all was good and I was given the airfield information, which was basically the runway to use, the local QFE and information about other traffic. Landing at the glorious airport of Caernarfon is a real joy. I'd covered just over 100nm. That flight ticked several personal boxes too; flying over the Welsh Mountains is a joy for me, trying to identify the ones I've climbed - I've climbed every mountain in Wales so it was a case of trying to identify them. Landing at Caernarfon is also a joy with the base leg out over the sea, and finally, leg 1 of the Silver award Navigational Challenge completed.

Due to the long day, I was at the airport just long enough to refuel, pay my landing fee and grab a quick drink and piece of Bara Brith cake before heading back to the plane for leg 2, a 115nm trip to Blackpool, a new airport for my logbook (yes, I collect those too!).

Taking off, I headed straight out to sea and quickly changed frequency to Valley Radar, the RAF base. I'd phoned them the previous day to confirm that I could fly clockwise around Anglesey - it might be a given, but I'd be passing the entry and exit point of the MATZ and probably at around 2,000 feet which is smack in the middle of their zone extension. I'd intended to remain outside the MATZ but even so. The very kind operator told me it would not be a problem, but if the jets were operating, I might be asked to fly around 600 feet! Slightly worrying in the event of engine failure but I'd be speaking to the RAF and be carrying (wearing) a life jacket and EPIRB.

Valley told me there were no RAF flight plans during the time I'd be passing, so I could choose my altitude, I chose 1,500 feet as a good compromise to be high enough to glide in an emergency, but low enough for it to be fun. The total circumnavigation of Anglesey was thirty five minutes. A further twelve minutes to Rhyll and then twenty minutes up the coast past Liverpool where I changed to Blackpool approach. To my surprise, I was given a Left join onto runway 28 - it is normally right hand, but they, presumably, felt it safer to do a left hand join than for me to be crossing the runway extension of 28 at around 1,000 feet.

Blackpool runway is huge and on 28, the exit is at the far end so I took my time touching down and just coasted along to the exit. I'd covered 115nm, most of which was over the sea. Reflecting on the flight, I'd realised that the combination of the haze and the sea made keeping the plane straight and level quite a challenge at times. With no visual reference, it was easy to climb or dip, and as the haze took land in and out of view, so it became doubly disconcerting and I found myself relying more on my instruments than on my mark 1 eyeballs, but always being aware of checking for other traffic, particularly along the coast past Liverpool.

Another refuel, toilet visit and landing fee payment and I was heading out for leg three, this time to Breighton. I reflected that maybe I should have built in longer stops, but to be honest, Caernarfon was fine, but there's nothing at Blackpool, no cafe, nothing so, unless I'd visited the town, there was nothing to stop for. I decided that I would get to Breighton and perhaps adjust my return time for a longer break.

Leaving Blackpool, initially I flew over the water for a short while before turning right along the coast. The amusement park is dead ahead with its awesome roller coaster right in front of me! Right again and I was heading North East on my leg over Yorkshire and North of Leeds Airport, cunningly avoiding all of the controlled airspace in that part of the world. I began to feel I was on the homeward run, even though I had one more airfield to visit and it was the shortest runway by far.

As I progressed, I climbed to 3,000 feet to give the ever growing landscape plenty of space. There's nothing very high around this part of the world, but it approaches 2,000 feet so best to give it a decent margin. The haze was still very much in evidence and I began to realise that, in fact, it was now low cloud. I needed to make a decision. There was already no clear sky above me so climbing over the cloud wasn't an option, and who was to say how far it extended? I quickly made the decision to turn around and found myself in danger of being enveloped. Standard practise is a 180 degree turn which I did - the argument being that there would be clear sky behind because that's where you've just come from. I just touched the cloud as I made my turn, but kept concentration to hold the plane level and complete the turn. I was leaving the cloud behind and back into the sunshine. What to do? I had plenty of fuel as a result of the refuelling at Blackpool so no worries there. Could I head North and hope to go around the cloud? Well, maybe, but in that part of the world, airports thin out rapidly to the North. Trying to go South around the Leeds Controlled Airspace was possible but I was concerned that I might stray into Controlled Airspace trying to avoid the cloud. I quickly hit on a plan. I'd fly South West to Manchester Barton. I could see Manchester city from where I was and I could see it was clear the whole way. It's an airport I've visited a number of times so was familiar with it, which would help to reduce the stress levels resulting from the diversion.

About 15 miles from Barton, I called them up. My Garmin justifying its' existence, providing me with the tower frequency and distance. Could they take a weather diversion? Somewhat bemused, they happily agreed but were naturally curious as to the nature of the weather - it was bright blue sky over Manchester with a light breeze. I explained the issue. I was given 08 as the Runway and I informed them I would join left base. Happy with that, I was soon on the ground parked up.

I realised, other than the small piece of cake, I'd not eaten all day and it was now around 3pm. I'd bought lunch with me as the timings of the flight didn't fall well with a lunch stop.

