Airborne (http://www.flymac.co.uk) are one of the biggest microlight training schools in the country and have eight aircraft and one gyrocopter. The aircraft are two Eurostar, low wing metal micro lights that look great fun (not tried one yet) and six Ikarus C-42.
I started off with a trial lesson in a C-42 with Alan Hitchcock, one of the instructors. The C-42 is great fun to fly and lively as it has the same power as most light aircraft on a much lighter frame. I also got the chance to investigate the famous Airbourne biscuit tin and meet up with the staff including Grahame Hills, the operations manager and Shelley Smith, Shell is the daughter of founder Mac Smith and I will admit I have a bit of a crush on her although her Jack Russell seems to think I want to play all the time and he might be a bit rough.
While at Popham I also met up with the Antonov AN-2 club and Chris Thompson and Bill ‘ten bars’ Learey too me on a display practice. That was fun in such a big old aeroplane. Incidentally, Bill is called ‘ten bars’ as when they take the aeroplane back to Hungary for maintenance he noticed you get better service if you have officers epaulettes on your flight suit. Bill decided to go for more stripes than anyone else to see if he got better service. He did!
From Popham I also jumped into Melvyn’s lovely Rearwin Cloudster for a flight to Panshanger airfield near Hatfield (home of the famous de Havilland company) for a vintage car and aeroplane do. We were ushered into the static park rather than parking with the other light aircraft which was fun. There were two Spartan Cruisers there too and I rather fancy a go in one of them, they are from 1939 (like Melv’s Rearwin) and are sleek and fast looking. There were also some nice looking cars at the event and one or two rather nice ladies who seemed to like a well-dressed bear…..Back at Popham I managed to grab another couple of flights in the C-42s from Airbourne and got out over the New Forest to look at the old airfield at Stoney Cross which was used by the RAF and USAAF during World War Two.
On Thursday 20 August Melv took the day off and came with me to the Starlight Childrens event at Popham. This is an incredible event organised by Starlight for disabled, sick and terminally ill kids and their familes. Local pilots turn up in good numbers to give kids rides and there were several helicopters doing the same. Bear in mind some of those cost hundreds of pounds per hour to fly and they are there all day giving kids rides and you’ll start to see why it is such a good event. There is not only a lot of flying, but also a lot of stuff on the ground. Each kid gets a toy and a goodie bag when they arrive (I got a T-shirt which is a bit big) and there are also rides in an old bus, hovercraft, vintage and classic cars as well as flash cars (I saw a nice Bentley and a convertible roller!) and the Bristol Hell’s Angels turn up in force and give Harley rides. They may look scary but what a great bunch of blokes, they also hold a raffle and raise money too.
I got to ride in Melvyn’s Rearwin a couple of times with some great kids and I also got a ride in Tony Purslow’s Cessna 182. Tony is a local Mercedes dealer and takes the day off every year and flies kids all day. I also got to fly in a Eurocopter EC102B, G-VIPR which was a lot of fun too. It was a great day (despite some high winds) and it was great to see the work of another charity.
After a quick night’s sleep, we whizzed over to the former RAF and British Aerospace airfield at Dunsfold. This was where the Hawk I flew in was made and where a lot of Harriers and Hunters were also built. As we drove around the Peri track Melv pointed out the house where the great test pilot Neville Duke used to live, inside the airfield boundary! He then introduced me to Larry Culver and the good people of the Surrey and Sussex Air Ambulance and that is where I am now, tapping this out on my laptop and looking forward to some interesting flying over the weekend. The work of the Air Ambulances is hard but they seem a good bunch and I know they do great work that really does save lives. I will report more later!
I have visited Jersey twice now, but it was before I had been introduced to you; however, it would seem that you don't spend a great deal of time there these days as you are busy hurtling around the sky. I have been doing that for a number of years now but as I get older I find I much prefer the more sedate aircraft as pulling lots of g tends to affect my fur now. I still keep my hand in, mind you, and a reheat run down the runway in a Lightning F.6 just after seeing you was great fun. 
