Flying on a sunny winter’s day

We had the most wonderful flight in the Robin the other morning. We awoke to a gorgeous twinkly frost – not quite as heavy as the one I told you about the other week, but still very beautiful. These are my favourite kind of flying days. There was virtually no wind, and the sky was almost completely still – and it was too early for thermals, so no being jostled around by those either.

Once airborne, I hardly even had to fly the plane – it just flew itself, with only the tiniest movements on the controls from me.

We flew over Evesham and around Bredon Hill, where we also had a lovely view of the Malvern Hills (which looked a lot closer in real life than they do in the photo!).

There was a bit of mist around the river up towards Tewkesbury, and close up we could see that there was still a fair bit of floodwater lying around in the fields either side of the river.

Any guesses as to what camera I was using?! (My trusty iPhone, as always)

After enjoying the breathtaking views of the landscape on such a stunning day, we flew back to the airfield for some circuit practice, as I’m still in the process of getting “checked out” on the Robin (that is, cleared to fly it, as it’s slightly different from the planes I’ve flown before). The conditions were so perfect that each approach and landing felt just right, and nicely under control; I even managed to cope with an unexpected practice engine failure after take-off that Lee surprised me with!

Lee said I could go solo if I wanted to, but I declined this time, as I’d like just a few more circuits to help me feel completely confident before I go off on my own. Still, big progress with my confidence levels and I felt really happy with the flight, both in how lovely it was and in my own skill development. You never stop learning as a pilot, and I think it’s good to have on-going challenges like that in your life.