(BBAC) has represented British ballooning at - The Air League

The Air League Newsletter 

Issue 5: September/October 2011 

F-35 CATCHES UP 

The lack of an F-35 Joint Strike Fighter 

on display at Paris did nothing to 

diminish interest in the highest profile 

US military air programme and at the show 

Lockheed Martin was keen to describe 

progress with the flight trials on what is the 

UK’s next major combat air programme. 

Since June, the first two production examples 

of the F-35A have started to prepare USAF 

instructor pilots for the first training unit 

at Eglin AFB, Florida. The F-35 will have 

an initial operating capability in 2014 with 

US forces and the UK is expected to have 

an IOC around 2020. Progress on the naval 

F-35C model is at the stage where the first 

two aircraft have now been delivered to the 

US Navy for test evaluation. This should 

lead to the first deck-landing trials before 

the end of this year. The US Marine Corps 

is now planning to fly initially with F-35Cs 

from conventional aircraft carriers before 

the STOVL F-35B is ready to operate from 

the USMC’s assault ships. The delays on the 

more complex F-35B are being overcome and 

over 100 vertical landings were accomplished 

in the first six months of 2011. In this period 

528 flight hours had been flown on this 

variant on more than 400 flights. There is 

still concern in the US Senate over the JSF 

ABOVE: The F-35C naval variant, to be ordered by the UK, has a payload and 

range advantage compared to the other JSF versions. (Lockheed Martin photo) 

In this issue... 

An influential champion for aviation in challenging times www.airleague.co.uk 

1 

programme costs, particularly its throughlife 

supportability. Being a stealthy design, 

there are extra maintenance issues that do 

not figure in more conventional aircraft, but 

the company was bullish about “factoring in” 

such requirements, which it insists will not 

become a show-stopper. According to the latest 

information to emerge from Washington DC, 

the programme unit cost per aircraft delivered 

in early batches will be $133 million, which 

is almost twice the original estimate, though 

this is expected to fall as production levels 

increase. The F-35B is the most expensive 

version to buy and operate, and the F-35A the 

least expensive. The navalised F-35C, which 

the UK has now turned to, has the greatest 

payload and endurance, thanks to a larger 

wing area. Some of the higher unit cost figures 

being discussed include other elements of the 

programme, so it is far from clear what the 

true costs are of each variant. However, the 

flight tests are now progressing well, with a 

total of around 3,300 hours flown to date by 

all three versions in a test fleet of 13 aircraft, 

and an F-35A has flown at Mach 1.53. The 

international customer base remains loyal, 

with small trial batches of aircraft being 

ordered before non-US customers commit to 

large scale orders. 

From the Director P2 � Aeronautica P3 � RIAT 2011 P4-5 � Reserves initiative P6 

Leading Edge P6 � Ballooning News P7 � Windfarm wars P8 � Members News P8

FROM THE DIRECTOR’S CHAIR 

On 28 July, I went to see the 20th Armoured 

Brigade practising for operations in 

support of the Afghan Army and Police 

prior to going out to Helmand in the autumn. 

Although the bulk of the exercises centred around 

a simulated Afghan village complex, erected on 

Salisbury Plain at a cost of £600,000, the front 

line troops involved in Exercise Pashtun Dawn 

will be supported by more than 2,000 ‘enabling’ 

troops, around 350 vehicles together with 

helicopter and fast jet assets from across the 

Fleet Air Arm, the Army Air Corps and the RAF. 

Even before UK ground commanders could drop 

in for tea with tribal elders in the ‘village’, we 

watched the surrounding area being checked out 

by a FAA surveillance Sea King with its underslung 

Searchwater radar, then by a mean AAC Apache 

gunship, before the troop transporting RAF 

Chinook was allowed anywhere near. 

