Young Runcorn pilot flying high

4:30pm Tuesday 2nd December 2008

BEN Pilgrim may not have passed his driving test yet, but the gifted young Runcorn pilot already has ‘high hopes’ after completing his first solo flight.

The 17-year-old former Aston by Sutton Primary School pupil flew at 1,000ft over Liverpool Airport before landing his Piper PA38 Tomahawk safely. It was all the more impressive because, alone in the cockpit, the only communication he had was with air traffic control.

His proud mum, Rosalind, said: “I was extremely nervous as Ben took off on his first solo flight. It was especially nerve-wracking having his instructor standing next to me instead of being in the plane with Ben!

“But I was jubilant 15 minutes later when he made a safe landing.”

Ben, who is now studying A-levels at Helsby High School, in Helsby, began flying as a student pilot at Liverpool Flying School when he turned 15.

Attending the academy every Saturday, he has already attained his flight radio telephony operators lLicence and passed his air law and human performance exam.

He is now well on his way to qualifying for his private pilot’s licence – and dreams of becoming a commercial pilot.

Ben’s dad, Frank, added: “We are all extremely proud of Ben’s achievements. He has worked extremely hard at his pilot studies as well as combining that with studying hard for his maths and physics A-levels.”