Latest / Flyer Magazine / Compton Abbas Airfield update. New boss explains 2026 changes

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Compton Abbas Airfield update. New boss explains 2026 changes · Flyer Magazine

0:05
SPEAKER_02: From the BFA Flying Club in beautiful patio, Highland.
0:11
SPEAKER_05: Welcome to the Flyer Show.
0:14
SPEAKER_05: Hello and welcome to this week's Flyer Show from a Damp Woodswig.
0:18
SPEAKER_05: My name's Ian Seeger.
0:19
SPEAKER_05: I'm Ed Hicks.
0:20
SPEAKER_07: And I'm Dave Calderwood.
0:21
SPEAKER_05: Excellent.
0:21
SPEAKER_05: Before we go on, a big thank you to Sky Demon for sponsoring the show, and here is this week's top tip.
0:30
SPEAKER_00: Hi, I'm Hannah from Sky Demon, and this is this week's top tip.
0:34
SPEAKER_00: There may be occasions where you need to locate a specific piece of airspace, often because somebody on the radio has mentioned it.
0:42
SPEAKER_00: Rather than panning around the map to try and find it, you can use the Find button to type in the airspace identifier.
0:49
SPEAKER_00: This works in planning mode as well as in go flying mode.
0:55
SPEAKER_00: When searching, you must be sure to include the country code at the start of the identifier.
1:00
SPEAKER_00: For example, EG for UK Airspace.
1:04
SPEAKER_00: You'll see that as I start type a partial identifier, a list of results appears.
1:10
SPEAKER_00: If I type a bit more of the identifier, the results are narrowed down.
1:15
SPEAKER_00: Then I just need to select the one I need, and Sky Demon will highlight it clearly on the map.
1:22
SPEAKER_00: For more information, go to our website skydemon.arow.
1:30
SPEAKER_05: Top tip.
1:31
SPEAKER_05: So there you go.
1:32
SPEAKER_05: Who'd have thought that you needed a way of finding some airspace?
1:34
SPEAKER_06: I mean I well, I airspace is a complex puzzle now for some around some places, so finding it is a finding it is a good thing.
1:42
SPEAKER_05: I mean most people not not most people, I'm joking.
1:45
SPEAKER_05: Some people find it accidentally.
1:48
SPEAKER_06: But anyway, there you go.
1:50
SPEAKER_06: Um it's uh weather's not been great, to be fair, last few days.
1:54
SPEAKER_06: So I'm intrigued to know what Simon has in store for us.
1:57
SPEAKER_06: Um, running into the weekend.
1:59
SPEAKER_04: Hi everyone, Simon Keeling here with the Flying Weather Outlook for the weekend and week ahead brought to you exclusively by Flyer in association with weatherscall.co.uk.
2:09
SPEAKER_04: Thanks again for watching.
2:11
SPEAKER_04: I'm at the office at the moment, so just a quick one for you today.
2:14
SPEAKER_04: Okay, this is how things shape up then onto Friday.
2:17
SPEAKER_04: Big area of low pressure developing south of Ireland during the course of Friday.
2:23
SPEAKER_04: Um, further front, just tracking their way northwards and eastwards along the line of this occlusion, moving through the Midlands, Northern Ireland, and Wales, we're looking at non-VFR conditions.
2:34
SPEAKER_04: Typical base is probably a couple of thousand feet up, so about 10 to 12,000 feet.
2:39
SPEAKER_04: The other occlusion across Scotland bringing some sleety bits across the hills of Scotland, generally non-VFR, 1,000 foot bases, 12,000 foot tops.
2:48
SPEAKER_04: In between, actually, probably fire conditions, but windy, 3,000 foot bases, 10,000 foot tops, and then heavy cows getting into eastern parts of Ireland, southern Wales, southern England, making for marginal conditions here.
3:02
SPEAKER_04: It is probably just about okay to get into the circuit with this bases around 1,000 to 2,000 feet tops and 15 to 18,000 feet, some Q names to watch out for as well.
3:13
SPEAKER_04: On to Saturday, and a deep area of low pressure south of Ireland, it kind of just drifts around.
3:20
SPEAKER_04: Front trying to track their way northwards and eastwards, bringing non-verfar conditions, much of Ireland, much of Wales, much of southwest England because of the wind, it's just gonna be so windy, got 45 to 50 knots.
3:32
SPEAKER_04: Generally non-verifarable outbreaks of rain, some heavy showers as well.
3:36
SPEAKER_04: Still some further bits of sleep and rain across northeastern Scotland, non-verfar here.
3:42
SPEAKER_04: In between, I'm gonna say marginal, it is breezy with that south-easterly, but probably okay for central eastern parts of England.
3:51
SPEAKER_04: Again, the south-easly wind is in, three to four thousand foot bases, ten to twelve thousand foot tops.
3:58
SPEAKER_04: Now, Sunday, messy again, bits of front surround, bits of rain, one extending through central parts of Scotland, northeast England, another one down through Northern Ireland, western parts of Wales, generally non-vFar in these areas.
4:12
SPEAKER_04: I think southern parts of England seems to match brakes of rain non-VFR here.
4:16
SPEAKER_04: Bases less than a thousand feet as that wind moves through, tops of 15,000 feet.
4:22
SPEAKER_04: You see though, in between, actually, broken clouds, 3,000 foot bases, tops about 10,000 feet, not that bad, and actually not that bad Central and Northern Ireland.
4:33
SPEAKER_04: So a messy weekend and starts next week.
4:36
SPEAKER_04: Light is all some flying to be found, but um just watch those forecasts really carefully for the detail.
4:44
SPEAKER_04: Good luck if you manage to get out of there.
4:46
SPEAKER_04: I think wind really is a bit of a problem through the weekend.
4:49
SPEAKER_04: Let's go head it into next week.
4:51
SPEAKER_04: I'll be updating all the time across at weatherweb.net.
4:54
SPEAKER_04: For now, though, whatever you're doing, thanks again for watching.
4:56
SPEAKER_04: Get yourself booked on Aviation Weather School Part one now, and I'll see you next week.
5:00
SPEAKER_04: Bye for now.
5:01
SPEAKER_07: Right, so top of the news is that uh there's a new French superstar.
5:06
SPEAKER_07: This is the TBM980, which uh builds on what they built have with the TB960.
5:12
SPEAKER_07: Um, it's got the same engine as the 960.
5:14
SPEAKER_07: This is a revised version of the Pratt and Whitney PT6, but the real difference with the 980 is going to be the avionics, which are Garmin G3000 Prime.
5:24
SPEAKER_07: Quite an astonishing bit of kit, actually.
5:26
SPEAKER_07: I mean, apart from the uh the obvious things, which are it uh has got moving maps and all that kind of thing, it's also got this incredible package uh for all digital weather radar called Storm Optics.
5:38
SPEAKER_07: And if you've ever had a look at what this is, it's just incredible.
5:41
SPEAKER_07: It tells you everything that's coming out.
5:43
SPEAKER_06: But more importantly, isn't the fact that the TBM 980 has um USB ports that will drive Starlink.
5:49
SPEAKER_06: Absolutely.
5:50
SPEAKER_07: That's right.
5:50
SPEAKER_07: Yep, yeah.
