The sky is no limit!

Neil Wilson talks to Amy Whitewick, the pilot behind some very clever aerial art…

Where did your interest in aviation begin?

My very first taste of aviation was many years ago, in the form of a several CD-Rom set of Microsoft Flight Simulator 2008, which my parents bought for me one Christmas. I would play for hours on it, exploring America and watching the little Cessna and the Bell helicopter twitching around on the screen – my grandfather would sometimes sit with me and loved to watch. His dream was to one day visit the Grand Canyon; sadly, he never got to go, but I was able to take him there ‘virtually’ by ‘flying over’ it in that little Cessna. I had absolutely no idea I would actually own a real one in the future.

When did you first take to the air?

My second, real taste of aviation, happened several years ago while working as editor for the Kennet and Avon Canal Trust’s magazine, The Butty. I was asked to take some photographs of canal landmarks for the Trust to use in its marketing, and the mentor I worked under, Charles Reiss, had a great friend named Sue Rose, who was a pilot. She offered to take me up from Thruxton, along with her co-pilot, Mohammed Huq, in a fabulous four-seater Cessna. I remember being both excited and terrified that day, having no idea what to expect!

Once in the air, the scenery below was absolutely magical, and I really could not believe we were actually flying through the air (considering I had never flown abroad or in any type of aircraft before then). Both Sue and Mohammed were so professional and calm. Although, I didn’t tell them I had my eyes closed on landing in fear of the unknown, despite their beautifully smooth touch down!

Above Pilot and aerial artist extraordinaire, Amy Whitewick, with her much-loved Cessna 150 Aerobat, ‘Alpha Charlie.

For weeks afterwards, all I could do was look up at the sky. My eyes were no longer Earth-bound any more.

Number of types and hours flown?

To date I have approx 282+ hours since I began flying in 2018. I obtained my microlight NPPL(M) licence in 2018, and my PPL(A) in 2019, and have enjoyed flying a wide variety of types, including Ikarus C42, Skyranger, Evektor Eurostar, Jabiru, Condor, Tiger Moth, Chipmunk, Robin DR40, K21 Glider, Cessna 150 Aerobat, and recently a Beagle Pup.

I also have approx 3,000+ simulator hours on a home VR sim with full stick and rudder setup, flying an interesting array of types including P-51 Mustang, Dakota DC-3, Carbon Cub, Extra, Cessna Ag-Truck, C-130, Spitfire, Boeing 747 and several helicopters.

Have you owned any aeroplanes?

I did very briefly own a Jabiru not long after achieving my NPPL(M) in the summer of 2018. Unfortunately, I was involved in a landing accident in it, which left me pretty shaken. When I returned to flying, I encountered a form of post-traumatic stress when in flight with my friend and fellow Wessex Strut member, Mervyn White. While I was landing, I completely froze like a rabbit caught in the headlights, convinced the same terror would happen again. Mervyn quickly saw what was happening and took immediate control, landing the aircraft and reassuring me.

He then spent several evenings working me from the P2 seat, back to P1 seat in his aircraft, making multiple approaches, over and over and over again at a grass strip near Westbury, until I was able to land again without fear. The stress of the accident was very unpleasant, and I’m so grateful Mervyn got me straight back into it and flying again.

Later that year, a friend in the village where I lived decided to sell his Cessna 150 Aerobat, G-JHAC. He had taken me flying a couple of times before, and I thought she was a very smart and beautiful aircraft. For some reason, I really couldn’t bear to see her go to someone else, and made him an offer. I couldn’t believe when the offer was accepted and she was mine! It was all a bit of a dream and a whirlwind, and suddenly, I realised my microlight licence wouldn’t cover flying her, so I promptly signed up for lessons at Compton Abbas Airfield.

Above Amy’s Jabiru.

Below top Cessna Aerobat Alpha Charlie.

Below bottom Trying some gliding.

