Yakity-Yak

It was an aviation kind of day today (the best of days!). First up it was a trip by car to Earls Colne to meet up with friends from the Cotswolds – one of the Breitling Wing-Walker Pilots who’d come for his bi-annual check. It was brilliant to catch up with his wife and show her the wedding pictures (timing couldn’t have been better!). I only ever see her once or twice a year but thanks to the wonder of facebook (!) we keep up-to-date so the face-to-face meetings are just brilliant.
After this it was a trip back to Elmsett to get the Yak ready for a wedding display down near Goodwood. We were waiting on seeing how the weather turned out before prepping the Yak, but as it turned out it was ok – not the best, but perfectly flyable and kept you concentrating! We even got a zone transit through the Gatwick zone (great fun!). Love being in the Beast and know we won’t get many more trips this year before it goes in for maintenance … so enjoyed the flight.
Goodwood was quiet on the aircraft-side of things but was busy with the old racing cars and we enjoyed seeing them as we found a cheeky vendor selling the most amazing turkey and stuffing in a roll! I wish we had more time to enjoy the car and watch them race around the track, however my taxi to the wedding display was calling me!
The reception was being held in a converted barn at a farm and I needed to keep out of sight as it was a complete surprise for everyone bar the groom (& a couple of ushers!). Right I time I called Nigel in to the delight of the guests (who wondered why they had been called outside on a grey afternoon). The weather was good enough for a flat / rolling display, but the cloud was too low for the full display so no stall turns or lomcevaks to wow everyone today.
Afterwards it was a prompt taxi straight back to Goodwood for the return flight home before sunset (this yak isn’t equipped with lights and cannot fly at night!). Weather was similar on the way home and it was nice to chat to a friend on Southend frequency (even though I wasn’t 100% sure it was him!!). We landed back in good time before official night so all was well. The Yak was put to bed with the promise of one more trip on 8th November for a Poppy Drop at Old Buckenham airfield. We managed to beat the rubbish weather as when driving home the forecast rain and gloom then arrived!

The picture is the front cockpit of the Beast and was my home for 2 hours today. I am kept busy on the flight monitoring temperatures for the oil and engine, fuel management, headings and heights needed to fly (especially through the controlled zones of Southend & Gatwick). It is a home I am very comfortable in and I absolutely love flying the Beast … and I regularly pinch myself and remind myself how lucky I am!