You had to be stood on Salisbury Plain under the 

lovely summer sun to appreciate the truly joint 

nature of UK military operations around the world 

today. Next to the static display for The Queen’s 

Dragoon Guards, with its Austro-Hungarian double 

headed eagle standard harking back to the days 

when the Emperor Franz Joseph was Colonel-in- 

Chief, were personnel from 5 (Army Cooperation) 

Squadron whose converted Bombardier Global 

Express aircraft, named the Sentinel R1, play such 

a crucial role in providing all-weather, Near Real 

Time intelligence to commanders and their staffs in 

Afghanistan and Libya. 5 (AC) Squadron is truly ‘joint’ 

with over 150 RAF and 100 Army personnel. It is the 

largest flying squadron in the RAF and the on-board 


2 

Image Analysts are a mix of RAF and British Army 

Intelligence Corps SNCOs, supported by R Signals 

and REME technicians both at RAF Waddington and 

at any deployed operating base. This juxtaposition of 

The Queen’s Dragoon Guards and 5 (AC) Squadron is 

the true story of tri-service British military prowess 

in the early 21st century – a mix of the best that 

traditional values and world-class modern technology 

has to offer. The SD&SR of October 2010 decreed that 

the Sentinel airborne ground surveillance aircraft 

will be withdrawn once they are no longer required 

to support operation in Afghanistan. The Air League 

will continue to make the case for rescinding such 

short-sighted decisions that will impact so adversely 

on joint operations. 

On a wider note, the last Council Meeting agreed 

that the Air League should work harder to fulfil 

its remit as a ‘joint voice for aviation in the UK’. 

We would then derive legitimacy from our widely 

representative constituency, which no single UK 

aviation organisation currently has. Such a voice is 

urgently needed in order to speak on joint issues to 

government, to counter the anti-aviation and antiairport 

development organisations whose voice is 

siren and currently unfortunately prevalent, and 

to resist any initiatives emanating from Europe or 

elsewhere that will degrade or curtail hard-won 

British aviation rights or interests. This is not 

meant as a take-over bid, but rather it is an open 

invitation to other principal but specialist aviation 

organisations to become much more closely involved 

in getting a united message across. 

Andrew Brookes 

ABOVE - Salisbury Plain idyll - Chinook arrives while British and Afghan troops patrol the village perimeter. (Headington)

COMMENTARY by Aeronautica 

The Truth Hurts 

It was almost inevitable that the recent report from the House of Commons Defence 

Select Committee on the current state of the UK’s defences, following the impact of 

the Strategic Defence and Security Review, would be dismissed out of hand by the 

Defence Secretary, Dr Liam Fox, and the Prime Minister, Mr David Cameron. After all, 

if either had shown any indication at all that they understood, let alone sympathized, 

with the conclusions highlighted in this detailed, and highly critical report, then they 

would undoubtedly have unleashed upon themselves a further tidal wave of criticism - 

and perhaps even an unstoppable new momentum leading to the defence policy U-turn 

that Mr Cameron has been so adamant in resisting. Luckily, the House of Commons is in 

recess, and while our political leaders “re-charge their batteries” as they would prefer us 

to regard their extended break, the electorate is likely to be sufficiently diverted by dire 

foreign exchange rates, and the prospect of a further bank crisis, not to notice that a 

committee of highly knowledgeable MPs has concluded that the UK’s new defence policy 

is not fit for purpose. With the Eurozone, and even the USA, facing financial melt-down, 

and the UK economy stalled, the Coalition government leaders would appear to feel 

confident that concerns over defence policy really don’t warrant priority restructuring, 

especially as there are so many other pressing things to worry about. 

