Chief pilot Richard Parrott

Richard is our chief pilot. He oversees our aircraft fleet and our drop pilots.

Richard has always had a keen interest in aviation, beginning with flying Chipmunks in The RAF cadets. He also has completed around 5,000 skydives, 3,500 being tandem jumps with members of the public. He started his first season as a parachute pilot flying a twin piston Islander and C208 as a PPL. After this, he studied to become a commercial pilot.

He has a wide variety of experience flying for many years at drop zones in the UK and flying parachute displays at many major air shows and central London. He has also flown aerial banners in central London for events including the EU referendum, the London Marathon, a royal birth and around the Shard for GMTV to name a few.

Richard is fortunate to have a team of Parachute pilots offering a wealth of experience and knowledge from a diverse range of backgrounds, that all work together to strive for the highest possible standards of operation and safety in the unique environment of parachute dropping.

Piper PA-28 Warriors

The Piper PA-28 is a staple of general aviation flying all over the globe. Developed during the early 1960s, a period of ambitious aviation design shared by Concorde and the Boeing 747, its sturdy design and stable flight characteristics are what make it popular with flying schools and private individuals alike.

The PA-28s that we operate have all been converted to run on Jet A1 instead of Avgas. The primary advantage, of course, is that Jet A1 is significantly cheaper in most territories. Other advantages include the fact that the aircraft burn 20 litres of fuel per hour. This represents a saving of 14 litres/h over their Avgas guzzling equivalents. Equally, as a result of the engine being computer controlled, tasks such as mixture control and carburetor heat are removed from the pilot's workload leaving more time to enjoy the flight.

PAL currently owns and leases three diesel PA-28s to a flying school based out of Old Sarum - GoFly. That shows you just how much of a safe, reliable, and cost effective aircraft we, and our customers, think they are.

Gippsland GA-8 Airvan

The Gippsland GA8 Airvan is a single-engined utility aircraft manufactured by GippsAero of Victoria, Australia. It can seat eight, including the pilot

Cesnna 208B Cargomaster

Our Cessna Super Cargomaster is the fastest tandem skydiving aircraft in the UK taking passengers to their jump altitude in 8 -12 minutes. Refitted for tandem skydiving requirements, this aircraft was new to our fleet in May 2015. It takes up to 21 passengers but reaches its top speed, climbing to 3000ft per minute, with just the pilot.