Because it all looked so stable and so unexciting I thought not to bother, but then it – was – flyable, how could I ignore that.
I did have one thing to sort out before setting off, ordering plants for my flat, that done I was off to Hickstead Aerotow field.
Always there are nerves but at least this time not so many, right up until Rod seemed to get tipped into the trees while still at only 100ft climbing out of the field towing Dave Mathew’s. That put me right off.
Seeing John Birchal have an incident free climb and hearing that Rob had been fumbling around with some levers so instead of lethally turbulent air it had in fact been smooth enough. Simple lack of attention caught them out.
I loved concentrating on the tug and seeing my pitch changes affect him being above or below the horizon. The air was indeed smooth and stable, conservative indeed, enough lift to extend a bit to make me feel good. A great landing to make me feel better.
We will not mention Mike giving Dave the rope at 100ft, that never happened. Or Dave forgetting to secure his instruments. Or John and Mike forgetting about airspace, no, I made that up for laughs :)