Meet the Committee
Spence Harvey
Chairman
I took my first experience flight in a microlight at Shobdon in 1991 and was immediately hooked. I remained a member of the BMAA and an avid reader of everything microlight, but it wasn’t until 2001 that I could afford to completed my license. Since then, I have flown 1000hrs, half of which were in a flexwing and more recently in my Skyranger Nynja, currently based at Haywood.
In the course of my flying, I’ve managed to visit numerous countries including France and Germany on numerous occasions, Poland, Czech Republic, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Spain and Portugal, as well as doing a little trike flying in South African.
I love our club events and enjoy meeting up during fly-ins. It gives me a buzz. One of the reasons our club is so successful is because IT’S ALL ABOUT FLYING. There is no commercial involvement and fun is the center piece. We have a wide variety of abilities, aircraft and ambitions, and no one is more important than the next. If anyone has thoughts, wants, needs or even a complaint, I’m here for that reason and can bring it to the attention of the committee and we’ll do our best to get it resolved.
Thanks to our committee for all the work they do to keep us going. And thanks to all our members for turning up, getting involved and KEEPING IT FUN – KEEP IT LITE.
Myron Burak
Treasurer
I’ve always been interested in flying. Assembling and chucking Airfix kits out the bedroom window was the closest I got until I joined the Air Training Corps. I had several flights in Chipmunks and first soloed with them on gliders in the sixties.
Cost considerations kept me from flying until I moved to Gloucestershire and discovered Hang Gliding in the early eighties. A broken leg in my early days, sustained on Tinto Hill in Scotland did not put me off, and I enjoyed many wonderful experiences over the next ten years or so. During that time, I was a member of a then pioneering winch syndicate. It was from this winch that I achieved my best distance of 63 miles from Leckhampton Hill to mid Wales. I played around with paragliders in their very early days but ultimately decided they weren’t for me.
I moved to flex wing microlights and powered flight in the early nineties. I thought how cool to be able to fly a hang glider and to be able to go where you want. I joined two mates to buy and learn on a Pegasus Q wing. We then had an Air Creation Kiss. This was delightful, but was unfortunately modified with extreme prejudice by my flying partner, who much more fortunately, survived without a scratch.
We then decided to go three axis and bought the most fantastic Skyranger from Jim Taylor, which is what we have been flying ever since. The places I have been, the sights seen and the wonderful experiences I’ve had are stories I could bore you with any time you want to buy me a pint.
I enjoy the social aspects of flying and looking forward to meeting old and new friends in the club.
Ed Wells
Club News Lead (Airscrew editor)
I have been flying since 1983 (yes time flys!). At that point I had passed my GA license at Staverton Flying school and got immediately sidetracked into building a house and having four children. That 3-axis single engine pilot’s license unfortunately lapsed and when time and money allowed I found I simply couldn’t afford to revalidate and fly GA again.
It was then in 1993 I attended a SVMC open evening at Over Farm and was taken up by the then Chairman Andrew John in his Mainair Alpha Flexwing. I was hooked. I immediately joined the club and passed my GFT for Microlights aircraft in 2001. Since then I have been an active member of the Club and was Chairman for 3 years at one stage. I have flown a lot in this country and crossed the channel four times to fly in France, most recent in 2023.
Unfortunately in recent times publication of the SVMC Club Magazine (Airscrew) had lapsed due to a lack of article contributions. Given the well documented and archived history of the club, via Airscrew it seemed a shame that a documented club history and news was no longer produced. I have now committed to bringing Airscrew back, no longer as a monthly but as an annual or bi-annual club update. Don’t be shy people without your written contributions the magazine will be no more.
Andy Virgoe
General committee
Hello everyone, I am Andy Virgoe your Treasurer. I am known In SVMC circles as Andy V to avoid you confusing me with Andy B ! I gained my microlight licence in 1985 so have been around for quite a long time.
Having recently retired I treated myself to a new aircraft, the big thing in 2018 was 600kg and I decided to take advantage of the proposed new limit, only thing was the CAA didn’t keep up with my timescale so I had to go and get a NPPL SSEA in order to fly it.
Looking forward to catching up with everyone this summer.
Rees Keene
Communications Officer
I’ve been in and around the SVMC since a child and grown older with many of the current members! Passing my GFT in 2003 at Long Marston on a 503 Quantum, I’ve since flown around 500 hours in both fixed and flexwing Microlights.
