With racecourses and Ascot, Windsor, Newbury, Lambourn, Berkshire is one of the most important counties in the UK for horse racing. But horse riding isn’t for everyone. Some of us dream of going even faster than the fastest thoroughbreds, and leaving behind the racetrack to take to the skies. We’re in luck, because this area has two airfields, at its eastern and western extreme, which offer the thrilling experience of flying a plane to members of the public.

This region, one of the home counties, has a typical English landscape of rolling hills, patchwork fields, woodland and towns, but there are a couple of things that make it very distinctive when viewed from the cockpit of an aircraft. The most striking is Windsor Castle, a huge fortified palace complex set in the 5,000 acre Windsor Great Park. Traversing the county from East to West is the famous River Thames and on the borders with Oxford is the immaculate, ancient Uffington White Horse, a 110 metre long prehistoric horse figure carved into the white rock of the hill. All of these natural and manmade wonders look fantastic from the air, and elevate the excitement of flight all the more special. Going up in a plane in Berkshire is accessible to all kinds of people regardless of age, ability and bank balance: read on to find out all about it.

Where can you fly a light aircraft in Berkshire?

• Less than 35 miles from central London, Maidenhead’s White Waltham Airfield is the base of the West London Aero Club. They put on flight experiences and run pilot training courses on the largest grass airfield in the country. If you come to fly a plane here, you’ll have the choice of a number of modern and historical aircraft, each of which can take you up into the skies to observe the Berkshire countryside, Windsor Castle just a few miles to the South and the Sprawl of London stretching away into the East.

• The historic market town of Hungerford is located at the opposite end of the county, on the borders with Wiltshire and Oxfordshire. In the nearby countryside you’ll find Membury Airfield, a simple airstrip which hosts a flying club that specialises in the most lightweight of all powered aircraft: microlights. These no-frills flying machines have stripped back cabins which give the pilot and passenger unrivalled visibility of the skies above and land below. You’ll fall in love with England's green and pleasant land stretching away in all directions, including the Uffington White Horse and its namesake Vale of the White Horse to the North.

What kinds of aeroplane can you pilot?

- Piper: manufacturer of some of the most popular training aircraft in history, Piper planes are a great choice for first time flyers - and there are two to choose from at White Waltham Airfield. The Warrior is a modern version of the classic 4 seater Cherokee and, like its predecessor, is known for good handling, reliability and fun! The Cub is a 2 seater Second World War era plane whose success is often compared to the Model T Ford. Like the Ford, one of its most famous features is its paint job: canary yellow.

- Aerobatic: there are also two aerobatic planes which you can experience at White Waltham. The Pitts Special is a biplane which has been a favourite of champion pilots and air show audiences for decades, and you can experience all the tricks with the best seat in the house - the passenger seat. A more modern model, the Extra 330LX can give you an even wilder ride. It’s designed to fly inverted as well as it flies the right way up! It’s important to mention that aerobatic aircraft are much more sensitive to control, and so you don’t have the opportunity to take the controls in these planes.

- Historic: the golden age of the light aircraft was the Second World War, and at White Waltham Airfield you can take a journey back in time and up into the Berkshire skies. Two of the most iconic planes of this period are the classic open cockpit de Havilland Tiger Moth and the Harvard. Both saw action during the conflict alongside their roles as training planes. A successor to the Tiger Moth, the Chipmunk, which was used by the military from the 1950s to the 1980s, is also available for flight experiences.

- Microlights: these super lightweight aircraft are divided into two categories - open cockpit flex wing or an enclosed fixed wing. The latter, an Ikarus model in Membury, is recognisably a plane, where you and the pilot sit side by side in a cabin and use a joystick and pedals to control the flight. The flex wing on the other hand, the example here is manufactured by Pegasis, is a cross between a plane and a hang glider. You and the pilot sit in line in the open cockpit, suspended under a canvas wing, and control the flight with your weight!

Requirements to do this activity

There are so many options for flight experiences here that choosing a plane can be a challenge. Something that can narrow down your options is the fact that, as well as your preferences for the plane, each plane has some requirements for you. If you’re over 14 years old and of average height and weight you can have your pick of the pack. But some planes, especially historic models, have height and weight restrictions due to the size of the cabin, and power of the engine. The Pitt Special is the most sensitive to weight, and the limit for a passenger is 14 stone, around 90 kilograms, but others can take people who weigh up to 17 stone, 110 kilograms. Modern microlights can carry you if your weight is below 16 stone, 102 kilograms. If you’re close to 6 ft 6, or 2 metres tall, it’s worth getting in touch with the flight club to check if you’ll be able to fit in the cockpit comfortably.

Some of the planes at White Waltham are 4 seater craft, so you can take some passengers with you to share the views, and watch you take over the controls and fly for the first time. Weight considerations extend to them too, and you have to provide details of all potential passengers in advance to ensure that the flight will be viable. In some cases, it might only be possible to take up one extra person.

How long does a flight experience last?

Whatever you end up choosing, you’ll have some time at the airfield for briefings and pre-flight checks before take off. Once in the air, there are many options for how long you’ll stay there. The shortest flights on offer are just 20 minutes, usually in the aerobatics planes - if you're going to be experiencing the rolls, loops and swoops of aerial acrobatics, you might not want to spend much longer in the air! Microlight and other aircraft flights can last 30 minutes or 1 hour, depending on how much of the surrounding area you want to see and whether you want to get a feel for the controls.

Flights in the modern training aircraft like the Piper Warrior can be up to an hour, which can count towards a training programme to result in a pilot’s licence. You can also buy a Starter Package of two flights of 60 minutes each, to get a headstart on flight training .

Chocks away! Now you’re ready to fly, and we’re ready to help you with your booking.