Armstrong Whitworth Flying Group

[AerBabe]

I'm after any information possible about the history of these nice people... anything gratefully received!

(Yes, I'm aware of their website)

[Jolly Foreigner]

I learnt to fly there back in 1987 doing all my PPL ratings including a twin rating. My membership lapsed back in 1994 after disappearing off to fly the big stuff. It was originally started up by a number of Armstrong Whitworth employees from the factory at Coventry, who wanted to learn to fly. They started with a single Tiger Moth I believe. The original clubhouse used to be adjacent to the car park along side The Oak pub in Baginton, but has since been moved with the regeneration work carried out at the airport.

All members are shareholders in the group and it used to have the cheapest rates for flying instruction certainly in the Midlands, if not the UK, when I was a member. The instructors were not renumerated for their instruction, it was all done for the love of flying and the social atmosphere that had been generated at the group. When I commenced my flying training there they had two C152's, G-BFOE and G-BNXC, but borrowed a few others when these two were off on maintenance, G-BNOZ is one that springs to mind.

Most of the flying is done at weekends or bank holidays, so for more information, I suggest a visit to Baginton, you are sure to be warmly welcomed with a cuppa. The CFI I believe is still John Stockley a patient and helpful instructor.

Hope this gives you some gounding on where to find the information you need.

[AerBabe]

Thanks for the info, JF. I'm actually a member there myself, so know all the general bits. However, the old registrations will be useful, as I'm trying to piece together the history. Not just the facts, but the atmosphere as experienced by students along the way.
G-BNXC is still there, as is John Stockley!
The one major piece of information I'm lacking is what date it started up. We know it was 1954, but not which month.

[wet wet wet]

As you say the Armstrong Whitworth Flying Group was founded in 1954. The Group’s first aircraft was Tiger Moth G-ALWW, (known as Weary Willie) which was also used by the Coventry Gliding Club for gider tows. This aircraft is still active, being currently registered to the Stratford-upon-Avon Tiger Moth Group. This was followed by a Cessna 150 ‘EO and a Cessna 152 ‘OE, the similarity in the registrations being a source of much confusion for pilots and air traffic controllers. In 1971 the group owned Cessna 150H G-AVVE and leased Rollason Condor G-ATVW from the Tiger Club. More recently the club has standardised on the Cessna 152 for training and used Cessna 172 and piper Cherokee types for advanced training and touring.

The AWA group was but one of several flying groups associated with local companies that were established a Baginton in the 1950s (the others being Rolls Royce, GEC and Armstrong Sidderley). I believe that at the time there was a government scheme that provided tax incentives for companies to subsidise flying training for their employees. If only that was the case now!