5:51
SPEAKER_07: It's got these new all powerful hundred-watting USB-C link uh.
5:56
SPEAKER_06: It appears that Starlink is like the is gonna be the go-to edition for all new model aeroplanes this year, I think.
6:02
SPEAKER_06: Absolutely.
6:02
SPEAKER_05: Well, if you go into Sporties, yeah, you can now buy specific Starlink suction cups so you can easily mount your Starlink mini receiver.
6:11
SPEAKER_05: Because there's a whole bunch of people flying around in in 182s and stuff like that with Starlink.
6:15
SPEAKER_05: It's it's relatively low cost.
6:18
SPEAKER_05: I think it's probably like 50 quid a month or something, and probably fifty dollars a month in the States.
6:21
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
6:22
SPEAKER_05: Which obviously gets you uh gets you Spotify, gets you YouTube, gets you full access to or and a bit of weather and no time and stuff if you want it as well.
6:30
SPEAKER_05: But in all seriousness, it does seem to have transformed the data transformation, the data reception for aircraft.
6:37
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
6:37
SPEAKER_05: And we'll have an awful lot of stuff, you know, for traffic and all sorts of things.
6:40
SPEAKER_07: Yeah, and DA uh obviously make the TBM 980.
6:43
SPEAKER_07: They're offering Starlink as an option with the aircraft.
6:46
SPEAKER_07: Yeah.
6:47
SPEAKER_05: I I think I think Starlink will probably become the default way of of people getting data in aircraft, and I think that's a good thing.
6:52
SPEAKER_05: I think you're probably right.
6:54
SPEAKER_05: I mean there was discussion a while ago.
6:56
SPEAKER_05: I I'm not up on it completely about Starlink being included in various mobile phones at some point as well.
7:02
SPEAKER_05: And so I think that that will just be a continuing thing.
7:04
SPEAKER_05: And before long we can expect to be fully connected, taking all those business calls for you, thrusting entrepreneurs out there as you're in the circuit.
7:12
SPEAKER_06: And the TBM's come a long way though, hasn't it?
7:14
SPEAKER_06: You think back to the the TBM 700 of the of the what was it, mid-80s it came out?
7:20
SPEAKER_05: Was there a C one or did the C one come afterwards?
7:22
SPEAKER_05: I can't remember.
7:23
SPEAKER_06: I can't remember, but uh but are they at have they sold 1300 of those now?
7:27
SPEAKER_07: Nearly 1300 altogether, yeah.
7:29
SPEAKER_07: I mean if and if you know if you were choosing a really nice aeroplane, you know, if you had a lot of money, if you're choosing a really nice aeroplane, TBM would be pretty high up the list.
7:39
SPEAKER_06: As a single pilot turboprop, it's yeah, it's probably one of the things.
7:47
SPEAKER_06: PC twelve's cool, but it's not TBM.
7:51
SPEAKER_07: It's quite a bit bigger as well.
7:52
SPEAKER_06: So I might be on a limb there, I don't know.
7:54
SPEAKER_05: But um the T I always think you have a PC twelve.
7:59
SPEAKER_05: No, you have the TBM.
8:00
SPEAKER_05: I'll get the PC twelve.
8:01
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
8:01
SPEAKER_05: And if we have if our needs change, we can swap.
8:03
SPEAKER_06: Okay, yeah, seems fair.
8:05
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
8:05
SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
8:06
SPEAKER_05: Cool.
8:06
SPEAKER_05: Great.
8:07
SPEAKER_05: Well, uh, what else have we got?
8:08
SPEAKER_05: So a little update on the um Southern Aircraft Consultancy Enrich thing, uh just to bring you up to speed if if you didn't watch last week.
8:16
SPEAKER_05: Uh last Tuesday, there was the FAA decided that the Southern Aircraft Consultancy nationality rules haven't been met and basically grounded 805 aircraft that were flying uh that were owned by the Southern Aircraft Consultancy Trust.
8:30
SPEAKER_05: Um so that's bad news.
8:31
SPEAKER_05: And those aircraft, most of those aircraft remain grounded.
8:34
SPEAKER_05: I know personally of a couple of people who decided at that time to go and find a different trust company, which is a bit of a process you go through, and both of those are now flying.
8:42
SPEAKER_05: But I also know that Southern Aircraft Consultancy have reached full agreement with the FAA, and they are beginning to submit applications uh today, in fact, to the Did I say LAA?
8:52
SPEAKER_05: I meant FAA.
8:53
SPEAKER_05: FAA.
8:54
SPEAKER_05: If I said LAA, I meant FAA.
8:55
SPEAKER_05: The LAA has got nothing to do with this particular story.
8:58
SPEAKER_05: Um and so it's hope hopefully we'll have some news and and the the mighty 182 will be flying again soon as well.
9:05
SPEAKER_06: So you are at the moment you are still grounded.
9:07
SPEAKER_05: I am.
9:07
SPEAKER_05: Although frankly, this is probably the best time of year to be grounded.
9:12
SPEAKER_05: The weather's been pants, I've been busy.
9:13
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
9:14
SPEAKER_05: And so the fact that it's grounded and and actually not even at home base because it's just had an annual, is is Yeah.
9:20
SPEAKER_05: But there is but there is a path to airworthiness.
9:23
SPEAKER_05: There are several paths.
9:23
SPEAKER_05: There's the SAC path, which appears to have uh uh kind of now be working, and there's the other path where what you have to do, you have to send your certificate of registration back to SAC if you're with them and say uh I would like a bill of sale and then you can register with a new provider.
9:38
SPEAKER_05: And I know two people who've done that who have already had their uh certificates of registrations back and who can fly now.
9:45
SPEAKER_05: Excellent.
9:45
SPEAKER_05: So that's great news, really.
9:47
SPEAKER_05: That's good news.
9:48
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, absolutely.
9:49
SPEAKER_05: Absolutely.
9:50
SPEAKER_05: Um and hopefully when it when it's sort of died down a bit and everyone's not running around with their hair on fire, which I hope they are, getting spracked flying, we'll we'll get someone on from Veria or SAC and do a little interview and see exactly what happened.
10:04
SPEAKER_06: Yeah, it definitely I think it definitely raised people's interest in operating on an N-Reg.
10:09
SPEAKER_05: Absolutely.
10:09
SPEAKER_05: Well, funnily enough, uh I've had a couple of people say to me, Well, okay, so if you've got an M-REG aircraft, what do you do to get it on the G-Reg?
10:16
SPEAKER_05: And there is a process, but I'm not 100% sure of some of the technicalities.
10:19
SPEAKER_05: So I've asked the CA.
10:21
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
10:21
SPEAKER_05: Uh and the first reply was, Well, you need to ask the FAA.
10:24
SPEAKER_05: Okay, no, no, you don't need to ask the FAA, do you, really?
10:27
SPEAKER_05: The FAA don't control the CA's airworthiness stuff.
10:31
SPEAKER_05: And I've asked again, but so far no reply.
10:33
SPEAKER_05: So I'm hoping to hoping they're searching their offices for an expert who can talk to me and explain it in detail.
10:38
SPEAKER_05: And then we'll we'll run a story, make a video, and explain that.
10:42
SPEAKER_05: Very good.
10:42
SPEAKER_05: Who knows?
