Celebrating 20 years of SkySchool

Alex Ledger
MANAGING DIRECTOR AND MASTER INSTRUCTOR
Alex has been running SkySchool since 2004. He is also the Secretary of APPI Power, the International Paramotoring and ParaTriking Association, which he founded in 2011.
He learned to Skydive in 2003 and qualified as a BASI Snowboard Instructor in 2004.
He was the CFI until 2017 and now manages the company, while helping run the European SkyWeek Trips.
Over the years he has been involved in several pioneering projects, namely Flying for Heroes in 2014, Paramotoring from John O'Groats to Lands End in 2016, the BBC documentary Extreme Wales with Richard Parks in 2017, the World's First Electric Paramotor Expedition in NEOM in 2021 and SkyWeek Namibia in 2025.
Alex lives in Chamonix, France where he pursues his passion for Paragliding, Snowboarding and Trail Running.
Tel: +44 7747 097 527
Email: info@skyschooluk.com

Zebur Mercan
MASTER Instructor
Zebur has been flying since 1999 and is a highly experienced pilot. Originally from Turkey, Zebur moved to Scotland in 2001. He met Alex during an APPI PPG Instructor Workshop in the UK in 2013 and joined SkySchool in the same year. He is a fully qualified APPI PPG & ParaTrike Master Instructor.
Zebur is also a passionate Kitesurfer and travels around the world either flying or kiting when not working for SkySchool.
Tel: +44 7932 277 332
Email: zebur.mercan@gmail.com

Ted Drinkall
Instructor
Ted sat a course with us during the disrupted 2020 season, initially in the UK and then in Portugal. At this stage he was studying Drama at Exeter University. After graduating he bought a Paramotor and did a lot of flying around his home in South Wales. He joined the SkySchool Team as a trainee Instructor in summer 2023 and has been helping run courses in Portugal and Spain since then. In November 2024 he sat an APPI PPG Instructor workshop and is now a qualified Instructor. During the winter he helps run an adaptive skiing charity in Verbier, Switzerland.
Tel: +44 7714 787 621
Email: teddrinkall@gmail.com

Owen Crome
Assistant Instructor
Owen grew up in Gibraltar and learnt to fly with us in Spain in 2023. Since then he has come on several SkyWeek Trips in France and also Brazil. He joined us as a Trainee Instructor at Hinton Airfield during the summer season and again in Spain during the Autumn season, where he sat an APPI PPG Instructor workshop, qualifying as an Assistant Instructor. As a fluent Spanish speaker his linguistic skills always come in handy in Spain!
Tel: +44 7470 047 667
Email: owiicrome@icloud.com

Marcus Lloyd
Trainee Assistant Instructor
Marcus learnt to fly almost by mistake! In March 2025 his father, Mike, had booked to come on the SkyWeek Namibia trip with us but his paramotor was impounded in Frankfurt airport. Marcus was sent to collect it and bring it to Namibia but wasn't allowed to so he ended up joining us on the whole trip while his father flew one of our school machines.
During the trip Alex taught him how to ground handle and gave him his first top to bottom paragliding flights, after which he was hooked! He then sat a course with us during the summer followed by SkyWeek France in September and has been flying as much as he can since.
In May 2026 he joined the team as a Trainee Assistant Instructor in Spain, along with his girlfriend Sophia, who is a talented photographer. His goal is to become a fully qualified Instructor and make paramotoring a full time profession.
Tel: +44 7376 030 280
Email: marcus@m-lloyd.com

Christine Shipley
Trainee Assistant Instructor
Christine learnt to fly with us in Spain after her father, Derek, had completed his own training with us. She was still studying at school when she had her first flight and took to it very easily. Having grown up in Spain she is also bilingual, as well as a naturally talented singer and musician. She has now completed two summer seasons with us at Hinton Airfield and is eager for more when she's not pursuing her further eduction.
Tel: +34 643 663 016
Email: christinedel135@gmail.com

Rich Dolan
SIV Instructor and Paramotor Guide
Rich is a very experienced SIV instructor and high level acro pilot. He learn to fly with us when he was working for Parajet's sister company Rotron and then went on to specialise as an SIV Instructor and Paramotoring guide. Originally from the North East of England, he now travels around the world running SIV courses and Paramotoring trips. When not doing this he works as a freelance engineering consultant.
Tel: +44 7557 345 318
Email: rich.dolan@outlook.com

Charlotte Ledger
Secretary
Charlotte is Alex's sister and runs the SkySchool office near Banbury, Oxfordshire. She first started working as a photographer for SkySchool in Cyprus in 2005 when she visited Alex after leaving school.
In 2008 she visited SkySchool in Spain where she had her first Tandem ParaTrike flight and Skydive, giving her an idea of what all the fuss is about!
Since then she has travelled around the world working in the Polo industry. She now lives with her daughter Emilia in Warwickshire where she pursues her passion for acting on stage.
Tel: +44 7530 102 708
Email: charlotteledger.13@gmail.com
