Slieveroe Aero Blog

Flying Training

Fri, 17 Nov 2023 10:15:26 GMT

Teaching an old dog new(ish) tricks

It’s a long time since I took to the skies. I was a relatively young man then in my first job at BAe Woodford where I rode through gates for my first day on my Yamaha two-stroke motorbike to be met by pickets (nothing personal they just happened to be on strike for a couple of days a week). This was 1979. Being inside an aircraft factory and seeing how aircraft were made was exciting and new. My first “proper” job while being sponsored through higher education. I quickly discovered they also had a rather nice snooker hall and a gliding club.

The plan was to learn to fly in gliders and then at a later stage convert the flying experience to a PPL with fewer powered hours needed. The Avro gliding club operated very close to the Manchester TMA so there was operating height restriction I recall. My weekends for the next few years were spent all day at the club waiting my turn for a winch launch to 1200 ft and a 5-6 min training flight back to the main runway. Gliding is an all-day team sport, helping to launch and recover gliders and winch cables ready for the next launch. Happy days. By April 1981 I had done my first solo in an open top T21 glider. What a great feeling to look across at the other empty seat and saying to myself “Well Tim you are on your own now”. You are totally responsible for your own safety. By July 1984, after a couple of years in-between off flying to go to university in London, I just stopped flying.

Well, you know how it is, life and other things that happened just meant that flying never floated back to the top of my priorities. Until now. After a trial “gift” flight in a T61 motor glider in September this year, followed by another trial flight in a PA28 Cherokee 140 at the airfield 15 mins from home I was interested again. Circumstances had changed somewhat in the last 40 years, and this looked like a goer. After jumping through a few hoops to get the medical, limited to daytime flying only (I have an inherited deutan colour deficiency), I’m all set to start the training for an LAPL(A). The process starts at Pilot Flight Training Oxford on 17 Nov 23. I will let you know how I get on, and if you really can teach an old dog new tricks.

Interconnecting the world for good

timj.robinson@btinternet.com (Tim Robinson) — Tue, 11 Aug 2020 16:27:05 GMT

Connections

We are all connected. You can use that connection well or poorly. You can’t just turn off part of that connection. Aviation supports that interconnection and more than that it supports the UN sustainable development goals as articulated in Aviation: Benefits Beyond Borders . We have seen recently what happens when you just turn everything off. It was a necessary step and had huge economic consequences worldwide, as well as on general well-being and mental health. As an aviation business we need to come back better from a climate perspective.

Turn it off

We can’t just turn off aviation as a solution to climate change. These changes must be done sustainably. A key thing in the definition of sustainability is that it must include your personal well-being as well. In 2019 at the World ATM Conference in Madrid I attended a panel discussion about world aviation and issues in different continents. It’s good to hear another person’s perspective. For Europe the panellists noted the big problems with high traffic levels and delays due to lack of capacity. The South American representative was keen that there was investment in the infrastructure which is 30 years old in places. I particularly remember, though, the representative from Africa who commented that they would like to have a small piece of that European delay problem and the associated traffic growth. Aviation brings economic and cultural activity which in turn brings many benefits. It’s not just for those flying on holiday or making connections and experiencing other cultures. Aviation supports a vast supply chain, jobs and brings economic growth to a nation and as a result supports the UN goals. It would be almost selfish of the developed nations to campaign to turn aviation off. Now we’ve had the benefit of economic growth we can’t just turn off everything we used to gain the wealth and health to which we are accustomed and say in effect the rest of you can’t have that. That really would be a flying shame.

Turn it on again

We are all connected and must remain so, or our way of life will fail. We absolutely must fix climate change, world poverty, hunger, world health. We must share that way of life, share the benefits worldwide, even if it means we give up some part of that on the journey. That is why I believe we can’t turn off aviation, or anything beneficial for that matter, as that turns off the benefits as well. It’s a balance. The ability to connect with people both in the virtual and real world can have good and bad consequences. We must come back stronger and better for the environment in all sectors for the benefit of all. We’ve seen the terrible consequences of what happens when the connections between us are paused. The fix won’t happen overnight, but it must happen. Net carbon neutral by 2050 is the target. We can do this together and we all have our part to play. What you do matters for climate and covid-19. Make that connection a good one.

Slieveroe to Farnborough

timj.robinson@btinternet.com (Tim Robinson) — Fri, 24 Jul 2020 16:54:52 GMT

Slieveroe

Coming up with a name for a company can be tricky, especially if you don’t want to be the same as everyone else. Slieveroe was the place where my mother was born and brought up in Ireland so in a very real sense it is also my origin as well. Slieveroe Aero has a nice ring to it, but more than that it’s about going back to the origin, the sponsoring thought, the very reason that we are doing something. You will at times hear me ask, what outcome do we want and what is the sponsoring thought. Do your actions and thoughts lead you to the desired outcome?

Farnborough

This week I attended a number of online events and talks at virtual Farnborough. I picked events that were about sustainable aviation as well as others about the “new normal” and recovery from the Covid-19 crisis. These events keep me engaged in the aviation industry and were fascinating. It was exciting to hear about Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAF), hydrogen, hybrid electric, pure electric, new aircraft designs and flight operations with continuous climb and descent and target time of arrival. For the recovery it was interesting to hear about touchless travel journeys, face masks and hearing that the problem of gaining passenger confidence is the same world-wide. Both exciting times with all the innovation and scary times as the industry recovers. Sustainable aviation and Covid-19 recovery both need a new normal.

New normal – hope for the future

My father was born before the Wright brothers took-off. The progress from that moment to where we are now is truly staggering and one that gives me immense hope for the future. SAF is going to be a big help to aviation and the economy as green industries grow. I’d like to see hydrogen (the most abundant element in the universe) being developed not only to burn but also being used in fuel cells. This technology would be good to see in automotive transport too. Covid-19 has caused a massive upset and knocked us all off course. But it’s also a chance to reset, go back to the origin and start again. Scary, and at the same time massively exciting to me.

Endings and Beginnings

timj.robinson@btinternet.com (Tim Robinson) — Fri, 17 Jul 2020 03:55:21 GMT

Heathrow

It's been a couple of weeks now since I left Heathrow Airport. Like many of us who left during the pandemic it was a surprise how quickly things can change. The endless streams of passengers through the airport's door just stopped. It's the same all over the world. One thing is clear, we are all dependent on each other if not emotionally then economically at least. We are linked. I quite like the idea that a small decision I make can have consequences and impact, both good and bad, both known and unknown. It's fascinating that the decisions of people that you have never even met, can have a lasting impact many years in the future. The pandemic unexpectedly gave me the opportunity to make a decision to leave Heathrow.

Thank you

Like many people who worked at Heathrow I want to say that it was a great experience for me and good for me. I was a relatively young(ish) man when I started there in IT. My background is all aviation so after 8 years I moved into Airside Operations and in the last 4 years I was working on the SESAR Programme. During my handover preparation I had the pleasure of looking back over years of emails and remembering the individuals and projects that I was involved in. I'm proud of all the projects and all the teams that worked on those projects. My last few years in SESAR have really expanded my horizons. Most all I'm grateful for all the wonderful people I met and worked with and we had fun as well (most of the time). When I look at my list of friends now on social media many are from work, stretching back 20 years and are important people to me. Thank you.

Ending and Beginnings

It was a sudden ending and I feel for all the people who have been impacted by the pandemic. For me it's also been a beginning of something new and the chance to start my own company and give that a go. I'm excited by the prospect. I will keep moving forward now and see where I land next and I hope to meet you on the way.