A Brilliant teenage pilot took to the air on his own in a four-seater plane only days after his 16th birthday.

The GCSE student, from Basildon, became one of the youngest ever people to make a solo flight after his instructor decided that the quick-thinking youngster was ready to take full control of a Piper Cherokee plane.

Rhys Webb's proud dad, Robert, an Essex paramedic, was close to tears and full of trepidation as he watched his son make a circuit round Southend Airport with only an air traffic controller, talking through his headset, for company.

Flight path : young pilot Rhys Webb prepares to take control of the plane at Southend Airport Picture: MAXINE CLARKE

Robert Webb, 40, of Southcote Crescent, Basildon, said: "I was in tears when I saw my son take off up to 1,000 feet.

"He wants to be a pilot so when he was 14 we took him to Southend Airport for a trial lesson.

"He took to it like a duck to water and we have been astonished at his fast progress.

"Lessons can cost up to £180 an hour, but they are very much worth it. If he didn't have the ability, we would not do it."

Rhys, who studies at Woodlands School in Basildon, has 17 hours of lessons under his belt and now plans to carry on with lessons at Southend Flying Club so he can get his private pilot's licence when he is 17.

Eventually he hopes to get a commercial licence and a contract with an airline.

Rhys said of his first moments alone in the air: "It was strange as I thought I would be really nervous. But when it came to the crunch I was fine. I am now looking forward to the next solo flight."

Lee Alliston, one of Rhys' instructors at the Southend Flying Club, said: "It is a great achievement to go solo at his age.

"He is one of very few 16-year-olds with the skills to fly a plane on his own and is absolutely brilliant."

Published Monday, April 21, 2003

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