Flying

Flying Slide Shows | Flying BLOGS | G-FLAV | Flying Videos | Flying Lesson Learned | My Weather

Cheryl bought me a one hour trial flying lesson for my 50th birthday. I waited for suitable weather and used it in Jun-2001 and was immediately hooked. I started having lessons and passed my test on 4-Oct-02. 

I learned to fly with Truman Aviation and there are details of this excellent flying school, their aircraft and my experience with them on my Truman page.

After passing my test, I had an endless list of victims (sorry Passengers J) who wanted to fly with me (and many repeat requests so they must have enjoyed it) and I took most of them in the club's Cessna 172p.

On 1-Oct-03 I finally bought a 1/5th share in a Piper Cherokee Warrior II - G-FLAV which is not only a really smart aircraft but has opened up flying for me with the freedom to go almost wherever I please now (no minimum hire charge if I need the plane for the whole day or wish to stay overnight).

On 20-May-04 I took and passed my IMC rating which will enable me to overcome most of the bad weather problems. Without the rating it is very difficult to plan an overnight trip since the English weather is so fickle that I cannot guarantee to be able to fly home on the intended day.

Jan-05 I acquired my night rating after an intensive week of flying in really tough cross winds (it was the week before the gales struck Britain). I did this with Dick Flanagan at Gamston Airport in Retford.

In the summer of 2011 I finally succumbed to the $100 hamburger issue. This is an old joke between aviators that we are addicted to the $100 hamburger - we get our plane out, fly somewhere, eat a hamburger for lunch and fly back again. Eventually, after having flown to all the places within a days range the joy of the flying diminishes and we are just left with that $100 hamburger. So sadly I made the decision to sell my share in G-FLAV and to give up flying and spend my time on new things yet to be discovered. I guess it's in my nature to have "been there, done that" and now I need to move on.

Perhaps even more sadly The Crew have decided to sell G-FLAV in its entirety and to abandon the Group. There are a mixture of motivations: one has a share in another more exciting aircraft and in the current economic climate does not wish to support two aircraft, another has bought his own aircraft outright and so having a share in one is no longer attractive, another has retired and has a really busy life style and no longer has enough time to make owning a share worthwhile over hiring a plane, and I guess we've bullied the remaining member into agreeing to the sale.

Also on this page...

Some sets of slides of the Warrior G-FLAV can be found here and also I can offer you a picture from Darren Wheeler's excellent web site.

Here are some pictures (before I lost 2 stones in weight - see my Diet page)...

Slide shows of flying trips can be found here.

Site Map    |    Home Page    |    Civil Aviation Authority    |    Met Office    |    Aeronautical Information Service    |    Pilot Web    |    AOPA (USA)

Transair    |    The Air Navigation Order 1989    |    UK AIP Online    |    futurshox.net - aviation photography