10:43
SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
10:44
unknown: Okay.
10:44
SPEAKER_06: Absolutely.
10:45
SPEAKER_06: Uh me next.
10:46
SPEAKER_06: And that's uh the news that uh the Poole's dawn to dusk challenge for 2026.
10:52
SPEAKER_06: Uh entries for that are now open.
10:54
SPEAKER_06: Absolutely.
10:55
SPEAKER_06: Um but you probably won't want to do your dawn to dusk challenge just yet.
10:58
SPEAKER_06: Maybe wait until uh great time for planning and dreaming.
11:01
SPEAKER_06: Planning planning and dreaming, yeah.
11:03
SPEAKER_06: Um and this is it's a it's a challenge that is great for uh people who are enthusiastic about their flying.
11:09
SPEAKER_06: What a different challenge.
11:10
SPEAKER_06: And it's all about um Poole say, it's all about uh taking an idea, um, forming a plan around it, um choosing a day when you can fly a bunch.
11:20
SPEAKER_06: Uh minimum uh air airborne time, I think, is four hours.
11:23
SPEAKER_06: Correct.
11:23
SPEAKER_06: That's correct.
11:24
SPEAKER_06: Um but anything beyond that you can as long as it's between dawn and dusk.
11:28
SPEAKER_06: And most people do this in June when you've got the most flying hours.
11:32
SPEAKER_06: Um anywhere in the world.
11:34
SPEAKER_06: Anywhere in the world, yeah.
11:35
SPEAKER_06: And the key with this is that um you just uh you you pick a your entry must be accompanied with a log, I think.
11:42
SPEAKER_06: Uh and obviously you're a judge, aren't you?
11:44
SPEAKER_06: So um so you've seen it.
11:46
SPEAKER_06: I've seen a lot of things.
11:46
SPEAKER_05: You've seen a lot of logs.
11:48
SPEAKER_05: And they vary from half a dozen sheets of printed.
11:52
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
11:52
SPEAKER_05: I'll say half a dozen.
11:53
SPEAKER_05: That's kind of a generalization.
11:55
SPEAKER_05: Don't take me literally, please.
11:56
SPEAKER_05: Uh a number of sheets printed out to people who who have have created lavishly illustrated books um and and all sorts.
12:05
SPEAKER_05: And videos and things like that.
12:06
SPEAKER_06: Yeah, I I think there is a there is there's multiple prizes, aren't there?
12:09
SPEAKER_06: And I think there's um there is a prize for a a video for video content over and above the other other things.
12:16
SPEAKER_06: Uh first prize is a thousand pounds, um, and there's a whole bunch of trophies, and you get to go to an awards dinner, don't you?
12:22
SPEAKER_05: Aaron Ross Powell Which is uh Thursday the 5th of February, so it's coming up really soon.
12:27
SPEAKER_05: That's for 2025, isn't it?
12:28
SPEAKER_05: For the 2025 awards.
12:31
SPEAKER_06: I shall be there, which is good.
12:33
SPEAKER_06: Excellent, good.
12:34
SPEAKER_06: Um and everyone who enters gets a certificate and a shield.
12:37
SPEAKER_06: Um there's no entry fee.
12:39
SPEAKER_06: So it's so it's one of those great challenges where you can if you come up with the idea and do it, it's just a lot of things.
12:44
SPEAKER_05: The trick is you basically you find someone well you don't you can do it solo, absolutely.
12:48
SPEAKER_05: But you know, find find some friends, go and have a few beers.
12:50
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
12:51
SPEAKER_05: And great ideas always come from a few beers.
12:53
SPEAKER_05: Spend some time planning it, go and execute it, yeah, and then spend some time creating the log and submit the log.
12:59
SPEAKER_05: At that point it's it's completely free.
13:00
SPEAKER_05: You know, do a video, nice little video with a voiceover kind of thing.
13:03
SPEAKER_05: It's great.
13:03
SPEAKER_05: Doesn't have to be doesn't have to be up to our stand.
13:07
SPEAKER_05: Just as well.
13:08
SPEAKER_05: Just as well, yeah.
13:09
SPEAKER_05: Um and then send it in.
13:10
SPEAKER_05: We we then sit down, judge it.
13:13
SPEAKER_05: There's I think four judges, five four or five judges.
13:16
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
13:16
SPEAKER_05: Um we work it all out, and then we go to dinner and have a great time.
13:19
SPEAKER_07: It's worth saying we've had uh quite a few of these uh Dawn to Dust stories on the uh in Flyer over the years.
13:24
SPEAKER_07: And uh some links in the story on the website to a few of those.
13:28
SPEAKER_07: And there's great stories.
13:29
SPEAKER_06: And we had uh Steve Newram and Roddy Sims um on uh live stream last year um who did uh their Dawn to Dust Challenge was to fly around the whole of the UK.
13:39
SPEAKER_05: That's right.
13:40
SPEAKER_05: There are there are quite a few Dawn to Dust challenges which combine some kind of Guinness world records.
13:45
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
13:46
SPEAKER_05: Not all of them.
13:46
SPEAKER_05: And there are some that are, you know, a typical one that has been in the past, you know, fly to so many countries or so many airfields or stuff like that.
13:53
SPEAKER_05: There's a there's a price for the longest distance kind of thing.
13:56
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
13:56
SPEAKER_05: But there are also other people who who just do something really interesting almost in their local area.
14:01
SPEAKER_05: So you don't have to go, you know, don't sit there going, oh, but you know, it's gonna take us ages to fly to Spain and Italy and whatever.
14:08
SPEAKER_05: You know, you can do something just in a a region of the UK and make it really interesting.
14:11
SPEAKER_06: There was I remember one uh where someone went to find all the mornsel forts in their in their county.
14:19
SPEAKER_06: Who knew?
14:20
SPEAKER_07: No, and there was also the guy, the couple who uh flew around the lighthouses of the UK.
14:26
SPEAKER_05: Yes, that was in the southwest.
14:27
SPEAKER_05: And then you got people like Nick um Nick Orchard who who flies in Eronka.
14:31
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
14:31
SPEAKER_05: Um I think last year hers was Follies, so she she flew around Follies of the UK.
14:35
SPEAKER_05: So you get this really beautiful book of Follies, and you can learn or was it mazes?
14:40
SPEAKER_05: I can't remember, one of the two.
14:41
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
14:41
SPEAKER_05: I think she's done both over the years.
14:43
SPEAKER_05: But you you you just learn so much.
14:44
SPEAKER_05: I didn't know as much about Maces and Follies before that as I do now.
14:48
SPEAKER_05: It's it's actually fascinating.
14:49
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
14:50
SPEAKER_05: It's a great way of adding interest to your flying.
14:53
SPEAKER_07: Do you remember that really obscure one about with a guy over the autojarro who flew around World War II radar installations?
15:00
SPEAKER_07: And amazingly, many of these masks are still there.
15:03
SPEAKER_07: Yeah.
15:03
SPEAKER_07: The dishes that are two masks, one mask.
15:06
SPEAKER_07: One transmitting, one receiving.
15:08
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, there are some there's some really there's some really interesting stuff that you just but most of the time you just fly by.
15:14
SPEAKER_06: That's it, yeah.
