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Old 3rd Mar 2003, 07:48
  #157 (permalink)  
Hairyplane
 
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: Midlands
Age: 71
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MMMmmmaggie

Another interesting anecdote from Barry Clay (Wings Over Warwickshire) -

Roys story of the landing Cygnet at Heathrow reminded me of a similar incident about 1968,the flying club at Baginton where I worked had a variety of even by then vintage aircraft flying,but they were not looked at in that light just useful aircraft to teach people to fly.
Anyway one day this charming young American lady came along to the club house one day and said that she was staying in this country for a while and wanted to do some aerial sightseeing,oh thats fine we can get a instructor to take you up,no she said I have my FAA licence and want to take my boyfriend up with me,so we wheeled one of the Miles Magisters (G-AKKY) out of the hangar,filled it up and off she went into the blue,it was time to lock up for the day and all of the Austers,Tigers etc were safely in the hangar except the Magister which had not returned ! getting a little concerned we rang the tower who said the aircraft was last reported over the Stratford area circling Shakespeares birthplace ! but as the aircraft was non-radio nobody knew quite where it was after that.
We went home and just put it down to another lost aeroplane who had probably put down in a field for the night which was nothing unusual in those free and easy days,the next morning the newspaper headlines said 'Little old Cheryl chauses chaos over London Airport' apparently she had got terribly lost and wandered South towards what was then London Air Port (now Heathrow) seeing all the airliners and runway below she decided to land on the perimeter track as it was getting dark and she was running short of fuel,
Little Cheryl was never seen again and we had to fly the Auster down with a instructor to pick up the Magister,what amazes me on reflection is that we never even checked what types of aircraft she had flown in the States,off she went and that was it !'

Thanks Barry!

HP
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