MONDAY 13TH JUNE
We decide to drop into Abbeville for lunch. I manage to ascertain whether the runway is 02 or 20 - always confusing - in French, without even using a crib sheet! I'll learn toi speak French yet. The restaurant is supposed to be open, but isn't. We can't get fuel either, and we didn't get any at Bernay. A quick calculation shows that we'll be OK for Le Touquet, so we set off. We arrive in Le Touquet mid-afternoon, and check the weather. It looks like our luck will hold, and we decide to have a last overnight in France.
TUESDAY 14TH JUNE
The weather is lovely. We take off, and can see the white cliffs of Dover from Cap Gris Nez. We head for Lydd; this is a nostalgia thing on my part, since as a child my family used to go on touring holidays in France, using the Lydd-Le Touquet car ferry. With the time difference, we get there mid-morning, then fly to Oxford, where I leave P. I fly to Wellesbourne to spend the night with a friend. The headwind is picking up horribly, and I really don't want to have to battle it all the way to Sleap, especially as I have a couple more days free anyway. According to all the forecasts I've seen, there's a front due on Thursday, but nothing untoward till then. But the FISO at Wellesbourne shows me the latest wx, and it's changed. The front is now due the next day! I consider leaving; I'm so close; I don't want to get stranded now. But the wind is picking up still more, and I'm too tired; it just wouldn't be sensible. I decide to stay overnight, and get home when I can.
WEDNESDAY 15TH JUNE
I wake up to rain, as expected. I mope around, wondering if I'll be able to leave in the afternoon, or whether I should just take the day off and go sightseeing in Stratford. Eventually I go to the airport, check the wxc, phone Wolverhampton and Sleap, and decide it seems OK. I set off mid-afternoon for Sleap. The vis is great, but the wind a bit strong. At Sleap it's about 25kts, down the runway, but gusting. I'm ready to do a go-around if necessary, but luck is on my side; the gusts stop while I'm on final, and I land safely. I put KF to bed and sadly say goodbye to her...because I wish it wasn't over and I'd like to do it all again!