Motorglide - CAA / EASA Flight Instructors

CAA Flight Instructors

All our flight instructors have many years of flight experience and are fully qualified instructors, approved by the CAA and the BGA.

Unlike some training organisations, our instructors are not here with low hours waiting for an airline job; all our instructors have thousands of hours on gliders, motorgliders and light aircraft.

Head of Training – Lee Ingram

Commercial pilot, Multi-IR
Flight Examiner for SEP, TMG, Microlight
Flight Instructor for SEP, TMG & SLMG
Theoretical Knowledge Examiner
BGA Flight Instructor, Examiner and Instructor Examiner
Aerotow Tug Instructor
7,000+ flying hours
Instructor for 27 years

Lee started gliding at the tender age of 17, becoming a flying instructor by the age of 19, and going on to gain his Private and then Commercial Pilot’s Licence. Flying is Lee’s biggest passion in life and there isn’t much he hasn’t flown. In a previous life, Lee was a TV director and worked with Roland Rat and Sooty and Sweep. One of the best flight experiences he’s ever had was flying his Duo Discus glider up to 16,000ft.

Operations Team Member - Ashleigh Duggan

Operations Manager - Ashleigh Duggan

Ashleigh looks after MotorGlide’s day to day events and is responsible for communications with members, aircraft maintenance, refuelling and office admin. Ashleigh has been around aviation for the whole of her life, growing up on RAF bases around the UK and abroad. One of her fondest memories is playing with the Red Arrows crew in the hangar at RAF Scampton. Ashleigh started her own flying journey when she started gliding at the age of 16. She has now progressed onto an PPL SEP/TMG with night and IMC and is continuing towards her goal of becoming a flight instructor.
As well as flying, Ashleigh also enjoys working as a part-time freelance swim instructor.

Chief Flight Instructor – Alex Nicolai

Flight Instructor
Commerical Pilot
Instrument Rating
Night Rating
TMG + SEP

Alex has a passion for flying, starting off in gliders he soon worked his way up the aviation ladder whilst working as a educational tutor. Until he had gained enough experience in aviation to quit his job and become a Commerical Pilot.
Alex now works as a full time professional flight instructor in both SEP & TMG.

Senior Flight Instructor – Simon Ludlow

ATPL
Flying Instructor for TMG & SEP
Tailwheel Instructor
14,000+ Flying hours

Simon trained as a pilot in the RAF where he flew the Victor and VC10 in air- to-air refuelling operations as Squadron executive and instructor; he flew as a Qualified Flying Instructor on the Tucano.

When Simon left the RAF he gained his ATPL, where he flew Boeing 747 and more recently the Airbus A320 series.

In commerical flying Simon has been a Captain with Dragonair in Hong Kong as well as holding the post as the Fleet Flight Safety Officer within the Cathay Pacific Group Safety Department.

Flight Instructor - Derren Francis

ATPL
Flight Instructor SEP & TMG
Gliding Instructor
BGA Senior Tug Pilot
15,000+ hours

Derren first learnt to glide at 14 with his 1st solo on his 16th birthday. He joined the RAF in 1989 and in 1997 became helicopter pilot for the Army Air Corps.

In 2002 Derren became a commercial pilot and now flies the new A350 and A330 for Virgin Atlantic.

Derren is also member of the British Gliding Team where he has competed in World and European Gliding Championships.

Introductory Flight Pilot – Nathan Jones

Flight Instructor – Ian Atherton

ATPL
Flight Instructor SEP & TMG & Sailplanes
Flight Examiner (sailplanes)
BGA Full Rated Instructor + BGA MGIR
Aerotow Tug Pilot Instructor
Tailwheel Instructor
10,000+ Flying hours

Ian is a full-time instructor with MotorGlide following a career as an airline captain flying shorthaul out of Birmingham.
He first started flying gliders at 18 whilst a student and learned to fly powered aircraft soon after graduating. He progressed to become a BGA Full Rated Instructor and Tug Pilot, and over the years Ian has held a number of gliding club posts, including both CFI and Tug Master. He has worked as a professional gliding instructor and built hours towing gliders towards gaining his commercial licence. Ian has a wealth of experience flying a wide variety of aircraft. Aside from gliding, Ian has a passion for vintage aircraft and has been fortunate to have flown a number of classic tail-dragger types. He also enjoys flying aerobatics in his Fournier RF-4D motorglider. Recently Ian had fun completing a floatplane course in Florida, during which a particular highlight was flying around the lakes at treetop height spotting alligators!

