You often hear about sailors languishing listlessly in the doldrums for days or even weeks at a time – that state of almost suspended animation where progress is made impossible by lack of wind. Luckily, in aviation, we are seldom afflicted by such becalming, or are we?

Having not flown JT since November, and seeing her ‘becalmed’ in the hangar in the midst of another lengthy period of inactivity, I’m starting to have some empathy with those old school sailors in the doldrums. I can’t think of a better word to describe what it feels like, in fact, to have an aeroplane and a grass strip on your doorstep that you are unable to utilise for one reason or another. I am, it seems, firmly and absolutely becalmed in the doldrums and like those sailors, I’m beginning to feel a little listless and grumpy, fed up and impatient. Rather than waiting for the wind to blow, I’m waiting for a simple modification to be done and for the strip to dry out.

As before though, I know that sooner or later, the day will come when I can wheel out the Auster into the sunshine, point her snub little nose up the strip, climb in, open the throttle and shake off those feelings of listlessness and inactivity by climbing up into the sky and drifting on a fresh breeze to wherever it is I choose to go. Like those sailors when the wind blows, at last, the doldrums will be left far behind; forgotten, and only the swift motion of their vessel and the wide horizon waiting before them will remain.