A TEENAGER from Hill Deverill took to the skies for his first solo glider flight on his 16th birthday last month, before flying to Munich with his father and brother.

Kingdown School student Tom Drews, who is back at school studying his GCSEs, has been training to fly the aircraft solo, for which 16 is the minimum age, since he was tall enough to see over the cockpit.

He follows in the footsteps of elder brother Ben, who completed his first solo flight on his 16th birthday last August, and is training for his pilot’s licence.

Tom said: “It was a cool experience, something a bit different, you look over and there’s no-one else there.

“But it isn’t really frightening, you know what you have to do.

“I’m going to carry on flying and work towards getting my licence. I can’t get that until I am 17.

“It is a hobby to me really, I have thought about commercial flying and the RAF, but they don’t really appeal.

“But I enjoy it like other people like mountain biking or sailing or other things like that.”

Tom, who was unable to fly with the Bannerdown club from Keevil due to MoD exercises, took two solo flights, one motorised and the other towed, from Lasham Airfield in Hampshire.

The following day he and his brother, both with a co-pilot to assist them, flew with their father, Tim, on a 16- hour flight to Munich, where he bought them a round of beer to celebrate.

Mr Drews, 49, himself an accomplished glider, is the owner of Airborne Composites, building and repairing gliders from Wing Farm in Longbridge Deverill.

He said he and mum Pauline, 47, were very proud of Tom.

“It is quite an achievement, and unusual since he is able to fly before being able to drive,” he said.

“Ben can ride his scooter to Wing Farm, then fly up to Keevil solo with his instructor’s permission, do his lessons then fly back, but he can’t take his car on that trip.

“Tom has been interested in flying for years. He had to do it on his 16th or he would have got stick from his brother.”