15:15
SPEAKER_06: But dawn to dusk, make it if uh if you haven't done it, make it maybe make it your challenge for 2026.
15:20
SPEAKER_06: Uh because it's it's a great thing to do.
15:23
SPEAKER_06: Absolutely.
15:24
SPEAKER_05: Absolutely.
15:25
SPEAKER_05: Um, me next.
15:26
SPEAKER_05: Uh just a quick story here.
15:28
SPEAKER_05: We've had a few requests from some updates on the story we spoke about last week, which was the Colin Hailes LAA story.
15:34
SPEAKER_05: Uh the latest is that Colin Hailes has um called for an EGM, an extraordinary general meeting.
15:40
SPEAKER_05: Obviously, he's not a member, so he can't do that, but he's called on Facebook for members to do that.
15:45
SPEAKER_05: Um I don't know more than that.
15:48
SPEAKER_05: We'll report the facts on that when we when we get them.
15:52
SPEAKER_06: Uh free money.
15:53
SPEAKER_06: Anyway, uh so five new flying scholarships from Goodwood for 2026.
15:58
SPEAKER_06: Uh these are the uh the Rob Wildeboard scholarships um which uh Goodwood run.
16:03
SPEAKER_06: Uh and they've been going for four years now, and they've helped 26 students.
16:07
SPEAKER_06: Um this year you can have uh three, well, the three 10-hour scholarships are available, uh training in a 172, and two five hours, uh two five-hour training slots in a Piper Cub, Super Cub.
16:20
SPEAKER_06: Um and these are pretty easy to apply for.
16:23
SPEAKER_06: All you have to do is you have to email uh Goodwood and explain in 500 words um why you think you deserve the scholarship.
16:30
SPEAKER_06: Uh and you've got until 28th of February to do that.
16:33
SPEAKER_06: It's good discipline to do it in five hundred words.
16:35
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
16:36
SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
16:36
SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
16:37
SPEAKER_06: And uh uh if you if you are lucky to get the scholarship, it's also supported by poolies um who uh support the um support the scholarship with a whole bunch of books and things and training aids.
16:47
SPEAKER_06: So Perfect.
16:49
SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
16:49
SPEAKER_06: Perfect.
16:50
SPEAKER_07: Yes, just a little update on Poppham Airfield.
16:52
SPEAKER_07: There's just one day left uh to get in a a response to the consultation which is going on on whether Popham should be included in the local plan as a a new housing estate called Popham Garden Village.
17:04
SPEAKER_07: Uh the consultation ends tomorrow, uh Friday, the twenty-third of January.
17:09
SPEAKER_07: Um if you'd like some help comp you know composing a response, there's an excellent guide on the website of Popham Matters, a campaign group.
17:17
SPEAKER_07: There are links from our story on flyer to Popham Matters and to also a whole bunch of other things.
17:23
SPEAKER_07: So uh it's worth going to have a look at that if you've yet to make a response.
17:27
SPEAKER_07: But do it quickly.
17:28
SPEAKER_07: Uh but news of the battle for Popham has actually reached as far as the Czech Aviation Association.
17:34
SPEAKER_07: Wow.
17:34
SPEAKER_07: Yep, there's uh been a letter of support from a chap called Vaklev Vasek, who's the chairman of the association.
17:41
SPEAKER_07: He writes that the Czech uh Aviation Association is very well acquainted with the same issue.
17:47
SPEAKER_07: Um they've had to they've had to do the same thing with a big airfield, with a an important airfield called I really wish I hadn't caught this story.
17:56
SPEAKER_07: I was gonna say it's called Plusin Linay, um military airfield, okay.
18:01
SPEAKER_07: Which apparently is now designated as uh a civilian airfield.
18:04
SPEAKER_07: They had to find a battle to keep that open.
18:06
SPEAKER_07: Um so he's very supportive.
18:08
SPEAKER_07: And we know that an airfield is an important part of the airfield network and a place not only for the general aviation public, but also essential infrastructure, he calls it.
18:17
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
18:17
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, absolutely.
18:18
SPEAKER_05: I mean that's the thing with aviation.
18:20
SPEAKER_05: Quite often there'll be the local people who get involved, but there'll be people flying into Popham and other airfields from pretty much all over, including the Czech Republic.
18:28
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
18:29
SPEAKER_05: So yeah.
18:30
SPEAKER_05: Let's get our get our comments in now.
18:32
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
18:32
SPEAKER_06: And there's a there is a story online if you if you haven't been one of those that sent a comment in, um, there's a story online that will help you um find information to do that.
18:41
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
18:42
SPEAKER_05: Now before we move on to our main story, I just want to change the running order a little bit, so shock people somewhat.
18:47
SPEAKER_05: Um and so we'll come back to the main story shortly, which is your visit to Compton.
18:51
SPEAKER_07: Yep.
18:52
SPEAKER_05: But in the meantime, I want to suggest that you consider joining the Flyer Club.
18:56
SPEAKER_05: It will only cost you six pounds per month or sixty-two pounds per year.
19:00
SPEAKER_06: You'll get a whole bunch of free landing fees, and the ones for February coming up are February landing fees are Cromer, Netherhorpe, Hombeck Farm, where they have, and we are told, excellent cakes, um, and Sherburn in Elmet.
19:13
SPEAKER_05: So that's about 40 quids worth of landing fees that you'd save yourself there for just six pounds a month.
19:17
SPEAKER_05: And you get landing fees every single month.
19:20
SPEAKER_05: Plus, you get full access to everything we've done, you get full access to the forum, and you get full access to our current and historic webinar series.
19:29
SPEAKER_05: We've got one coming up next week with uh Dave, you're hosting that with Ed Bellamy talking about licensing.
19:34
SPEAKER_07: That's right.
19:34
SPEAKER_07: He's picking up on the the changes that were made last October to the P to PPL licensing.
19:39
SPEAKER_07: And it's going to be an emphasis on revalidation and renewal.
19:42
SPEAKER_07: Thanks so much because that's that's some good news there.
19:44
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
19:45
SPEAKER_05: Um last week we last last month I should say we had Nigel Webb talking about icing.
19:49
SPEAKER_05: We've had er Ed Hicks, don't know who he is, talking about air-to-air photography, uh, Frank Vuten on lifestyle changes that keeps pilots flying.
19:56
SPEAKER_05: There's basically a library of about 30, probably more than 30 now webinars that we've held.
20:02
SPEAKER_05: Funnily enough, over the last 30 months, roughly speaking.
20:04
SPEAKER_05: You can go back and watch all of those.
20:06
SPEAKER_05: So you get access to that if you're a club member.
20:08
SPEAKER_05: Just six pounds per month.
20:10
SPEAKER_05: www.flyer.co.uk forward slash membership.
20:14
SPEAKER_05: Thank you very much.
20:16
SPEAKER_07: Right.
20:18
SPEAKER_07: So I took a visit to Comton Abbas along with Henry, our videographer.
20:22
SPEAKER_07: And it was a very cold, wet day.
20:25
SPEAKER_07: Storm Coretti was chasing us.
20:28
SPEAKER_07: But uh they had some really interesting things to say.
20:32
SPEAKER_07: Shall we run the VT?
20:34
SPEAKER_07: Let's do it.
