About Us
Navboys was initially formed by Shaun Lapworth to respond to a demand for good customer service and technical knowledge within the UK for the latest avionics from LXNAV. The business has grown from operating an online shop out of Shaun's living room, to its current professional workshop premises in Congleton, Cheshire. The online shop has grown along the way, constantly expanding, with the aim of creating a one-stop-shop for all glider pilots' needs. Whether you are on the market for the latest gliding tech, or looking for someone to help you with annual inspections, ARC renewals or upgrades and repairs on gliders - Navboys would be delighted to assist.
To see how we can help you, please visit our contact page.
If you would like to join our team - please see our careers page.
BGA Inspector with ratings for self-sustainers, TMG + composite repair + ARC Signatory
Jake started gliding after a trial flight at the age of 13 with the Kent Gliding Club and has never looked back. He moved to Nympsfield when he started his Aerospace Engineering Degree at the University of Bristol. This is where he caught the bug for racing in gliders. Jake has flown over 40 competitions and represented the British Team four times, winning the Junior World Gliding Championships in 2019. Jake started to build his workshop experience at Targett Aviation. Since moving to Navboys, Jake has built up his experience specialising in avionic installations and panel rebuilds. He is well known as being a 'go-to' person on the grid and is often seen with his head inside someone else's cockpit troubleshooting at weekends and competitions alike.
Sales assistant and content creator
Dorian started flying at the age of 15 at Nympsfield, where he met another junior (at the time) called Jake Brattle. Jake took Dorian to his first-ever Junior Winter Series, where he discovered he really enjoyed experiencing the flying that different clubs have to offer - whether that's soaring the cooling towers at Burn or the mountain wave of Feshie - Dorian has been lucky enough to explore clubs all over the UK.
When not in a farmer's field or an airfield, you can usually find Dorian behind a camera. Dorian is a professional videographer and over the years he has created many Junior Gliding videos, supported the British Team during the World Gliding Championships in 2018 and the Junior World Championships in 2022, most recently he did some filming with Aerosparx in Jeddah. Dorian joins Navboys as part of the customer facing team, he will assist with processing orders, answering your enquiries and he will also be kick-starting a new project for us over on our YouTube channel. Watch this space!
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Workshop Engineer
Colin joins our workshop team and brings a wealth of experience ‘on the tools’ through his varied career including working for the 75th Royal Engineer Regiment as well as through work in testing laboratories and workshops. Colin also comes from a gliding background through his time as part of 631 RAF cadet squadron in the early 2000s. Colin’s duties will consist of carrying out Annual inspections, repairs and avionic upgrades under Jake's supervision. He's working towards gaining his inspectors ticket and hopes to return to flying soon!