Turns out he is very keen and we meet up at the airfield on Saturday with his step-son.
It is one of those showery days with good visibility and fortunately, easy to see and avoid showers. So I do the walk around slowly, explaining what I am doing and why. I give them a detailed safety brief then we load up. I plan on a short hop to Kemble, but via the overhead of Fairford (where Martin gets his shopping at the airbase).
Gloucester is busy, but I get away from 27 with a left turnout. I change to Brize Radar just before the ridge and tell them my plans. They give me clearance to clip the western edge of their zone and overfly Fairford as long as I remain clear of South Cernety (who are 'meat-bombing' as usual). I then set course for Kemble via the Cotswold water park to stay well south of South Cerney, but out of Lyneham zone. I call Kemble who are very good as usual and join left base for 26 with a curving, descending approach to stay inside and away from Kemble village. There is a bit of crosswind, so I crab into it and kick it off in the flare for a nice landing. Taxi and park up and over the the AV8 for coffee and aircraft watching.
Unfortunately, no jets at Kemble today. Only bit of fun was Ultimate High doing a formation take-off in the Extra 300's.
So we load up and take off for a bimble around the area before going back to Gloucester. I level out at 2200' over Stroud and as Martin to take the controls. He is a bit reluctant and I think I can see a 'death grip' as we start climbing slightly. So I tell him the 'think of the yoke as dog t*rds covered in tissue - that is how tight you should be holding it!'. I think he gets the picture!
After that and a chat about the picture of the horizon and flying visually, he holds a good height and heading. We fly over the Severn south of Gloucester, then head to Ledbury. We orbit around the iron age fort on the Malverns then I head to the west of the Malverns for some general handling. I check that they are both happy if I try some steep turns and sweep the area - I may as well have some fun! So I set myself a challenge to do a complete 360 turn each way, holding the height to within 50' either side of 2500', cranking in at least 50 degree AOB if not more and roll out on the original heading. First to the left which went very well, then to the right when I gained then had to lose 100' during the turn and rolled out 5-10 degrees before the chosen heading - well 50% isn't bad I suppose! Jackie in the back is enjoying it as he lets out some whoops in the steep turns.
We wander across to the north of Bredon Hill to Evesham. Along the way, I show Martin the primary and secondary effect of rudder and he has a go. Then we fly along the Cotswold ridge to Winchcombe then along to where we both live for a 'spot the house' orbit.
I get the ATIS then call Gloucester for rejoin. I hear on the ATIS that despite a wind at 260 they are giving runway 22 and saying runway 27 is out of action - sounds ominous!
I do a standard overhead join for 22 and crab into the crosswind. A bit fast in the flare so I float a while, then kick the crab off for a very soft landing (more luck than judgement I think!). Martin was pretty good and can hold height and a heading. Next time i'll show him turns and holding height in those.
We park up and get a few pictures. I ask at reception what the story was with 27 and was told that a 'Tiger' (Moth or AA5??) had an 'incident' and goudged the runway, so it was close until inspection and repair. No trace of a damaged aircraft or ambulances, so I hope everyone was OK.
On the way out I drop into Transair. Annie is sorting the new south of England maps which have just arrived - great, i'll have one! I recognise Manuel Queiroz (the round the world record attempt from Gloucester in an RV8) and have a chat. He is selling shares in his aircraft. 1/6th for £10000 plus monthlies. I am sorely tempted, but as there are two shares for sale in my current group, it is hardly the time to sell. But I will bear this in mind for the future as shares are bound to come up - 170kts in a two seat taildragger would be great fun!
Well, I now have the aircraft booked in for its annual on 4th September and will start the task of updating the logbooks. Next flying is hopefully more taildragging next week - hopefully some crosswind handling.
