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Meet the Team
Goodwood Flying School is made up of highly qualified Flying Instructors, the operations desk and the sales team. Together they form an enthusiastic, thriving flying school.
Goodwood Flying School is made up of highly qualified Flying Instructors, the operations desk and the sales team. Together they form an enthusiastic, thriving flying school.
Rob Wildeboer
Rob arrived at Goodwood by bicycle in 1986, determined to persuade the Chief Engineer that he should be taken on as an apprentice. He was and remains as passionate about Goodwood and aviation today. He took over as Chief Engineer in 1999, and became the Aerodrome General Manager in 2009. He recently qualified as a Flying Instructor and, with our Chief Flying Instructor, manages the Flying School.
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Goodwood Aerodrome for me is so much more than a job – it's a way of life.
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Graham Turner
Graham learned to fly in Tiger Moths with Portsmouth Aero Club in 1957. He joined the RAF in 1958 and went on to instruct in Jet Provosts at RAF Syerston. He left to join BEA/BA in 1971 flying Comets, BAE 111’s and 737’s and after a further five years with Maersk retired from commercial flying, coming to Goodwood in 2000.
He has amassed over 23000 hours of flying experience and a wealth of knowledge along the way, and is every bit as passionate about aircraft as he was when he first started flying.
Flying remains every bit as enjoyable today as it was the first time I took to the air.
Melanie Wright
Melanie joined Goodwood in 2014, having been involved in the aviation industry for the previous 16 years. Originally working on the front desk at the Flying School, she was promoted in 2017 as the Aerodrome Programme Manager. She enjoys working with the Flying School teams, ensuring that they deliver great customer service.
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Goodwood is an amazing and unique place to work
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Charlotte Dadswell
Charlotte achieved her PPL at Goodwood Flying School in 2005. Since then she has gone on to get her CPL and her FI rating, the latter from Goodwood. She joined our team of Flying Instructors in 2015.
When not teaching she enjoys flying vintage taildraggers, particularly aerobatics in the Chipmunk, which is her favourite aircraft. She is currently involved in the resoration of a small Swedish aerobatic biplane. It's now based at Goodwood and she hopes to be flying it by the summer.
I love flying from Goodwood - it's got such a rich history of aviation, and is one of the prettiest airfields in the country.
Steve Ford
Having started at Goodwood as a student in 1980, Steve finds he is back where it all started! With four decades in commercial aviation which included British Aerospace, Steve recently retired after 23 years flying for Virgin Atlantic on both the Boeing and Airbus fleets.
He has been actively involved in light aircraft flying throughout and has recently joined our team of instructors, having completed a Flying Instructors course under the guidance of our CFI Graham Turner.
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General Aviation and Goodwood have always been a significant part of my life. Goodwood is undoubtedly grass roots flying at its best!
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Peter Taylor
Peter learned to fly at the age of 17. He joined Goodwood as an instructor in the early 1980's and then left to join the airlines. He returned to Goodwood in 2004 to take up instructing again. Clocking up over 6000 hours of instructing and 15,000 hours of flying, Peter is a very experienced pilot and considers Goodwood as his second home.
Flying has always been a huge part of my life and, for me, Goodwood Flying School is my ideal
Claudia Cucker Martorell
Claudia Cucker Martorell is a flying instructor at Goodwood Flying School.
Claudia grew up in Hong Kong and took her first trial lesson in Southern Australia, flying a Grob 115. This ignited a love of flying. She learnt to fly in Spain, returning to England to take her Instructor Rating at Goodwood and has now joined the Goodwood team.
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I constantly look forward to coming back, my time at Goodwood is the highlight of my week.
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Joe Carter
Joe is part of the Flying School's team of flying instructors. He gained his commercial licence in 2008 before getting his instructor rating shortly after. Over the years he has flown numerous aeroplanes and has taught students for their PPL, CPL, IR and night rating.
When not doing his day job of flying the Boeing 787, Joe loves to share his passion and knowledge of aviation with others and perhaps a bad joke or two along the way!
Goodwood has that great balance of professionalism and fun, exactly what flying is about!
Mark Butler
Mark gained his Commercial Licence in 1999 and has instructed at Redhill and Biggin Hill before joining us at Goodwood. He will shortly be qualified to teach the Instrument Rating. When not instructing he likes to fly his Rockwell Commander to Europe regularly attending the Le Mans 24hr Race in France.
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There is no finer place to work if you have an interest in both Aviation and Motorsport.
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Colin Hampson
Colin took to the air from an early age in his father's light aeroplane and was awarded an RAF Flying Scholarship at 17. He went on to complete his PPL in South Africa and in 2012 obtained his Commercial licence.
Appropriately, Colin completed his Instructor Rating here at Goodwood, from the very same seat of his father’s aeroplane, some 28 years after that first childhood flight!
Colin is passionate about aviation and regularly attends fly-ins and aviation events around the UK, Europe and the United States.
I am immensely proud to be part of the team here at Goodwood. It’s a great privilege to fly from such a beautiful and historic airfield and to do so in the company of such friendly and dedicated people.
David Sanders
David has had a passion for aviation all his life. He started gliding at the age of 17 and within a year was a gliding instructor. He became a commercial pilot by the self-improver route and was CFI of a flying club at Biggin Hill in the 1980s. There followed a 32-year career in the airline world flying both short and long haul on Airbus A320/330. Following retirement in 2017, David renewed his instructor rating and now instructs part-time at Goodwood.
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Goodwood flying school has a lovely atmosphere with a great team, all with a great enthusiasm for aviation
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Ian Whitling
Ian started his aviation career as an apprentice aircraft engineer with the MOD at the Royal Aircraft Establishment Farnborough. After the MOD he continued as an engineer with Dan Air and during this time he gained his flying licences and became an Instructor which soon became his full-time occupation. He then moved on to the airlines first flying the Fokker F27 then the L1011 Tristar followed by the Boeing 757/767 and B777 (Emirates). Amassed a total to date of 18,000 hours and currently flying the Airbus A321/330.
I feel privileged to be part of the dedicated team at Goodwood flying school, I have flown aircraft all over the world, and I can honestly say there is no better place to indulge a passion for flying than Goodwood.
Jack Newman
Jack has had a fascination with all things aviation for as long as he can remember and learned to fly on gliders aged 14, funded by a paper round. Now flying for the airlines, he has represented Team GB in competition aerobatics and owns a share in a vintage DH Chipmunk, also based at Goodwood.
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I live five minutes from Goodwood and absolutely love it here. The scenery, the history...it’s just perfect.
Find Out More
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Contact the Flying School
E-mail us on flying.school@goodwood.com or ring to talk to an instructor and set up a meeting. Our friendly instructors will help you decide which of the many training programme will best suit your needs.
01243 755066