Welcome to Carlisle Flight Training. We are a small, family run, friendly flying school and aero club.
We welcome everybody who drops in.
Alan Rayson
Director, Instructor and Examiner
Alan Rayson is our Chief Flying Instructor and examiner (flight and ground), he has been flying for over 30 years and with over 10,000 instructional flying hours has quietly sat through many people’s early stages of flying. Alan started his instructing with “Cumbria Aero Club” where he taught both civilians and the RAF Cadets. On a weekend day you can often hear his dulcet tones from the tower as he also does Airground Radio. Making him a drink is always a good move! (milky coffee no sugar).
Helen Rayson
Ops
Helen started at Carlisle Airport in 1997 working in the bar, moving into the tower and then finally she moved on to become one of the only female civilian refuellers in the UK. Unfortunately the glamour of overalls, steel toe caps and freezing winters wasn’t strong enough to keep her outside and she is now a slave to the heating in the winter and sunbathing on the decking in the summer, running CFT can sometimes be a little bit stressful so has recently taken up horse riding again after a 26 year break!!! so on her days off she is to be found knee deep in horse c#@p, which is very therapeutic…
Bob Stinger
Instructor
Bob joined us in August 2012 as our full time instructor, and is also an examiner. Bob is from Blackpool where he instructed for a few years with stints in Oxfordshire and Northants. However you can’t make a Northerner happy by putting them down south. With more than four thousand hours as an instructor you can be assured he knows what he’s talking about. Although he does have a bad habit…Singing in the Cockpit!
Liam Mulholland
Ops
Liam is another member of staff who works weekends on the front desk taking bookings and general Ops stuff. Liam has been with us since March 2012 and gained his PPL in June 2014. Away from flying Liam can either be found playing cricket in the summer or studying for is Law Degree.
Louise Johnston
Ops
Louise joined us in April 2015 after having a couple of trial flights and then commencing her licence. You can find her at the desk most days handling booking and other ops stuff. Louise is currently undergoing her PPL but always loves an opportunity to get away to another airfield for brunch or a conference.
Sam Ling
Ops
Sam is also doing his PPL licence, alongside being a student at Trinity, so you can often find him behind the desk with a physics paper at the weekend. Sam began working with us in May last year and hopes to complete his licence this summer, with ambitions of becoming a commercial pilot.
Farrokh
Farrokh the reindeer accompanies us on many of our adventurous trips to various airfields around the UK & Europe. He is a dab hand at map folding and an impressive lookout in the aeroplane! On his travels he’s flown into Heathrow, Palma and even Majorca!
Lloyd The Cat
Lloyd came to us from one of our members as a tiny feral farm cat. He quickly settled into not having to go out and get his own dinner (although he does still do this from time to time!). He is often found wandering around the hangars and has been known to frequent the airport fire section, as well as the air ambulance helipad!
