Flying Scholarship at Biggin Hill 1968
First solo in an Aircoupe (G-AROR) after 8:45 at Biggin Hill with Surrey & Kent on 7 Sep 68. I remember that we lodged at a less than salubrious place down the road (Oak Lodge Hotel and Country Club - known as Fenn's Den) and that brown and mild as 1/10½d a pint in Westerham.
The club offered a special deal for the extra 5 hours in a Cherokee 140 to get your PPL - £37/10s. It probably costs a bit more than that now.
I had to blag a day off school to get the qualifying cross-country done later on. The deputy head had some difficulty getting his head round the fact that this spotty 17 year old was going to fly solo from Biggin to Stapleford to Ipswich and back but, after speaking to my mum on the phone, he let me go. So, off to get the 94 then the 410 bus to Biggin as I couldn't yet drive.