Treasurer

David Corbett

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David Corbett 1936 - 2010 It is with very great sadness that we have to report the death of the Europa club Treasurer David Corbett.
David died peacefully at home on 6 October 2010 aged 74, after a short and sudden illness.
He served in the British Army of the Rhine in a tank regiment before taking over the family farm. He was a keen aviator and co-owner of the Spectrum microlight company, which occupied a redundant farm building where he later built his classic Europa XS G-BZAM in which he toured extensively. David was a founder member of the Flying Farmers Association, served two terms on the Executive Committee of the Light Aircraft Association, was a board member of the General Aviation Safety Council, a member of the General Aviation Awareness Council and the CAA’s General Aviation Consultative Committee. On top of all this he was a keen offshore sailor. David was a true English gentleman and will be greatly missed by his many friends.

David Corbett 1936 - 2010

I took over the position of Hon Treasurer from Dot Pattinson in 1996, and thoroughly enjoy putting back into the Club some time and effort in return for all the support and fun I have had from and with Club members since I started my build project in March 1996.

Flying experience

1550 hours accumulated at a slow rate over exactly 40 years as a PPL holder, all in singles, including microlights and SLMG.

I have held assistant instructor and IMC ratings, and have solo'd in a glider, and parachuted, which I enjoyed but did not keep up.

I have owned, through our family company, Rallye Commodore, Cessna 172, 182 and 206 (3 of these!), Piper Super Cub, and Grob G109B.

Special skills/experience

My family company has owned the active part of Shobdon Airfield (Herefordshire, UK) since it was sold by the MoD in 1964. I was a founder member of Flying Farmers Association in 1974, and have been on their committee ever since - as Hon Teasurer for the last 24/25 years. I represent FFA on the General Aviation Safety Council, the General Aviation Awareness Council, and the CAA's General Aviation Consultative Committee. The Europa Club gets the benefit of my attendance at the meetings of these organisations whenever there is a particular item of interest for the Club.

Aircraft, and current status

G-BZAM is UK kit 265; build started in March 1996, and first flight was in January 2001. It is a classic monowheel, but has the advantage of almost all XS mods that could be built in, including XS cockpit module. It has a 912UL and Arplast PV50 propellor.

It has sufficient instrumentation such that, if and when IFR flight is allowed for UK Permit aircraft, it will be ready to go. I have flown it to Germany, Czechoslovakia, the Balearics and the to all the Baltic states via Poland.

It is a lovely aircraft to fly - thanks to Ivan Shaw and all at Kirbymoorside over the years that I have been involved.

This page last updated by db 2010-10-18