Simon Baker (pilot)
Encyclopedia
Simon Baker is an aviator
and the Chief Flying Instructor at Freedom Sports Aviation (Long Marston
, Warwickshire
). He has three times been Microlight
World Champion (1996, 1999 & 2003) and six times British Champion.
He has also taken part in several microlighting expeditions, including filming a Channel 4
documentary over Iceland in 1983, flying in the Himalayas
near Everest
in 1986, and was a pilot/spotter for the ThrustSSC
team in Jordan
and in Black Rock Desert
, Nevada
.
Aviator
An aviator is a person who flies an aircraft. The first recorded use of the term was in 1887, as a variation of 'aviation', from the Latin avis , coined in 1863 by G. de la Landelle in Aviation Ou Navigation Aérienne...
and the Chief Flying Instructor at Freedom Sports Aviation (Long Marston
Long Marston Airfield
Long Marston Airfield was a Royal Air Force base between 1941 and 1954, situated approximately 3 miles south west of Stratford-upon-Avon near the village of Long Marston in Warwickshire..It is now managed by Anthony Hodges, and is home to:...
, Warwickshire
Warwickshire
Warwickshire is a landlocked non-metropolitan county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, although the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare...
). He has three times been Microlight
Ultralight aviation
The term "ultralight aviation" refers to light-weight, 1- or 2-person airplanes., also called microlight aircraft in the UK, India and New Zealand...
World Champion (1996, 1999 & 2003) and six times British Champion.
He has also taken part in several microlighting expeditions, including filming a Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
documentary over Iceland in 1983, flying in the Himalayas
Himalayas
The Himalaya Range or Himalaya Mountains Sanskrit: Devanagari: हिमालय, literally "abode of snow"), usually called the Himalayas or Himalaya for short, is a mountain range in Asia, separating the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau...
near Everest
Mount Everest
Mount Everest is the world's highest mountain, with a peak at above sea level. It is located in the Mahalangur section of the Himalayas. The international boundary runs across the precise summit point...
in 1986, and was a pilot/spotter for the ThrustSSC
ThrustSSC
ThrustSSC, also spelt Thrust SSC by secondary sources, is a British jet-propelled car developed by Richard Noble, Glynne Bowsher, Ron Ayers and Jeremy Bliss....
team in Jordan
Jordan
Jordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan , Al-Mamlaka al-Urduniyya al-Hashemiyya) is a kingdom on the East Bank of the River Jordan. The country borders Saudi Arabia to the east and south-east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and the West Bank and Israel to the west, sharing...
and in Black Rock Desert
Black Rock Desert
The Black Rock Desert is an arid region in the northern Nevada section of the Great Basin with a lakebed that is a dry remnant of Pleistocene Lake Lahontan...
, Nevada
Nevada
Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...
.
Titles and awards
- Fédération Aéronautique InternationaleFédération Aéronautique InternationaleThe Fédération Aéronautique Internationale is the world governing body for air sports and aeronautics and astronautics world records. Its head office is in Lausanne, Switzerland. This includes man-carrying aerospace vehicles from balloons to spacecraft, and unmanned aerial vehicles...
(FAI) Diamond Colibri award for outstanding Microlight or Paramotor achievement, 2008.
- World Microlight Champion, and Gold (dual flexwing, with Anita Holmes) 2003
- British Champion (dual microlight, with Anita Holmes) 2001
- Silver Medal of the Royal Aero Club, 1999
- World Champion, and Gold (dual trike, with Anita Holmes), World Championships 1999 Kecskemet, Hungary
- British Champion, 1998
- World Champion, British Team Gold, and Gold (Weight-Shift Two Seater Class), 1996 World Microlight Championships (Cato Ridge, near Durban, South Africa)