Northrepps Microlight Fly-In

Grim weather affected the fly-in at Northrepps airfield near Cromer over the Esater weekend but three Quik pilots made a sterling effort to get there. Sywell-based Paul Bass and Pete Martin, along with Wayne Williams, who flies from Caunton, near Nottingham, flew in convoy in their 912s Quiks to the airfield, run by Chris Gurney.

Software engineer Wayne got his NPPL(M)in 2004 and has flown 300 hours. As he's self-employed, he can "down tools and go flying if the sun makes an appearance!"
Wayne lives near Sheffield and meets up with Paul and Pete to embark on "little adventures", although he had to knuckle down for the rest of the Easter weekend, "catching up with the gardening". Wayne, who flew to Abbeville in France last year, hopes to complete the Round Wales Rally this year and will be heading to Spamfield in June.

Pete Martin got his licence at Christmas and now has 70 hours logged. Formerly a paraglider, he told LOOP he'd "grown bored of waiting on hills for the wind!" Pete, who lives in Wollaston, Northants, "noticed a couple of guys flying around" and thought he'd like a go. He then came across Paul Bass' microlighting website who, coincidentally, also lives in Wollaston. After making contact, Pete flew with Paul to Nottingham, and then set about getting his NPPL.
Pete says his enthusiasm is down to excellent training with Flylight Airsports, based at Sywell, and he completed in 30 hours. "This as good as it gets! It's seat of your pants flying and it's cheap, safe fun."

Web designer Paul Bass, has flown 900 hours since getting his NPPL(M)in 1998. As the most experienced pilot in the group, he often leads the way and has a whole website dedicated to his microlight escapades (www.aerialadventures.net). Paul flew to Malaga a few years ago, crossing the Pyrenees and flying over Gibraltar, all of which he's captured on film. He told LOOP it was "quite surreal, landing at an international airport in a Quik!" 

WORDS: Kirsten Corrigan