Aerobility Initiatives Continue to Change Lives

Claire Tonkinson, a disabled woman from London, England is the first individual with a disability to have earned a TMG (Touring Motor-Glider) Class Rating through Aerobility’s training initiatives. She earned the rating in a Grob-109B.

Founded in 1993, Aerobility is a U.K. charity perpetually about the commendable mission of providing disabled individuals access to the liberating, self-affirming, independence-fostering challenge of piloting an aircraft.

Across the broad sphere of human endeavor, few undertakings instantiate freedom from restriction so powerfully as flight. This axiomatic truth is particularly well understood by Aerobility’s founders and staff, many of whom are, themselves, disabled aviators.

By dint of effective fundraising initiatives, thoughtful management strategies, and specially-adapted aircraft, Aerobility allows disabled individuals to get behind the controls of an aircraft for a fraction of the commercial rate. In all the U.K., Aerobility is the only flying charity offering TMG training for individuals with disabilities.

Upon its addition to an extant Pilot Certificate, the TMG rating authorizes the holder to operate a class of aircraft known as Touring Motor-Gliders. Such aircraft are designed and built after a fashion at once conducive to conventional motorized and unpowered gliding flight.

Ms. Tonkinson suffers impaired mobility attributable to chronic pain secondary to a back-injury. Having learned through a friend of Aerobility’s existence and mission, Tonkinson, in 2014, visited the charity’s headquarters on Blackbushe Airport (BBS) in the civil parish of Yateley in England’s Hampshire County. In short-order, Tonkinson found herself wholly enamored of flight. In 2016, by virtue of her own efforts and ability and a bit of help from Aerobility, Claire Tonkinson earned her Private Pilot Certificate.

Since embarking upon her flying odyssey, Ms. Tonkinson has plied her energies to representing Aerobility—promoting the charity’s work and speaking on its behalf at public events. In 2023, Tonkinson commenced pursuing her TMG rating and logged her first hours in Aerobility’s Grob-109B—a German-designed-and-built, two-seat, motor-glider and the first such aircraft to incorporate composite materials in its construction. Marketed to both civilian and military customers, the Grob-109 was adopted by Britain’s Royal Air Force (RAF) in 1991 and utilized to train air-cadets in the service’s Volunteer Gliding Squadrons (VGS). The type was retired in 2018. Grob-109s in RAF service were ascribed the military designation Vigilant T1.

In March 2020, Aerobility—by way of the innovative Project Able—acquired eight RAF Vigilant T1 hulls and got promptly about the business of retrofitting such with Rotax 912is3 engines, new MT propellers, and Garmin glass cockpits. The aircrafts’ refurbished iteration is known as the Grob 109 Able.

Made possible, in part, by a grant from the U.K.’s Department for Transport (DfT), Project Able is an Aerobility endeavor which, in addition to returning the aforementioned aircraft to airworthiness, will facilitate the carriage aloft of some 2,600 disabled individuals annually.

Ms. Tonkinson stated: “When I fly in an aircraft, the required focus and concentration is a distraction from pain. I am able to sit in an aircraft for longer periods than normally possible. I feel incredibly proud and honored to be Aerobility’s first student to have earned my TMG Class Rating. With a disability, the world doesn't have things put in place. It's a daily battle. One of the most important things that Aerobility does is to build confidence.”

Tonkinson continued: “None of this would have been possible without the guidance and support from my instructors, particularly Mike Owen, who is incredibly skilled and an intuitive teacher who always remained calm during my training, however difficult it was. The entire team at Aerobility helps you to focus on what you can do, instead of what you can't, giving people with disabilities a new outlook on life.”

Tonkinson’s mentor and Aerobility chief flight-instructor Mike Owen set forth: “We are all really pleased with what Claire has accomplished. Earning a TMG Class Rating takes a lot of skill and Claire should be very proud of herself.”

Aerobility CEO Mike Miller-Smith added: “We are able to teach people with disabilities to fly thanks to the generosity of our donors and supporters. We thank them very much indeed for making this possible for Claire.

Mr. Miller-Smith concluded: “It is important to celebrate Claire’s recent achievements, and we are looking forward to continuing to share the magic and wonder of flight with as many disabled individuals as possible.”

FMI: www.aerobility.com