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profile stapleford rrr 17/1/08 7:14 pm Page 34 AOPAAOPA Corporate Member Profile: Stapleford Flight Centre One-stopOne-stop flightflight trainingtraining shopshop As one of the few remaining family-owned flying schools in the UK, Stapleford Flight Centre continues to flourish despite the best efforts of Eurocrats and VATmen. Liz Moscrop pays a visit ne of the earliest Stapleford-based as two CAA-approved commercial pilots was one Amy air test pilots on site. OJohnson, who flew paying passengers to The school offers Paris in de Havilland Dragon Rapides. Today commercial flight Stapleford students head off to captain 737s training, private pilot for Ryanair. The aerodrome may be steeped in flying lessons and history, but its owners maintain its edge by aircraft servicing and keeping a well-honed business eye on the maintenance. It offers future. With forty years of continuous training PPL, CPL, IR, ATPL under its belt, Stapleford Flight Centre (SFC) and MEP training must be doing something right. Oh, and club courses as well as membership stands at 800, with many PPL taster lessons. members owning and operating their own With a fleet of almost aircraft from the field. forty aircraft ranging from Cessna 152 basic instructor, winding up at Ryanair flying Boeing Captain Colin Dobney, head of training, says trainers to the advanced twin-engine PA23 737-200s. In 2000 he returned to Stapleford SFC has ambitious plans to keep growing. “We Seneca and PA31 Chieftain, the jewel in its as head of training. He has around 10,000 are now looking at going integrated and crown is a spanking new glass cockpit hours, half of which are on B737s, on which offering integrated and modular training,” he Diamond DA42. There is also a dedicated he is still current. His flying activity at says. “We take a good look at the money and simulator building on the premises, housing Stapleford is mostly as an examiner for investment required, however – we always try modern flight simulators capable of replicating commercial students and IR renewals. He to do things in easy steps, and not bite off PA31, PA34, PA28 and DA42 aircraft, with attributes the school’s success to its good more than we can chew.” Prospects are bright, another sim on order. To cater for its steady name, and prudence. “Everything hinges on though. He continues: “We have seen no let- growth, SFC recently built swish new the airlines taking people on. We were quite up in the number of enquiries and CVs we are accommodation for its commercial students, lucky after 9/11 as we are a reasonably-priced receiving.” who pay £15 a night for an ensuite single outlet, with a good name in the modular Scratch the surface of this slick operation room and share a large kitchen. market. We attracted lots of international and it is easy to see why it has enjoyed such Unlike many schools, SFC has not suffered students.” longevity. Many of the staff are long-serving an instructor shortage. Colin says: “We have Colin believes that the training industry will employees who have been there for decades. an extremely busy flight instructor course with slow down in 2008, albeit while still John and Pam Chicken own the airfield and a ready supply of students that has helped to experiencing growth. “Ryanair will continue to most of the training aircraft outright, which fuel our expansion.” SFC has 26 full time and grow. The industry has hardly drawn a breath, saves them landing fees, parking charges and 10 part time instructors on its books, with but we are seeing instances like easyJet large leasing and mortgage costs on their around 25 fresh entrants pumping new blood acquiring GB Airways and incorporating its aircraft. Stapleford Maintenance is part of the into the school via its instructor courses. Colin pilots in their pool, so it is allegedly not hiring.” Stapleford Flight Centre group, so their aircraft continues: “All our people come back and He blasts the current British taxation laws, are maintained to the highest JAR 145 instruct to continue with their hours.” saying: “We are very disadvantaged in having standards at cost. There are eight engineers, In a roundabout way, that’s what he did. A the VAT regime. We have been looking hard at all with more than fifteen years service, as well former Stapleford student, Colin became an the Chinese and Indian markets. They are 34 General Aviation February 2008 profile stapleford rrr 17/1/08 7:14 pm Page 35 attracted to the UK as our standards are higher potential loss of the IMC and other licences. give us talks on the airspace around here. We than anywhere else, but ultimately choice He says: “Training does not do any harm and are very lucky with our membership as we