Eating my lunch, I gave some thought to my overall plan and decision to divert. I was happy that it was a good one, and comforted myself with the thought that I was safely down, no harm done, it had been good to put the diversion training that I'd learned years ago into practise, and in fact, I'd covered over 90nm anyway, landed at the required third airfield, so as far as the award was concerned, I was still on track.

I also called up Gloucester to give them my return details, keeping the original 17:00 Local landing time.

There was a slight delay with refuelling due to the card machine not working, but by 16:10 I was away and heading for the North West Transit Corridor which sneaks under the CTA for both Manchester and Liverpool and requires a maximum altitude of 1,500 feet. I normally transit at 1,300 feet to give me some leeway. I also listen in on the Manchester approach frequency and transmit the appropriate squawk code until clear. I then switched to listen to Birmingham Radar with its associated squawk code and finally onto Gloucester Approach when I was close enough. The remainder of the journey was thankfully, uneventful.

Landing back at Gloucester on 08, one hour later, having covered a final 105nm I taxied into parking feeling very pleased with myself. My total flight time was 5 hours and 10 minutes, covering 434nm including 116nm over water.

Of course, the next job is to complete the application form, get the evidence together and update the various logbooks - so that will be my weekend taken care of!

19/09/2026 Compton Abbas

Pooleys Air weekend. 19-20th. PPR required.

19/09/2026 Little Gransden

19-20th. NWMT Vintage aircraft Fly in. PPR required

19/09/2026 Caernarfon

50th Anniversary Fly in. PPR required.

03/10/2026 Flying Finale

Duxford IWM Flying finale air show. PPR required.

04/10/2026 Shuttleworth Raceday

Shuttleworth Raceday airshow. PPR required

10/10/2026 Talk by A380, Concorde and Red Arrows pilots

At the Cheltenham Playhouse. Tickets here: cheltplayhouse.org.uk

13/10/2026 Gloster Strut Meeting

At the Victory Club, Cheltenham.

The speaker will be John Beattie on the subject of Flying the Sea Fury (ex-head of Royal Navy Historic Flight).

08/11/2026 Remembrance Day

Remembrance Day at Breighton. PPR required.

08/11/2026 Remembrance Day

Remembrance Day at Sleap airfield. PPR required.

10/11/2026 Gloster Strut Meeting

Meeting at the Victory Club, Cheltenham.

The speaker will be Alistair Wilson, talking about African Flying in the 1970s and 1980s, Learning the Hard Way (crop dusting, DC-3s and the like)

08/12/2026 Gloster Strut Meeting

Our pre-Christmas meeting at the Victory Club in Cheltenham.

The speaker will be Sir Harry Hopkins, Flying and Operating the Vulcan. As it will be the Christmas meeting, there will be wine and mince-pies too.

12/01/2027 Gloster Strut Meeting

This meeting will also be the AGM. Once that is over, Neville Parton will be giving a talk entitled 'Servicing Commandos' (the guys who established advance landing grounds after D-Day and serviced the aeroplanes, often under fire)

September 2, 1970: The SEPECAT Jaguar tactical strike jet officially entered operational service.

September 3, 1908: Orville Wright performed his first historic flight at Fort Myer, Virginia, circling the field one and a half times.

September 3, 1971: The Concorde completed its first historic transatlantic crossing.

September 5, 1956: US Air Force Captain Milburn Apt became the first person to exceed Mach 3 while piloting the Bell X-2 rocket plane.

September 12, 1942: The Miles Messenger, a British short takeoff and landing (STOL) liaison aircraft, took to the skies for the first time.

September 14, 1939: Igor Sikorsky successfully piloted the VS-300, marking the first flight of a practical helicopter.

September 15, 1959: A. Scott Crossfield became the first person to pilot the North American X-15, pushing into hypersonic flight boundaries.

September 18, 1976: NASA publicly unveiled its first space shuttle orbiter, Enterprise, to the public in Palmdale, California.

September 24, 1929: James H. Doolittle executed the first completely instrument-guided "blind" takeoff and landing.

September 29, 1988: NASA successfully launched Space Shuttle Discovery (STS-26), marking the "Return to Flight" after the Challenger disaster.

If that's you, watch this video first. Actually, watch it anyway, it's superb!

Our new course calendar is taking shape. We now have dates for the following courses:

AIRCRAFT CARPENTRY at Turweston

Tuesday 15 September AND Tuesday 13 October 2026

Price is £213 for members and £223 for non-members. More information can be found here.

FABRIC COVERING at Henstridge

21 & 22 October 2026

Price is £406 (for both days) for members and £426 for non-members. More information can be found here.

ROTAX 912/914 CARBURETTED COURSE at Turweston

Saturday 28 November 2026 AND Saturday 27 February 2027

Price is £213 for members and £233 for non-members. More information can be found here.

ROTAX FUEL INJECTED 912/915iS COURSE at Turweston

Saturday 24 October 2026. More information can be found here.

AIRCRAFT QUALITIES WORKSHOP at Turweston

ONE SPOT LEFT on 7 & 8 November 2026

Price is £500 for members (for both days) and £550 for non-members. Further information can be found here.

