William Moore was hooked on flying from the moment he took off from RAF Fairford in a Second World War fighter plane. A photograph of this defining moment, with Mr Moore a fresh-faced young graduate, sits on his office desk at his start-up firm, Airbox, which aims to revolutionise life for pilots of light aircraft and helicopters with its pioneering navigation system.

A De Havilland Venom jet marks the entrance to Grove Technology Park, where Airbox is based — and not by coincidence. The business park’s owner, Robs Lamplough — an air buff and collector of vintage planes — played matchmaker to bring together the company’s founders Mr Moore and Tom Hedges.

Mr Moore said: “I had always had a passion for aviation and cars. I had done mechanical engineering at Bristol and after my degree, my family wanted me to go into the City.

“Robs, the owner of the business park, was a friend of my cousin, and he took me flying. I had already been helping him out in the summer holidays from university. After that flight, I knew I had to work out how I could get into flying so that it became tax-deductible expense and get my pilot’s licence.”

In pursuit of this, he started working as the UK distributor for a German company which made a global positioning system for aircraft navigation, before deciding to set up Airbox.

Grove, which during the Second World War was one of the UK's busiest airfields, was a natural home for his new venture. Mr Lamplough not only sparked Mr Moore’s interest in flying, but also introduced him to his business partner Mr Hedges, now Airbox’s marketing and sales director.

Mr Hedges has now caught the aviation bug, and the pilots’ world is so small that the pair reckon they know 80 per cent of their potential customers by name.

They are keen to rebuff the idea that flying is a hobby only for the rich.

“There has been a huge surge in popularity of microlights,” said Mr Hedges. “They are now pretty sophisticated and don’t cost a lot.”

He added: “We have decided that with the credit crunch, our customers will be highly price-sensitive and we are keeping our overheads as close to nothing as we can. The price of our systems start at £399, so it is quite affordable.

“We have worked on the display so that it has incredible clarity, and we have made it cheaper and better than the previous generation of navigation systems.”

Incredibly, until recently, pilots have navigated by simply looking out of the window, and there is no requirement to have a navigation system, just a map and compass. But higher safety standards and busier air space mean this is no longer enough.

Mr Moore explained: “As well as aeronautical charts, our display can include weather reports and Notams — ‘Notices to Airmen’, which are issued at the rate of about three a minute. It could be anything from a kite flying festival to a Red Arrows display.

“We will be the only people who can display that information on a portable system. Last year, someone flew into a Red Arrows display and they had to cancel, which was very expensive, but it’s not just the monetary cost. It could be very dangerous.”

The UK airspace is the busiest and most complex in the world, and the system has been closely vetted. The software is now being perfected by a team of computer programmers in Milton Keynes, ready for a ‘soft launch’ in February.

“As a pilot, you are acutely aware of safety. It’s not like driving a car. You can’t just brake and pull over. You are totally responsible for bringing the aircraft down — no one else can do it,” said Mr Moore.

“It is a liberating hobby. Flying is one of the last areas where you have enormous freedom. you can do pretty much what you want when you are up there. But if any pilot says he or she has never been scared in a plane, they are lying, or stupid.

“When you are in the air, you realise that you are the only person who can get yourself out of the air safely. It is also very important to get a feel for the weather, and our system is great for that.”

Pilots are obliged to keep their charts up to date, so there is a big market for updating software: “We think we have made a leap forward, and despite the credit crunch, we are very optimistic.

“We will release it to pilots we know will give good feedback. We may tweak it to make it more user-friendly if necessary, and then we will launch at an airshow in June.”

Mr Moore is phlegmatic about competing with his former employer, who he says has now pulled out of the UK market. “We are hoping to ruffle a few feathers,” he said.