Place Kirton in Lindsey, Date Feb 1964 2 solos down 1 to go and held by showers of wintry rain and sleet crossing the airfield. 643 GS are as eager to get rid of me as I am to finish the course. Duty Inst detects a break in the weather. Wings level cable on and off we go, the KK MK3 rockets into the air! Both cdt and glider rapidly vanish into cloud..bugger.
There are tendrils of lower stuff scudding along below the main cloud base and I've just blundered into it. Now my experience level. Min No of launches and 2 solos should have spelt trouble but oddly it was almost as if I was accompanied by a particularly patient calm voiced instructor.
Voice from back seat. 'Don't panic. Drop nose, Dump cable and pop spoilers, don't turn until we drop out of this muck' It is obvious we are actually flying btween 2 layers of cloud. Thankfully the stuff below us is scattered enough to give glimpses of the ground (broken snow patches, incidentally the best camouflage ever invented, airfields just vanish into the general landscape)
OK flown out of it now, but the winch is a good way behind us. Voice. 'Altitude check turn cross wind and watch for any cloud, barely out of turn when. 'Ok lad now pop spoilers a second or two and turn downwind. Overcook the turn slightly I want us placed well inside the airfield boundary. Got that' 'Yes sir' You've got enough altidue for a short downwind led and quick base leg but there isn't going to be a lot of airfield to land in so don't let it float on finals. 'Yes sir'
We duly fangle round the shortened circuit and he's right of course. There isn't much airfield in front of me and by the time Mk3 and cdt finally slither to a halt the boundary hedge is a lot closer than I've ever seen it before.
The rescue posse duly pile out of the Landrover with a relieved DI asking nonchalantly. 'Go all right did it? Just for a moment there I thought you vanished into cloud. 'I did' Oh! Better not mention it too often it's not supposed to happen' I know.........
Happy days but my guardian angel worked bloody hard that day. He's popped up twice since both times after near fatal cardiac troubles. I often fly that circuit many times in my minds eye and just know I couldn't have done it on my own. Discuss....
