Monthly Newsletter - July 2026 Edition

Welcome

So, June certainly kept us on our toes! The month began with torrential rain, spectacular lightning displays, hailstorms and gale-force winds that were strong enough to tear down two of our windsocks in a single day. Thankfully, the weather had a dramatic change of heart, and by the end of the month we were enjoying glorious flying conditions as a record-breaking heatwave settled over much of the UK, giving us a fantastic finish to what turned out to be a memorable month. 

As always, thank you to everyone who has contributed over the past month. Whether you've been flying, volunteering, repairing, mowing, painting, organising events or simply lending a hand when needed, it all makes a difference.

If you've got photos, stories or ideas for next month's newsletter, we'd love to hear from you. Until then, we hope you enjoy this month's edition.

June Runway Rundown

The improvement projects certainly didn't slow down last month. A big thank you goes to Mark, who has installed a Wi-Fi extender, significantly improving coverage around the airfield. Matt has also kindly donated some garden furniture and indoor tables, while Robin has finally cured the leaky toilet!

The site has received a splash of colour with the addition of hanging baskets, and the washroom has had a much-needed makeover, helping freshen up our facilities for members and visitors alike. We've also filled in a number of potholes along the track, the grass is starting to establish nicely on the newly landscaped bank, and we've added a hammock beneath the cherry trees for anyone wanting to enjoy a well-earned rest between flights.

To complete the summer atmosphere, we've also added a new gas BBQ. If you'd like to bring something along to cook in the evenings, please do—just remember to wash up afterwards, and bear in mind that Tarka is rather partial to the odd leftover sausage.

Beyond the Runway

There have been plenty of fly-outs from WMC over the past month—here are just a few of them.

Mike, Andy and Mark took two C42s and a flex wing over to Aberystwyth before routing up the stunning Welsh coastline, over Snowdon and on to Caernarfon.

Dan and his son headed down to Sandown for a weekend of camping, making the most of the sunshine with trips to the beach and a round of crazy golf.

Mark also flew down to Eyres Field, near Weymouth, with former club member Darran, who has recently moved to the area. Following the visit, Mark is keen to organise a WMC fly-out back to Eyres Field, with a trip to the Tank Museum included. If that sounds like something you'd enjoy, have a chat with Mark and register your interest.

June also gave us three memorable local flying events.

The Shadow - First and foremost, Dave flew the Shadow! On 14th June, G-PSUE finally returned to the skies after spending the past year grounded while fuel tank issues were resolved and the correct replacement parts were sourced. To mark the occasion, a number of WMC members stayed late to watch Dave complete a few circuits. It was great to see both the aircraft and Dave back where they belong.

Summer Solstice - Just a week later, on 21st June, it was a very early start for Sue, Mark, Julian and Debbie, who met at the airfield at 4:00 am before taking G-OSPH and G-CJOT into the skies to watch the sunrise on the Summer Solstice. The crystal-clear conditions and stunning views made for an unforgettable experience and served as a reminder of just how special flying can be. It's certainly something we'd love to organise again next year.

SVMC Fly In - Finally, on 24th June, right in the middle of the heatwave, we welcomed 17 aircraft from the Severn Valley Microlight Club to Yatesbury for an evening fly-in and BBQ. Despite the overwhelming heat, it was a fantastic evening, with the parking plan working perfectly and plenty of room to accommodate everyone. It was great to welcome so many visitors to WMC, and the event was thoroughly enjoyed by all.

On the Horizon in July

8^th July BMAA Club Night

The BMAA hosts a virtual Club Night on the first Wednesday of every month, and this month they've chosen to broadcast live from Yatesbury. It's a fantastic opportunity for WMC and a real vote of confidence in what we're building here. We hope it will help introduce both the club and the airfield to an even wider audience within the microlight community. The details for joining the event are below:

For the next in our series of club nights, coming up soon on Wednesday 8th July at 19:00, our featured airfield is going to be Yatesbury airfield in Wiltshire, a lovely location just west of Marlborough, where we'll be broadcasting live from the airfield.

