Gliding

I bought my nephew, Benji, a gliding lesson for his 21st birthday in June. Not one to rush things, Benji arranged to go last Sunday, 23rd November. I wanted to come along to watch and take pictures.

However, with the heavy snow the day before, it was touch and go if the flight was going ahead, and how possible it would be for us to drive the back roads through to Pocklington near York. Leaving a very snowy, icy Driffield, the nearer we got, the less it had snowed, and the bluer the sky appeared. When we got to the airfield, it looked perfect for gliding. Benji was given his safety instructions, and strapped into his parachute, and squeezed into the tidy cockpit of the small, lightweight glider, with an experienced co-pilot. They were pulled along by a piece of rope attached to a slightly larger, single engined plane. When up in the air, the rope detached and they were on their own to silently glide above the snowy Yorkshire countryside. How fantastic! I do hope I get to have a go sometime – despite my fear of heights, it really does look like a wonderful experience.
Conveniently, I had reminded Benji about my birthday the next day, so he and Toni, together with Liddi and I headed into York for a bit of lunch followed by some interesting seasonal retail therapy. We had a tasty roast lunch at a Jazz café, with live music, and I opened my presents. This way I get to have 2 birthdays!! Nice.