Many hours have been amassed flying to, from, and competing in competitions. I find them to be a great social scene and enjoy flying to new places and exploring the countryside around them.
I’ve also been lucky to explore parts of the world with our sport, including Eastern Europe, the Alps and even Dubai!
As club communications officer my role is to ensure you know about meet ups and fly-ins and also to keep an eye on WhatsApp and FaceBook. I look forward to meeting you in the skies!
Brian Finch
General Committee
My Aviation interest stemmed from visiting the European Microlight Championship at Little Rissington in 1995 when I realised flying wasn’t just for the rich and famous but ordinary guys like me. A flight in John Hamer’s Flash2a soon afterwards got me hooked. I now have 1400 hrs in various aircraft, my current toy is a 912is Eurofox 2K which I have enjoyed since my retirement from Unilever 3 years ago.
Justin Parsons
General Committee
I’ve been around sport aviation all of my life, flying with my father in sailplanes from 18 months old and later hang gliders when my dad switched in the mid 70’s. I took my first solo hang glider flight aged 12 when my father threw me off a 100ft hill near Bristol. That set my passion for hang gliding for what will be 38 years in 2024!
I took my first flexwing flight in a friend’s Raven at Sutton Meadows in the early 90’s, and subsequently flown with friends whenever I could in both flex & fixed wing microlights across many parts of the UK.
I don’t currently have my own microlight, so I’m keen to accept any offer to fly as a passenger with new & old friends. As I get older, I’m sure I’ll make the switch to powered flight at some point but my passion for hang gliding is still in my blood!
Being a member of SVMC is one of the best clubs that I have belonged to, and I especially enjoy the friendly social side of the club.
I look forward to meeting you all at an airfield somewhere.
John Hunt
Winter talks organiser
Rob Cuckow
IT Related Support
My first flying experiences were as part of the Yorkshire Air Squadron, flying a Bulldog out of RAF Finningley for a couple of years in the mid-1980s.
My first Flex-wing experience was a trial flight in 1987 in a Pegasus XL, but my enthusiasm was somewhat curtailed by getting married and buying a house that same year. I eventually saved enough pocket money and got back into flying in 2001 and bought my first plane, a MainAir Flash2 Alpha in 2002. I kept the Flash for 20 years and happily bumbled my way around the North Yorkshire Dales, Moor and coast.
I retired in 2021 and upgraded to a P&M GT450 and subsequently joined various SVMC trips out to Scotland and the south of France, pushing my experience boundaries more in the last two years flying with the club than I had done in the previous 20! Every day out flying with others is indeed a learning day!
Steve Slade
General Committee
I gained a PPL in 1973 through a RN Flying Scholarship and had been accepted at the British Airways College of Air Training. Went to Southampton University instead to read Aeronautical Engineering and subsequently joined Rolls-Royce in 1978 as a Development Engineer. First microlight flight in 1982 in the very early pioneering days of the movement.
Subsequent flying adventures include flying the Round Britain Rally seven times, winning it twice, UK national champion in 2000, five times member of the UK microlight team, Lands End to John O’Groats in a day, Kiev to Odessa microlight rally, and numerous foreign trips.
Owned a 912 powered Rans S6 since 1998 and have around 3,200 flying hours. Now retired, other hobbies include sailing, brewing and exploring footpaths and cyclepaths with my Batec Rapid 2 electric buggy.
Jon Ingram
Summer Fly-Out Coordinator
I started to learn to fly a flexwing in 2005 after a number of years racing motorbikes. I’d always been interested in flight and my other hobby at the time involved building and trying to fly a succession of model aircraft. After gaining my PPL in 2008 with just 25 hours on my licence, I spent six weeks flying around Australia. Since then I’ve toured the UK in my flexwing but hankered after new challenges and to travel further.
In 2016, I switched to a 3-axis microlight which I have flown around France, Germany, Belgium and many other European countries. I now have an EASA PPL, Night Rating and IR restricted licence together with an FAA PPL. America, Russia, Italy and Scandinavia have been included in recent destinations. I continue to enjoy the scenery and ever changing vagaries of our weather together with maintaining and enhancing my aircraft.
Coming from an IT background I also seem to have become the ‘go to’ person for Electronic Conspicuity kit in the club.