Flight Instructor/Examiner – Matt Lane

Chartered Aeronautical Engineer
Commercial Pilot's License
Flying Instructor
Flight Examiner for PPL, IR(R), SEP, tailwheel, aerobatic and all motorglider ratings

At work, Matt specialises in the management of maintenance and airworthiness in the military Air Transport and Air-to-Air Refuelling environment.

Like many, he started his flying career on Air Cadet Chipmunks and has now progressed to instructing and examining. Matt has extensive experience of managing flying training operations around the UK, and sits on the UK AOPA National Instructor Policy committee. He also instructs and examines for the Air Cadet Organisation and holds an RAF Central Flying School ‘A2*’ instructional category. Matt has also been fortunate enough to fly the Hawk and Tucano aircraft for an all too brief few sorties!

Flight Instructor – Jonathan May

Jonathan started gliding in 1985 at Bicester and now has over 2000 hrs and 4800 launches ranging from solo, instructing, flying comps and on expeditions to mountains in England and Europe. He is a cross country coach and has instructed at many Junior Nationals. Over the years he has had shares in various gliders from an LS4 to Nimbus 3 DT.

He added a PPL in 1995 and started instructing in motorgliders. He later had a share in a Robin DR400 and started aerotowing and touring in Europe to gain experience to support becoming an FI (SLMG), and in 2011 added a CRI rating to instruct in SEP, TMG and Microlights. In 2014 Jonathan took delivery of an Ikarus C42 microlight that is used for aerotowing and instructing microlight conversion as well as having fun with its short field performance.

Introductory Flight Pilot – Joseph Hadley

Flight Instructor – Joseph Hadley

PPL – TMG & SEP
CAA Flight Instructor

Joe's passion for all thing's aviation stems from his time as an air cadet. He recounts an emetic aerobatic flight in an RAF tutor with a former harrier pilot. It certainly didn't put him off flying and he now lives and breathes aviation, flying with MotorGlide in his spare time and working as an Aerospace Engineer for the aviation authorities.

Since gaining his licence with the team, funded by a part-time job in a charity shop alongside studying at university, Joe now owns a share in an RF-4 motorglider in which he enjoys preforming aerobatics. .

In the middle of the summer, you'll find Joe awake before dawn flying to watch the sunrise from 3000ft. If he's not flying (or talking about flying) you'll probably find him enjoying his second passion of racing down the ski slopes in the alps!

Flight Instructor – Simon Barnard

EASA PPL
Class Rating Instructor (CRI)
Tailwheel Instructor
1,700+ Flying hours

Simon is our go to man for tailwheel conversions.

He gained his PPL in South Africa whilst working overseas. Over the years Simon has held Multi and IMC ratings and today still loves flying aerobatics.

Flying taildraggers is a real passion for Simon and he especially enjoys doing this in his own Super Cub.

Introductory Flight Pilot – Nigel Clarke

LAPL – TMG & SEP
BGA Introductory Flight Pilot

Nigel got the flying bug aged 14 following a winch launch glider flight from Long Marston, later joining 492 Squadron of the Air Cadets. He started flying gliders in 2005 and he’s been airborne ever since.

Nigel’s most memorable flight to date was spread over three days, flying our Dimona G-WENN back from Austria with CFI Lee. His favourite memories of the flight include seeing the Blue Danube below leading them on into Germany, flying through the landscape as though a Dam Buster, then heading north-west via Munich into Belgium. The flight was punctuated by friendly, picturesque airfield stops en route. Nigel says that the Channel crossing was a particular highlight; the familiar welcoming white cliffs of Dover are one amazing sight from 3,000 feet!

Introductory Flight Pilot – Nigel Clarke

Flight Instructor – Mike Rogers

EASA Flight Instructor for gliders
BGA Motorglider Instructor

Mike studied Aerospace Engineering at Bristol University and now works as an avionics engineer designing the latest in-cockpit displays. Mike started to learn to fly at the Long Mynd Gliding Club before he could even drive.

Now he has over ten years of flight experience and can regularly be seen soaring gliders in Shropshire and flying motorgliders here in Warwickshire. One of his best flying experiences was flying in the Spanish Pyrenees for a week, with breathtaking scenery and phenomenal gliding conditions!