20:35
SPEAKER_07: I've been longing to say that.
20:37
SPEAKER_07: It's very 80s, isn't it?
20:39
SPEAKER_06: Roland Rat.
20:40
SPEAKER_06: Run VT.
20:43
SPEAKER_07: We're at Compton Apollo Airfield, um, one of UK's best loved airfields, set in fantastic, glorious North Dorset countryside.
20:51
SPEAKER_07: It's on the edge of what's called the Cranbourne Chase National Landscape.
20:55
SPEAKER_07: It's an area of outstanding national beauty.
20:57
SPEAKER_07: And amazingly, this airfield is right there.
21:00
SPEAKER_07: A little bit of history.
21:01
SPEAKER_07: In October 2022, the airfield changed hands.
21:04
SPEAKER_07: Uh, and it was bought by the filmmaker Guy Ritchie, uh, who just happens to be a neighbour.
21:09
SPEAKER_07: And uh there's been a few changes over the years.
21:12
SPEAKER_07: Uh, but just recently, Ben Perkins, sitting here on my left, was appointed uh accountable manager, and over here is James Wollstenholme.
21:23
SPEAKER_07: James Wollstenholm.
21:24
SPEAKER_07: How can I figure out that Wolsten?
21:25
SPEAKER_07: Sorry.
21:25
SPEAKER_07: James Wollstenholme, who is head of uh aviation operations.
21:29
SPEAKER_07: We're gonna have a bit of a chat because apparently there's gonna be some changes coming up this year.
21:34
SPEAKER_07: First of all, Ben, if you could just tell us what accountable manager actually means and what you'll be doing.
21:39
SPEAKER_02: Absolutely.
21:40
SPEAKER_02: So the accountable manager role is a CAA appointed safety role.
21:44
SPEAKER_02: So I'm sitting on James's shoulder here, making sure that he's um supported as he best needs to be to make sure that the aerodrome continues its safe operation.
21:53
SPEAKER_02: Over the last three or so years, the Airfield's done a fantastic job of being very compliant.
21:57
SPEAKER_02: Um, but we now have a task of rebuilding.
22:00
SPEAKER_02: Community at the airfields, so both looking after our own members as well as branching out into wider GA and inviting more people to come and enjoy a lovely airfield following a period of uh of restoration here and investment in a restaurant.
22:13
SPEAKER_07: And James, if you could just tell us what you do, but I know you're head of airfield aviation operations.
22:18
SPEAKER_07: What does that exactly mean?
22:21
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, it's um looking at the day to day.
22:24
SPEAKER_03: Um, we'll be overseeing um me and the and the small team that we've got here um looking at after our members that are based here, uh the visitors that get to fly in, um, just ensuring that uh every day goes smoothly, goes safely, and people are having a good time.
22:38
SPEAKER_03: Um, as Ben said, we've got a great uh little community of pilots here.
22:42
SPEAKER_03: Um, and over the next couple of months and and through this year, ready for the flying season, we'll be looking at building that up, fostering um the love for aviation that's here and just getting people enjoying flying.
22:53
SPEAKER_07: Great, thanks.
22:54
SPEAKER_07: Now, before we started recording, uh we were chatting and you were talking about how you'd done some research uh before coming to Compton.
23:02
SPEAKER_07: Well, obviously you know the airfield because you've been working with aero legends who uh run spitbar operations here during the summer.
23:09
SPEAKER_07: But what was the research you were doing and why and what did you come up with?
23:13
SPEAKER_02: So I did the uh my usual of going to TripAdvisor, Sky Demon, every review site, and immediately going to one-star reviews and having a good read.
23:24
SPEAKER_02: Um but it's some very valuable feedback, you know, uh in its entirety, both understanding where we can be better but also what we do well.
23:32
SPEAKER_02: And in any period of change, what you don't want to do is take away the things that people like very much and replace it with things that people don't like very much.
23:39
SPEAKER_02: Um as I touched on earlier, the airfield have worked hard to become very compliant, and in the latest airfield review uh by the CAA or inspection by the CAA, it's um performed fantastically well.
23:51
SPEAKER_02: That said, the overriding feel and sentiment within Skydeam and comments specifically is that there's um it's lost parse and parcel of the charm that it had when it was under previous ownership, which we are empowered to bring back.
24:05
SPEAKER_02: Um visitors have been made to feel unwelcome at times, which is certainly something that we want to stop and want to change going forwards.
24:14
SPEAKER_02: Um so we need to make the airfield more accessible.
24:17
SPEAKER_02: Um James is fantastically well placed and has the local knowledge to be able to do that.
24:22
SPEAKER_02: We need to build our community back up at the airfield.
24:26
SPEAKER_02: You know, it was one of those go-to locations when you get your PPL, as I did five, six years ago, and you um you know, where can I go to now?
24:34
SPEAKER_02: Your first trip abroad is the Isle of Wites, and the next one is down to uh down to Compton generally, you're trying to find a um trying to find a what is a postage stamp, grass postage stamp on top of 800-foot hill in Dorset.
24:48
SPEAKER_02: It's not the easiest of tasks, but it is a very rewarding one.
24:51
SPEAKER_02: So we want to uh collectively uh bring Compton Abbas back up in the community to where it was, and uh we're gonna got a few ideas on how we're gonna do that.
25:01
SPEAKER_02: Commercial operators who are gonna be operating from the airfield.
25:04
SPEAKER_02: Uh so we've got a couple who've been based here for 30 or so years, uh, have now six aeroplanes on site, and they are going to be supporting the uh Compton flight training organization with an additional flight training, a bit of progression into tailwheel aircraft, and we're also bringing wing walking back.
25:23
SPEAKER_02: Uh so the wing walking will be aero superbatics.
25:28
SPEAKER_02: We're looking forward to having them back.
25:29
SPEAKER_02: We've had them here for the air show, and I've used them at other air shows through you know my Aero Legends job.
25:34
SPEAKER_02: Uh they're fantastic, you know, really very professional, very safe, and um yeah, provide a spectacle for for visiting members of the public to uh to come and have a look at.
25:43
SPEAKER_02: And James is leading on a number of community events, so um, as well as open opening the airfield uh more.
25:50
SPEAKER_02: So rather than having a five days a week, nine to five arrangement, we're looking to make hey, whilst the sun shines, we're uh a seasonal business at the end of the day.
25:58
SPEAKER_02: And James can certainly touch on opening hours and um and uh the the events that we're looking to to get back into the airfield, flying events for our for our base members.
26:08
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, absolutely.
26:10
SPEAKER_03: Um, as as Ben said, seasonality is a big thing here.
26:13
SPEAKER_03: This is a perfect, well, summer airfield, it's not quite the day for it today.
26:17
SPEAKER_03: You look out and you see the grey, but um from April onwards, when the weather is nice, there's no better place to be.
26:22
SPEAKER_03: The Viz is great, and you look out and it's perfect flying weather.
26:25
SPEAKER_03: Um, and that's what we we are going to capitalise on.
26:28
SPEAKER_03: Um come the flying season, um, it makes sense, and we're really looking forward to having this place open seven days a week uh for our base members to fly and for visitors to come in, uh, longer flying hours as well.
26:38
SPEAKER_03: Um, everyone knows that the evening is often the best time to fly, the wind is still and the air is calm, and um you can have a lot of fun with that.
