Aeros with Ultimate High
June 23rd 2007, Kemble Airfield in The Cotswolds. The weather was . . well, unless you’d been abroad during June you’ll know that for most of the country the sky was filled with clouds most of which have been rain bearing types. However, on the Saturday morning in question the cloud was broken and the showers were isolated. The skylarks were singing over the airfield and everything looked set for a day’s flying.
A small group of us gathered in the briefing room. Greeners gave his usual thorough and professional pre flight brief (the jokes don’t get any better though!) and explained everything that would occur in easily digestible chunks. With all the questions answered we retired to the AV8 cafe or elsewhere to await our alloted slots.
13:10 and the wheels of Extra300 G-IIZI take off with G-IIDI in formation on the starboard side. We head off overhead the Fosse Way to find some open space. The broken clouds have created vast halls, narrow corridors, and welcoming gaps and Mags (my PIC) gives instruction in a cool, calm, and collected voice from the seat behind. Within minutes I have control and looping, and rolling. It’s been too long and there’s no precision but I’m having a whale of a time!
We look out for G-IIDI who’s going to be trying to shoot us down. I catch site of the aircraft at one o’clock low and call it out to Mags who dips the wing to check. She tells me to turn hard into the next gap in the clouds so that we head for a more open space. Once there and with Greeners in pursuit, she instructs and I fly: loops, stall turns, barrel rolls . . . try as I might, I can’t shake the other plane off. The laconic voice of the other trainee simply says, “Bang, Bang, Bang” over the comms when he sees G-IIZI in his sights.
A little while later and G-IIZI returns to base leaving us with the clouds and the vast spaces between them. I practice a few of the maneouvers that I’ve already done, then Mags suggests a flick roll, followed by a loop with an aileron roll at the top before completing the loop. I try this about three times and manage to find myself straight and level again but God only knows what my loops looked like!
All too soon it’s time for us to head back. We follow the Fosse Way to the airfield in time to see another shower pass to the north of the field, and Mags puts the aircraft smoothly down, and after a de-brief I walk away with a huge sense of elation. I love that sensation of being upside down, with the weight of my body in the straps or being pressed into the seat, seeing the world and the sky turning. It’s like one of those vivid flying dreams I used to have: once your learn to have faith and let it happen, the fear is replaced by excitement and sheer joy.
