And the Mike Miller-Smith Award goes to...

Growing up, Clare Johnston always found herself defying gravity whether it was complex gymnastics or high springboard diving. As she grew older she longed for the sense of flying through the air again and came to find the love of aviation, especially in gliders. “The main thing that pointed me into gliding was actually that I could never get past the hearing issues in powered flying. You are constantly competing against engine sound and it’s very radio focused. So I wanted to find an organisation who was used to working with people who might have challenges they need to work with and not around” Clare joined Walking on Air, a Scottish Charity teaching people with disabilities to fly in a hand controlled Glider. Recently at the British Gliding Association’s Sporting Conference Award’s dinner, Clare was recognised for her great contribution to the Walking on Air club and became the winner of the Mike Miller-Smith Wings of Endeavour Award.

Read Clare’s blog below about her recent achievements after receiving this award:

The winter chill is lifting, and the airfield is filled once again with people whizzing by in wheelchairs, walking with purpose on their sticks and crutches, even the odd guide dog. This must be Portmoak on a Friday. Every Friday from March to December, Walking on Air, a fantastic charity for disabled pilots, operates a volunteer crew to get disabled people in the air. We work together with the Scottish Gliding Union to teach disabled people to fly in our hand-control adapted glider, WA1. It’s a big year for disabled pilots following the launch of the Mike Miller-Smith Wings of Endeavour award, which this year gets to be enjoyed by all of us at Walking on Air as I am the honoured first winner. We easily forget that what we do here is extraordinary, as this is our normal. To me, I am almost boring! I do what all the other gliding students do, what is there to say about me?  It is a challenge for me to remember what a wealth of built-up expertise there is within Walking on Air, with the instructors and ground helpers of the SGU. It is not just the expertise that is the key to the success of the pilots at Walking on Air, it is the confidence and positivity with which we operate.  Early in the season, an enquiry came in asking how to facilitate a new deaf youngster to begin to fly at another club, and having been deaf since childhood I was in just the position to offer some guidance. Flying with a hearing loss has not always been easy – I’ve frustratingly flown straight through a lot of thermals due to a missed communication! – but what is important is that it has been possible. An enquiry also came in from New Zealand, another pilot flying a hand-controlled K21 looking to make connections around the world. There is a developing community of disabled glider pilots, and that’s a great thing to be a part of.

Having done my first solo last year, this year is the season of many firsts. I did not love that it started with my first real cable break flying solo. Thankfully, by this point everything happened almost automatically, I calmly took all the steps I had been taught, landed the glider – and THEN panicked! At least I did it all in that order. It was also the month of my bronze theory exams, which I managed to pass despite the ease with which a meteorology book puts me straight to sleep. I also somehow found myself volunteering to do a loop. This may not sound like a big thing, but if you have met me you know - I am an abject coward. When I first came to gliding, I screamed at every turbulent flicker. The physical barriers to getting in and out of a glider are nothing compared to my mental barriers to convincing myself that left turns will not be the last thing I ever do! I asked the instructor with such confidence to take me to fly a loop and then when I came off tow I immediately started freaking out at the clearing turns. As we went into the dive I copied the Tom Scott video with the mantra “don’t freak out, don’t freak out, don’t freak out…” and then over we went and gosh… I quite like that! Over we went again and a third time. It’s really incredible to see the change in myself from the timid bundle of nerves who arrived for an experience flight to this wonderful moment. Flying is certainly good fun, but for me it has also been truly transformative. - Clare Johnston