26:45
SPEAKER_03: Um, throw in a smokehouse restaurant where you get the barbecue going, that's a lovely evening.
26:49
SPEAKER_03: So having more of that, but um but yeah, just nurturing the community that's already here.
26:55
SPEAKER_03: Um, before as you say, I've been here a long time.
26:58
SPEAKER_03: Um before COVID, under the family, there was a lot of um evening gatherings, hangar parties, um, some lovely little um community gatherings.
27:08
SPEAKER_03: Um after COVID that that that seemed to come away, so that's what we're looking to bring back, just more opportunities for our pilots, visiting pilots, uh, to come up and enjoy each other's um company, um, bring back the social element that's really needed.
27:21
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, um, so that's what we'll be focusing on come the flying season.
27:25
SPEAKER_02: Part of my research into understanding what we could do better here led to you know, pilots myself, yourself, uh, who understand coming into a into an airfield and wanting to grab a quick bite and a coffee is the desired lunchtime stop and visit, not waiting in a queue, making a reservation, having to stress yourself out with weather.
27:47
SPEAKER_02: So we're looking at means of and we'll be implementing come the summer, a means of uh of making sure that we can look after our pilots visiting M base, uh cater for them through the restaurant and through the cafe, um, as well as dealing with what is a very popular site in the summer, and at times we get 2,000 people through on site.
28:07
SPEAKER_02: And I've seen it over the last three years when when we turn up with Spitfires, the place is packed, um, the car park is full, and the restaurant is even fuller.
28:16
SPEAKER_02: So, um, and and the air feels well attended, you know.
28:20
SPEAKER_02: The um, and even in that respect, how us operating Spitfives here doesn't affect visiting pilots, visiting and uh or or attending and bringing their aircraft and parking up next to us and having an atta with us and the pilots and enjoying the restaurant.
28:33
SPEAKER_02: We just need to make sure that we deal with that weight on food.
28:36
SPEAKER_02: Um, the single biggest change has been, of course, opening seven days a week.
28:41
SPEAKER_02: So going forwards, it's open when we're flying, um, it's open when we get that one nice day of weather in uh in January, um, which I think is Saturday, isn't it?
28:52
SPEAKER_02: So um it's yeah, it's it's been opened and being available.
28:57
SPEAKER_02: So we've been very careful through December to make sure that we're in line with many of the local establishments around here.
29:04
SPEAKER_02: So what you'll get is a very premium venue with a fantastic backdrop and a view of 30 miles of Dorset looking over Shaftsbury, um, and uh you know quite reasonable local pub prices.
29:15
SPEAKER_07: Does the fact that the access road, you know, Fred Eagle Hill, it's going to be closed for the best part of a year.
29:21
SPEAKER_07: That's the main road from from Shaftsbury.
29:23
SPEAKER_07: Does that worry you?
29:25
SPEAKER_02: No, we've all got aeroplanes, so frankly.
29:29
SPEAKER_02: No, so um it's actually been a blessing in disguise.
29:33
SPEAKER_02: So the main access road is closed, however, zigzag hill is open, and the diversion is bringing the vast majority of the traffic across the front of the airfield.
29:41
SPEAKER_02: So we've seen an almost exponential increase in people driving across the boundary road that runs the length of the airfield.
29:47
SPEAKER_02: So, if anything, we're going to get more exposure.
29:50
SPEAKER_07: Right.
29:51
SPEAKER_07: So, one last question.
29:52
SPEAKER_07: Guy Richie, does he still love the place?
29:55
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so I had um a good hour, uh two hours with him just before Christmas, having a good Natter.
30:02
SPEAKER_02: Um he actually likes the kind of aeroplanes that we um that we operate.
30:08
SPEAKER_02: So uh we expect to see uh yeah, lots of vintage airplanes of uh will hopefully be present in some of the films going forwards.
30:18
SPEAKER_02: Um I also understand he very much likes a PC 12.
30:21
SPEAKER_02: Um so it's a uh no, so it he's got a keen passion for the site.
30:27
SPEAKER_02: Uh he wouldn't have made the investment that he has nor bought it if he didn't see it working.
30:31
SPEAKER_02: Um and he certainly wouldn't have bought it if he was going to change it to something else because he's not uh he's not short of facilities locally with a brewery down the road and a and a multiple acre estate just off the back of that as well.
30:43
SPEAKER_02: He's uh he's not tight for space, put it that way.
30:45
SPEAKER_02: So um no, he's very supportive, very keen uh to see the changes that we've discussed here and we've discussed uh leading up to this um being acted.
30:55
SPEAKER_02: And um we've still yet to shoehorn him into a Spitfire and take him for a flight around his house, though.
31:01
SPEAKER_02: So hopefully hopefully this year.
31:02
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
31:04
SPEAKER_07: Well, thanks very much, Ben.
31:05
SPEAKER_07: James.
31:06
SPEAKER_07: Um it's been great to come in and see what you're doing.
31:08
SPEAKER_07: And 2026 sounds like an exciting year for you.
31:11
SPEAKER_07: Great, thanks.
31:14
SPEAKER_05: So I was thinking I was thinking about this.
31:16
SPEAKER_05: Uh in in from a pilot's point of view, an airfield is is you just want something simple.
31:22
SPEAKER_05: You want people who are friendly, you want good services, you want uh the minimum of hassle to use the place.
31:27
SPEAKER_05: You want ease of ease, ease of use.
31:30
SPEAKER_05: When you look behind that, it's actually quite complicated to make sure all of that stuff happens.
31:34
SPEAKER_05: And in the past, I'm not saying this is a competent thing, but other some airfields leak that complexity from the stuff behind the scenes to the stuff in front of the scenes and make it a complicated place to use as a pilot.
31:46
SPEAKER_05: And you know, that comes with then I don't know, books that you have to read and uh websites you have to fit in and all sorts of stuff.
31:52
SPEAKER_05: So it's really the you know, but part of it I'm convinced is the trick of making the complicated appear simple to the users.
31:59
SPEAKER_05: We want to put as few barriers as possible into getting you to fly into our airfield and have a good safe time.
32:04
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
32:05
SPEAKER_05: Um that's a general thing, not a Compton specific comment.
32:08
SPEAKER_05: No, no.
32:09
SPEAKER_07: Well, I think the key takeaways from Compton, which uh are the fact it's gonna be open seven days a week.
32:14
SPEAKER_07: Uh for a while they've been only open for five days a week.
32:18
SPEAKER_07: And they recognize that they possibly lost a bit of the atmosphere that they used to be there, uh particularly for hop for people who are based at the airfield, have had their aircraft based there.
32:27
SPEAKER_07: So they're gonna put a big effort into that.
32:29
SPEAKER_07: It all sounds pretty good, yeah.
32:31
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, no, good.
32:32
SPEAKER_05: Looking forward to that.
32:33
SPEAKER_07: Yeah.
32:34
SPEAKER_05: I should get looking forward to A, not being grounded anymore, B, the weather being nice, and C popping into Compton and see how they're doing.
32:40
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
32:41
SPEAKER_05: Cool.
32:42
SPEAKER_06: Excellent.
32:43
SPEAKER_06: Well, it must be time for what caught your eye.