We're also going to be going through details of how to submit and manage General Aviation Reports, an absolutely essential skill for those looking to stretch their wings beyond the UK.

For previous sessions we've aimed for about an hour, and always gone over by a bit, so this time we'll aim for 75 minutes, so try and finish around 20:15.

This session will again be hosted on Microsoft Teams, and the joining details are as follows:

https://teams.microsoft.com/

Meeting ID: 325 076 070 253 551

Passcode: Ba2Xe7ug

We look forward to meeting you all online then

25^th July – WMC Summer BBQ

We'll be hosting our annual Summer Club BBQ on Saturday 25th July. We plan to get the BBQ fired up from around 4:00 pm, so come along with your family, bring a few burgers (or whatever you'd like to throw on the grill), and enjoy an afternoon and evening at the airfield. We'll provide the salads, accompaniments and light refreshments—just bring yourselves and something to cook!

Thankyou to everyone who has already paid their membership fee’s. A gentle reminder that annual WMC membership fees were due on 1st July. Membership is £120 for the year. Thank you to everyone who continues to support the club and help us maintain and improve the facilities at WMC.

Cockpit Corner

This month's Cockpit Corner is brought to us by Mark Wade, who takes us through his journey from first trial lesson at WMC to flying one of the UK's most spectacular microlight routes over Snowdon and the Welsh coast.

I have been a member of Wiltshire Microlight Club Since 2015, so I am a 10 year plus member!

However my journey to becoming a pilot was pretty long. I had a trial flight with tony around the end of 2014 and in about June 2015 decided I would approach Tony with a view to learning to fly a flex wing Microlight. Of course I was a complete novice and knew very little about Microlights or flying for that matter, my only experiences being, the trial flight with Tony, an experience in a glider and a static line parachute jump, neither of the latter two experiences engaged me enough but the flex wing was awesome! However after asking me lots of questions Tony persuaded me to sign up for lessons in a C42, I had no idea what that was, so he took me out to the apron and introduced me to Debbie (the plane) I can’t say I was that impressed but handed over a large cheque for a full course and all the exams! “Might take a couple of years” I seem to recall Tony saying. I started my lessons with Andy Jones and made steady but slow progress as I was working full time still. The next big thing was that I got wind of a new aircraft coming to the airfield to be owned by a small syndicate, (thanks to Sarah Tuck for telling me!) The aircraft was on order from the factory and was shortly to be delivered and there was a space in the syndicate, I made enquiries and was introduced to the other members; a sort of interview if I’m not mistaken! I was accepted and bought into the syndicate on the understanding that learning in your “own” aircraft is much better and cheaper! The aircraft arrived in 2016 and she was a beauty, G-CJOT.

My training switched from Debbie to JOT and continued and continued and continued until in July 2019 I flew my first solo. That gave me a real impetus to carry on and then Covid sort of got in the way in early 2020. My flying training recommenced in 2022 although I had a few lessons in the mean time, to cut a long story short after flying with 5 different instructors between 2015 and 2023 I completed my GST in July 2023, having had to do some of my exams 3 times due to them becoming out of date!  Shortly after qualifying I did my Radio course at Clench Common and passed that. So now there was no excuse.

Along the way I experienced some real highs and some real lows wanting to pack it all up at times! Boy am I glad I persevered! Since qualifying I have steadily built up my experience and although still a bit of a fair weather flyer I have been pushing my boundaries and flying to different airfields. My most recent experience was to fly over Snowdon. Andy Edwards was making the trip and I asked if I could tag along, “of course” was the answer, so with only a day in between I went home and started planning. The next day I thought I would get ahead of myself and go to the airfield to fuel the aircraft and do all my checks the day before which I did. All was looking good. The route looked a long way and over some pretty high terrain, the route to be taken was straight line, almost, to Aberystwyth then up the coast round Llanbedr due to a Notam, then over the top of Snowdon and land at Caernarfon. Approx 2.5 hours flying which would be my longest solo flight.

