My main hobbies throughout my adult life have been Flying, Ski-ing, DIY, especially woodwork and cabinet making. In more recent years I have enjoyed hill walking especially in the Lake District, which I love and is my spiritual home.
I have always been interested in flying, and in 1983 having funds available, I took myself to Wycombe Air park and had my first flying lesson in a Piper PA38 Tomahawk. All that year I went each week for instruction, and in the Spring my instructor jumped out and sent me solo in G-DCAN. I had a smile on my face all week !
I took my test in December of 1983 and got my PPL. I formed a syndicate with four others at the club and we bought a PA28-151 Warrior, G-BEFA. For the next few years we cut our teeth on "BEFA" with trips to the near continent. In 1987, we sold off our shares in G-BEFA and imported a PA28-201 Arrow from the USA which was registered as G-BNEE. The Arrow was a swift machine, 130 kts cruise with retractable gear, a 200 hp engine and a constant speed prop. Later I sold my share in G-BNEE in order to finance my M.Sc. Later, I became involved in a Jodel 1050 group, G-AXUK. The Jodel is my favourite, a small French tail wheel aircraft with huge amounts of character. See the video of a Jodel D140 flying in the French Alps. Later we swapped this for a Jodel DR200, G-AYDZ. I sold my share in this aircraft in early 2000 in order to go travelling (see travelling).  I have also done a lot of flying overseas: Belgium, the USA, Switzerland, Italy, Jamaica, South Africa and Kenya. Since the mid 2000, I have done virtually zero flying due to finances, so maybe its time to hang up my headset. I have over 600 hrs logged over a 20 year period and it has given me huge amounts of pleasure. | Jodel D140 on skis in The French Alps Skiing has also featured prominently since 1983, and has given much pleasure and I never missed an annual ski trip. However around 2005 I found myself in Austria on the Dachstein glacier. It was a fabulous day, blue skies and I was skiing beautifully. I suddenly got an overwhelming feeling of boredom. "25 years I've been doing this" I thought. I haven't skied since ... |