HIGH FLYER

Schoolgirl, 16, becomes UK’s youngest glider instructor – despite being too young to drive a car

Amelia has no intention to start driving a car

• Rachel Dale

• Published: 22:40, 21 Jan 2024
• Updated: 13:50, 22 Jan 2024

SCHOOLGIRL Amelia Richardson is the UK’s youngest glider instructor at just 16 — despite being too young to drive a car.

Amelia was gifted a lesson for her 13th birthday.

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By 14, she had a solo licence.

Now she has clocked up enough hours to qualify as an instructor and can guide beginners through their first flights.

Amelia, from Buckingham, Bucks, said: “After school, if there’s a plane free, I’ll go for a flight before I do my homework.”

And despite turning 17 this week, the teenager said she’d rather spend her hard-earned cash than learning to drive.

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Dad James said: “We’re so proud of Amelia – being take for a flight by her was a very surreal experience.

“Before we went up she sat me down and told me I wasn’t in charge in the air, she was – which I was quite glad about!

“She’s always been a bit of an adrenalin junkie and she’d been talking about flying for ages when we thought we’d let her have a flying lesson for her birthday.

“We thought it would be a one-time thing but she’s never looked back.

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“She might be young, but she’s as dedicated and talented as any other glider pilot”

A spokesperson from the British Gliding Association said: “Amelia is also a great role model for young women, many of whom wrongly assume for a variety of reasons that flying is something they can’t do.

“Amelia is a qualified glider pilot and also holds what is titled a ‘basic’ instructor rating, which means that she can teach certain flying exercises under close supervision and with regular standardization checks at her gliding club.

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