Flyer Magazine

Thanks to the latest Rotax 916iS engine with its 160hp max power, there’s a flock of superfast microlights becoming available - and the latest, the JMB VL3, has just been approved for the UK. As well as the power (cue: MORE POWER!), this new breed of 600kg microlights are also well-equipped, look sensational and, well, expensive.

In the News:
Owner of Wolverhampton Halfpenny Green killed
First UK JMB VL3 delivered
STOL UK Competition at Popham
Fairford RAT
Game Aerospace flies GB2 firebomber
Is NASA planning to fly an SR-71A Blackbird 
First UK Islander ready for delivery

In Fantasy Hangar
All the world’s talking about AI, it seems, so we’re joining in. This week’s Fantasy Hangar subject is aircraft that look as though they were designed by AI.
Dave picks a cross between a helicopter and a fixed-wing aircraft
Ian goes for what’s probably Burt Rutan’s strangest aircraft (and there have been a few)
Ed goes all Eastern Europe with a futuristic looking beast

Plus
SkyDemon tip on user waypoints
Weekend Weather forecast from Simon Keeling
What’s on this weekend

LINKS
SkyDemon - https://www.skydemon.aero/
Join the FLYER Club - https://flyer.co.uk/membership/
FLYER - https://flyer.co.uk/

#generalaviation #flying #airfields #microlight #aviationnews

Does general aviation have an organised crime problem? A report from the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) looks at the use of general aviation for smuggling drugs, weapons and people, and makes recommendations for tackling it. We discuss the report, the problems it identifies, and what some of its proposals could mean for GA pilots — including mandatory electronic conspicuity.

Plus: News
Popham remains under threat of development, with another consultation on the new local plan
Coventry Airport: the airport has closed, but the proposed gigafactory has yet to materialise
GloucestershireAirport sale back on the cards after the first attempt collapsed
The WT-9 Dynamic with the Rotax 916iS is now approved in the UK
The Propeller Inn at Bembridge is closed until further notice
A reminder of the 1 October deadline for LAPL revalidation requirements
Aviators Ball returns to the Fairmont Windsor Park in November

FANTASY HANGAR
This week's challenge is all about trousers. We pick our favourite aircraft with trousered undercarriages — and there are some spectacular contenders.

Annabel goes for the Northrop Gamma 2G, with its streamlined looks and rather elegant trousers
Ian chooses the Supermarine Type 224, predecessor to the Spitfire, with cooling trousers
Ed picks the Miles Hawk Speed Six, which he reckons has the ultimate trousers

PLUS
SkyDemon Tip of the Week: Creating and completing an aircraft profile
Weekend Weather Forecast from Simon Keeling
Weekend flying events

LINKS
RUSI report on organised crime and general aviation - https://www.rusi.org/explore-our-research/publications/research-papers/organised-crime-and-general-aviation-uk-and-benelux
SkyDemon - https://www.skydemon.aero/
Join the FLYER Club - https://flyer.co.uk/membership/
FLYER - https://flyer.co.uk/
Aviators Ball - https://www.aerobility.com/aviators-ball-2026

#generalaviation #flying #airfields #crimestories #aviationnews

New guidance from the CAA sets out what instructors should cover during the one-hour refresher flight for SEP revalidation by experience. They make it clear that the hour is more than simply going flying with an instructor. For instance, they want pilots to improve they can navigate by dead reckoning and a paper chart rather than rely on SkyDemon (there are other moving map displays available)! We run through the CAA’s vision for the ideal instructor hour and ask, isn’t this really a mini Skills Test? Would we be better off with a US-style [Biennial] Flight Review?

NEWS
Swansea Airport swans off with Aerodrome of the Year Award while losing CAA licence
Solent Airport gets digging
Politics and Red Tape at the CAA? No, really?
Hello, Good Bye. Yes, Bye’s eFlyer2 electric aircraft is finally ready for its first flight
Risen gets another speed ticket for its 916iS SuperVeloce

FANTASY HANGAR
Ed sets a really tough challenge: choose a flying car…
Dave refuses, choosing an Extra 300NG for the flying and a super–sized car rental deal for any car, any place, any time
Ian gets into the spirit of the idea with the Fulton Airphibian, perfectly proving Dave’s point
Ed comes up with the equally ancient Taylor Aerocar, thus also proving Dave’s right (guess who’s writing this bit)

PLUS
SkyDemon Tip of the Week: Turning Points
Weekend Weather Forecast from Simon Keeling
Weekend flying events

LINKS
Flyer - https://flyer.co.uk/
Join the Flyer Club - https://flyer.co.uk/membership/

#flighttraining #flyingcar #aviationnews #aviationlaw #generalaviation

Airfield, airport and air strips: They’re the life-blood of General Aviation. We take a look at what’s going well, what’s not and what’s in between. It’s a subject we’ll return to in future shows. Be assured: painful though it is to lose an airfield, there are also lots of good things happening.

