Post 40: Home !




Have we really been all that way?

  April 4, 2011
"Cranfield Tower
G-VAAC
Inbound with Information Juliet"
"Cranfield G-VAAC Pass your message"
"G-VAAC, PA28
Cranfield to Cranfield via Johannesburg and Le Mans, Abeam Wescott NDB
At 2000ft on 1020
Estimate the field at 46'
2 POB
Request landing"

Alpha Charlie taxis to her usual spot outside Bonus Aviation
at Cranfield where it all started two months ago. A special thanks to the
team there, especially Jo Bampton, Chief Executive, my long-suffering
Instructors and the guys at Bonus Engineering led by Mark Barnard.

Home. Runway 21. Familiar field. Papis show two whites and two reds as we position for finals at 76 knots. 2 stages of flaps. A blustery April day. 18000 nautical miles plus. Over 140 hours. I'll get back to you with the exact numbers when I wake up. No mishaps, no mechanical or electrical failures. The only aircraft in the Fox formation to have got away without any problems. Just a small chip off the prop. Fixeable. Alpha Charlie has been a star. Randy Groom, Vice-President of the Piper Corporation now based in Vero Beach, Florida, sends a message saying "Well done - and yes we do still make them like that." 






Where am I?

 Small reception committee of friends and loved ones. It feels unreal, other-wordly. Alpha Charlie and I left just over 2 months ago. I get a mild ticking off from the tower for not having put in a Gen Dec when I left. That was the day when John McGwyyne met me for the first flight to southern France through poor weather en route to Africa. We had two battery failures. That was along time ago. Kind messages come in from concerned friends across the world.

Reunited with Steve, southbound buddy. 

I shall take a few days to get my bearings and stare at our daffodils. I shall then come back with some considered thoughts about the trip, its organisation and what you need to know if you are thinking of doing it. And in due course I hope to be writing a piece for Flyer, my publication of choice. There are things that need to be said. After a sense of perspective has returned.

(Right to left) Steve, John McGwyne and me. Teamwork. Not easy in a
small cockpit. But deeply satisfying ( most of the time) when it works

I want to say a heartfelt thanks to a few special people:

• John McGwyne, my safety pilot to and from France.
• Steve Moore my rock solid co-pilot on the southbound leg.
• Jo Gemin, French co-pilot for part of the northbound leg.
• Laurie Kay, Chris Briers, his son Darius and wife Diola and Heino Von de Marwe, all of whom worked like Trojans to rescue me out of Mozambique.
• Gilly Butler, Johannesburg Control
• Steve Martin, borderline genius supergeek whose technical help made this blog possible
• Friends and family who stayed in touch
• My fellow TransAfricans. 
• The team at Bonus Engineering, Cranfield led by Mark Barnard who have looked after Archie Charlie over the years. Their care and diligence made sure she got through this trip without (any) malfunction and Mark's advice before we set off proved invaluable.
•  And most of all my wife Victoria without whose long-distance and loving support I would not have been able to get through the trip.

• 

  Alpha Charlie, cosily wrapped up in the British April after
  her African Odyssey. Rest well. You've done more than
  could reasonably be asked of a little 'un