A Winter's flight (part 4 and last!)

Enjoy, sit back and relax!

Though somewhat inexperienced and a bit shy after my previous faux-pas, I was decided to make my next move as smooth as possible… But I couldn’t contain the urge and rushed it. I bent down and reached for her inner thigh.

She moaned…

-I think it’s not in properly, she said to my embarrassment.

No, we were not doint rude things in the toilets of Swansea airport. Not we had minded in other circumstances but it was definitely too cold to shed any clothes and besides, we had a flight to enjoy!

There we were, standing in the sun next to GOVFR, on the parking area, trying desperately to fit these life jackets, on this chilly afternoon.

-You’re right, she admitted, that strap seems to have to come between the legs.

I had never worn these jackets before, despite crossing several times the sea to the Isle of Wight. This time, there would be about 25 miles of water beneath us before reaching the coast of Devon. Was that a bit too precautional? What are the chances of the engine failing exactly at that moment?

I suppose it’s all down to risk and probability but we’ll never know.

In fact the truth was, I thought we looked dead cool with all our gears 😎 I could imagine other local pilots looking at us with envy:

-Look man, see these two, they’ve got the gears. They must be like, really experienced.
-Too right, they must be crossing the Atlantic or something… And thinking that we only fly about locally.

But no, there were no-one to admire us. Except maybe the man in the tower but he omitted to comment. And it’s just as well as we might have looked stupid with our straps between the legs… Anyway, it was time to climb back into our flying machine, with more than a smile on our faces. This would be our last leg and the sun, definitely with us this time, was already beckoning as if to say “Come closer and I’ll unravel the mysteries of the world beneath for you”.

It felt right as soon as we started the engine. We taxied unhurriedly towards the runway, did the checks and run-ups and backtracked 04 as it was there just for us. The navigation would be easy this time along the coasts and all the way back and, besides airmanship, there would be nothing else to feel but happiness and enjoyment.

That’s the way we like it. And the sky indeed didn’t disappoint!

The Swansea bay looked brilliant and inviting in the afternoon sun. I wished we could have come down really low over the waves, following the beach. Port Talbot, less inviting with its huge factory, and then Porthcawl. Time to let Cardiff Information know that we’re now heading South, over the water.

We turn through to 180 degrees, at 5000 feet and oh yes, this is it.

Silence in the cockpit, yes, but a different silence. Not a tense silence, not a uneasy silence but a blissful silence. The shadows of the sun through the clouds are painting strange continents on the water. What would even stranger inhabitants of these mysterious territories think of this metal bubble flying past? The engine is reving nicely, all gauges are in the green, eyes outside, smile on the faces, and wouldn’t it be for the middle strap of the life jacket squashing my ba…, everything would be just perfect.

Almost too soon we’re reaching the more dramatic coast of Devon. Further South, acres of peaceful green fields. VRP Minehead is easy to find and we can even see Tauton, our next reporting point, far in the distance. It’s hard to believe we crossed snow what seemed like an eternity ago.

Instead of chasing a heading, I elect to follow the railway that runs from Taunton to Westbury, via Frome. It gives more time to look out and less stress of navigation… not without saying that this airspace looks a lot more familiar now 🙂

We spot a fire on Salisbury plains (would that be a bombing test from the military? Strange), before reaching with a warmth in the heart the base of Thruxton. It is 16:15, we’re perfectly on time and we’re landing with much satisfaction.

Time to park, to shut down, to write down the time, to remove the life jackets (thank God for that!), to close the door and to walk away from our skybird. We’re happy, we’re tired and we’re loving it!

A kiss for the road and a last thought about the well named “GO-VFR”, which didn’t let us down even when stretching the minima of VFR…

Epilog

There you go, this was the last episode. And if you read so far, thank you very much! I am writing this at work, between meetings and coding web applications, and it is not easy to keep on everyday but I made it and enjoyed it.

I could have well written “Hi guys, we had a cool flights to Shobdon and Swansea and despite a bit of snow here and there we really enjoyed it” instead of 4 pages, but I must admit I like writing and sharing my experience… Especially in this case when I hadn’t been flying for some time.

I can’t help thinking that there is a sadder side to this. I make it sound like an extraordinary epic flight and in a way it was, as this is the first time since my PPL exam (in South Africa) that I fly for that long (approx 4 hours), landing effectively at three different places in a day…

What about you: have you ever had a flight longer than at your PPL exam?

But really I should be doing this so much more often (save for the flying in snow bit)! it cost me £328 rental + £25 landing fees so, of course budget is the issue… But if we had been 3 pilots, we could have enjoyed the same for about £120! That says a lot for sharing flights, not mentioning that with three flying heads instead of one, we would have chosen a safer route.

Anyway, enough of me but at least I gave you some reading now that R.Weaver has left 😉 Safe flying!

pic1. River towards Swansea (taken just after landing)
pic2. Graceful coast just after take off
pic3. Porthcawl before setting to sea
pic4. Shadows on the water
pic5. Coast of North Devon
pic6. Green plains of Devon
pic7. Fire on Salisbury plains