are comes down to price.” helps prevent accidents. It is stupid to lose it in an affluent part of the world, so people do and the basic commercial pilot’s licence go flying here.” Club members are exempt Flying at Stapleford (BCPL). People with 20,000h experience will from any landing fee charges. Full flying Stapleford aerodrome is situated near Epping potentially be refused a BCPL, which will membership costs £80 a year, with associate Forest, about 3.4 nautical miles (6 km) south become a PPL under EASA when national membership and a joining fee priced at £30 of North Weald. I’ve done a lot of flying from ratings will no longer exist. It has another and £10 respectively. The light and airy Stapleford, and Scott Welsford, an SFC CPL knock-on effect for us as all our existing IMC clubhouse is open 364 days a year and serves and IR instructor, took me up for a quick spin business will go.” With that in mind, Colin fully food and drink all day and most evenings. to refresh my memory and get some photos. supports AOPA and its work. “It is great to be The school also offers a “PPL Plus”, Like any airfield around London, Stapleford suffers from some restrictions on flying, with Luton, London City and Stansted in its vicinity. Above left: on short finals over the M25 for part of an umbrella organisation that is intended for pilots with a PPL who want to Stapleford’s half-paved 22/04 standing up for general aviation. It is very beef up their skills. The course involves five Left: Captain Colin Dobney, Stapleford Flight important that AOPA is behind GA to keep the hours flying plus eight hours ground tuition Centre’s Head of Training general flying public up to speed with what is and is flown mainly in a PA28 Warrior, so Above: Stapleford’s 40 strong fleet starts with going on. We need a voice on industry doubles as familiarisation training for pilots the venerable Cessna 152 committees to make our views known so that who have not been signed off in a Warrior. For Right: there are several noise-sensitive areas things can be changed.” those who like excitement, SFC provides close to Stapleford On the positive side, the club is flourishing. aerobatic training in its T67M260 Firefly. Says Colin: “We offered quite a few flights into So Stapleford looks set to thrive. It is likely France, including Paris last year to encourage to attract more commercial training business. Both Stapleford and its neighbour North Weald members to come down and fly. Flying groups London is only five miles down the road, and have Stansted's Control Zone on their use their own aircraft and we put on popular there is beautiful countryside on its doorstep. doorsteps. However, most PPL flying for events. We have also got proper catering in- With such an illustrious history and a students at SFC happens well out of the way house, so often people come in for Sunday determined management team, it is evident over Essex. Just up the road is East Anglia, lunch. We run regular safety training evenings that Amy Johnson’s spirit lives on over with beautiful countryside and virtually no and get the CAA and NATS to come across and Lambourne. I controlled airspace. There are also LARS from Southend, Lakenheath and Marham, plenty of Where BA was born flat fields and disused wartime airfields. tapleford Aerodrome opened in 1933 as Essex Aerodrome and Stapleford airfield contains the Lambourne Swas an operating base for Hillman Airways, run by Edward VOR and has two parallel runways 22/04, one Hillman. The service ran scheduled services to Paris using De all grass and the other is paved, eventually Havilland DH.84 Dragon and DH.89 Dragon Rapide biplanes, becoming grass. There is a third runway, charging £5.10s.0d return. One of the pilots was Amy Johnson. 28/10. Because of noise abatement After two years Hillman ran into financial difficulties and was regulations over the nearby garden centre and taken over by Whitehall Security Corporation, which merged the Abridge village, 28 is not commonly used. It three airlines it owned to form British Airways. In 1936 BA can be a bit bumpy on departure as you cross transferred operations to Heston. 04/22, but theoretically not on landing as the During the war the airfield was home to 28 threshold is immediately after 04/22. several operational squadrons, flying There are pylons on finals to runway 22, Hurricanes, Airspeed Oxfords, Tiger Moths and which has a displaced threshold, but it has an Austers. Stapleford played an important part in upward slope, which helps with braking. The the preparations for D-Day. On 20 November circuit can become extremely busy, especially 1944 a V2 rocket landed in the middle of the at weekends, with lots of traffic passing airfield leaving a 60 feet wide crater.