It's August 16th and we've finally got Grandad airborne (at the third attempt). What a saga! When we arranged this back in Christmas 2006 we thought it would be a doddle to turn up and fly. And with Grandad being 90 it seemed a beautiful way to celebrate his birthday. In the event, however, it turned into such a marathon that we wondered if he would be 91 by the time we got off the ground!
After all the faffing around fixing a date when both Ruth and I were free, after booking ferries to the island, meeting up and collecting "Biggles"................... on the first attempt we arrived at the airfield to find the plane had broken down that morning. On the second attempt we got there to find the weather had closed in and the cloudbase was too low to allow a flight.
Never mind. On August 16th the sun was shining, the plane was working, and we were all there ready and waiting. We were airborne around 45 minutes doing a complete circuit of the island, clockwise from Sandown. The cabin on the plane was too cramped to get any decent pictures of Grandad, but I was able to take lots out of the window. Here are two of my favourites. Firstly the Needles and Alum Bay:
Secondly, Yarmouth harbour:
The views were stunning - everything we could have wished for. Flying through a rain shower, looking at individual houses (we were only about 1500 feet up and only doing about 80 knots), identifying from the air the places we've visited on land - magic! The island looked very green and pleasant.
The only negative thing was the constant lurching around of the plane whenever a gust of wind took it. That took some getting used to!
When we landed we asked the pilot to take a picture of the intrepid crew:
So here's to you Grandad! Not bad at all for a 90 year old. The spirit of Biggles lives....
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