A BUDDING pilot from York has taken to the skies in his first solo flight, aged just 16.

Owen Glew, from Naburn, was so impatient to take his flying test that he turned up at Full Sutton airfield on his 16th birthday - the earliest day he could possibly have flown solo.

Owen, who goes to Fulford School, had already been taking flying lessons at the club, but had to wait until he turned 16 to legally fly solo.

The test was set up for 11am, the weather meant it was mid-afternoon before the Chief Flying Instructor Cas Smith to clear him for his first solo flight.

Owen said: “I had some nerves when I was sitting at the end of the runway, but as soon as I got up in the air they went.

“I felt like it went well, it was a nice smooth take-off, and the people who saw my landing said that was good too.”

Now with that test under his belt Owen faces another 40 hours of flying lessons before he can take passengers, and proud grandad Tony Glew said he cannot wait for the chance to see the UK and Europe from above, piloted by his grandson.

It’s not the first time the daredevil youngster has taken to the skies, as Owen was so keen to learn to fly he started in unpowered gliders, and as they have a lower legal age limit he flew one of those solo two years ago - just two days after his 14th birthday.

The experience of flying a glider gave a bit of extra confidence on his first solo powered flight, even though that flying is “a bit more complicated,” he said.

“You’ve got a few more things to keep and eye on, to make sure nothing goes wrong,” Owen added.

He is also a keen sailor and scuba diver, and has used his adventurous spirit to help others by taking on a bungy jump from the Titan crane in Glasgow, to raise money for a cancer charity in memory of his great-grandfather.

In the long term, he wants to become a cargo pilot flying freight jets all over the world.