Unfortunately, none of the microlight hours counted towards the PPL, however, my fantastic instructors, Dave Farrow and Steve Clayton, chose to have some fun and fill the 40 hours with all sorts of mischief, including aerobatics, instrument flying, landing at military airfields, and a cheeky drop-in to Bournemouth where my instructor at the time needed a lift there to do a brief Cessna Citation emergency exit course. The gentleman showing my instructor how to open the hatch kindly let me have a go too, and I can proudly say I have been able to eject the emergency hatch on a Citation, as well as having a sneaky sit in the cockpit!

Completing the PPL course on Alpha Charlie was fantastic, and I have built a very strong bond with her through this – I obtained my full PPL(A) licence in 2019 and have been enjoying flying her ever since.

Any favourite or least favourite types?

While it’s the aeroplane I also own, the Cessna 150 Aerobat is definitely my favourite. Built as a trainer, mine continues to teach me new things and I have a great deal of respect for her. I’ve had some boy-racer type pilots poke fun at her, saying she is ‘very slow’ and ‘boring’. I hope that some of the aerial art and other adventures Alpha Charlie and I have done together shows that she’s far from dull, and that training aircraft can be just as exciting.

Probably the worst type I flew, on reflection, was the Jabiru which I very briefly owned. The controls seemed very slow, unresponsive and sloppy, but of course, that’s a personal preference – I know and admire some great pilot friends who handle them fantastically.

I just didn’t like the way you could ask it to turn around a corner and it would think about it first, then a little later that maybe, just maybe, it wanted to turn in that direction. I disliked its small rudder at slow speeds, too.

What type of flying do you enjoy the most?

I love all types of flying, so don’t really have any preference to either – I do particularly like local practising (stalls, steep turns etc) at the moment, and love experimenting.

Aerobatics are great, too. I started learning in 2019, but sadly had to put that on hold while Covid was rampant. I’ll never forget doing a negative push in Alpha Charlie which covered my instructor in dirt and leaves (I’d forgotten to vacuum the aircraft after the winter).

I cracked up when he looked at me under his compost-covering. “Next time, I’ll open the window,” he grunted.

Taking non-pilot passengers is fun, too. I’ve only ever taken two of them up, the first one not long after obtaining my licence, which was a bit frightening as they had a nasty bout of airsickness (nothing to do with my flying, I swear!). I’ve never flown so fast back to the airfield!

Aerial art (a new flying category perhaps?) is fantastic too – I’ve learned so much from that, and it’s incredibly challenging and demanding.

You have become well known for your aerial art. What inspired you to start doing this?

The inspiration began between lockdowns. I was a little anxious about landing away and wanted something to improve my skills locally instead, but that was also something fun and different. I was scrolling through Facebook one day and came across a GPS image a friend had done while out jogging. It was supposed to be a whale, but really didn’t look like one! That set the spark of an idea. I wondered if it would be possible to draw a GPS image in an aircraft? As an artist, this thought instantly seized my curiosity, and I began planning small images on SkyDemon to practice on, which eventually led to making an entry in the Pooleys Dawn to Dusk Competition. The idea very quickly grew out of all proportion and I wanted others to experience and enjoy the task of creating an image as a team instead of working alone.

Tell us about your early artworks, the Peace Dove and John Stringfellow.

The Stringfellow flight planning stage was utter madness. It took more than four hours to draw out the design and plan it, using a technique in SkyDemon, by drawing a set line between two points, then clicking the middle of the magenta line and dragging it to create further points. I then had the challenge of splitting it into three flights, owing to Alpha Charlie’s endurance. The planning itself (safely on the ground) was fuelled by quite a bit of Prosecco! I later actually asked my co-pilot, Mervyn, in flight, if I was mad… I am, probably !

Above The start of Amy’s aerial art adventures - a Dove of Peace.

Right Created as an entry to the 2021 Pooleys Dawn to Dusk competition, a portrait of John Stringfellow.

Below left Being presented with the Pooleys Sword, for best Dawn to Dusk competition Log entry.

