Having received my shiny brown licence (thanks a lot CAA - nice colour choice) and been signed off on a PA28 (having learnt on C152s) there I was ready to take my first flight as a "real" pilot.
Was accompanied by a mate who flies a lot (has his own plane etc) so felt a little pressured going through my checklists etc - combination of rustiness and "exam-like" conditions of a more experienced pilot being next to you...
Sure the day had been wet, but the weather had cleared and we were just going to do a very quick local flight and come home. No problems.
The start up and radio call went well and we taxiied out across the grass heading for somewhere to do our power checks.
Headed left a bit to avoid some rough ground and we started to slow down - first a bit, then really quite a lot. No problem - wet ground - more power. Still slowing, more power, still slowing, full power - stopped. Errrr.........help?
After a bit more rocking and powering - still nothing. Not quite a CAP413 radio call...."Er....XXX Information....G-XXXX stuck in the north side grass.....er......shutting down and seeking assistance?"
Jumped out to find mud over ankle-hight, plane wedged solid. Took 6 of us 20 mins to get her free. Just as we finished, huge cloud, much rain, we're all soaked. Cup of tea time.
First flight as fully-fledged pilot - hight achieved -8 inches.
Its all glamour this flying malarky.......
