The Ultimate Luxury Chalets team have recently returned from the AeroExpo UK that was held at the Sywell Aerodrome on 29th – 31st May 2015. The event was in it’s 10th year and attracted a wealth of helicopter and airplane enthusiasts from around the globe…. and us of course!

We were exhibiting in the ‘new for 2015’ Aero&Lifestyle tent with a number of other high end exhibitors. The event itself consisted of 3 large marquees/tents, 2 airplane hangers and a large outside area all for various exhibitors, from flight and aviation specialists, to golf resorts, back pain therapy and yours truly: Ultimate Luxury Chalets!

We were lucky enough to sample some of our fellow exhibitors products, including airwheel, 2×2 Worldwide, Back In Action and Flint and Flame Knives.

The weather decided not to behave itself on the Friday nor on the Sunday, with torrential rain, high winds and temperatures more familiar to November, the team were all incredibly grateful for our Canada Goose coats. We partnered up with Canada Goose, Vuarnet Goggles and Ullak Skis for the show. These three brands helped to make up our stand and individually got a lot of attention. Especially the coats! Not only did they keep us warm, they were absolutely fantastic when we did have to venture outside of the tent. The rain literally just ran off the coat and they were also a great wind barrier.

Luckily, the weather on Saturday did decide to behave! The sunshine bought with it an abundance of visitors, many of whom were all eagerly waiting in a typically English style queue outside the gates well before the event was even due to open. This was great for us and great for the show. Our stand was busy all day and we increased the number of entrants into our ‘Win an Ultimate Luxury Chalet Experience’ competition (the winner has now been drawn and contacted). Word soon spread throughout the event that we were also offering free glasses of red wine on the stand, well as I’m sure you can imagine, this made us very popular.

Many of the exhibitors were faces we recognised from our last trade show – The Elite London (take a look at our previous blog on this event). This not only made the show more enjoyable for us, but we were even able to call in some (slightly drunken) conversations from the Elite Show. One particular conversation was about me wing walking at the Heli UK Expo! A conversation that I had with Andy Caddick from UK Helisales. I’m sure you can picture the look on my face when Andy approached our stand on the Friday morning saying it was all going ahead and everything was arranged for me!

Don’t panic! I didn’t wing walk… I was very, incredibly fortunate instead to be flown in a Boeing-Stearman 75 model bi plane. This plane was traditionally used as a military training aircraft used by the US military in the 1930’s and 1940’s and lucky old me got treated to a personal flight by a fantastic pilot; Zac Rockey.

Both Andy and Zac made me feel very much at ease and not once did I feel nervous (I think Mia was feeling all the nerves and apprehension on my behalf). As I clambered into the aircraft and got strapped in, my adrenaline was pumping and I could not stop grinning like a Cheshire cat! Harness all fully tightened I donned my flight hat and goggles – Biggles style! I looked over at Andy and Mia, waved them good bye and we were off!!!

I was up in the air for about 20 minutes, but the minutes flashed past as if it were only 3. Zac performed an immaculate landing, very smooth. The virtual bump back to reality was a bit of a shock to me though, I could have stayed in the air for hours. So incredibly tranquil, I can fully understand why so many people fall in love with flying and aspire to be pilots. Needless to say this was all the Ultimate Luxury Chalets Team heard about over dinner that night… and the journey back from the show… and even now in the office.

This really was an experience of a lifetime and I can not thank Andy Caddick, Zac Rocky and of course my boss Andy Castle enough for allowing me to have this phenomenal experience.

If you would like to hear more about our time at the AeroExpo UK, any of the other exhibitors we met, what it was like to fly in a bi-plane or of course any of the chalets we feature, please drop us an e-mail or give us a call on +44 (0)1202 203653.