Chocks Away

On Sunday, Dad took to the skies over Dorset for his 60th birthday present, a flight in a 1930s De Havilland Tiger Moth biplane.

He was very apprehensive about going up; a week before Dad's flight, there was a tragic crash at the airfield involving another Tiger Moth. When we arrived at Compton Abbas Airfield we were greeted by the sight of a fire engine and ambulance on the grass runway tidying up after another small incident.
This did not nothing to ease Dad's nerves.

On arrival we were told that it was too windy and to check back in half an hour to see if the weather conditions improved.

While we waited outside, the owners pulled out the Tiger Moth. This seemed to ease some of Dad's fears and now he was eager to go up if the weather improved.

We were given the all clear. The wind had dropped and the skies were starting to brighten up.

Dad got kitted up in a leather flying jacket, helmet and goggles.

Chocks away! With the engine now up to full power the pilot and Dad taxied out to the start of the airstrip. They started the run down the field and within about 20 seconds the old bird (the plane, not the passenger) was airborne.

The flight lasted for 30 minutes before the plane emerged above the trees and headed for the end of the runway for its landing.














A very excited Dad jumped out of the cockpit to tell us all about his flying adventure. We were all glad and very happy to see that he really enjoyed his birthday present.

















Three months of planning, two weeks fearing impending doom, thirty minutes of worrying because of bad weather. Fullfilling a boyhood dream: Priceless.
Happy Birthday Gord, Dad, Pop.

On the way home we stopped at Shaftsbury for a walk up and down Gold Hill, a very old street made famous in the 80s by a Hovis bread commercial. The wall on the right in the family picture is 700 years old and used to be the outer wall of Shaftsbury Abbey. The view from the top of the hill over the rolling Dorset countryside are breathtaking.