United Kingdom: Aerobility’s ‘Project Able’ will enable more people with disabilities to fly By Liz Danner.

Aerobility, the leading aviation charity based out of Blackbushe Airport in Hampshire and Tatenhill Airfield in Staffordshire offers disabled people and veterans, without exception, the opportunity to fly.

Earlier this year it embarked on a significant initiative ‘Project Able; operationally centred on the introduction of eight refurbished Grob 109B aircraft to their fleet for ab initio flight training. Thanks to an initial grant from the Department for Transport (DfT) the project is now fully underway.

Each of the overhauled and adapted airframes will help around 2,600 disabled people take to the skies yearly, compared with its current 1,000. Not only does this exciting endeavour enable over 1,600 more flying experiences each year but finally disability flying can be offered from more airfields around the UK.

The fleet overhaul programme involves a full modification programme with new Rotax engines, increasing the all up weight capacity to 875Kgs, along with new MT propellers and a state-of-the-art Garmin navigation fit. The first airframes will undergo the conversion programme at Grob Aircraft SE in Tussenhausen-Mattsies, Germany with the remaining aircraft being refurbished by Southern Sailplanes in the UK.

Up to 63 Grob 109B training aircraft are being upgraded and the majority will be released onto the commercial market, leaving eight, disability adapted aircraft, being retained by the Charity to operate.

Despite the obvious challenges that COVID has presented this year the project has continued to progress with a prototype which is currently undergoing intense flight testing in Germany. Aerobility will take delivery of its first aircraft from Germany in early 2021.

“Having been flown previously by many RAF cadets the aircraft has a well-loved track record and will provide excellent service into the future for improving the lives of disabled people and veterans. It’s a great aeroplane for many customers from private individuals to those organisations with a significant flight training need. As a motorglider with a very efficient engine that also runs on unleaded fuel, the ability to shut down the engine and operate as a glider, the environmental credentials are class leading as well,” said Mike Miller-Smith, CEO of Aerobility.

“Acquiring these aircraft will help us transform the lives of an even greater number of disabled people by giving them the unrivalled sense of freedom through the magic of flight,” he added.

“We are extremely grateful to our partners for supporting us in this hugely ambitious project. Not only will it help us build capacity for our future operations, it will enable us to expand the charity to support more disabled people and veterans to finally fly all throughout the UK including Northern Ireland, which has always been our dream,” he added.

Emerald Media is pleased to get behind and support Project Able as our aviation charity of choice in 2021. We join a stellar team of advisors and sponsors including Hayward Aviation, NATS, Grob Aircraft SE, the UK CAA, Garmin, CFS Aero and Saywell International.

Aerobility’s dedicated website for Project Able is www.g109able.org

Liz Danner, Emerald Media.

BlueSky Business Aviation News | 17th December 2020 | Issue #586

Share this article