Previously Published Book
Biographic
Memoir
I eventually opened the throttle and gathered speed and suddenly I soared into the air and the feeling was magical. Here, for the first time in my life, was what I had dreamed about for years and years – flying an aeroplane unattached to the ground, by myself.
Of course I was nervous. I turned cross wind, then down wind, then cross wind and eventually lined up for landing. The difficulty here was to know how to judge just how high you were and what speed you had so that you could land without bumping from a great height or flying into the ground bumping and bumping until you came to a stop. What all pilots aim for and hope to achieve is to put the wheels down at the same moment as the tailskid - a three point landing.
After more instruction and, on my part, more dedicated attention to the detail of what I had been taught, I eventually did manage to make a three point landing. The feeling was one of great exhilaration.