Absolute Bliss....

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CharlieOneSix
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Absolute Bliss....

#1 Post by CharlieOneSix » Fri Nov 13, 2020 4:59 pm

Just spent an entralling 18 minutes watching this video. The silver Tiger Moth in RN colours, T8191, was my steed for my first powered solo from Plymouth Roborough in October 1963 when it was operated by BRNC Dartmouth Flight. It is owned by Kevin Crumplin, an ex-FAA Observer who restored it, and he flies it from Henstridge near Yeovilton. Tiger Moth Training Aviation School

At £400 for an hour's trip it will be a priority on my first trip south post-pandemic. Can't wait!!

The helicopter pilots' mantra: If it hasn't gone wrong then it's just about to...
https://www.glenbervie-weather.org

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TheGreenGoblin
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Re: Absolute Bliss....

#2 Post by TheGreenGoblin » Sat Nov 14, 2020 1:22 pm

You must do this flight C16. Please let me know when you do and I will fly down to Henstridge to watch you fly and lunch will be on me.

I recently reread Cecil Lewis's Sagittarius Rising and note that he dropped out of flying in his early 60's only to take a flight in Tiger Moth in his 90's. The instructor with him noted that Lewis flew as if he put his gloves down the day before, executing a perfect crosswind landing... no pressure... ;))) :)
Lewis had an extraordinary vigour and curiosity for life. In his 94th year, he flew a Tiger Moth from a grass strip at Badminton and made a perfect landing in a 15-knot 90-degree cross-wind, much to the admiration of his co-pilot, who had been an instructor for 25 years. "Flying is just like riding a bike," he said. "You never forget how to do it." At the age of 98, as President of the Tiger Moth Club, he was unable to attend their annual dinner, so sent them a tape recording of his thoughts. In it, he spoke of flying and the influence of Joseph Conrad:

We who fly do so for the love of flying. We are alive in the air with this miracle that lies in our hands and beneath our feet. The pleasure of just getting up off the ground, getting into the air, getting our machine working, listening to the engine. Whatever it might be, you are master of it. You can take it up, bring it down, roll it, loop it, and all yourself. It's terrific egoism. You can't get that feeling in anything else, that feeling of leaving the earth, of going to heaven and really lifting yourself up off this flat dish of earth into the three dimensions of God.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/peop ... 85736.html
Though you remain
Convinced
"To be alive
You must have somewhere
To go
Your destination remains
Elusive."

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CharlieOneSix
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Re: Absolute Bliss....

#3 Post by CharlieOneSix » Sat Nov 14, 2020 3:58 pm

TheGreenGoblin wrote:
Sat Nov 14, 2020 1:22 pm
You must do this flight C16. Please let me know when you do and I will fly down to Henstridge to watch you fly and lunch will be on me.
You're on, TGG! Not sure about my crosswind abilities. As you know, crosswind landings in helicopters are totally different and I haven't landed a tailwheel fixed wing - a Chipmunk - for 56 years!
The helicopter pilots' mantra: If it hasn't gone wrong then it's just about to...
https://www.glenbervie-weather.org

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TheGreenGoblin
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Re: Absolute Bliss....

#4 Post by TheGreenGoblin » Sat Nov 14, 2020 7:40 pm

CharlieOneSix wrote:
Sat Nov 14, 2020 3:58 pm
TheGreenGoblin wrote:
Sat Nov 14, 2020 1:22 pm
You must do this flight C16. Please let me know when you do and I will fly down to Henstridge to watch you fly and lunch will be on me.
You're on, TGG! Not sure about my crosswind abilities. As you know, crosswind landings in helicopters are totally different and I haven't landed a tailwheel fixed wing - a Chipmunk - for 56 years!
First flight in a fixed wing aircraft in 56 years is well worth commemorating. :-bd

I was only joshing about the x-wind. Tail draggers and cross winds don't go as I witnessed when this Vickers Vimy ground looped in front of me at Farnborough back in 2008.

Though you remain
Convinced
"To be alive
You must have somewhere
To go
Your destination remains
Elusive."

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