A Very Unusual Air War (48 page)
Read A Very Unusual Air War Online
Authors: Gill Griffin
CIVILIAN FLYING
Postwar as a Civilian
West Raynham –
a cross-country test flight
Leicester East –
an away from base landing lesson
Wellesbourne – 08–07–81
My base as a member of Wellesbourne Flying Club
Bidford (Bickmarsh) – 18–07–81
My one and only flight in a glider
For my birthday in 1981, Estelle’s present was a voucher for an introductory flight at Wellesbourne. Prior to this I had made a trial flight in a glider from Bickmarsh near Bidford-on-Avon. Following my introductory flight I made four other trips in 1984, 1985 and 1992 but it was not until I lost Estelle in 1997 that I joined Wellesbourne Aviation Flying Club. Originally I flew with the Avon Club but did not enjoy the high wing Cessna 196 so I changed clubs and started off flying the PA38 Tomahawk.
I started out to retrain and attain a PPL (Private Pilot’s Licence) but, even though I got a 50% waiver from the CAA in respect of flying hours, I would still have had to take full and regular medicals, all ground lectures and exams. My friend Rick Ions advised me that, as he was quite willing and happy to fly as my safety pilot, I would be better just to carry on with flying for fun. The following is a record of my civil flying, ostensibly as a pupil but actually flying as the pilot:
| 1981 | ||||
| 18th July | Glider | With Don Carey | From Bickmarsh | 40 mins |
| 1984 | Introductory flight from Wellesbourne (date not recorded) | |||
| 8th Dec | Fuji | To take grandson Andrew for a first flight on his 11th birthday. Granddaughter Rowena came too. | 40 mins | |
| 1985 | ||||
| 12th May | PA38 G.BKCY | With Rick Ions | From Wellesbourne | 1–00 hr. |
| 1992 | ||||
| 18th June | “ | “ | “ | 40 mins |
| Sept | “ | “ | “ | 1–00 hr. |
| 1997 | ||||
| 29th Aug | “ | “ | “ | 1–00 hr. |
| 3rd Sept | Cessna 196 | With David ? | “ | 1–00hr. |
| 11th Sept | PA38 G.BKCY | With Rick Ions | Cross country | 1–00 hr. |
| 9th Oct | “ | “ | Cloud & instrument flying | 55 mins |
| 15th Oct | “ | “ | Touch & Go | 55 mins |
| 22nd Oct | G.BRNJ | “ | Cross country | 1–00 hr. |
| 29th Oct | “ | “ | Cross country & T&G | 55 mins |
| 7th Nov | “ | “ | T&G Use of RT | 45 mins |
| 14th Nov | “ | “ | Cross country | 1–00hr. |
| 21st Nov | “ | “ | Tight turns and stalls | 1–00 hr. |
| 1998 | ||||
| 28th Feb | “ | “ | Cross country to Waddesdon | 1–05 hrs |
| 4th Mar | “ | “ | Cross country in Cotswolds | 1–05hrs |
| 12th Mar | “ | “ | Touch & Go | −50 mins |
| 20th Mar | “ | “ | Advanced handling | 1–00hr. |
| 21st May | Katana DV20 | “ | Handling new type | 1–00hr. |
| 20th Aug | PA38 G.BKCY | “ | Local. Pinpoint navigation | −55 mins |
| 27th Aug | “ | “ | To & land at Leicester East | −35 mins |
| 27th Aug | “ | “ | Return to base | −35 mins |
| 8th Sept | Cessna 152 | With Paul Western | Aerobatics | 1–05 hrs |
| ‘Orrible! I do not recommend aerobatics in this high-wing aeroplane. | ||||
| 17th Sept | PA38 | Self, Rick Ions | Cross country to Waddesdon & Quainton | 1–05hrs |
| 27th Sept | Concorde | Pilot Unknown | Took nephew Robin Thorne; with 98 other passengers, to Paris, landing at Charles de Gaulle Airport after flying supersonic. I was given VIP status when they found I had been a WWII pilot and was invited onto the flight deck for the latter part of the trip and landing, sitting at the back of the cockpit. Overnight stay in Paris. A truly memorable experience. | 1–00 hr. |
| 28th Sept | Airbus 300 | | Return to London Heathrow | 1–00 hr. |
| 1st Oct | PA38 | Self, Rick Ions | Low level to Staverton and the Severn Estuary | 1–00 hr. |
| 19th Oct | PA38 | Self, Rick Ions | Avon Valley, Wyre Piddle, River Severn & Malvern | 1–00 hr. |
| 2nd Nov | PA38 | Self, Rick Ions | Very poor weather. Flew locally, Astwood Bank & Studley | −40 mins |
| Nov | Airbus | | (Passenger) To Malta | 4–00 hrs |
| Nov | Airbus | | (Passenger) Return to Birmingham | 4–00 hrs |
| 1999 | ||||
| Apr | Boeing 767 | | To Austin, Texas via Chicago (Passenger) | 9–20 hrs |
| Apr | Boeing 767 | | To Birmingham | 7–40 hrs |
| 2000 | ||||
| 10th Mar | PA38 | Self, Rick Ions | Base to Broadway, Evesham local round home | 1–00 hr. |
