Welcome to 2025

Happy New Year

Have a great 2025, and after 29th January a good Year of the Snake.
Hopefully this year will be a better one for all of us.


Arctic winds brought below zero freezing temperatures

The first day of 2025 was one of dreadful weather and so there was no flying.
The second day we took a drive up to Dunkeswell where under a beautiful clear sky there was nothing happening.

Flying is definitely a shadow of its former self, lacking in the enthusiasm that I grew up with.
Forty years ago we'd race to the aerodrome to try to be the first to fly from the aerodrome in the New Year.
So I begin this year a little sad, but on the other hand I have so many superb memories from over fifty years of flying.
The world changes; accept it and make the best of it.

On friday I drove the 111 miles to Popham which is a haven for aviators.
The café was open and so I sat down to a pasty and baked beans as the Aircoupe was off for a local flight.
Outside it was like a Fly-In with many visiting aircraft. Inside the café was full of people enjoying each other's company, and many of them were not flying people. A good aerodrome café is an asset for the local community; a place to go when out for a cycle ride, motorcycle ride, or a trip in the car.
Unlike Dunkeswell, Popham was thriving with active people.

The Aircoupe returned so I stopped for another cup of tea, and a biscuit with David and Mark, then it was time to go for a flight, but it wasn't.
Ben turned up in his Super Cub, and so I stayed for a coffee.

After coffee I could follow Ben out and do three circuits in the Aircoupe.
So I got my first fifteen minutes flying of 2025 with three landings on 26 while accepting the challenge of approaching into the sun.

Saturday was overcast and so I didn't venture out, but I wish I had as the weather was not that bad.

Another change from 40 years ago is that we're all poorer, most people do not have the disposable income that affords going flying. Even though flying is actually no more, (relatively), expensive than when I learned to fly, it's just that everything else is so much more expensive.
At seventy my life's a bit of a disaster, my pensions are puny, yet I do work every day, but not for a salary.
Yesterday and today I helped a friend to determine why the magneto on his aeroplane is not working.
Yesterday it was to advise an instructor in Canada about the legalities in teaching a person in a privately owned aeroplane.
If I was a lawyer I'd be on the clock and earning a lot of money, I'm just an aviation consultant with many friends.

I have an offer to buy half the aeroplane which means I can pay off some bills with some left over to live on.
I would like to keep flying if I can.

My subscription to this URL runs out in March, I have until then to decide whether I renew it for another five years.

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