I'm a Club Member ‑ Gerry Ashton

Where did your interest in Aviation stem from?

My interest in aviation came from my Father who installed radar systems in Lancasters and Mosquitos during the Second World War. Then, when I was a boy he took me to an air show as a birthday present and I started making Air fix kits of planes. So my fascination with flying grew from there.

How did you discover Goodwood?

I started flying at Goodwood in 1995 and did my first solo flight in the summer of that year. At the time my Mother was in hospital near Midhurst and I used to watch all these little planes flying between Goodwood and Midhurst so I decided that I would learn to fly myself.

Debbie Howells was my instructor for the PPL and later on I did the IMC rating with her husband Bob - and the whole experience gave me lots to talk about with my Mother when she was ill.

Do you have any aircraft of your own?

Now I have my own Piper Arrow which I used for business trips before I retired. Small aircraft are good for short journeys like Nottingham, or Exeter, and so much faster than going by car or train of course, so that was useful.

What do you enjoy about flying the most?

Being able to fly is a huge privilege, especially from Goodwood because of the spectacular coastline and the short hop over to France. I can leave home in Chichester, be in Le Touquet within 90 minutes, and be back in the pub after less than four hours having done some shopping.

Flying gives you a great perspective on life and gets you up and away from all the everyday things. From Goodwood you have the whole of the South Coast, looking down on Arundel Castle, then over to Beachy Head, across to the Isle of Wight and Portsmouth Harbour, and you can do all that in not much more than half an hour. That's a great joy and privilege.

There's all the history down there too, the wartime RAF bases at both Goodwood and Tangmere, and the Battle of Britain was fought in the skies around here too. I often take people up in the Piper and they really enjoy a different perspective on all these places.