Please email Cheryl Routledge to book on cheryl.routledge@laa.uk.com or call on 01280 846786. These course spaces will fill quickly!

Webinar for GA Community - Electronic Conspicuity Mandate Consultation

The CAA is holding webinar for the General Aviation community in relation to the CAA's consultation on a Proposed Electronic Conspicuity Mandate in the UK on Tuesday 11 August from 18:00 – 19:00.

This session will run through the consultation, our proposed approach and outline the scope of the consultation.

Please note - this is not a forum to respond to the consultation itself, but an information session designed to help you respond to the consultation. There will be a Q&A function available for you to ask questions after the presentation. We welcome any questions ahead of the session.

Register for the webinar on our website: Webinar for GA Community - Electronic Conspicuity Mandate Consultation

The session will be recorded and made available online should you be unable to attend.

Stay in Control: Guidance for partial power loss for single engine piston aircraft

The CAA has published CAP 3270 Stay in Control – Partial Power Loss to provide guidance for pilots recognise and respond to partial engine power loss events. The document highlights practical actions to improve decision-making in the event of a partial power loss, reduce the risk of loss of control and increase the likelihood of a safe outcome. Pilots are encouraged to familiarise themselves with the guidance and discuss partial power loss scenarios as part of their routine pre-flight preparation and refresher training flights.

Revised: Southampton FMC Area Updated

Southampton Frequency Monitoring Code (FMC) Area has expanded to now include Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight. with effect from 24 Jul 2026. Information on the expanded FMC area is contained in NOTAM C4906/26 and will be published in the UK AIP EGHI AD 2.22-7, ENR 6-80 as of 1 October 2026.

New information leaflet – Flying in a General Aviation aircraft

The CAA have published a new leaflet to help people understand what to expect from a General Aviation (GA) flight and feel informed before deciding whether to fly.

We encourage pilots, flying schools, clubs, operators and instructors to share it with anyone new to GA flying, including friends or family flying for the first time, people considering a recreational flight, and those undertaking trial or introductory lessons.

Sharing the leaflet before a flight can help prospective passengers better understand the experience and make informed decisions.

Read and share the leaflet: Flying in General Aviation aircraft.

Publication of 2025 Annual Safety Review

We have published the 2025 safety review of serious incidents and accidents that have been reported to the CAA and have occurred in or outside the United Kingdom involving UK registered aircraft and involve non-UK registered aircraft in UK airspace.

Read: CAP3297 Annual Safety Review 2025.

Updated Safety Sense Leaflet No.22 on Radiotelephony

The CAA has published edition 24 of CAP 413. It includes changes to the transmitting of surface wind and the placement of such within a radio transmission. We have therefore updated the Radiotelephony Safety Sense Leaflet to reflect those changes.

Read the updated Safety Sense Leaflet 22: Radiotelephony.

Good afternoon

Recently we experienced an Airprox event approximately 6 NM WSW of the airfield. One of the aircraft involved was carrying out aerobatic manoeuvres.

It is recommended that aircraft intending to carry out aerobatics in Class G airspace whilst under a service from Gloucestershire ATC advise Briefing or ATC at the time of booking and also advise ATC over the radio prior to initiating the aerobatics. ATC can then pass appropriate traffic information if necessary.

Thanks and happy flying,

Chris

Ed: just in case anyone is thinking of buying the airport, here's a sales pitch...

Good Morning

In July 2026 we had a total of 8,424 movements at the Airport. This means that, in terms of total movements, July was:

• the busiest month for 8 years

• the 2nd busiest month for 10 years

• the 3rd busiest month for 13 years

This is a significant achievement, particularly from an ATC perspective as staff continue to manage high traffic levels without the aid of an Aerodrome Traffic Monitor. We are still awaiting approval for our FID from the CAA after submitting the required training plans and safety cases several months ago.

Thanks and happy flying,

Chris

The cockpit on the right is the pilots view inside Mike Waldrons WW1 Reproduction fighter aircraft.

Date: 10 Oct 2026, 2hr 25min. Book here.

An unmissable and highly entertaining evening of informal conversation, banter and anecdotes for anyone fascinated by the world of aviation. Joining us on stage to share first-hand insights into their extraordinary flying careers are three former instructor pilots.

They’ll tell unique stories from the very top of aviation, discuss the exceptional aircraft they have flown, answer your questions, and make you laugh along the way. Introducing Captain Paul Rimell, Captain John Tye and Captain Andy Wyatt. Paul flew the 747 and the mighty Airbus A380, the largest airliner ever built. John flew Concorde at twice the speed of sound and Andy was, amongst other great things, a member of The Red Arrows, the finest aerobatic team in the world.

The September Strut meeting will be held on Tuesday 8th September at the Victory Club in Cheltenham. The speaker will be Dave Fry, giving a talk entitled 'Going Around in Circles' (C130s, Starlifters, BA, Chipmunk stuff). Also, we will have a brief (10 minutes) presentation by Ron, a representative of the Scouts.