Karl joined Flying Pig & Elstree Helicopters in October and makes up one half of our Operations Team. As Karl has experience of the PPL process we have asked him to tell us a little bit about his flying journey... Since a young age I have always had a passion for aviation and have worked…

15th September 2020 There’s never a dull moment at Flying Pig (or with flying) and today was no exception. Arriving at 8.45 for my flying lesson that morning, in mist, scattered clouds at 200 feet, broken at 300 (Heathrow METAR) with no significant changes for 2 hours.  I was resigned to a no flight day. …

At this time of the year when everyone is getting their exam results and wondering what to do next, we thought it would be a good time to tackle the question of PPL(H) Vs University. If you’re about to finish Sixth Form this year then you could be reaching a defining moment – apply for…

Before we commence flying one of our first tasks is to check the weather and top of the list on the weather briefing is temperature. During the Summer it’s the heat we need to watch out for. Temperature affects both the pilots and the helicopters themselves. Much of keeping cool in the helicopter is just…

Next month we will be holding our 8th PPL(H) Open Day, a chance for all budding pilots out there to come along and turn that lifelong dream of learning to fly a helicopter into reality. These events are always a huge success and the perfect opportunity for anyone with their sights set on becoming a…

And we’re back! After 14 long weeks of flight training lockdown, we are finally back in the flying school and the cockpit. Before we commenced flight training, we spent some time prepping the flying school for the new normal. But what does the ‘new normal’ mean for us? Using government guidelines and working on ways…

DAY FIVE – Distance approx. 360 nautical miles (4 hours flying time) Day 5 – The Finale! We woke up to a beautiful day at Eshott Hall, the sun was shining with blue, blue sky as far as the eye could see! Couldn’t be more different to yesterday’s dismal start. Capt. Storey was up at…

DAY FOUR – Distance approx. 500 nautical miles (5-6 hours flying time) Day 4 was a BIG day, we had to cover over 500 nautical miles! It was set to be a long but exciting day for the all pilots. It was an early start at Warwick Hall and after a super breakfast, it was…

DAY THREE – Distance approx. 260 nautical miles (3 hours flying time) We set off from Caernarfon airport around 11am it was a relatively short day so was good to get a couple of hours admin done before we departed. Our destination today was Warwick Hall, near Carlisle. Some of the group planned to stop off at…

DAY TWO - After breakfast, TEAM 44 showed us all up by heading off for some exercise Matt took the opportunity to do his usual morning run and Lee headed for the beach (must be all that time he's spent in Australia). We met up at Padstow Harbour and took the ferry across to Rock…