About Us Clearprop! Microlight School Clearprop! was established in 2007 by David Sollom and Angus Lacy-Hulbert, with the aim of providing top quality microlight tuition at a convenient location in the south of England.  We chose Redlands Airfield not only for its prime position near major routes, but also for the superb facilities it has, as well as the wonderful atmosphere on the airfield. There has been a microlight club and part-time school at Redlands since the early 1990’s, with the school part growing steadily over the past few years.  Now the school operates on a full-time basis, flying every day that the weather allows. At Redlands, we have an office and shop, briefing room and large indoor and outdoor seating areas.  There is coffee and tea available all the time, and even a small café for hot and cold snacks which is open at weekends. In 2010 Clearprop expanded with the opening of our second school based at Blackbushe Airport in Surrey. Here we offer exactly the same as at Redlands only in a very different environment. We still have great facilities with briefing rooms a café etc. but we are operating from an airport with a large tarmac runway and a tower to control our movements. Our students have loved the opportunity to experience both environments during their training meaning once qualified they leave us with the confidence to fly anywhere.

Clearprop! instructors

David Sollom

David first stuck an engine on his hang glider in about 1980; but gave up motorised flying soon afterwards when the engine kept stopping at the most inopportune moments, and he resumed free flying; both hang gliders and paragliders. During the 1990's he set up and ran ParAvion Paragliding School in Marlborough with the philosophy of being very professional, where most others were decidedly amateur. This is the extremely successful philosophy that he has brought to Clearprop! and the microlighting world.

After a stint in the British Paragliding Team, David resumed powered flying in 2000, when the manufacturers started to build microlight aeroplanes with big, four-stroke engines, rather than the two-stroke units of early days. He now has many hundreds of hours of flying and teaching experience, on both flexwing and fixed wing microlights.

Angus Lacy-Hulbert

Angus started flying in 2000 when he learnt to fly paragliders in the Bulgarian mountains. After several years of some fantastic flying he returned to the UK. With the flying opportunities on paragliders being not so great in the Uk he soon realised that if he was going to continue flying he would have to look at a more viable option and so decided to take up microligthing. He is now the co-owner of Clearprop and is responsible for the bulk of the fixed-wing training. He is a big fan of grass-roots, back to basics flying as well as old fashioned navigation. Of course he also enjoys teaching on the Ikarus C42.

Gary Cross

Gary's flying interest was ignited with model flying. With a large and varied collection of fixed wing models Gary could no longer resist the urge to fly himself. Starting in gliding he became a capable glider pilot completing solo out and return flights as well as flying in Australia where he emigrated, twice! However he never forgot where his roots were and returned to the UK. Having trained on both fixed and flexwing microlights and having owned and flown both types for several years Gary decided it was about time he made it his profession. He completed his rigorous instructor training and, after being offered a job by the instructor during his instructor training, Gary showed great loyalty and came to join Clearprop! at Blackbushe where he forms a valuable part of our team and is responsible for the bulk of the flexwing training.

Dudley Pattison

Dudley started flying in 1969, and has flown anything and everything he could get his hands on since. He has over 2000 hours in various microlights and light aeroplanes as well as vast experience of building both models (he founded Flair Products) and full size aircraft (Isaacs Fury, RV4 and six microlights). Amongst his many achievements, he won the Schneider Trophy Air Race in 2000 flying his Robin DR400 G-DUDZ.

Dudley still loves flying whenever he gets the opportunity, and gets a real buzz from teaching new pilots. He also continues to spend any spare moments he gets building his next project and also runs a (very) small company supplying specialist timber and tools for aircraft building.

John Amos

John is the newest member of our team and brings a wealth of experience with him. He is a full time Captain for British Airways, currently working the short-haul routes which allows him to spend time with his young family. John also has a CRI rating which means he can carry out type conversions as well as check flights for pilots who are already licenced.

Away from work John is the proud owner of a taildragger Rans S10. With his experience on taildragger aircraft he makes the perfect choice for an instructor who can carry out conversions for existing club members and students who have come through the school.

David Cox

Coxy has had a life long interest in anything that flies, and started paragliding with David Sollom at ParAvion in the mid 1990's. He soon began teaching as well as flying (and competing), and he is still an active paragliding instructor. He started flying microlights and light planes during 2001 and 2002, and is now an experienced fixed wing instructor.