This latest Defence Committee report was by 

no means a document that can be dismissed 

lightly. It goes further than ever before in 

holding to account the current Prime Minister 

for claiming in Parliament that the SDSR will 

deliver a level of defence capability that clearly 

it can’t, and doesn’t. The intention may have 

been noble – to end the era of out-of-control 

over-spending in MOD and to bring defence 

policy back into line with what capabilities 

should be provided to meet agreed national 

needs and international obligations. But, as 

we all now know, and the Defence Committee 

has highlighted very precisely, the whole 

exercise was, “a clear example of the need 

for savings overriding the strategic security 

of the UK” to quote from the report. This is 

hard-hitting language from a committee that 

is known for being very anxious to present 

its views in an objective, non-partisan and 

non-inflamatory manner. In reaching its 

devastating conclusions, the committee 

studied key policy decisions and what this 

would mean for the Services expected to put 

the new measures into place. The criticism 

has gone unanswered by ministers, with 

only bland reassurances being made, along 

the lines that, these changes were necessary 

and it will all come right in 2020. The 

Committee begs to differ, and outlines in full 

just why the whole SDSR exercise is doomed 

to fail. In a nutshell, the UK is dismantling 

at a frantic pace, the very defence assets 

and capability specializations that stand 

its services apart from most other middle- 


3 

ranking NATO nations and which enable it to 

retain a degree of flexibility in meeting future 

unknown threats. After the full SDSR cuts, 

and the follow up cuts on top of them, there 

will be but a shell remaining – a façade with 

absolutely no contingency for meeting the 

unexpected…or even the half-expected. 

If it was clear that the Coalition government 

was fully intending to follow the SDSR 

initiatives with a revised foreign policy that 

would accept a reduced world role and more 

humble international diplomatic status, 

known as strategic shrinkage, then at least 

policy would be logical and manageable. 

But Mr Cameron, as PM, and Mr Hague, as 

Foreign Secretary, remain in denial on this 

point. As a cohesive defence and foreign policy 

the reality of the situation does not stand up 

to any close scrutiny. Just about everyone 

involved in the defence community can see 

that the UK cannot continue to carry on its 

defence stance as if nothing has changed, 

when in fact everything has changed. The RAF 

has lost two-thirds of its front line strength 

in just over a decade and the Royal Navy has 

lost half its fleet in less than a decade – and 

the Army is about to follow this pattern when 

its force structure is slashed, as intended. 

Yet Westminster and Whitehall carry on in 

full denial mode. Like Bob the Builder they 

repeat…Can we fix it?- Yes we can! Well, 

probably not for much longer. 

The outcome, sooner or later, can only 

be imagined.

This year’s Royal International Air Tattoo 

at RAF Fairford marked the celebration 

of 40 years of the show, which has 

grown to become world famous as the largest 

military air show of its kind anywhere. The 

editor was involved in the very first Air 

ABOVE - new entry to the flying display circuit in the UK was the recently 

launched EADS/Elta C-295 AEW&C demonstrator. 

ABOVE - No RAF Typhoon was available to fly at RIAT, but BAE Systems 

stepped in to provide and fly development aircraft DA5, which performed a lively 

sequence for an aircraft carrying a representative load of air-to-air missiles and 

four Paveway II precision bombs. 

ABOVE - Dassault’s feline Rafale carried a commemorate colour scheme 

marking 30,000 hours of operational service and performed an outstanding 

aerobatic routine. 

RIAT 2011 - Still the No. 


4 

Tattoo back in 1971 at RAF North Weald, 

flying up with a large display of scale model 

RAF aircraft in a 33 Squadron Puma from 

Odiham – those were the days! The 2011 RIAT 

show was noticeably low-key in terms of RAF 

participation, reflecting the continuing high 

ABOVE - The immaculate Italian 

the Frecce Tricolori, in their ten 

ABOVE - There was strong support from 

an IL-76MD and a powerful-looking

1 Military Air Show 

Air Force aerobatic team, 

MB339A advanced trainers. 

level of operational demands on a shrinking 

front line, and less variety in aircraft types 

remaining in service, but there were plenty 

of interesting aircraft from overseas air 

forces and certainly no holding back in the 

perfection of the individual or formation 

the Ukranian Air Force, which brought 

Sukhoi Su-27 Flanker to Fairford. 


5 

(All photos by Richard Gardner) 

air displays, despite the variable weather 

conditions, which included severe downpours 

and glorious sunshine. The new Air Tanker 

Airbus A330 Voyager made its first appearance 

at the show, though the A400M didn’t make it 

due to continuing gearbox issues. 

ABOVE - A USAF A-10 Thunderbolt II, alias Warthog, carried out an exciting lowlevel 

routine, until a technical problem cut the display short. 

ABOVE - Ladies first…the Hawk T1 is seen in its colourful 2011 solo aerobatic 

display livery, which was designed by its pilot, Flt Lt Jules Fleming, the RAF’s 

first solo fast jet display pilot. 

