I was originally going with Steve Morley, but he had to bow out as he was preparing to move house, or some feeble excuse like that. In the end, I asked a couple of friends (Richard and Dave) who seemed only too pleased to come along (even after having flown with me the previous year!).
I met my friends at Denham at 9am and checked the aircraft and filled out all the paperwork. We took off at exactly 10am (local) flying passed Milton Keynes and Kettering (to remain clear of various restricted areas due to air displays and a gliding competition) arriving at Leicester at 10:50.
Rod was already there with Nick when we arrived. We had a drink, then went for a wander round to look at some of the aircraft. It was then that I noticed G-BFZT which Wendy had said she would be arriving in and G-PHAA arrived just then, too, which was Philip's expected transport.
We all returned to the restaurant and ordered some food. More people were turning up (Jane, Pete and David with passengers) and we ended up re-arranging all the outside tables so we could all sit together. We also had a local (Sarah) who's own plane was sitting in the hangar nearby.
After lunch, with plenty of chatting about our recent adventures and introductions all round, we all headed off once more to have a look around the various craft parked about and have the obligatory photo taken.
I had received a call from Denham during lunch that they had a crosswind of 25kts so elected to hang around for a while to see if it would die down. Rod and Pete stayed for a bit, too, checking weather while everyone else prepared for their onward journeys.
We then noticed a small red plane arriving and, as it made its approach, we recognised the umistakable Kittiwake of Richard and went out to greet him as he arrived.
Pete and Rod elected to head off and I hung around to chat with Richard for a while and check see how Denham was fairing (my alternative would have been to go back to Wycombe and get rescued from there by someone from the club which I was none too keen on).
By 4pm, Denham were reporting 14kts so that was it, time to sort out heading off. I said fairwell to Richard and set off back. By the time I was back in the Denham circuit, they were giving 5kts almost down the runway. Phew!
This was a very memorable event for me for several reasons. Firstly, this was my first UK away landing (I did most of my training the the US and all my flights in the UK since have been local sight-seeing with friends landing back at Denham) and when I landed at Leicester I felt just as I did when I finished my first solo cross-country almost exactly 2 years before! Also, it was a great feeling to have organised an event with so many people attending by air! And it was also good to see several new faces and also to meet some of those who were at the Sywell event again.
Attendees were:
Neil Gascoigne was also there mid morning, but missed everyone unfortunately. Next time, we should try to have some way of recognising each other!
Sarah won the award for shortest distance travelled (her aircraft still in the hangar!) and the furthest was between Richard and David.