Flying will never be cheap, but there are ways to keep costs more manageable.
As you are probably aware, cost-sharing flights are now legally allowed by both the CAA and EASA, and in recent times flight-sharing has gained a well-established place in the UK’s general aviation scene.
Above and Beyond School of Flying has therefore decided to authorise the flight-sharing platform, Wingly, to be used by pilots meeting Above and Beyond’s safety and validation criteria.
Cost-sharing with passengers brings with it a high degree of responsibility. There might be pressures which many private pilots will not yet have experienced in an aviation context. We can prepare you for this responsibility, introducing some scenario-based training to help you review whether this is something that might be of interest to you. How would you manage a sick passenger? How would you manage an unexpected weather deterioration after you have landed some way from base? What would you do if you had a security concern?
By using the free flight sharing platform, you will be able to split flight costs, which may well assist in enabling you to fly more often and stay more current. By driving down your hourly rental costs by as much as two thirds, there is much to be gained from cost-sharing.
Introducing people to general aviation using the company aeroplane should be a really good fun way of building your hours and experience as a pilot, and perhaps might allow you to fly further distances than you would normally be able to afford to do. The 45-minute monthly circumnavigation of Draycot Water could become a fly-out to Sywell instead, with a pleasant lunch in the Pilots’ Mess.
Wingly has signed a safety charter with EASA and are also well supported by organisations abroad such as France’s Fédération Francaise Aéronautique (the body that represents the majority of France’s flying clubs) as well as the civil aviation authorities of France and Germany.
You can find the CAA’s guidance regarding cost-sharing here:
https://www.caa.co.uk/General-aviation/Aircraft-ownership-and-maintenance/Cost-sharing-flights
and to find out much more about the whole concept of Wingly please visit their web site here:
Should you wish to take advantage of the cost-sharing scheme, please do give me a call on 02476 639222 or 07775 715501 and we can get together and assess if you can be individually approved.