ABOVE - The magnificent Vulcan B2, XH558, was once again the star of the 

show, reminding the crowds what RAF air power was all about in the hay-day 

of the V-Force.

A NEW VISION FOR BRITAIN’S AIR RESERVES 

In the recent past, military planners have often 

turned first to the Reserves to find savings. The 

result over the years is that Britain’s Reserves 

and particularly our air reserves have shrunk in 

relation to those of our allies, most notably the US, 

Canada and Australia. 

The Independent Commission on the UK’s Reserve 

Forces set up by the Prime Minister last autumn, of 

which I was a member, was designed to look again at 

the balance between our regular and reserve forces. 

In terms of our air reserves this was in my opinion, a 

welcome opportunity to bolster the Royal Auxiliary Air 

Force and to look more closely at the opportunities for 

making wider use of air reserves generally. 

This view was based on a number of factors. The first 

was the need to ensure that we retain at least some of 

the operational experience of airmen when they leave 

the regular service. Coupled with this is the increasing 

need, as the armed forces reduce in size to make use of 

civilian expertise. A third factor is the size of the civilian 

aviation cohort (which now numbers over 500,000 in 

the UK), in relation to the RAF, the Fleet Air Arm and 

the Army Air Corps. The reserves provide a sensible and 

cost effective way of making better use of these skills 

and experience around our armed forces. Two other 

factors are also worth considering - the experience 

of other countries and the present encouragement of 

volunteering through ‘the big society’ initiative. 

The results of the Review if they are carried forward 

are most encouraging for our air reserves. The Army 

is considering forming a new Gazelle reserve squadron 

and expanding their UAV reserve formation. The Navy 

Visit to RAF Scampton 

ABOVE - With Red Arrows pilot Kirsty Moore at Scampton 

Ross Strachan 

The trip was a fantastic experience with an excellent 

insight into some of the RAF careers that are often 

unheard of. Along with an informative visit to the RAF 

Scampton Museum and a superb display from The 

Red Arrows, this trip was an excellent and insightful 

two days. 

Sarah Reed 

The evening began with lots of traffic and a good use 

of an I-phone to get us in the right direction. With 

the boys staying at the mess at RAF Kirton-in-Lindsey 

and the two girls having a visitors house at RAF 

Scampton. The next day began with a brief meeting 

with the Red Arrows team as they are currently 


6 

wants to expand their Air Reserve Branch by increased 

mixed manning of their rotary wing assets and looking 

at new formations for coastal protection which include 

reservists. Finally the RAF wants to bring the RAuxAF 

up to strength and increase the use of full time and 

sponsored reserves. In particular the new Voyager 

tanker sqn will have a number of sponsored reserve 

aircrew in it and 100(Hawk) Sqn may well in the future 

be fully manned by reserve aircrew, making it the first 

RAF fast jet reserve sqn since 1957. In addition the 

report recommends the RAF carries out further work 

into the increased use of reservists. All these changes 

might well mean that between 20-25% of the RAF’s 

strength could be made up of reservists by 2020. 

ABOVE - No 100 Sqn Hawk (MoD photo) 

LEADING EDGE update 

Time will tell whether the MOD planners take advantage 

of the opportunities presented by this Report. However, 

not to do so would in my opinion leave this country 

with less effective and more expensive armed forces. 

Keith Mans, Chairman 

training for a marathon. The museum was filled with 

monumental history that makes the RAF what it 

is today, a compelling view into the life of how our 

country, especially our technology has developed. 

With the sun coming out, the renewed Red Arrows 

display team jetted into the air with a burst of the 

red, blue and white smoke. Splitting into groups of 

5 and then 2, the synchronised display filled the air 

above Scampton. The group was mesmerised envying 

the team high in the sky. Finishing the great trip was 

a look around the 1 ACC looking into the UK warning 

radar and control systems. Great thanks go to the Air 

League for organising this eye opening trip. 

Oliver Angell 

The visit to RAF Scampton was a fantastic opportunity 

to stay on an active base and meet people in many 

different roles in the RAF. 

