We made it! 12 hours and 40 minutes flying and a shade over 1000 nm for the round trip. We were blessed with unbelievably good weather the whole weekend – almost tailor made for taking an old aeroplane to the other end of the country and back – sunny skies, light winds and, heavens blessings, even a tail-wind for the route down, giving us a dizzying 80 knots ground speed!

Home Again

The trip down was fantastic from start to finish; from buzzing my flying partner’s Dad at the strip, who’d come to see us off at the start, through flying low along wide, uninterrupted stretches of sand and surf, to passing some iconic British coastal landmarks, castles and towns.

Shadow chasing 

The Fly – In itself was just as good and we couldn’t believe how well received JT was by everyone. We hadn’t expected to be part of the exhibit, alongside some beautiful Austers, Beagles and Chipmunks. We were even more surprised when we walked away with ‘The Spirit of the Fly-In’ Trophy; awarded to the pilots of an aeroplane that the judges consider to represent what the Fly-In is all about. I suppose looking at JT and considering how far we’d come, secured that for us. ‘How far?’ I can imagine them thinking; ‘In that thing?’ We also got a prize for the longest flight, beating pilots from the Netherlands and France!

Happy pilots! On arrival at Weald after 6 hours and 25 minutes flying in three stages

Auster Line Up

All of that was more than a bit of a surprise for us and meeting the other Auster pilots and the organisers at Weald was a real pleasure that just put the icing on the cake of the whole trip.

The flight home was just as good as the flight down and once again we were blessed with amazing weather. It was hard going at times, bumping along in the thermals for nearly three hours at a time in the cramped cockpit of the Auster, but it was all good fun and an experience neither of us will forget; especially my cohort, who cracked his head off the roof after we were given a good belt by a particularly strong thermal coming into Sherburn.

The cramped cockpit of the Auster

The whole trip went very smoothly in general, however and the only ‘moment’ we had, was when the Aux tank ran dry 45 minutes before we had expected it to, just before we crossed the Wash into East Anglia. The engine coughed and the power dropped and after an instant of looking at each other in that, eyebrows raised, mouth open, look of shock and surprise, my mate’s hand went like a shot for the fuel valve selector and switched tanks. The engine growled back into life and we both burst out laughing in relief. We’ve since revised our Aux tank timings……..

The Wash

We never imagined that we would get to the Fly-In; expecting either the weather or the battery charging problem to spoil our plans and it was with real elation and disbelief that we rolled into North Weald. To be greeted by the amazingly friendly staff there and to feel at home amongst the wonderful array of historic aircraft, not to mention the beautiful line up of other Austers, was just fantastic.

No longer were we flying an odd, old misfit around the skies of Aberdeenshire, but we were now part of something – a proud heritage of British Aircraft and best of all, the reception we got from the mad characters of the International Auster Club and the many enthusiasts who attended the event, gave us a real feeling that we were amongst friends.

A full account of the trip down to North Weald is now in the Articles and Events section.