After a couple of cancellations due to bad weather (one at the last moment when sitting on the runway) Roy finally took off at 4.50 p.m. on 23rd October 2001. As an experienced plane modeller, Roy already knew the jargon and the basics and so took to the real thing like a rabbit to a burrow.

Roy's lessons are based at Shoreham airport, in a Warrior 4-seater plane.

Much to his surprise, Roy was given control from the beginning. Initial taxiing might have caused a traffic policeman to look for his breathalyser, but his takeoff was fine.

He went on to show his expertise to the populations of Shoreham, Eastbourne and all settlements in between. One phrase that will stay in his mind for quite a while was a direction from his Flying Instructor, "Let's go and play with that cloud".

The Instructor said afterwards that in his first lesson, lasting about an hour and twenty minutes, Roy had covered the equivalent of the first 2 or three lessons. Since then Roy has had further sessions and has completed lessons on full aircraft instrumentation, flying straight and level, take-off and landing, and scaring the stuffing out of seagulls. Follow his progress here!