Watching a full display by the Red Arrows was very 

impressive and a real privilege, but also being able to 

go behind the scenes at 1 Air Control Centre gave an 

amazing insight into the day to day operations of the 

RAF. I was surprised at the complexity of continuously 

monitoring the skies above the UK, and was something 

that I had previously taken for granted. 

I would like to thank all those involved in making this 

possible and would highly recommend other members 

to get involved in similar visits.

BALLOONING NEWS 

For over 40 years the British Balloon & Airship Club (BBAC) has represented British ballooning at home and 

overseas, much as the BGA has done for gliding. In particular the BBAC, with nearly 2000 members, has 

been deeply involved in the negotiations for the UK to submit to the European Air Safety Agency (EASA), 

whose licensing powers come into effect on 8 April 2012. 

Among the many, often disproportionate, regulatory changes 

which are proposed is one which particularly affects Britain’s 

holders of CPL(B) for which the UK is the world’s ‘gold 

standard’. EASA’s stated policy is to follow ICAO Standards 

& Recommended Practices (SARPS), but in one area – that of 

age limitations for commercial pilots – it has chosen to stray 

from that policy. In Annex 1, ICAO requires pilots exercising 

commercial privileges to relinquish that right ‘for international 

flights’ after a pilot reaches age 65. EASA has excised the 

word ‘international’ and thereby condemned a significant 

number of UK commercial balloon pilots and examiners (40 

in 2012 and up to 200 by 2025) to unemployment. 

The BBAC (supported by the UK CAA) is arguing that the 

nature of ballooning - slow speeds, low-level flight - and no 

recent history of accidents involving pilot incapacitation, 

makes the CPL(B) (which at present has no age limit 


7 

and is subject only to holding a Class 2 EASA medical) a 

case where discriminatory age limits are being imposed 

disproportionately by EASA. Most such licence holders 

are owner/operators of the 60 or so balloon AOCs (Air 

Operators Certificate) in UK and so they face the double 

threat of loss of flying income and family business. These 

businesses are estimated to have contributed £200m to 

‘UK Ltd’ since commercial ballooning began in 1989. 

At a time when nearly all EU governments are urging their 

citizens to extend their working lives and indeed the UK 

government in October 2010 made age discrimination 

illegal, the BBAC sees this new EASA regulation as contrary 

to the spirit and the intent of such ‘enabling’ legislation. 

The BBAC encourages Air League members to voice their 

opposition via their MPs and MEPs. 

BREAKING NEWS... Thanks to the generosity of Breitling, it looks like we will be able to 

reinstate the Air League ballooning scholarship in 2012. Watch this space. 

THE LONG ROAD TO A GAS-BALLOON RATING 

Little did I know, when I joined the Air 

League about 3 years ago, that one 

day I would be invited to St. James’ 

Palace to receive a flying bursary 

award in the presence of His Royal 

Highness the Duke of Edinburgh! 

I was ‘elevated’ into aviation by 

jumping into a basket for my first 

ever balloon flight in 2002, gently 

cruising over the hundreds of 

Buddhist temples of Bagan in central 

Myanmar. It was there that I met my 

husband, instructor and good mentor 

on all my aviation experiences. Very 

soon afterwards I decided that this 

form of flying would be for me: I 

didn’t get sick, it was challenging, I 

loved the aerial views, the team work 

and the excitement. 

Having gained my PPL in 2005, and 

three years later my CPL and even 

an airship rating, I was surprised to 

find that there are so few women in 

the sport. This stirred my interest 

in promoting ballooning and the 

general idea of flying to other women. 

So I came up with organizing the first 

Women’s Balloon Event (since 1973!) 

near Oxford in conjunction with the 

annual meeting of the BWPA. It was a 

lovely chance for balloon pilots to mix 

and meet pilots from other areas. 

