My First Flight

In the 1960s, we'd been designing digital selective call equipment for use in Private Mobile Radio equipment. Our client, Gerry Gardner, was a wonderful character with his own firm in Canterbury. He was bidding on a large contract for Lancashire Constabulary and he'd decided to charter a light aircraft to take him up North for a meeting. I was never sure whether it was a desire to avoid the long car journey, impress the Client or a bit of both. I was pleased, because he offered to land at the small airfield at Wolverhampton en route to pick me up.

Light aircraft can fly under two regimes: Visual Flight Rules (VFR) or Instrument Flight Rules (IFR). The aircraft Gerry had chartered was only equipped for VFR, so the flight could only go ahead if the weather conditions met the 'Minima', the worst case conditions under which VFR flight is allowed. On the appointed day, the forecast for the en-route weather was poor, so plans were deferred to the following day. The weather was even worse that day, resulting in plans being re-arranged for the following Monday. Originally, we'd intended to fly to the airfield near Preston used for test flying of military aircraft, but it was not available on the Monday, for some reason, so the destination was altered to Squires Gate, Blackpool.

On Monday, I confirmed by telephone that the flight would take place, then made my way to the local airfield, Pendeford. Aircraft maintenance work was going on in the hangar, but I was concerned to be told "The 'field's not open on Mondays, 'cos there's no ATCO on duty". With no Air Traffic Control Officer, there was nobody to answer the radio or pass the local conditions to an incoming aircraft. Not feeling very optimistic, I decided to hang around and see what happened. On schedule, an aircraft could be heard approaching from the South. The aircraft made a complete circuit at low level and then landed on the grass runway. When it taxied to a stop, I approached the aircraft, a single-engined Beech with the distinctive Beech V-tail, and was relieved to see my customer sitting next to the pilot.

I was soon installed in the seat at the back of the small cabin and we took off and headed North. The pilot explained that, when he got no response on the radio, he did a low level circuit to physically check that it was safe to land and then 'let down'. I was astonished at the informality, but delighted I'd not missed my flight. I was so fascinated with the aerial views of the landscape, I didn't even think about being frightened. I was amazed at just how much detail on the ground could be made out - a cross between a highly-detailed model and an Ordnance Survey map. Nowadays, people are more used to aerial views and we have access to tools like Google Earth but to me, back in the 1960s, the flight was a stunning experience.

Well, we arrived safely, travelled the last few miles by road to the meeting and made our presentation but by the time we returned to Squires Gate, the sky had darkened and a storm threatened. The pilot said conditions were still acceptable, provided we took off without delay. As we taxied, the small aircraft was buffeted by the wind and then the lightning started! In our exposed position each lightning strike was clearly visible and accompanied by a loud 'crack' from the radio on the cabin loudspeaker. We couldn't hear the actual thunder for the noise of the engine at 'take-off revs' as we bounced down the runway and took off.

After a few minutes, we'd passed out of the storm and continued South in pleasant evening conditions. However, low cloud made it hard for the pilot to pick out landmarks and I was not sure whether he was joking when he said he was not exactly sure where we were. Looking down, I could easily recognise the town of Stafford and the railway line running through it. I pointed this out and added "If you follow that railway line branching to the right, it will lead you to Wolverhampton". So that's what we did. Once we got in the vicinity of Wolverhampton, the pilot spotted the airfield and was able to land safely, drop me off, then take off to complete his journey South. Despite the "alarums and excursions" of the day, I was thoroughly taken with the business of flying and I've since taken every opportunity to fly in aircraft, large and small.

And the contract? Yes, we got it, giving rise to lots more experiences.