BANK Holiday Monday was a fantastic day for many reasons.The sun put in a rare appearance and it made for a beautiful day off for most people.

But it was even more special for one of the youngest members at Cotswold Gliding Club.

Jonathan Power, at the age of 14 has now fulfilled his long held dream of flying a glider solo and becomes the youngest person to ever fly solo at Cotswold Gliding Club.

Until October 2012 the age at which you could fly any aircraft solo in the UK was 16 but this was reduced to 14 to bring us into line with the rest of Europe.

This was great news for Jonathan who felt that he was going to have to wait for a couple more years before taking the biggest leap of his flying career but a stroke of luck saw a change in the regulations at the most opportune time.

Jonathan has been training at Cotswold Gliding Club for just over a year having never flown before.

He picked up the necessary skills extremely quickly and soon became a proficient pilot. In fact, without the age constraints he would have undoubtedly flown solo sooner.

Jonathan said: "I am really pleased that I have completed my first solo flight.

"The experience has been fantastic and the instructors have all been really helpful and supportive.

"I now can't wait to extend my flying further into the different areas of gliding such as cross country flying and aerobatics."

Jonathan joins a growing band of young pilots at Cotswold Gliding Club who have all achieved great things in recent months.

Two other young members, Max Lazenby and Emil Benson, both 16, have been awarded bursaries by the Royal Aero Club to expand their flying including aerobatics and cross country flying.

As a Junior Gliding Centre, Cotswold Gliding Club positively encourages young pilots to develop their flying and you need no experience to get started.