Patrick has successfully served as the chairman of Lasham, the largest gliding club in the world, as the BGA chairman, as the RAeC President ,and currently serves as the President of the European Gliding Union and as a BGA Vice President. He also serves gliding as the Senior Examiner in the South East of England actively supporting a large number of clubs.
Patrick is a successful glider pilot who regularly flies long distance cross-country flights in his own glider extracting every bit of energy available. Very few pilots fly further on any given day. He is an active competition pilot and instructor, coach and examiner. Ever since he discovered gliding following sporting success in martial arts, Patrick has generously supported all aspects of air sport with his time, insight and management skills. Patrick has an ability to get the most out of any volunteer, which in part is achieved by genuine interest and respect for people at every level. Patrick’s ability to quickly understand and assess complex situations at both strategic and tactical levels and then lead teams to the right result has been demonstrated on numerous occasions within all the air sport organisations he has led as an elected or appointed representative. Just two examples are the successful purchase of a large airfield as chairman of a UK gliding club, and as EGU president taking the initiative to successfully persuade EASA to re-write their regulations. Patrick’s involvement and leadership is greatly respected by all and has directly resulted in a number of developments at both national and European level that directly benefit air sport pilots and will continue to do so.