Thonry Wife's Day...a risk woth taking?

The Wife's of Thorney Island serving soldiers took to the base yesterday, rock climbing, camping driving the armory, shooting and finally flying! A gang of 8 pilots flew 35 people around Thorney and Hayling Island and what a blast it was, for both the pilots and the passengers.

That takes the total to around 70 new microlight experiences in the last two weekends. So how many pilots fly people, I know for many years I flew solo and avoided flying others, but inspired I find its double the fun....and so now I take people for me, not as I had seen it before...for them!

Bird Stock - Isle of Wight...Marcus Photo's

Bird Stock - Isle of Wight...

Over the 700agl hills swoop down into the Vally on idle, base leg over the field and cross the woods, turn onto finals, 30 foot above the cops and 10 foot above the three phase pylons half way up the field. This landing I should mention is down wind, up hill. Over the wires bar in dive for the deck, Full power to climb up the hill and land up hill while climbing and rounding out with speed, the final deck run was 60 meters up hill to the trees, that sixty meters was so steep the touchdown at 60mph decayed before the apex. Welcome to Bird stock Isle of Wight!

Doing that once my heart was in my mouth, once over the cops your committed, the hill was so steep that once on finals your not going to be able to clear the hill there was no option to abort beyond long final. Even if you did, the hill beyond was going to bite. No room for error, and no turning back. Each and every flight I was asking my self is this the right decision to land, is it the right decision to continue to fly people from this field? So there were no accidents or incidents. Does that vindicate the decisions I took? I don't think so. I don't think it was a good decision to do that twice let alone 34 times.

In the saddle when I eyed the field each time I turned finals I was asking the question, does this look right? where am I going if it stops now? Will this amount of energy get me and the passenger over the wood? May be asking the questions is evidence of conscious decision making, may be asking the questions only highlights I was in the wrong place from the very start, if I have to ask these questions about a landing site again, is it the wrong location.

That weekend was about celebrating a friends 50Th Birthday Party, I recall the rounds of 18Th and 21st Birthdays! Now were all on the way there, with decision making like that will I make it?

I flew that field 34 times that weekend, none any less scary that the first, worn out by the intense concentration my bank Holiday Monday did not start until 1200hrs! Thank you Gary & Sarah for a weekend to remember, I loved every second and met and flew great people, beleive me the pleasure was all mine.

Help 4 Heros

The work load for this event is becoming huge! we now have donations over the half way mark and and the total number of Pilots over 100 booked to visit, good weather and its going to get very busy! Great! ;-)

Project X

It took its second step today! Hoora!

Freedom Comes in Many Form's

Tonight we are at a coarse on how to update a Joomla web site. The Hampshire Microlight new site is written using this! How is that freedom? Its freedom for me because for the last 4 years I have been updating the Hampshire web site, solo. I knew it was a bind , but not how much until I sat with Dave, Paul & Sandra and they took over the load.

The next session will see 3 others trained by Andy at the Hayling Island Internet Cafe, followed by much discussion and organization, all part of the master plan to spread the load and more importantly let as many people as possible contribute to the life of the club.

Freedom through sharing might be seen as a loss of control or a blessed release.

Mission "Bognor"

Brian and Cliff set off, bound for Bognor no special reason but a chance to take a few shots of a construction crane and site Cliff has worked on. 40 minutes later the are back with the captured shots, and great they are too!

Having spent the time & £20 getting the shots perhaphs they can sell for a small return to the construction company or the Architect or the building owners? But no! the law that related to Microlight flying prohibits financial gain, why?

Well I don't know why not? It may because the ariel photo folks who charge £500 a hour get upset at 20 pounds an hour flying?

Is it because the pilots or machines are see as somehow sub standard? Or may be it's because the authorities are unable or unwilling to write a law that differentiates between paying passengers , flying cargo , teaching & taking photos.

Is it's time to change laws that are practically unworkable?

Magic my son!

Taking my time to stroll the line at the "Popham Trade fair this year" I manage to fly the latest offering's from P & M Aviation. While I enjoyed flying the latest "hot ship" at 120mph (VNE) the experence did not compare to the sheer fun of flying the "Magic Laser" a single seat two stroke 40hp, podless!

Roots flying, no pod, no radio, and altimeter well not one that i could see! But who the hell did needs a altimeter? Take off and climb out of the circuit and I was at 1000 feet. Not high but way to high to fly this tree top flyer!

Down the the gold glow of the oil seed rape, looking through your toes at the rape bushging the front wheel, sweeping turns and swoops around the trees, pfl's from 250 feet popping over the hedge and stopping in 75 meters of meadow grass, that's flying I wandered to the wide open
spaces forgetting all of my troubles for an all too short 40 minutes.

Flying in tee shirts it was a wonderful experence, a low pass down runway 21 and final circuit to land, vfr, real vfr non radio, in a busy circuit it's time for lots of the V!

Touch down watching the grass trough my toes I think it must be illegal to fly this machine on Tarmac ;)

Grinning I taxi back, rejuvinated!