Tower and Town, July 2015 (view the full edition)From Crops To Crop CirclesWhat could be more glorious than soaring over the Marlborough Downs in a lightweight aircraft, looking down at the white horses, the ancient monuments, the scattered villages and the rolling patchwork landscape? That’s what retiring RAF pilot Tony Hughes thought as he battled a turgid planning system to establish his flying school on the abandoned Yatesbury airfield 25 years ago. Just as he was about to give up and move to New Zealand “What’s best about flying in one of your lightweight planes in this landscape?” I asked Tony. “Everything,” he replied. “It gets you out of doors, it’s exciting, it’s life-changing! And it’s the very best way to experience the land around us.” But Tony said to me, “Don’t take my word for it, speak to one of my students.” So I went in search of Chris who was camping in his caravan behind the centre. I found Chris, with his spaniel, doing some minor work on his equipment. Chris has recently obtained his full pilot’s licence and remembers with a thrill the first time he flew solo. Chris told me that, along with actual flight training, he had to learn navigation, meteorology, and “human performance” , which is about knowing yourself and being aware of occasions when you aren’t feeling at your best. I asked Tony if there something special for pilots to look for in the month of July. Yes – crop circles! Of course, how else could you see them so clearly. If anybody reading this is tempted to sample microlight flying, Tony can offer an introductory “air experience” flight with no commitment to take a course of lessons. The Editor Talks To Tony Hughes |
the planning permission came through and the Wiltshire Microlight Centre was born. Today it can be found down a narrow lane off the A4, two miles from Beckhampton roundabout.
“So what do you get out of flying?” I asked. The words tumbled out: “It’s rewarding, it’s challenging, it’s frustrating, it’s a unique experience.” I asked him to tell me about the frustrations and Chris said it was mostly weather; he could drive the 180 miles from his home in South Wales and find the weather had turned and he would be grounded. I wondered why he came so far from home to fly and he said that his research indicated this was the best centre available and it was worth it to him.