Peter wrote:
Well, he flew gliders so maybe knew quite a bit
This reminds me of one of the more delightful flying couples in my area, she’s the power plane rated pilot and he’s the sailplane rated pilot. Their life revolves around flying and has every since they met as young hang glider pilots 30 years ago. I’ve flown with him in both my power plane and his sailplane and he’s quite obviously a better pilot in either than me. He’s also built two or three of the (Experimental AB) planes that they’ve flown all over the map. I don’t know why he’s never completed a power plane rating, I suppose a medical issue or he just can’t be bothered.
It amazes me that the world famous UK trash press continues to sell in the 21st century, you’d think the average level of sophistication has risen far enough to make it obsolete. I guess people read that fraction of available news market because it’s trash, like adults reading cartoons. Or maybe just for the pornography? 
This popped up somewhere else:
http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/news/cambridge-news/pilot-wesley-tierney-who-illegally-12690410
I guess being a glider instructor meant he knew exactly how he could pull it off for all that time. Apparently “colleagues became suspicious” and that’s how he got caught.
I didn’t think this was something that generally happened in the UK (or anywhere densely populated) especially by someone not just operating quietly out of a farm strip. I’ve heard in other places, it’s more common – such as Alaska. Apparently the FAA at one point had a goal of getting at least 50% of the pilots in Alaska licensed, but that’s Alaska not the middle of the UK!