On the day the weather was perfect and we met at the airfield early with a view to being airborne at 08:00. Mike cook had joined the adventure at this point and so we all readied our aircraft then had a quick briefing to agree speed and confirm route etc, then we all booked out and made our way to the aircraft. We all did a radio check and with my engine running I then noticed that I had left the Pito tube cover on, my excuse is that I hadn’t followed my usual routine because I’d prepared the plane the day previously, I remember gurgling the engine and checking the oil but did I do a walk around? Probably not! I made a radio call to say I was shutting down but just then Dave appeared and gestured that he would remove the cover which he did. We were wheels up at 8:01.

The flight was spectacular, smooth air for most of the journey but a bit of a haze on route, once near Llanbedr I lost sight of my companions so turned for Snowdon to find that both Andy and Mike were already circling the summit in the distance, I did my best to catch up and at this point my tablet running sky demon froze. Not great but I could see the airfield in the distance so made progress to catch up with Andy with Mike now following. I managed to get my backup tablet turned on and set up, the route being already loaded. I can’t say that my circuit at Caernarfon was my best but I got down and then headed for fuel, first the aircraft and then a hearty Welsh breakfast. After a couple of hours we decided to return as WMC was hosting Seven Valley Microlight club and we all wanted to get our aircraft away before that kicked off. The flight back was just as spectacular with another flight over the top, climbing straight out of Caernarfon to get enough height.

I must say it is a trip well worth doing and I learned another two valuable lessons. 1) follow your usual routine – I’m sure this is why I missed the pito tube cover, 2) be prepared for a technology failure, I’m glad I was and although mine only froze so I could still see the map I’m glad it wasn’t at a more critical point in the flight and that I had a backup ready.

Ground Control

Parking – On busy days, please remember to use up the spaces around the back first. If you’re unloading tools, it’s fine to park in the visitor spots but just move your vehicle before you fly. Most people are managing to park in between the white lines, however, if you’re going to openly flout the rules like this offender, then beware, the parking attendants are always watching!

Callums Mum – For a few years now a lovely lady has been appearing at the end of most weekend days and waiting around for Callum to finish work. Everyone has always known her as ‘Callums Mum’. We can now report that her real name is actually Sharon and not Callums Mum! So if you see her about, do say hello!

Speeding – Please keep vehicle speeds low when driving around the airfield. We have members, visitors, children, dogs and aircraft all sharing the same space, and keeping speeds sensible helps ensure everyone stays safe.

Spread The Word - We're seeing more visiting aircraft and visitors coming through the gates, which is fantastic. Please continue promoting Wiltshire Microlight Centre wherever you go. Word of mouth remains one of the best ways of introducing new people to the airfield. We managed to get a great write up by Cath Spence in this months Microlight Flying magazine. If you are writing articles for magazines or social media, please do mention the words ‘Yatesbury’ and ‘Wiltshire Microlight Centre’ as often as you can, just so it sticks in peoples minds!

WMC in Focus

We are going to need a longer newsletter, so many photos sent in last month that it was hard to choose!

Top left we have a little someone attempting to steals Daves aircraft.

Top right is a lovely sunset photo from above the clouds taken by Dan.

Bottom right we have G-CGNI flying over the monument and White Horse, taken by Julian.

Bottom left is Andy Edwards in his Flexwing over Wales.

Final Approach

Over the past few weeks we've welcomed visitors from across the country, watched aircraft return to the skies after months on the ground, explored new destinations, improved the airfield for members and visitors alike, and continued building the friendly atmosphere that makes Yatesbury such a special place to spend time.

None of it happens by accident. Every flower basket, every repaired pothole, every organised fly-out, every kettle boiled and every hour volunteered helps make the club what it is.

As always, thank you to everyone who has contributed over the past month. We hope to see you at the Summer BBQ on 25th July, and if you have a story, photograph or adventure you'd like to share in next month's edition, we'd love to hear from you.

Blue skies,

The WMC Team