Several months ago, we were delighted to receive an invitation from the BGA to give a presentation on Deaf Pilots UK at the BGA Conference 2016.

So on Sat 27th Feb, Deaf Pilots UK went to the Nottingham Belfry, where the BGA Conference 2016 was being held.

During the day, the Deaf Pilots group had a look at the stalls present at the conference, and Joan took a moment to write her thoughts….

It was my first time at the conference. It seemed very crowded. It was hard to see all the exhibition stands.

It was nice to have a free conference T-shirt! Great to meet up with the other deaf pilots once more and to meet Byron. I thought that having an interpreter raised deaf awareness at the conference.

Amazed that one and a half gliders fitted into the exhibition space. I was quite taken by the self sustaining jet engine on the JS 1 Revelation. It was real!! I met Claudia Hill from Women Glide and she later sent me an email saying she was going to learn BSL!

Later in the day, John gave his presentation about Deaf Pilots UK to a very receptive crowd, followed by a lively question and answer session afterwards. In the near future, we hope to make the presentation available here so watch this space!

We are indebted to the following for making this possible:

• British Gliding Association and Lizzie Pike
• LX Avionics for sponsoring our BSL interpreter, Byron Campbell
• Byron Campell (RSLI, FASLI, MVLP)

John speaking at the BGA conference with a slide about Henri Corderoy du Tiers behind him

Byron preparing to interpret John Williams at the beginning of his Airspace presentation