Congratulations to Ascent Maritime Qualified Helicopter Crewman Instructor.

Congratulations!

Congratulations to Ascent Maritime Qualified Helicopter Crewman Instructor, Les Lovitt who has achieved the significant milestone of 40 years in aviation.

He claims he was “press ganged” into the Royal Navy as a powder monkey/Marine Engineer (Mechanic) in 1973. After 7 years he transferred to the Aircrewman Branch in 1980, where he gained extensive experience of Anti-Submarine Warfare, Search & Rescue and the Commando roles, serving on 826, 814, 771, 772, 845, 707 and 846 Naval Air Squadrons. His last tour was as a specialist teaching Arctic & Mountainous Flying Training in Norway. Les has flown Wessex and Sea King helicopters in numerous theatres, including The Falklands Conflict, Northern Ireland and Iraq.

In 1997, he left the Royal Navy and joined The Defence Helicopter Flying School’s Search & Rescue Training Unit, delivering training on the Griffin, before joining Ascent in 2017 to fly the Juno and Jupiter. Les has successfully trained generations of Royal Navy and Royal Air Force aircrew in the Maritime role.