32:46
SPEAKER_06: We're gonna roll that out this week.
32:48
SPEAKER_06: Um uh Ian, what caught your eye?
32:51
SPEAKER_06: It's just it says Dave all my fellow.
32:53
SPEAKER_06: Well, in that case, Dave.
32:55
SPEAKER_06: What caught your eye.
32:56
SPEAKER_07: Okay, well, I saw this mad selection of tweets from a chap called Sam Eckholm, who is host of uh a YouTube series called Access Granted.
33:06
SPEAKER_07: Basically tries to get into places that other people can't get into.
33:08
SPEAKER_07: He's got a whole crew behind him to video, so he's not like you know like us.
33:13
SPEAKER_07: Not like a man with a camera crew.
33:15
SPEAKER_07: Let's try.
33:16
SPEAKER_07: Anyway, he's only managed to get into uh one of the RAF's um A400M transport aircraft strapped to the the ramp loading ramp at the back um with a camera crew in the back of the uh the the uh the A400M.
33:32
SPEAKER_07: They call it an Atlas in the RAF talk.
33:34
SPEAKER_07: And uh they went flying down the the Mac loop.
33:38
SPEAKER_07: This is the test route in North Wales used by the RAF, mostly used by fast jets, but other transport aircraft go down.
33:46
SPEAKER_07: There's a mad video he's done.
33:48
SPEAKER_07: I'll put the we'll put the link in the description below.
33:51
SPEAKER_07: Um but we've got a few snaps that uh if we were available uh we can use.
33:55
SPEAKER_07: Yeah, it's just an incredible, incredible trip.
33:58
SPEAKER_05: I mean, I wonder how long it takes to to organize something like a first email, dear RAF.
34:03
SPEAKER_06: Yes.
34:04
SPEAKER_05: I have a YouTube channel.
34:06
SPEAKER_06: Could I possibly Yes.
34:07
SPEAKER_06: And it makes you wonder whether I know does that work?
34:10
SPEAKER_06: I an American coming to the RAF to do that, well done on the RAF for going, yeah, access granted.
34:15
SPEAKER_06: I wonder if we were if we went to the US Air Force and went on.
34:19
SPEAKER_05: I don't know.
34:19
SPEAKER_05: I mean if I mean James May went up in a U2, didn't he?
34:22
SPEAKER_05: Yes.
34:23
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, that's true.
34:23
SPEAKER_06: So clearly there is a there might be a path.
34:26
SPEAKER_05: There might well be a path.
34:27
SPEAKER_05: And I guess you know it is more likely that people take all forms of media increasingly seriously.
34:33
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
34:35
SPEAKER_06: But yeah.
34:35
SPEAKER_06: Yeah, that did look um I think there was a there was a a his the thumbnail online looked far more exciting than actually than how it turned out, I feel.
34:44
SPEAKER_06: Well, you have to go watch the video.
34:46
SPEAKER_06: I know, yeah.
34:47
SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
34:48
SPEAKER_06: Ian.
34:50
SPEAKER_06: Yes.
34:55
SPEAKER_05: That's me.
34:56
SPEAKER_05: What's the question?
34:57
SPEAKER_05: Right.
34:57
SPEAKER_05: No, anyway, so this is this is kind of commercial aviation more than German aviation.
35:01
SPEAKER_05: And I have to say, I was kind of reaching for my popcorn for this one.
35:05
SPEAKER_05: If you haven't been following it, there's been a bit of a spat going on on Twitter Stroke X between uh Michael O'Leary and Elon Musk.
35:11
SPEAKER_05: Effectively, Elon Musk has been saying, you know, I I'm surprised you don't want to fit Starlink to your fleet.
35:19
SPEAKER_05: Right to the Ryanair fleet.
35:20
SPEAKER_05: And and Michael O'Leary is going, no, it'll just it'll have too much drag, it cost me another 250 million a year in fuel, um, plus you know, not many people is gonna want to pay for your internet for an hour's flight.
35:31
SPEAKER_06: Wait, Michael O'Leary is responding with facts and science.
35:34
SPEAKER_05: Well, and then and then Elon then Elon said, I'll tell you what, I'm gonna buy your airline for 35 billion.
35:40
SPEAKER_05: Not realizing that in order to that a European airline has to be majority owned by a European citizen, so you couldn't buy it even if you wanted to.
35:49
SPEAKER_05: Um and then Michael O'Leary held a press conference in Dublin because he launched what he calls the idiot sale.
35:55
SPEAKER_05: For people like maybe Elon needs a break to launch an idiot sale.
36:00
SPEAKER_05: And so for people like Elon who want to buy tickets, I've got 100,000 tickets for 16.99 or whatever it was.
36:06
SPEAKER_06: Um it sounds firmly like a win for Michael O'Leary.
36:10
SPEAKER_05: I think you know Michael O'Leary is going to win either way, it's got amazing publicity out of it, a huge audience.
36:15
SPEAKER_06: Um but yeah, clearly, Starlink is not something you can just hold up to a window.
36:21
SPEAKER_06: You know, starlinking commercial aeroplanes need to it does sit on top of the fuselage, doesn't it?
36:26
SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
36:26
SPEAKER_06: And I'm guessing there is a penalty to pay for that.
36:29
SPEAKER_05: Absolutely.
36:29
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
36:30
SPEAKER_05: They are it has been fitted quite to quite a lot of fleets.
36:33
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
36:33
SPEAKER_05: But you know, Ryanair is a has a different business model.
36:36
SPEAKER_05: And I think Michael O'Leary thought here's a great idea for some huge publicity.
36:40
SPEAKER_05: So let's get in there.
36:41
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, it makes sense, doesn't it?
36:42
SPEAKER_05: So and Michael O'Leary's social media team are quite inventive and cutting.
36:47
SPEAKER_06: Yes.
36:48
SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
36:48
SPEAKER_06: Well, I think nowadays if you don't have clever social media, then uh then you're missing a trick.
36:53
SPEAKER_06: Absolutely.
36:54
SPEAKER_06: Um talking of social media, um uh on Facebook uh the uh I spotted a rather fabulous thing.
37:00
SPEAKER_06: It was posted by my favorite aircraft sales company, Platinum uh fighter sales.
37:05
SPEAKER_06: Um they listed a 1963 uh D.
37:09
SPEAKER_06: Howard 500.
37:11
SPEAKER_06: Um and if you're going, oh, what's one of those?
37:13
SPEAKER_06: We have ran a feature about them.
37:15
SPEAKER_06: There's two still flying in the world.
37:18
SPEAKER_06: Uh and one uh they were originally owned by one person.
37:22
SPEAKER_06: Uh they the fleet split up, one's with someone, someone else.
37:26
SPEAKER_06: Um but one of those has just gone on the market.
37:29
SPEAKER_06: Um and they are um they are a fabulous throwback to the time when piston power was it was like this is as good as having a King Air before the King Air was invented.
37:40
SPEAKER_06: Um the advert says the Howard 500 can go head to head with any turbine twin flying today.
37:46
SPEAKER_06: Um two pilots, up to twelve passengers, cruises at 350 miles an hour, uh, and a range of 2,200 miles.
37:56
SPEAKER_06: Um and you can uh it's pressurized, so 16,000 feet cabin up to 35,000 feet.
