In association with our sponsors;
The 18th Annual YES Youth Education Summit report
Saturday 18th April 2026 in the Cirrus Room, Sywell Aerodrome
Following initial registration with refreshments available, some networking occurred before the summit itself commenced.
YES Committee member Andre Faehndrich was the master of ceremonies and he went around the room and everyone gave a short introduction giving their name, where they live and why they came to the summit.
Andre then thanked our sponsors LAS Aerospace, IMT Aviation, P&A Wood and SKYSMART. He also thanked Flight Training News for advertising this event, and Pilot Magazine Editor Eugenio Facci for his continued support of YES, with Eugenio in attendance, seeing what the Summit had to offer everyone.
The Summit commenced with Sam Jones of SKYSMART telling us of his life as an apprentice.
IMT Aviation – Engineering Opportunities & Apprentice Development – Andrew Matthews, Head of Training with apprentices Bailey Bow and Ryan Elliot gave some great advice about what they looked for when selecting apprentices, with the most important advice being to have your CV checked for the basics and making sure its relevant to the position being applied for, to make it stand out and improve the chances of a successful selection.
Roger Bone who had flown into the event from Earls Colne then gave a very entertaining and enthusiastic account of his flying and owning an aircraft or two and gave many the inspiration to either buying or acquiring a share in an aircraft to start and continue flying, and going on to acquire additional flying licenses and experience.
Steve Farr & Fern Haddock and two additional Thaxted/ Carver Air Scouts gave a great account of their recent RAF Accreditation and how they looked forward to using this to their advantage.
This was followed by Jim Johnson who talked about Cub Scouts and Aviation badges which led on nicely to Colin Knowles detailing the Hertfordshire Scouts Motor Gliding Operations flying Scouts at Gransden Lodge using a powered glider.
Sammy Austen-Jones of Aerobility outlined his flying and learning path at Blackbushe Airport and what he intends doing next in his career to becoming a commercial pilot.
Bottisham Museum it’s set up and expansion plans was outlined next by Jason Webb, and he welcomed everyone to come and visit this expanding collection of aircraft and memorabilia.
John Jones, Chairman of Sywell Aviation Museum then gave us an interesting insight into William Barnard Rhodes-Moorhouse, the first Airman to be awarded the VC, and how his flying was intertwined with aviation history around the country.
There followed Charlie Bodington who gave us an entertaining insight into his “Modelling is in our DNA” and how he, his brother and father were continuously making model aircraft and gave us a spirited presentation of his many years of making and flying model aircraft of all sizes and shapes, including a few models which we were available to see up close in the reception area.
Gliding was next on the agenda and “Come Gliding” was the battle cry outlined by Peter Hibbard of the Essex & Suffolk Club and Paul Jessop of The London Gliding Club at Dunstable. You cannot drink, drive, smoke or get married, but you can go solo in a glider at age 14, so come on give it a try at your local gliding club. Lizzie Pike of the BGA was also in support.
The Air League were unable to attend, but they welcome anyone with a passion for aviation, regardless of age, background, or experience to become a member. They offer the UK’s largest and most diverse range of aviation scholarships, including flying, electric flying, gliding, ground school, drone, and engineering scholarships. Every member has the opportunity to apply for these life-changing opportunities, and their flying and gliding scholarship applications close soon, so if you’re interested, don’t miss your chance to apply.
We then had an excellent lunch and refreshments with more networking until the afternoon session.
James Burrage then gave a very detailed account of his experience to date of the military recruiting for the RAF, and with final hurdles to overcome, we wish James all the very best for his ambition to become an RAF Fast Jet Pilot.
Chris Beale, director of airworthyconsulting.com gave details of his excellent initiative of The Heritage Skills Apprenticeship Scheme that they have commenced and which promises to be a game changer for the various skills required to maintain the Heritage aircraft around the country.
For many years youngsters and adults alike, learnt about aviation at Air Shows. Clive Denney told his story of how he was inspired and how he fulfilled his ambition to own a Piper Cub (which he flew into Sywell) and then fly a Spitfire amongst others on a PPL, and is now inspiring and helping his grandson Max to achieve that and more.
Jacob Hinson lived in Sywell village as a teenager and was affected by that experience, meeting the likes of Stewart Luck who gave him a flight in his aircraft then based at the Aerodrome. He also helped Andre Faehndrich in his first set of Young Aviation events starting in 2006, and which celebrates the 20th annual Young Aviator Event at Deenethorpe Aerodrome on Saturday 5th September 2026 (see www,theplaneguy.com). Jacob is just starting to compete in Aerobatic competitions in an Extra aircraft he brought from the Blades Aerobatic Team.
Tony Prentice gave a fascinating description of his designing and flying of early microlights and then “20 Years of Microlight Flying with the Scouts in Kent”, in a very unique set up, which has flown many thousands of Scouts in Microlights over the years – a true inspiration and we wish Tony and his team all the very best for 2026 and into the future.
Colin Knowles, now also a regional representative for BYP (British Young Pilots), then gave an outline of this brand new initiative BYP Partnership to join the UK’s youth aviation project, and the types of packages being offered for airfields and operators to take part in this truly pioneering and exciting way to introduce young people into aviation.
Finally Andre Faehndrich reported that just the day before he had delivered a RANs S6 Coyote II Build-a-Plane project into Oundle School, Northamptonshire, and this build (known as YES BAP5) joins 36x other Youth Build-a-Plane projects around the UK.
He also thanked Stewart Luck, organiser of this YES Youth Summit, who was laid up in hospital, wishing him a very speedy recovery. He also thanked Catherine Young who did the registration assisted by Jim Johnson, and Rares Turcu who ensured all the presentations were available on his laptop and worked with the overhead projector and microphone provided by the venue. His girlfriend Cosmina also took some photos of the event.
So another successful Youth Summit closed and everyone left buzzing with inspiration and ideas, and we look forward to the next event in 2027. Check out www.yesflyers.org.uk for updates.