Council Members

Member - Dennis Neville

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Dennis Neville had his first air experience flight in an Auster from Christchurch in 1960. The landing was so bad he decided to find out if he could do better. He joined the ATC the same year, went solo in a glider at Swanton Morley in 1962, then joined the old de Havilland Engine Company as an apprentice.

Later, whilst in the Army as an Aircraft Technician, he went solo again with the Moonrakers Gliding Club at Upavon. Whilst still in the Army he went solo in a Chipmunk at RAF Seletar and got his PPL in 1970 whilst in Singapore.

Since then, he has had another dozen jobs in aviation from Gliding Instructor, crop spraying, air taxi, night freight, airline, MOD (Navy) contracts to corporate jets. A Flying Instructor now with his own Chipmunk, he has been doing air Displays every year since his first in a glider at Booker in 1973. A member of the Barnstormers Flying Circus for 12 years, he has kept the show alive using his DAE to train up new pilots for such acts as the “Limbo”.

Now retired from flying “heavy metal”, but keeping his hand in instructing on and maintaining vintage types, he has 14,000 hours on over 90 types from the Sopwith Dove to the Hunter, and another 1,100 hours on 46 types of glider.

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