38:02
SPEAKER_05: Um getting the speak stop with some.
38:04
SPEAKER_05: Was it wasn't there one at Oshkosh?
38:06
SPEAKER_06: Yes.
38:07
SPEAKER_06: Oh, there's frequently, yeah.
38:08
SPEAKER_06: Uh frequently one at Oshkosh.
38:10
SPEAKER_06: There's there's two, and they are both beautifully restored.
38:13
SPEAKER_06: Um uh and they were owned, both owned by a guy called uh Tony Felipe, uh, who was the owner when we featured them in Flyer.
38:20
SPEAKER_06: Uh and that was October 2018.
38:22
SPEAKER_06: And I I might dig that feature out and re and put it online.
38:25
SPEAKER_06: That's a great idea.
38:26
SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
38:27
SPEAKER_06: Um but um but Platinum Fighters have this aircraft for sale, two and a half million pounds.
38:33
SPEAKER_06: Yeah, it's it's pretty punchy, but this is you know, it's it's a fabulous thing.
38:38
SPEAKER_06: It's probably not gonna be in the realms of many purchasers, partly because it's two and a half million quid.
38:42
SPEAKER_06: It's two and a half million quid.
38:44
SPEAKER_06: Um so fuel burning cruise.
38:48
SPEAKER_06: What do you reckon the fuel burning cruise is?
38:51
unknown: Ugh.
38:51
SPEAKER_07: It's got to be sixty to eighty U.S.
38:54
SPEAKER_07: gallons an hour.
38:55
SPEAKER_06: Seven hundred litres an hour.
38:57
SPEAKER_06: Well, someone do a quick sum.
38:59
SPEAKER_06: Yeah, I'm I'm not 700 litres.
39:01
SPEAKER_06: Um I think that is 185 U.S.
39:03
SPEAKER_06: gallons.
39:04
SPEAKER_06: Um take off, uh somewhere up towards 2,000 litres per hour for the pair.
39:09
SPEAKER_06: Um must just be able to listen to the fuel ticket.
39:12
SPEAKER_06: The suction.
39:13
SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
39:14
SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
39:14
SPEAKER_06: Um but yeah, fabulous thing.
39:16
SPEAKER_06: I can't imagine there's a m a big market for many of that.
39:19
SPEAKER_06: Um some people were suggesting maybe Red Bull might want to add it.
39:23
SPEAKER_06: I that would be amazing if Red Bull.
39:24
SPEAKER_06: Red Bull, if you're listening, you need this on your fleet, and I'm sure there's a deal to be done.
39:28
SPEAKER_05: So I mean it would be it would be yeah, it would be a great airplane to own, but that's a that's a chunk of change.
39:37
SPEAKER_05: It is.
39:38
SPEAKER_05: Unfortunately, unless millions of you decide to join the flight.
39:42
SPEAKER_05: That's a great idea.
39:43
SPEAKER_05: So say bring the bring the Howard to the UK.
39:47
SPEAKER_06: You can do it.
39:48
SPEAKER_06: Yes.
39:48
SPEAKER_06: It's definitely not coming to Wardswick.
39:50
SPEAKER_06: Apparently it's a bit of a runway hand.
39:52
SPEAKER_06: GoFundMe.
39:53
SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
39:55
SPEAKER_06: Go uh GoFund Ian.
39:57
SPEAKER_05: No.
39:59
SPEAKER_05: Not selfish.
40:00
SPEAKER_05: Yes.
40:00
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
40:01
SPEAKER_05: Okay.
40:02
SPEAKER_05: So let us know what you think.
40:04
SPEAKER_05: Let us know what caught your eye.
40:05
SPEAKER_05: Um and uh let us know whether you'll whether you're planning to buy a Howard 500.
40:09
SPEAKER_05: Howard 500, yeah, absolutely.
40:11
SPEAKER_05: And if not, what else you can do with that two and a half million quid?
40:14
SPEAKER_05: That wouldn't even get you a TBM, would it, these days?
40:16
SPEAKER_07: Uh do you know I looked around for a price of that TBM 980.
40:20
SPEAKER_05: They're being a bit secretive about it, you have to ask.
40:22
SPEAKER_05: It's going to be north of four million for sure.
40:25
SPEAKER_05: Yes.
40:25
SPEAKER_05: Um, and if if they get on the phone and go, it's cheaper in that case.
40:31
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
40:31
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
40:32
SPEAKER_05: Okay.
40:32
SPEAKER_05: I think that's it, isn't it?
40:33
SPEAKER_05: A couple of events.
40:34
SPEAKER_05: Just a little bit.
40:35
SPEAKER_05: So the events are starting to break out, aren't they?
40:36
SPEAKER_07: The tech for deals are out.
40:38
SPEAKER_07: Well, don't get too excited.
40:39
SPEAKER_07: First of all, there's a Gasco safety evening coming up on the 12th of February.
40:43
SPEAKER_07: I mean there's nothing coming happening this week, but 12th of February, Gasco Safety evening at uh the Boland Forest in Lancashire.
40:50
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
40:51
SPEAKER_07: Yep.
40:51
SPEAKER_07: And uh a couple of days after that, 15th of February, there's a flying, the pancake flying at Sleep.
40:57
SPEAKER_07: Sleep.
40:58
SPEAKER_07: Yes.
40:58
SPEAKER_07: Sleep.
40:58
SPEAKER_07: Sleep.
40:59
SPEAKER_05: Sleep.
40:59
SPEAKER_05: Sleep.
41:00
SPEAKER_05: Yep.
41:00
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, they got him first.
41:02
SPEAKER_05: So I think I've got some pretty low cost fuel at Sleep, I was reading the other day.
41:06
SPEAKER_05: Is it one if you were a member that's 179 or something, including that?
41:09
SPEAKER_05: Or is it even cheaper than that even?
41:12
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
41:12
SPEAKER_05: Maybe 179 was a public price.
41:14
SPEAKER_05: I can't remember.
41:14
SPEAKER_05: Don't rely on those facts.
41:16
SPEAKER_05: Give them a call before you go.
41:18
SPEAKER_06: Yeah, but I think they might that they if it's if you have got a Sleep Aero Club, uh Shropshire Aero Club membership, then I think they might have the cheapest fuel in the UK.
41:27
SPEAKER_05: Wow.
41:27
SPEAKER_05: At the moment.
41:28
SPEAKER_05: That's gotta be it's almost worth joining for, isn't it?
41:31
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
41:31
SPEAKER_05: Tell us if we've made an if yeah, if you found it if you've got the cheapest fuel, let us know.
41:35
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
41:36
SPEAKER_05: Good.
41:36
SPEAKER_05: On that note, thank you very much for joining us.
41:38
SPEAKER_05: We hope to see you next week.
41:41
SPEAKER_05: Um don't forget, please join the club flyer.co.uk forward slash membership.
41:45
SPEAKER_05: Like, comment, and subscribe on this video, it'd be great.
41:47
SPEAKER_05: It really helps us out.
41:48
SPEAKER_05: So thank you.
41:49
SPEAKER_05: Have a good one.
41:50
SPEAKER_05: Cheers.
41:50
SPEAKER_05: Bye bye.
41:52
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42:04
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42:09
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