(Warning - possible long & rambling post ahead! 
)
It was May, 1981. It was in the pub, and my brother, Terry, announced he was popping down in a couple of days to Sunderland Flying Club for a trial flight. Having always had an interest in that direction I said I'd pop down too. We were taken up in a 172 by a chap called Les, I think, who introduced himself as an ex-Lancaster pilot. Terry and I loved it, signed up (the £36/hour was very affordable to me at that time) and off we went. Terry dropped out after about 4 hours, citing new furniture suites and domestic pressure in general; I, being unattached, was immune from such interference.
And so I went on my merry way through '81, upto & including first solo. Sunderland was a great place to be then: at the airshow I met & drank with Ted White of Sally B fame, I also watched one of the Tiger Club's Turbs tip on its nose
three times as it tried to taxi off the apron. Later I flew with John Maclean and Marcus Edwards in their ex-Rothmans Pitts S2as and was subjected to the rather disorientating experience of a full aero routine, & got to try slow rolls and stall turns myself. Heady days!
On January 3rd, 1982, the bailiffs called at our home - Dad's business was an early caualty of the 80's recession. And so began a long period of dire personal trauma which I shan't detail here but it shoved the flying right out of the window, and my heart with it. I was in
LOVE! Flying was now hooked into my soul and nothing could change it. I was also bereft
GLIDING
By '84 I had moved to Kent to pursue musical work. While drinking (what a coincidence!) with Bunty I happened to mention to him this unrequited love of mine. He said, "If you come with me Saturday morning, I'll show you where you can be taught to fly for free, get free board and lodging and travelling expenses!"
Come again?
And so I wound up at 617 ATC Volunteer Gliding School, Manston. Bunty was a 'B' cat instructor and made the necessary intros to the Boss & I was in.
And he was right. I was taught to fly for free, provided I could keep up the commitment (I mean, is the Pope Catholic?). I was with them for four years and moved on to Kent Gliding Club. However, the birth of my son meant I just couldn't afford the time now! Nevertheless, I was now a glider pilot
but still with a hankering for that PPL.......
A RESTART
1991 - A wife and family now. Work was going pretty well and my persistent sighs, nostalgic chatter and general skyward gazes following the Lycoming drone were paying off - I could resart the PPL! I'd always been interested in historic aviation and tailwheel seemed to be the way to go so I started with Medway Flight Training and their Cubs. Through the summer I got back up to solo standard (a great hour in the warm sun, solo circuit bashing at Rochester) but as time wore on things were becoming more strained - domestically and financially.
So the flying stopped for the second time. To try and live a normal life with such anguish bombarding the front of your brain is a most trying test to face; and only people such as ourselves can know it, I think. It must really seem so trivial to the ground-dwellers.
On we trundled through the years with all the helter-skelter rides of bringing up a family. (And speaking of helter-skelters - don't you find the best theme parks really tame when you've done aeros in a Pitts? - and isn't it great we've got a forum like this to say things like
that!
)
WHERE THERE'S HOPE.....
2002, and a financial re-alignment(!) meant that I could give it another go. Joy and Hallelujah! Off to Headcorn now, continuing the tailwheel training and an introduction to the low wing set up of the Jodel 150.
I had a great time. Great instructor and a friendly airfield. I was moving onto cross countrys by March 2003 before deteriorating finances again pulled the plug. By now I was getting more philisophical. I recognised that poor planning had resulted in the premature curtailment of at least two of my attempts. But I hadn't finished here. I knew that this was the way I wanted to finally finish the PPL - with this outfit, airfield and instructor.
Now, finally, the blasted finances look like being sorted (look at TheMotleyFool.co.uk as a great resource for help in sorting out a few little fiscal problems!
) and I'm setting aside means for completing the PPL in Summer
next year. Should be able to do it over the long summer hol, weather permitting. And if I get the damn exams out of the way...
Thanks for reading, if you've got this far. I'll update with intermittent and infrequent progress reports.
Kev.