Trial Flying Lesson FAQs

Search our FAQs for answers to anything you might ask.

Buying an eVoucher

That's totally up to you, after all, you know the person you're buying it for better than anyone.

However, we can guide you by saying that all our lessons involve hands-on control of the aircraft.

The 30 minute flights usually give enough time to fly around the local area, but if you're wanting to go further afeild, we reccomend the 60 minute flight. The four seater aircraft allows two passengers to share the experience.

Once you've decided, head over to our eVoucher store to get an eVoucher.

All of our eVouchers are valid for 6 months from the date of purchase.

All we ask if that you make a booking within the validity period.

As per the Terms and Conditions (1.4):

"In circumstances where the client has made a booking which was cancelled by Gamston Flying School Limited and the voucher's expiry is imminent, Gamston Flying School Limited may mark the voucher as postponed, meaning it can be used by a mutually agreed date after the expiry date."

Our online payments are processed by Stripe.

We accept all major credit and debit cards, including Visa, Mastercard and American Express.

For supported devices, you can also pay using Apple Pay and Google Pay.

Congratulations!

You'll need to choose a date to take your flight. You can check for available dates using our availability checker.

Once you have a few rough dates in mind, give us a call on 01777 838222, and we'll get your slot booked.

You can see our opening hours here.

We're sorry to hear that your eVoucher hasn't been delivered.

eVouchers are usually delivered to your email address instantly. We'd first suggest checking your junk mail folder, as some email providers like to filter us out of your inbox automatically.

If our email isn't in your junk mail, give us call on 01777 838222 to let us know and we'll happily re-issue your voucher.

Bookings

You can check available dates using our availability checker.

Once you have a few rough dates in mind, give us a call on 01777 838222, and we'll get your slot booked.

You can see our opening hours here.

We get more bad weather days in winter, but the nice winter days are the best for flying! Summer months are very popular and it can be very busy between April and September. Summer can also bring turbulence and isn't guaranteed to be amazing flying weather. After all, we are in Britain!

We work year-round to ensure that you can book whenever you're ready.

We would not advise using the public weather forecast to decide when to book your flight.

Many weather factors effect flying, more than a general weather forecast provides detail on. Aviation weather forecasts provide around 12-24 hours detail, therefore we cannot advise how the weather will be in advance.

Because of this, we would advise making a booking on a date that works for your schedule and waiting to see how the weather is. We will always offer to rebook your flight if the weather is unsuitable on your chosen date.

We'd ask that at least 24 hours notice is given if you need to change you booking, to give time for someone else to take your slot.

We make efficient use of the aircraft and instructor scheduling. When you cancel a flight and the aircraft and/or instructor sits on the ground, everyone misses out.

On the day

Awesome! It's the morning of your booking.

Give us a quick call on 01777 838222 to check that the weather is suitable. We have an automated option for checking weather, which will offer to put you through to a person if we're unsure whether it'll be suitable or not.

We'll need to see your voucher on the day, so make sure that you bring it along.

We'd recommend bringing a pair of sunglasses. Even on a cloudy day, the sun can reflect from the white cloud and it can get pretty bright.

Non-slip trainers are ideal. High heeled shoes should not be worn.

We're happy for you to take photos and videos whilst in the aircraft, so feel free to bring a camera. Just remember to look after it!

We don't have a large waiting area, so please don't arrive too early.

We purposely book a longer slot than we need for all Trial Flying Lessons, so it's fine to arrive at the time of your booking.

Please don't be late. We work to a tight schedule and it may not be possible to fly you if you arrive later than planned. We would recommend calling us on 01777 838222 if you are running late.

We're located on Retford (Gamston) Airport, Retford, Nottinghamshire, DN22 0QL (please note: Satellite navigation systems tend to take you to an adjacent industrial site called "Canute", not the airport itself).

You can also find us by us on a map here, searching 'Gamston Flying School' on mapping services (Google, Waze, Apple Maps etc.), or using our what3words - "label.towels.reach".

Once you enter the main airport gate, please make a right-hand turn on follow the internal road to the car park outside our office. This is sign posted as 'Flight Training' within the airport.

We'll need to sign all participants in as temporary members. This is done on our electronic form and is needed for insurance purposes.

As soon as we're ready, your instructor will take you to the aircraft, show you around it and perform a quick safety brief.

After takeoff, you'll be shown the main controls of the aircraft and encouraged to have a go at flying. You can do as much or as little 'hands-on' as you'd like, as long as you have a go.

Of course you can!

We'd just ask that you keep numbers to a minimum, as the airfield can be a busy place and we can only accept minimum numbers airside.

The Apron Café is located on-site and is ideal for your guests to relax in while you're up flying.

After your flight

Customer feedback is extremely important to us and most of our business comes from word of mouth.

To get your feedback, we'll send one follow up email. That's all that you'll hear from us.

Great news! We're glad to hear that you enjoyed your Trial Flying Lesson that much.

You can see the courses that we offer, or if you're ready to start, give us a call on 01777 838222.

We'll happily point you in the right direction, give you tons of information and answer any questions that you may have.

We understand that somethings things don't go the way we'd like them to and we're sorry to hear that things didn't work out for you.

Please let us know by contacting us and we'll do everything that we can to rectify the issue.