Holbeach area glider pilot Neville is still flying high at 95
Age is proving to be no barrier for a glider pilot who is still flying high at the age of 95.
Neville Robinson, who lives in the Holbeach area, has recently celebrated this milestone birthday and has no plans to retire from the sport.
Having started flying more than 50 years ago, Neville is still firmly at the controls of the aircraft when he takes off from the Peterborough and Spalding Gliding Club site in Spalding Road, Crowland.
Neville continues to pilot the glider throughout the whole flight, which includes finding thermals to keep up in the air through to landing, but he does have a safety pilot on board now.
Fellow gliding club member Nick White, 74, of Morton, has celebrated Neville’s achievement.
He said: “I am a long-term member of the club and have known Neville since he started flying here and it is an amazing feat to manage what he has done.”
During his 55-year flying career, Neville has flown in many countries across the world, including Canada and America.
When he was 45 years old he became an instructor and has put many a student pilot through his paces, so that they could enjoy the wonders of gliding flight.
The longest flight he had was when he shared a flight in a high-performance glider, covering some 750km. Glider pilots lucky enough to be in a mountainous region can find ‘wave systems’ which can take them to great heights. Neville’s highest flight was over The Rockies in Canada, where he climbed to 26,000feet! Oxygen masks have to be worn when flying above 10,000ft.
Neville returned to his roots in the UK some 17 years ago and joined Peterborough & Spalding Gliding Club.
The club is happy to train always happy to train people of any age and gender. The youngest pilot is 14-years-old - who could be flying into the 22nd century if he follows in Neville’s footsteps.
We recently shared the stories of Fred Campling who is still farming at the age of 92, and Kathleen Knipe, who runs fitness classes aged a sprightly 88.
Do you know of a 90-year-old who has no plans to stop doing what they love? If so, email victoria.fear@iliffepublishing.co.uk
