Last Sunday saw Ian Schofield, the winner of the Airscene 2023 Calendar Competition, take up his Trial Flight prize with Phoenix Aviation, at Solent Airport in Hampshire.

Weather was partly cloudy with a bit of a breeze when Ian arrived at the airfield in Lee on Solent. After a quick photo shoot Ian went upstairs for his breifing from his pilot Hugh, before heading back to the Ikarus for his flight.

Ian flies a lot on commercial aircraft, but had never been in a microlight before – so a totally new experience. He did get the opportunity to have a go at the controls and made a few turns, but suspected that Hugh was doing a lot of rudder work. Ian enjoyed the trial lesson and had this to say about it afterwards:

“For such a lightweight aircraft it wasn’t bumped around the sky and you could feel the power. It felt like you were flying rather than being blown around by the wind”.

Phoenix Aviation offer trial lessons, for anyone considering taking flying lessons who wants to see what it is like. They do currently have a hold on the sale of trial flights while they clear a backlog due to non-flying weather in recent months, but hopefully they will be back on sale soon.

Trial lesson prices currently start at £105 in the Ikarus C42 or £155 in the Piper PA28, with options to pay extra to land at other local airfields. So if you are interested in a trial flight around the Solent area, do bookmark their website below:

https://www.phoenixaviation.co.uk/trial-lessons