| 17th Mar | PA38 | Self, Rick Ions | Cross country to Waddesdon; Navigation, instrument & cloud flying | 1–00 hr. |
| 24th Mar | PA38 | Self, Rick Ions | Show off over Bidford & to Gill’s school children at Flyford Flavell School | −55 mins |
| 30th Apr | Cessna | Self, Rick Ions | With Club group. Started fly-out to Duxford; aborted by bad weather | −30 mins |
| 5th May | PA38 | Self, Rick Ions | Advanced handling | 1–00 hr. |
| 19th May | PA38 | Self, Rick Ions | Speed turns. Round Walkmills Farm. Took photos of home (Wood Lane) | 1–00hr. |
| 7th Jun | Firefly Slingsby | Self, Adrian Burt | Aerobatics to celebrate my 80th birthday | 1–00 hr. |
Having undergone surgery for bowel cancer only months before I had decided that, providing I survived the operation and reached my 80th birthday, I wanted to do an aerobatic flight. Once I had been given the all clear from the cancer, my doctor was quite happy for me to give it a go. The flight became a sponsored stunt, engineered by daughter Gill, to raise money towards the provision of a new playground for the Children’s Ward at the Alexandra Hospital, Redditch. The flight was covered by local media. I performed loops, rolls, steep turns, climbs, an inadvertent stall and spin and a roll off the top. I thoroughly enjoyed myself. The BBC gave a DVD of the event to me. Generous sponsorship by family, friends and neighbours raised £1,600 for the appeal.
| 8th Dec | Boeing 747 | Passenger | To Austin, Texas via Chicago | 10–00 hrs |
| During my holiday in the US in December, staying with younger daughter Penny and husband Phillip in Austin, Texas, we drove to West Texas to visit Connie Edwards, a cattle rancher and oil man, at Big Spring. Among his collection of World War II aircraft was a Mk IX HF Spitfire MH415. This was the same aeroplane I had flown during the war, as a fighter bomber. It was a thrill to sit again in the cockpit, which was still familiar to me after all that time. Many photographs were taken, some of which appeared in the Daily Express . | ||||
| 2001 | ||||
| 12th Jan | Boeing 747 | Passenger | To Birmingham | 8–30 hrs |
| 19th Jun | PA38 | Self, Rick Ions | Trip over the Cotswolds | 1–00 hr. |
| 6th July | PA38 | Self, Rick Ions | Local Flying | 1–00 hr. |
| 21st Aug | Robin | Self, Rick Ions | Familiarisation to new type | 1–00 hr. |
| 1st Sept | Robin | Self, Rick Ions | Gloucester & Severn Estuary | 1–00 hr. |
| 25th Sept | Robin | Self, Rick Ions | ‘High’ flight to 8,600 ft. | 1–05 hrs |
| In the course of this flight, I flew over Alcester, Warwickshire, then across to Malvern to fly down the length of the east side of the hills. | ||||
| 5th Oct | Robin | Self, Rick Ions | To Aylesbury & Waddesdon | 1–05 hrs |
| 2002 | ||||
| 22nd Feb | Robin | Self, Rick Ions | Local flying | −42 mins |
| 2nd Mar | Robin | Self, Rick Ions | To Waddesdon & Aylesbury | 1–00 hr. |
| 2nd Mar | Warrior | Self, Rick Ions and two BBC interviewers | | −40 mins |
| This flight was to record an interview about my wartime flying in the Focke Wulf FW190. It was paid for by the BBC and was filmed with me flying the Warrior and back at home. It was shown on BBC News 24 with other interviews made in Germany. Again, the BBC kindly gave me a DVD. | ||||
| April | PA38 | Self, Rick Ions | Local training | −50 mins |
| 7th July | Robin | Self, Rick Ions | Flew over Alexandra Hospital to view the new children’s playground | 1–05 hrs |
| 31st Aug | Robin | Self, Rick Ions | Cross country to Malvern for another view of the hills. | 1–05 hrs |
| 17th Sept | PA38 | Self, J. Jackson | Visit to Kemble airfield, club and microlight hangar | −50 mins |
| 17th Sept | PA38 | Self, J. Jackson | Return to base | −35 mins |
| 27th Sept | Robin | Self, Rick Ions | Local flying | 1–00 hrs |
| 11th Oct | Robin | Self, Rick Ions | Flew down the western scarp of the Cotswolds | −50 mins |
| 2003 | ||||
| 25th Apr | Robin | Self, Rick Ions | Local flying | 1–00 hrs |
| 9th Jun | Robin | Self, Rick Ions | Flew over Burcot Grange near Bromsgrove and home (New End) | −40 mins |
| GRAND TOTAL OF ALL FLYING HOURS AS PILOT | 1,186 hrs 42 mins |