Plus: News
LAA Rally 2026: A huge success for the Light Aircraft Association and for Leicester Airport. Watch our video “Best of the LAA Rally”: https://youtu.be/S_3UJG7xvz0
GippsAero GA10 Airvan single-engine turboflight flies again
Free money! BWPA scholarships - there’s loads
Fred To, British aviation pioneer, to fly with SolarStratos this autumn
Electronic Conspicuity: The CAA’s consultation ends soon so have your say

Fantasy Hangar
Is there such an aircraft as a beautiful single-engine turboprop that grown out of a piston engine version? The question is prompted by the GippsAero GA10 Airvan - useful it may be, pretty it ain’t. So who chose what?
Ian went for the Taylor Speedstar 850, an oddball aircraft fitted with an 840hp Garrett TPE-331 turboprop engine, called “a beautiful masterpiece”
Dave plumped for the Tarragon Turboprop, fitted with TurboTech’s 141hp regenerative turbine, which made its first flight in July this year. It’s very very sexy!
Ed went for the Turbine Toucan, a one-off Pitts Model 12 usually powered by a giant Vedeneyev M14P radial piston engine but now equipped with an equally giant 750hp 601D turboprop engine

Plus: SkyDemon tip of the week, weekend weather forecast and events coming up.

LINKS
BWPA Scholarships https://bwpa.co.uk/scholarships/
CAA Electronic Conspicuity Consultation https://consultations.caa.co.uk/safety-and-airspace-regulation-group/ec-mandate/
Join the FLYER Club https://flyer.co.uk/membership/
LAA Rally - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_3UJG7xvz0

#generalaviation  #ukaviation  #pilots  #aircraft  #airfield #aviationnews

The Light Aircraft Pilot’s Licence (LAPL) has been a popular choice for many pilots but as the CAA has sought to streamline licensing (for all the right reasons), so the LAPL has been replaced by the National Private Pilot’s Licence (NPPL). Existing holders carry on though but with one big change to renewal. In this week’s FLYER Show we outline the changes which come into effect at the end of September.

PLUS In the News:
The FLYER Fly-in at Steventon. Brilliant event, brilliant location, just brilliant.
Shuttleworth’s damaged dh.88 Comet air racer will be rebuilt!
Redhill Aerodrome faces a really serious threat
Solent Airport gets a new manager
Compton Abbas Airfield makes a runner
Deadline coming up fast for the Professional Flight Training Awards
FLYER Club price increase on the way - subscribe now to lock in the current price

Return of Fantasy Hangar!
Yes, by public demand, FLYER’s Fantasy Hangar is back and this week’s subject is choosing an aircraft to fly all four of September’s free landings: Barton, Cromer, Old Warden and Strathaven.

Ian chose the Miles Falcon Major, an air racer from 1934, ignoring the fact that only three remain airworthy worldwide
Dave, for once, is the Sensible One, choosing the latest Bristell B8M, a 160hp high-wing rocketship, ignoring Ed’s jibes about ‘M’ standing for ‘Mobility’
Ed, as usual, came up with an aircraft none of us had ever heard of before, the Waco SRE. Yes, it’s a Waco biplane but not as we know it Jim. JIm? Who’s Jim?

PLUS PLUS!
Yes, there’s more. This week’s SkyDemon tip: the Yellow Arrow. Simon Keeling’s weekend weather forecast. And events coming up, including the LAA Rally.

LINKS
Entries for the Professional Flight Training Awards: https://www.pilotcareerslive.com/awards/
FLYER free landings for September 2026: https://flyer.co.uk/flyer-free-landings-for-september-2026/
Join the FLYER Club: https://flyer.co.uk/membership/

#generalaviation #ukaviation #pilots #licences #aircraft #airfield 

We had so much material from this year’s EAA AirVenture Oshkosh (OK, ‘Oshkosh’ for short) that we decided to cover the left-out bits in the show. There’s some really good stuff here, honest:
- ICON A5 + Safety Sense
- Tecnam Rivale
- Vashon Ranger Grand Teton
- Jabiru Twin 
- Cirrus TRAC10 
- Pipistrel Voyager (and what about the Panthera?) 
- Van’s RV12is
- Zenair CH750 Super Cruzer
- Lycoming engine TBO raised
- Continental’s engine STC swap for Piper Archer

NEWS
Two ace GA people remembered: Geoff Weighell, microlighting champion and former BMAA boss, and David Roberts of Europe Airsports who quietly got on with promoting GA at government levels.

Horten Flying Wing project for sale. Perfect for someone with a large fortune looking to downsize.

CAA webinar coming up on the subject of mandatory Electronic Conspicuity.

FLYER Fly-in on 11 August at Aces High, Steventon (PPR and Briefing essential).

Four new free landings for August.