Below right Putting the Pooleys Sword to good use… arise Sir Merv!

The Dove was drawn in a similar fashion and was a little easier to ‘draw’ in the sky. The only difficulty with planning these flights is the fact that aircraft really have only one forward plane of motion. They can’t go backwards like a helicopter, so trying to draw something in one direction is basically the same as drawing a picture without taking your pencil off of the paper.

The Stringfellow flight took approximately 5hr and 27min in the air total time in three parts, and the Dove was a little shorter, of about two hours and was part of a three-bird set of pigeon sky art drawings in memory of my grandfather, a keen and award-winning pigeon-racer and breeder. The three drawings were part of my 2021 entry into Pooleys Dawn to Dusk, for which I was awarded the Women’s Bonney Trophy.

It was a bit more challenging on my own for the Dove flight and I struggled with the amount of workload in the cockpit. These drawings really are a two-pilot job, and I was honoured and delighted to fly the Stringfellow one with Mervyn last year.

The flying was the easy bit compared to preparing the Dawn to Dusk competition entry log, although the Stringfellow evidence log of 40 pages took just over two weeks to put together!

Your latest work, the Wessex Wyvern and Queen’s Head were done with Wessex Strut members. Did this take more planning and work?

The most recent GPS drawings of the Queen and the Wessex Wyvern were done as a team effort with members of the Wessex Strut, as I felt it would be great fun to share this exciting new ‘sport’ as a team, so that we could all learn something from each other. The planning for this was probably best described as ‘crazy’! The Wyvern one took around eight hours, and the Queen’s portrait around 10 hours, just to flesh out the illustration on SkyDemon and then break apart into the separate sections required for each team member. As SkyDemon doesn’t allow multiple select of waypoints (and it really shouldn’t, anyway!), I ended up click-delete-click-delete to remove each one to split; this was done up to 200 times in six segments for the Queen, and 200 times in eight segments for the Wyvern. I couldn’t feel my hands for numbness – thank goodness for the Prosecco afterwards!

After this of course, came the team assignments with their individual routes, which I tried to match with their skill levels and experience to ensure a pleasurable flight that would help expand on their skills without pushing too far.

It was a strange feeling, suddenly planning for multiple teams rather than just myself. I was now having to think about Notams, weather, airspace etc for a wide variety of pilots. It was challenging, exciting and fun, and I learned so much from each of them.

How do you deal with airspace, as things have got bigger?

That’s a tricky one, when plotting the routes, I try to consider difficulties around airspace and match trickier areas with more experience pilots if possible, but always advise to all pilots that their own airmanship should determine their course, and that all standard rules and procedures apply as per any usual flight – after all, they are Pilot in Command. Flying through, or near to, airspace should consist of a good routine of listening out, squawking if possible, and if in doubt, call out. Airspace operators are usually quite reasonable if not under pressure, and a quick phone call before leaving the ground usually results in a helpful conversation if you’re uncertain of anything. Yeovilton Radar, I have to say, are particularly nice on the phone and radio and have been very helpful to our Art Force Teams. As a pilot, however, it’s always your responsibility for your flight, even if it has been pre-planned by someone else. I’m never offended if a pilot says to me as a flight planner ‘Hey, that’s not right!’ – I usually respond with ‘OK, tell me more – let’s work on this. What can we learn?’.

Do you have any more art plans for the future?

Absolutely! As an artist, I’m constantly dreaming up the next one, and I have one in mind for next year which I’d like to design to cover most of the country. We really need to show the world just how good the UK is for General Aviation. If that doesn’t do it, what will? I hope to get plenty of pilots involved in that one, to give others the same fun opportunities to join in, especially if they elect to take someone with little or no experience as P2. I hope it will inspire a new wave of future pilots.

I may also have a fun one up my sleeve that us women from the Wessex Strut might try next year possibly for charity, and a bit of a giggle!

Your favourite moment in aviation?