Having discovered that I could apply 

for a bursary to gain an additional 

rating, I jumped on the idea of trying 

Gas ballooning! The first gas balloon 

made its flight as early as August 

1783 but despite its long history and 

remaining very popular until hotair 

ballooning started in the early 

Seventies, it is now something you 

can’t do in the UK! 2010 suddenly 

saw 21 gas balloons from all over 

the world launching from Bristol 

(my home town) to take part in the 

Gordon Bennett Race – the most 

prestigious Gas Balloon Event in the 

world. Don Cameron, manager and 

owner of Cameron Balloons, had once 

again proven his physicist’s ingenuity 

by designing the first UK gas balloon 

just in time to be flown by the 2008 

winner David Hempleman-Adams. 

In the meantime the organizing 

committee in Bristol was battling 

over several problems: Where to get 

Hydrogen from? Will it be safe to 

launch from an island, especially so 

close to the sea? Will VFR at night be 

allowed by air traffic? As it happened, 

the race was a huge success and the 

winning team flew more than 2400km 

across several European countries to 

land on the last spot of dry land near 

the Black Sea in Romania. 

So, being awarded a gas-balloon 

bursary was very unusual but 

once the Air League accepted that 

I could do my training in Germany, 

I set out and trained with the most 

experienced gas balloon pilots and 

instructors. One flight took us from 

near Dusseldorf way into Northern 

Holland (7 hrs) whilst my most 

ABOVE - ‘Nobody can be uncheered 

with a balloon’ (Winnie the Pooh) 

En route from Southwark to Eltham 

Park on 25 July 2011 

memorable experience was an overnight 

flight (VFR flying is allowed 

in Germany and France) taking off 

from Stuttgart in southern Germany 

and flying across the Black forest, 

crossing the Rhine and Strasbourg 

at full moon, overflying the Vosges 

mountains into France with a late 

morning landing beyond Nancy after 

a total duration of 12hrs. 

I could go on writing more wonderful 

stories about my gas ballooning 

experiences but I would like to finish 

with expressing a huge thank you to 

the Air League, our very helpful CAA 

and the BWPA for granting me such 

a wonderful new experience and I 

hope that one day I shall be able to 

fly a British built gas balloon within 

this country! 

Allie Dunnington

New Members 

MEMBERS’ NEWS 

Dipeet Mehta, 2011 HQ Air Cadets 

(The Air Cadets Scarman) Flying 

Scholarship: I would like to thank The 

Air League for presenting me the flying 

scholarship towards my NPPL (A). I 

successfully completed it and went solo 

in a Cessna 152. I am extremely grateful 

to have the support of the Air League 

towards my lifelong ambition to become 

the first Airline Pilot ever in my family, or 

even to fly in the sky. I am out of words 

to describe the experience I had at High 

Wycombe Flight Centre with excellent 

instructors and management team to 

make me achieve this. Flying everyday 

from 20th July to 29th July was 

unbelievable the amount of hard work 

we put in to reach solo level was rather 

joyful. I lived my dream; an experience 

which I didn’t imagine would be possible 

at this stage. I am so thankful to you. It 

was a real life changing opportunity for 

my family and me; it made me proud of 

myself with ‘passion’ to gain even more 

confidence to work towards a place as 

a pilot on a state-of-the-art airliner. 

Among everything I have achieved in 

life, this has been my proudest, most 

memorable and enjoyable moment ever. 

Flying is simply by far the best! The Air 

League has given me ample support 

towards making me ‘feel’ my dream 

and recently turning it into reality. 

The British Airways Sim Visit, the RAF 

Lyneham visit and now the flying and 

engineering scholarship. I don’t know 

how to thank the Air League for what 

it does for me. It has really made a 

great difference in my life. Thank you 

once again. 

KirstenYule, 2011 Sir James Martin 

(Martin Baker) Flying Scholarship: I 

want to express my gratitude to Martin 

Baker for granting me a 2011 Flying 

Scholarship. The 14 days in Dundee 

from 11th July were a truly enjoyable 

and productive experience. I participated 

in complex cross country navigation 

and numerous types of solo circuits in 

the PA 28. My instructors at Tayside 

Aviation, Allan Penny and Melissa van 

Geldere, were incredibly professional, 

friendly and efficient. This allowed me to 

maximise my scholarship time. Thanks 

to the Air League, I currently have a total 

of 32 hours towards my PPL. In addition 

to the flying I also passed the mandatory 

CAA Air Law exam during the two weeks. 

