British Disabled Flying Association (BDFA)

The Goals of The British Disabled Flying Association (BDFA)

British Disabled Flying Association (external link) ,

"Like my father, I have been extremely impressed by the excellent work this organisation does in helping disabled people to fly. They are an inspiration to all of us that anything is possible if you are determined enough and have the right support and encouragement" HRH Prince Feisal of Jordan

The British Disabled Flying Association is a registered Charity and a Not-for-profit organisation established in 1993 to offer disabled people opportunities in aviation that is achieved in a number of ways:

• Promoting access to suitably equipped aircraft and organisations (flying schools, gliding clubs, etc) throughout the UK;

• Ensuring low cost flying is available for disabled people;

• Developing aircraft adaptations;

• Providing specialist advice;

• Forging relationships with government bodies and aviation organisations;

• Assisting past Flying Scholarships for the Disabled scholars and applicants.

The BDFA owns two aircraft – a Bulldog and a Cherokee – both of which have been modified to accommodate disabled pilots.  The Cherokee has been fitted with a hand control and wide walkway, whilst the Bulldog has a hoist that allows the BDFA to cater for most, if not all disabilities.  

Experience volunteers are based all around the UK and Area Coordinators have good working relationships with local airfields so that the BDFA can offer “Flying Days” throughout the UK.  Presently both aircraft are based at Lasham Aerodrome in Hampshire but they are regularly taken to local airfields where volunteers arrange Flying Days for members and non-members.

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By working with EU aviation and medical regulators the BDFA has had considerable success in enabling those with physical disabilities to achieve both private and commercial pilots’ licenses.

The BDFA has, in part, been funded historically via membership fees and this has enabled the BDFA to offer subsidized flying for our members

Current BDFA Projects:

1 A flight training centre facility for people with disabilities

We offer National Private Pilots Licence (NPPL) and Private Pilot Licence (PPL,) ground school and exams. At the present time the BDFA has 7 highly experienced flying instructors who each offer their services on a purely voluntary basis near Lasham, Hampshire and at Tatenhill, Derby.

Lasham instructors:

Paul Carvosso  (Captain BA Airbus A319 - A320 – A321 – Ex RAF Tornado Pilot)  -

Alan Meredith (Captain - British Antarctic Survey Fleet – CAA instructor)

Peter Coombs (Pilot and works for The Air accident Investigation Unit - Farnborough)

Our aim would be to have 12 instructors as part of the organisations roster of skilled instructors. This would help greatly to get more people flying without relying too much on the kindness of our current instructors. However, it is hoped that sufficient funds will be raised so that we can have at least 1 full time instructor always available at Lasham 1 or 2 days a week for the whole day. At the moment we have more people wanting to fly then we can take flying.

Our Chief Flying Instructor is Shona Bowman Of British Midlands International (BMI).

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2 Access to specially adapted and designed training aircraft

The BDFA owns two aircraft a Bulldog and a Cherokee (Kindly Donated by Prince Faizel of the Royal Jordanian Family) both of which have been modified to accommodate disabled pilots.  The Cherokee has been fitted with a hand control and has a wide walkway, whilst the Bulldog has a hoist that allows the BDFA to cater for most, if not all people with disabilities.   

Our Membership is growing and we wish to increase our fleet

3 Fundraising & Awareness

High Profile Patron – It is important to us that we have patrons who have a great passion for Aviation. Nick Mason (Pink Floyd drummer and a pilot) has agreed to become one of our patrons for 2007 alongside Dame Tanni Grey Thompson. We will raise our current profile which will help with our ambitions to raise funds and allow growth as a not for profit organisation.  It would greatly benefit both our prospective patrons and us, leading to mutual profile building and so increasing opportunities.

Free as a bird - We are now looking to extend the opportunity beyond our membership and make the experience available to a wider audience by offering short, instructional “FREE AS A BIRD" trial flight to disabled people who yet to fly an aircraft. In the first instance, we would wish to work with the Personal Assistants within Regional Rehabilitation Units, who are heavily involved with the re-integration of people suffering from disabilities or injuries.  By subsidizing the cost of flying we believe we can bring more disabled people into the world of aviation. We know this has proven to provide rehabilitation and goal-orientated benefits to disabled individuals.

Sky’s the Limit – Live Gig - an annual music concert in conjunction with 2 other charities (they will change each year) to raise money and awareness for each charities mission. The location of the gig will be at a fully operational airfield during our annual fly day events. Summer 2007 will be our first concert to coincide with the International Aero Expo, which we are their chosen charity of choice, focusing on Disabled Aviation. We are discussing next year’s joint venture with Nordoff Robbins

Music Therapy Trust and & Royal International Air Tattoo (they offer Flying scholarships for the disabled which was set up by Douglas Bader) - we train some of their scholars. Perhaps a comedy and a music event could be organised for 2009 with the Blue arrows doing some displays. (We are closely linked with RAF Odiham)

Paralympics fly past over the Olympic stadium in Beijing 2008 and London 2012 in our aircraft flown by our patrons or patron being passenger.  This is at the development stage and our Patron Dame Tanni Grey Thompson who is on the Paralympics organising committee is helping with these negotiations.

Wing name schemes – In return for a donation we will proudly carry the name of the individual or company on the wing of the aircraft or on the tail.  

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4 A range of specialist training programs run for disabled people

5 Further changes in aviation legislation relating to disabled pilots

In 2004 our co-founder Tim become the first disabled commercial pilot (FAA) in the world (he is a wheelchair user). This was largely done through our organisation. With the legal barrier broken, and a growing range of hand control systems now available that fit straight into most general aviation aero planes, the BDFA's final "big issue" is to establish a sufficiently large infrastructure to ensure that disabled people who want a flying licence can gain one. The recent donation of the Bulldog aircraft has been a significant step towards the creation of a not-for-profit flying school at our base in Lasham but we know only too well how far we still have to go. We work with EU aviation, CAA and medical regulators and we have had considerable success in enabling those with physical disabilities to achieve both private and commercial pilots’ licenses. We now want to build on these achievements.

6 Employment potential for disabled people in aviation

We advice on policy in general aviation and we now want to implement these legislations which have now been passed.  Simply, we now need to work with airlines and the aviation industry to get disabled people working for them at all levels, from pilot to air traffic controller to airport manager.

7 Greater public awareness of the capabilities of disabled people with an interest in aviation

Future BDFA Projects:

• FSD mini scholarship provider in Summer 2007.

• Farnborough Air Show in 2008 – a display stand inside the Hall and both aircraft in attendance: the Cherokee offering trial flights and the Bulldog on the static stand.  The BDFA is the only Charity to have a presence at the Farnborough Air Show.

• Live musical concert event (date TBC).

• London Olympics 2012 affiliation including a fly-by.

The BDFA would utilize funding by continuing to provide subsidized flying and to grow our organisation to achieve these ambitions set out in this document. Potential collaboration at Air Shows could also be explored, as could corporate travel arrangements and corporate flying days.  These are just some of the many possibilities that could benefit sponsors and partners. By combining your strengths with ours it would greatly benefit both of our companies, leading to mutual profile-building and so increasing business opportunities – Sky’s the limit.