Aerobility’s Chief Flying Instructor Mike Owen hangs up his headset
Image courtesy Aerobility
Mike Owen (above), who is 65 this month, is semi-retiring from the role that has helped Aerobility to take off and become a significant influence in the disability and aviation sectors.
The UK’s disability flying charity was based at Lasham Airfield when Mike joined in May 2008 as its first full-time flying instructor. It later moved to its current location at Blackbushe Airport on the Hampshire/Surrey border.
Ironically, Mike’s flying career had a failed take-off when, after spending three years in the University of Wales Air Squadron based at St Athan near Cardiff, he was turned down when he applied to be a pilot with the RAF.
The RAF said he could be a navigator or an engineer but Mike wanted to pursue his love of flying so worked his way through a number of engineering and software jobs with the likes of the Ministry of Defence, Phillips Medical Systems in Eindhoven in the Netherlands and others while flying in his own time.
Mike - who has two Masters degrees - was working as a flying instructor at Shoreham when the role came up with Aerobility.
He said: “Aerobility had a Bulldog aircraft at that time - the same aircraft that I had learned to fly in with the University Air Squadron, so it felt like going back to my roots. It was also much nearer to my home in Farnham.
“I had an interview with CEO Mike Miller-Smith and Chair of Trustees Shona Bowman in the bar at Lasham and they offered me the role.
“The challenge of working with so many people on a really individual basis and helping them to learn to fly has been one of the greatest benefits of this job. In this role you find out so much about people, their strengths and their weaknesses and what really motivates them.”
Among the highlights of Mike’s time as Chief Flying Instructor has been taking a number of disabled pilots on a flying tour of Switzerland, and getting so many disabled people with a very wide range of conditions and severity, through to their Private Pilot’s Licence.
It is not the end for Mike though. Although he retires this month he will remain as Chief Flying Instructor until Aerobility has recruited his replacement, and then he will return as a part-time flying instructor for the charity.
Aerobility CEO Mike Miller-Smith said: “Mike Owen has been at the centre of everything that we have achieved with Aerobility since he came on board in 2008. He has supported and trained so many disabled people and shown them that there need not be any barriers to them taking to the skies themselves.
“We could not have taken Aerobility to where it is today without Mike and the work he has done to keep our aircraft operational and to keep disabled people flying. We are delighted that we will continue to see Mike around even after his official retirement.”
