William is flying high after qualifying as a private pilot
William is flying high after qualifying as a private pilot
The achievements our students make outside of the classroom with their external interests is always inspiring and embodies the school ethos of ‘Aspire, Challenge and Achieve’.
One of the recent successes, was made by Year 12 student William Robbins who has qualified as one of the youngest private pilots in the UK at the age of just 16!
Whilst most Sixth Formers are dreaming of passing their driving test and owning a car, William has been taking to the skies by learning to fly a plane. What is even more remarkable is that William has achieved this with a year and a half of flight training.
His first introduction to flying was made by his dad who booked William a trial flying lesson when he was aged 9. Unfortunately, his dad passed away soon after, but this did not stop William from pursuing his dream as just six years later, he was back in the cockpit.
By taking flying lessons at Fenland Airfield near Spalding, William has learnt and built up his skills in a Cessna 152 Skyhawk four-seat plane.
In January, he completed his first cross-country with an instructor and then flew his first solo flight on his 16th birthday.
Since then, William has flown over 1,000 miles including two solo cross-country flights in the summer as well as my qualifying cross country flying 170 miles in one day by himself. Earlier this month he completed his skills test to qualify as a private pilot!
In the future, William plans to work as pilot full-time so he will be continuing his development and training. The next stages will be learning to fly at night, flying through clouds and then once he is 18+ he can progress to flying larger planes.
William said “I can’t wait for next year to take up my friends and family for many fun days out and begin further flight training!”