All of them! Although one sticks in my mind. I was with my instructor, Steve Clayton in Alpha Charlie, and he instructed me to climb through an almighty cloud. Owing to the slow climb of the Aerobat, the climb went on and on and on, for what seemed like forever. I kept looking nervously at him, while flicking my eyes back and forth between the gauges. He had a smile on his face. “Keep climbing!”, he encouraged.

He leaned forward to check the wings for ice, which made me even more nervous, then, although I could see nothing outside, I heard torrential rain at about 5,000ft, hitting the airframe. Still, Steve smiled and said “Keep going.” The white in front of us grew paler, and then suddenly burst into blue. At about 6,500ft, we popped out on top, and the landscape of cloud below was like flying over the Arctic snow, with beautiful blue shadows. I’ll never forget that.

Do you have other non-aviation interests?

My main hobby (when I’m not working or flying!) is drawing and painting. I absolutely love drawing portraits, and use both digital and traditional mediums, my favourite being acrylic on canvas.

I surprised my instructor once with a caricature to say ‘thank you’ (for some extra aerobatic lessons after my PPL), of him flying his Chipmunk, which I drew by hand and painted on the computer.

I also secretly enjoy playing the electric cello on winter evenings, and occasionally, the didgeridoo in the garden, much to my neighbours dismay.

Do you have any aviation heroes?

My aviation heroes have got to be my fellow pilot friends and instructors. I really look up to them and admire their experience and knowledge. I have a lot to learn, and all of my pilot friends are so incredibly inspiring. They’re my heroes!

Any favourite aviation books?

Aerobatics by Neil Williams. It’s real ‘stick and rudder’ stuff and I’ve used it to learn manoeuvres in my simulator. It’s a great primer of what to expect and is very honestly written, warts and all, with some wonderful illustrations.

Any lessons learned from aviation?

Gosh, that’s a tough one! I’ve had quite a few hairy moments, but the most fun one was in a Tiger Moth. My instructor asked if I would like to have a go at a loop, and, excited, I took control and tried to attempt it like I would in Alpha Charlie (i.e., in Alpha Charlie the stick is a bit lighter and I have a habit of not necessarily pulling it all the way back to the stop). I started the loop, believing I had the stick right back, and looked at the bright yellow wing over the horizon, thinking, “Gosh, that’s a bit slow. Will we ever get over the top?” The instructor let me continue, but kept asking to pull the stick back further. At this point, the Tiger did an ugly flop and the engine stopped! The instructor dived the aircraft, the ground rushing up fast, before the engine coughed back into life. Thankfully, after reading the aerobatics book by Neil Williams, I knew what to expect when a Tiger has a hiccough, and thought the dive to restart the engine was spectacular and very amusing. I did get another go afterwards, and, I’m pleased to say the engine did not stop on that one… lesson learned!

Above Amy’s latest and greatest projects, have been to create a portrait of the Queen, by her and Art Force One team. The same team have also created (above left) a Wessex Wyvern.

Any aeroplanes or other vehicles on your wish list?

I do have a burning ambition to fly a Piper Pawnee (or similar ag-truck aeroplane) one day. They just look awesome and I’d love to try glider towing in one. The related American Thrush aircraft look stunning, and have a great deal of grunt. Flying a Single Engine Air Tanker (SEAT) Fire Boss aircraft would be my ultimate goal. Fighting fires with one and scooping water all day would be a dream job, and a close second to that would be flying an eVTOL. They look very cool.

As for vehicles – a Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat would be nice to try drifting in… but I equally appreciate the subtle curves, character, paint finishes and leather / oil scent of vintage cars. You just can’t beat that.

Any advice to share with other pilots?

Always ensure you spend as much time planning your flight as you would spend in the air. Careful planning goes a long way to reducing workload and pressure –never do your planning last minute. I did that once, forgetting to mark up my map with headings and winds, and received a swift (friendly!) slap with a map from an instructor for my troubles. I never rushed again! ■