Sunday 8 January 2012

Mission accomplished!

The flight went absolutely fine. It took about 45 mins. It was uneventful, to be honest. I could see the field from a long way off but ran parallel to it for about ten minutes to avoid busting Wattisham airspace, only turning in North of Debenham, where I dropped to 900' to slip under the NE panhandle; though now I believe Wattisham prefer approaches from the East, which I will do in future.

I approached on long finals (straight towards the hangar, which is at the East end of the runway) then buzzed the hang gliders on the ground, having just seen one of them being launched in front of me. I waved at the ground and circled left and came in quite tightly, landing in the middle of the runway...then scooting back to the hangar to make room for the glider coming down.

Near the hangar, as I taxiied in, I saw Carl, who had been snapping away. I look forward to his shots, soon to appear on Facebook. I will download them and post them here. The hang glider pilots are a friendly, inclusive bunch. I also met the Chairman, Glen Reid, who flew-in in a light aircraft. Turns out he knows Mike Farr, who I went to school with! I met Mike again in 2001 at Davidstow, when he instructed there. Small world, flying.

I think I am going to like Mendlesham.

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Today would not have been so successful without Darren and Carl. Not only did Darren pick me up and take me to Great Oakley this morning, but he also brought home my kit cabinet and jerry cans. Carl not only brought me home from Mendlesham but also brought me lunch - cheese sandwiches with a rather good relish, and some of Chrissy's cake!

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