I am determined to complete my PPL in 

the near future as aviation remains my 

passion. I still aspire to be a pilot in the 

RAF after my university degree. 

William Hilton, 2011 ALET Gliding 

Scholarship: In May this year the Air 

League Educational Trust awarded me a 

10 hour gliding scholarship. I am really 

pleased to be able to let you know that 

last week I completed my training and 

have come away with my NPPL SLMG 

which I completed in the 10 hours 

awarded to me. 

Of course I was very excited that I 

had gained my NPPL and it wouldn’t 

have been possible if it wasn’t for the 

Air League and the instructors at 

Oxfordshire Sport Flying, who were 

absolutely fantastic! I would thoroughly 

recommend anyone wanting to do their 

SLMG to go to Oxfordshire Sport Flying! 

I already had my Glider Pilots licence 

so I was able to do the conversion in 

the 10 hours minimum required by the 

CAA. The week was very challenging as I 

had to not only do all the flying training 

but also sit the exams required for the 

licence. This was the hardest bit as I had 

not had a chance to do much learning 

beforehand; all my spare non-flying time 

was dedicated to the subject books so 

that I could pass the seven exams. 

On gaining my SLMG I took it upon 

myself to do my SSEA conversion, still 

with OSF, which I did last Sunday in a 

PA-38 Tomahawk. After an hour and a 

half of emergency drills and circuits I 

was sent off to do half an hour of solo 

circuits, thus completing my SSEA 

conversion. I certainly wouldn’t have got 

my SSEA if it wasn’t for the Air League 

awarding me the SLMG scholarship! 

I look forward to advancing my flying 

skills through towing gliders at Booker 

Gliding Club and aerobatics at White 

Waltham. My sincere thanks to the 

members of the Air League Educational 

Trust - I wouldn’t have achieved this so 

quickly without your support. 

Corporate Members: Goodrich Sensors and Integrated Systems, 

Rockwell Collins UK Ltd 

Full Members: Lorna Latty 

Student Members: Clarissa Aiken, Justin Maitland-Walker, 

Thomas Raeburn 

Diary Reminders 

11 October: Andrew Humphrey Memorial Lecture 

28 October: Youth in Aviation Meeting, Swire House 

18 November: Air League/British Airways Environmental Conference, 

BA HQ Waterside 

30 November: Council Meeting, RAF Club 

For up-to-date information on all our activities please visit our website 

at www.airleague.co.uk where you can register for changes to be sent to 

you by email as they are announced. 


8 

WINDFARM 

WARS 

..and how to avoid them 

ABOVE - Parys Mt Anglesey 

(Photolibrary Wales) 

The General Aviation Awareness 

Council represents sixty General 

Aviation (GA) organisations, and 

it fights to protect airfields from 

unsafe developments and to defend 

our freedom to fly. 

The projected forecast increase in 

number of wind-turbines poses 

potential threats to the safe 

operation of aviation. The GAAC 

represents GA on the Air Space 

Initiative Windfarm Working Group 

(ASIWWG) and in dealings with the 

CAA, DfT, MOD, NATS, DECC to 

ensure that wind turbines and 

anemometer masts do not conflict 

with the safe operation of aircraft. 

Your Local Planning Authorities 

(LPAs) may not be familiar with how 

GA operates and needs educating. 

It cannot be stressed too strongly 

that it is in everyone’s interests to 

establish regular contact with your 

local LPA. Valuable information is 

contained in CAA document CAP 

764, Planning Policy Guidance 

PPG13 and Planning Policy 

Statement PPS22. Visit the GAAC 

website at www.gaac.org.uk for 

further guidance. 

In sum, wind turbine developers are 

Government-backed, financially 

motivated and they don’t give in 

easily. If we fail to take action 

now, GA may lose this campaign. 

THE AIR LEAGUE 

Broadway House 

Tothill Street 

London SW1H 9NS 

Tel: 020 7222 8463 

Fax: 020 7222 8462 

E-mail: exec@airleague.co.uk 

Editor: Richard Gardner 

Material for consideration for inclusion 

can be sent via The Air League’s office.

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