4 July 2024
One of the spin-off benefits of electric aircraft charging company Aerovolt is the creation of an online booking system called Squadron. It’s now being rolled out to include non-electric aircraft and other flying clubs.
Aerovolt founder and software writer Philip Kingsley-Dobson created Squadron as a means of keeping tabs on the electric Pipistrels using the charging network.
However, earlier this year Aerovolt took over as the new owner of SportAir Microlights at Goodwood Aerodrome which is being renamed ‘The Squadron Club’.
“The owners wanted to fully retire and I’ve been a SportAir member since 2018,” explained Phil.
“It happened very quickly over a two-week period in April and I officially took over the club the first week of May, otherwise it would have just closed at the end of April.
The Squadron Club at Goodwood operates two light sport aircraft, an Ikarus C42 and a Eurofox Tri-Gear, with an electric aircraft due to join
“To run the club, I decided to modify Aerovolt’s Squadron platform to accept non-electric aircraft and allow them to operate using all the features of aircraft management, flight logging, member management, auto invoicing, payments etc that I’d built primarily for the electric aircraft management, which it still does. The platform is designed to be used at multiple locations with multiple aircraft, pilots and instructors.
“I was apprehensive of how the club’s members would take to the new platform and direction. But the response has been phenomenal.
“They love its ease of use and has very much become an ‘online flying club’ and potentially the ‘Airbnb’ of aircraft rental.
“I was expecting members to hate it, be a complete nightmare and them simply not get on with it at all, especially with it being entirely paperless.
“But we’re now already in the process of expanding Squadron to other airfields with onboarding more aircraft, instructors and pilots, with the core goal being to reduce flying costs being a fully online multi-site flying club. It’s basically £36 a month and gets you access to all aircraft. The first two onboarded aircraft (C42 and Eurofox) are £108 an hour.”
