World's Most Youngest Pilot

Jack Dopson took his first flying lesson on July 3, six days before his sixteenth birthday.

Schoolboy becomes Britain's youngest pilot at 16

A schoolboy has become Britain's youngest pilot at 16, despite being too young to legally drive a car.

Jack Dopson passed the aviation exams in just three months, which is seven less than it takes most people.

The teenager took his first flying lesson less than a week after finishing his GCSE exams and six days before his 16th birthday.

Now, after 12 weeks, seven exams and 60 hours of flying time, he has earned his wings and gained a Private Pilot's License (PPL).

He is now allowed to fly solo across the UK in a £90,000 Cessna plane - but will have to wait until he turns 17 next July before he can get behind the wheel of a car.

Jack, who lives in North Chailey, in East Sussex, said he owed his success to his uncle who paid the £12,000 tuition fees.

Jack said: "It's quite an amazing feeling to be able to get in a plane and head up into the clouds.
"It's really cool because I can't even drive yet. Most people in school are pretty impressed and keep asking me to take them to France for a weekend.
"I can't believe I'm the youngest ever pilot. I couldn't have done it without the help of my family, especially my uncle."

Jack's love of flying began as a boy and developed in his early teens after he took to the skies with his uncle Fred Bosche, 48, who has his own Piper Cherokee plane.
Jack PPL training began on July 3 at Andrewsfield Airfield, in Stebbing, Essex, when he took off in one of the airfield's single engine, two-seater planes.
Under the watchful eyes of an instructor, he spent almost every day in the cockpit of a Cessna 152 in which he learnt the vital skills needed to pilot an aircraft by himself.
To pass the PPL, he had to do a minimum of 45 hours in the air, including 10 hours of supervised solo flying - when he alone took the controls.
The 60 hours he spent in the air also included 25 hours of learning dual controls - similar to that in a learner car - and radio communication.
Jack also had to do two hours of stall and spin-awareness training and pilot the aircraft for 150 miles cross-country with two landings en-route.
And he had to attend 15 hours of ground school where he sat exams in aviation law, flight performance and planning, navigation, meteorology, human performance and limitations, operational procedures and communications, and a practical radio test.
His flights took place over the skies of Essex, Suffolk, Norfolk and Cambridgeshire, and included one single-handed landing at Norwich International Airport.
Jack completed the course, which usually takes pilots up to a year to pass, on October 12 - just three months later.
His uncle Fred, who funded his £12,000 training, said: "Two years ago I flew Jack across the channel to Le Touquet (corr) in France and he loved every minute of it.
"He really got the buzz straight away. He's a natural and if he wanted to make a career out of it he definitely could.
"I'm really pleased I had the spare cash to help him start flying."

Jack is now able to fly the 100mph Cessna 152 by himself, but cannot leave UK air space until he picks up his official licence on his 17th birthday on July 9 next year.
A spokesman for the Civil Aviation Authority said: "Jack has the equivalent of a provisional driving licence.
"There will be certain restrictions, like not being able to take passengers, until he is 17."
Jack's parents Anne, 41, and Mark, 46, and his younger sister Lara, 13, said they were proud of their son's achievement.
Anne, who runs a mail order company, said: "I do get worried about Jack flying. I mean, he's not allowed to drive, but he can fly a single-engine plane. But I'm a mum and it's natural to worry."
Jack is now studying Maths, Physics, Computing and Business Studies A-Levels at Haywards Heath College, Sussex.
Britain's previous youngest pilot was schoolgirl Sally Cluley who passed her PPL at Humberside airport on August 28, a month before her 17th birthday.