What Caught My Eye 

Dave: Shuttleworth’s simple gorgeous Blackburn B.2 at Breighton.
Ian: Over 153,000 commercial flights in one day - that's almost two takeoffs & landings per second. No accidents - amazing!
Ed: Pedal Venture sets a record!

Plus, SkyDemonTip, Weekend Weather Forecast and Events coming up.

Links
Join the Flyer Club - https://flyer.co.uk/membership/ 
Best of Oshkosh video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NyhV3JR-qy4
Oshkosh Preview Video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZ6V_vBs7NQ

#oshkosh #generalaviation #aviationnews #aviationtech #airshows

EAA Airventure Oshkosh starts next week and there’s lots to see. The FLYER works through the highlights that we know about: aircraft launches, product updates, new propulsion units - combustion and electric - visiting aircraft and much more! 

Plus there’s ton of news:
Mandatory electronic conspicuity is coming: CAA launches a consultation. This one’s important!
Sleapkosh was a huge success last weekend, with great weather, lots of aircraft, music, parties, food and much more.
Kirkbridge Airfield is for sale: fancy it?
Flying to Iceland in a flex-wing microlight: Trev Lee and Dave Bromley made it and we catch up with them in a video call
Sad news: Metal Seagulls is to close. The Pembrokeshire-based engineering workshop (and Zenair agent) calls it a day.
Blackbushe Airport is on the up!
Lightspeed launches a new version of its DeltaZulu headset with an anti-noise profile specific to a Rotax engine.
FLYER’s Ian Seager wins an award! A proper one!

In What Caught My Eye
Ian spots an aeroplane with a Bluebird connection.
Dave raves about the line-up for this year’s Roswell Air Races.
Ed meets a rare British 1930s survivor: the Foster Wikner Wicko

Plus:
SkyDemon tip
Weekend weather forecast
Club news
Events coming up

Links
Donate to Trev and Dave’s fundraising microlight mission here: https://www.justgiving.com/page/iceland-flying-expo-2026
Mandatory EC consultation https://consultations.caa.co.uk/safety-and-airspace-regulation-group/ec-mandate/
Kirkbirde Airfiled Sale - https://www.hopesauction.co.uk/propertyhopes/kirkbride-airfield-kirkbride/
Join The Flyer Club https://www.flyer.co.uk/membership

#oshkosh #generalaviation #aviationnews #aviationtech #airshows

Blimey, this has to be one of the biggest news weeks we’ve ever seen (and Dave’s on holiday!) Big news from Garmin with a new integrated and configurable avionics ecosystem. Cub Crafters has added a turbine to its Carbon Cub, Cirrus has launched an all new training aircraft, the TRAC10 and Dynon has announced an IFR GPS to go with its HDX screen.

Plus, your weekly SkyDemon tip - weather from Dr Simon Keeling (spoiler, it’s going to be hot), Events and What Caught our Eye.

Links: 
flyer.co.uk/membership
Garmin Axis - https://flyer.co.uk/garmin-unveils-axis-a-new-generation-of-highly-integrated-flight-displays/
Ian's flight test of Garmin Axis - https://flyer.co.uk/feature/flying-behind-garmins-new-axis-avionics/
CubCrafters - https://flyer.co.uk/new-ult-sees-carbon-cub-get-a-turbine/
Just Plane Silly Channel - https://www.youtube.com/@UCo2pHK7VPS0_0Tza4ll0SAw
Dave vs Bryan Livestream - https://www.youtube.com/live/GNa0Z1uG92A 

#aviationnews #garmin #cirrus #generalaviation #aviationtech

It ain’t half hot, Mum! With weather like this week’s, what we need is a nice, simple aircraft for a cool bimble in the evening air. The team chose three aircraft that are perfect for an enjoyable, stress-free flight but the kicker is: they have to be on sale now, either from the classified ads or from a broker or dealer! Do you agree with their choices? What would you choose?

PLUS

In the news
Follow up on the cardiovascular rule changes: we ask 5 questions of the CAA
Thruxton, Popham and Solent are three of Hampshire’s airfields. Coming up is an event linking all three
Sywell Aerodrome is closed to visiting aircraft during the week
EGNOS, no, not Gran’s favourite Christmas tipple, but Europe’s satellite system for improving GPS accuracy and usefulness, is back on the Govt’s agenda
The Raduno is happening this week with a fantastic itinerary!

Club News
Four new free landing fees for FLYER Club members coming up in July

In What Caught My Eye
Annabel is stunned by a Solstive Eveing Flight on video
Dave spots the Short Take-Off and Landing competition at Breighton
Ed embraces his inner Elon Musk celebrating the 35th anniversary of the movie The Rocketeer

There’s more: SkyDemon tip of the week (user waypoints), Simon’s weekend weather forecast, Events coming up.

#GeneralAviation #aviationnews #pilots #airfield #summerflying #aircraft