PA28 Syndicate Herefordshire

About the group

PA28 syndicate Herefordshire. The group which is one of the longest standing, most stable at the airfield. Nominally, we’re a group of 12 friendly individuals of various ages and experiences including two professional pilots. The syndicate is based in rural Herefordshire (Shobdon) and enjoys relatively unrestricted airspace with good access to Wales, the west Wales’ coastline and mountainous Snowdonia to the west and north west respectively. Flights into the middle of hilly Wales are, in the main, cloudbase dependent. Catering at the airfield is very good to fill in and swap war stories when not in the air. Everyone knows the second best thing to flying is talking about it.

We’re always on the lookout for younger members who bring a welcome energy to the group. Read about the experiences of our youngest member here. Through reciprocal membership and a few of us being glider pilots / tug pilots, we also have a reasonable affiliation with the gliding club.

To an extent, this site will always be a work in progress as we decide what needs to be done on here. The aim of the site is to allow like-minded individuals to interact with us and from time to time show when shares in the syndicate are up for sale. Therefore, over time, this site will grow in terms of content and usefulness. Information sensitive to the syndicate will be password protected.

... more about us

PA28 syndicate Herefordshire. This site describes most aspects of our PA28 aircraft syndicate including any shares for sale and their listings on other popular aviation / social media sites. The two flying instructors in the group can check you out and do biennials. To join the group and operate G-ATON as pilot in charge, we require a minimum of 100 hrs flying experience. A brief history of the group (a work in progress) is also published at this site. This PA28-140 Cherokee aircraft technical and other characteristics can be found here.

Weather

Alternatively: UK Met Office weather for Shobdon (EGBS)

G-ATON aircraft availability

PA28 syndicate Herefordshire. From the figures below, it can be seen that the availability is good. The character of the group tends to be day hire or for a few hours. That said, with enough notice, we have no problems with G-ATON being taken away for a few days from time to time. In the main, we’re completely flexible.

Group members

Hours flown per year

How the group is organised

This group has a few designated individuals who organise things like finance, maintenance and talking to the CAA but apart from that, it’s a case of getting on and flying the aircraft. Our main method of comms with each other is done by email. From time to time you might be called upon to form or be part of a cleaning party or attend a group meeting. We have plans for a bare metal respray that’ll keep the aircraft in a well maintained state for the foreseeable future. We have a certain responsibility to maintain this iconic aircraft.

There are no secrets to stable and thriving syndicates. Ideally, they should contain people of complimentary skill sets (aside from piloting) where members all have something to offer. What those individuals want from the group should be reasonably similar. Domineering personalities are often not to everyone’s taste so we try to avoid those in the group. That said, certain roles withing the groups have to be recognized.

Booking G-ATON

Booking the aircraft is done via Goboko online and accessible from any of your devices. Other group artifacts are held on Goboko. What’s not to like about that?

Instructors in the group

These group members are GA freelance instructors and due to our insurance cover, they cannot instruct ab-initios in G-ATON. However, they can do your biennal check flights.

Shaun Wilson - Flying Instructor

Pete Benkwitz - Flying Instructor

Either of these fine individuals will sort you out when needing flying input for G-ATON.

Charlie Wilson (16)

If you ask me, there’s more than a touch of Keith Flint (Prodigy front man) about one of the two people in the cockpit in the first video.

Our Location: EGBS (Shobdon) Herefordshire

This is a Second World War airfield with concrete and grass runways hosting Group A aircraft, gliders, microlights, helicopters, gyrocopters and occasionally parachutists (NOTAM’d).

Location address

Herefordshire Aero Club Ltd.,
Shobdon Airfield,
Leominster,
Herefordshire
HR6 9NR

Tel: 01568 708369

Office hours: 09:00 – 17:00 local

Licensed operating hours: 09:15 – 17:00 local

Within easy flying range ...

Aberystwth – West Wales Coast

Snowdonia – North Wales

Elan Valley – Central Wales

Other, easy to reach locations include the rugged and mountainous terrain of South Wales.