KEMBLE Flying Club has become the first school in the country to take delivery of a revolutionary new microlight.

The club, which operates from Kemble Airfield is now the proud owner of a £44,000 twin-seater CT2K. It is a microlight with a height ceiling of 10,000 feet, a top speed of around 140 miles an hour, and a range, when flown solo, of about 1,000 miles.

"It is a major step forward in microlighting," said club owner David Young.

He said the CT2K, designed in Germany and built in the Ukraine, had fixed wings and an enclosed cockpit which made it look more like a small light aircraft.

"It is a very impressive machine," he said. "We run five syndicate aircraft schemes here, and on this one we have already sold eight of the 12 available shares."

He said pupils at the school could move on to the CT2K by taking a conversion course once they had completed their basic training in an ordinary, 60-mile-an-hour microlight.

"It could be the real jam-buster," said Mr Young, "the perfect way to avoid those traffic-clogged roads.

"It is aerodynamically very clean, has a modern four-stroke engine which is efficient, and its fuel use is the equivalent of that of an average saloon car."

He said that although there were now a number of privately-owned CT2Ks in the country, the flying club was the only organisation teaching people to fly them.

Mr Young said the club's acquisition of the new aircraft was part of the increasing development of the airfield since its purchase from the Ministry of Defence earlier this ear by a consortium of companies based there.