Back flying again

But not in MYRO unfortunately. Ken and Peter decided to move the X’air from Linton to Stoke at the same time as I did MYRO but with the high winds we’ve been experiencing lately with gusts on some days recently of 60 mph and more, we needed a weather window to do the move before the end of the month. Today there was a slight lull between Atlantic weather systems and we decided at short notice to do it today with winds forecast at about 8 mph from the south with minimal gusting. So we met up and drove down to Linton and got Papa Hotel (PH) ready for the flight.

While we did so it was pretty obvious that in fact the wind, while from the south, was considerably stronger than had been forecast. Ordinarily this would not have bothered me too much as it was still inside what had been my comfort zone but this, of course, was my first flight since my accident in MYRO. I would like to have had an hour or so since with Rosie in MZEL, her AX3, not because I needed the ‘training’ but just to know in myself that my self-belief and confidence, such important factors in flying, had not been dented by my recent experiences. It’s one thing to think that you can handle a gusting 15 mph cross wind – it’s another thing entirely when you are on final at 250 feet being buffeted around by the wind to know that you are up to the job of getting yourself and the aircraft safely onto the ground. But it hadn’t been possible because of the winds.

So I took off alone from runway 11 at Linton with, I have to confess, feelings of both excitement and some trepidation. There were a few wind buffets on the climb-out but I felt happy enough dealing with them, albeit a little ‘rusty’ with not having flown for 18 days since MYRO’s accident. I turned left onto heading and got hit by a few more gusts and bumps and apart from a couple of initial jumps in my stomach early on, I soon found that I felt quite in control of things. I passed Leeds Castle looking gorgeous in the sunshine and as I approached the downs ridge at the M20 then the fun really began – lots of thermic bumps and lift which required quite a lot of effort to keep PH flying straight and level and in control. But maybe it wasn’t a bad thing to have happened, because after a while I felt that I’d never been away from it and could easily cope with what was being chucked at me. Possibly it was something that I actually needed just at that time.

The vis was cracking and I could almost see Stoke as soon as I took off so as I got closer and closer, I gave them a call on the radio. As expected for a week-day afternoon under those conditions, there was no reply which was unfortunate because I’d like to have known at that point which runway was in use. As it was I had to keep making radio calls and join overhead to find out for myself, and it turned out to be runway 24. With a stonking 15 mph cross wind. So there I was, dropped right in the deep end. Time to find what kind of stuff I was made of but under those conditions, no time to think about that sort of thing. What was needed was a good circuit at the right height and speed with a good final and a nicely controlled cross-wind landing. So that’s what I did.

Now I’m not saying that I didn’t experience a feeling of relief when all the wheels touched down and I stood on the toe brakes to bring PH down to taxi speed – I did. But what was more important to me was that I’d demonstrated to myself that I could do what I thought I could do, and that reinforcement of belief in oneself and one’s abilities is what is most important when coming back from any kind of adversity. PH had to be moved from Linton but I still have Ken to thank for giving me the opportunity to do it. The flight did wonders for my morale and confidence and it gave me a tremendous boost at just the time I needed it. I don’t know how much flying I’m going to get in over the coming few months, ironically what should be the best months of the whole flying season, but we’ll see. But what I do know is thanks to this flight in PH I’ve now got the foundations set firmly in place for whatever opportunities do arise and I am grateful to my friends Ken and Peter for setting me off on that road today.