21/01/2007 by Pudsey.

After all the excitement of yesterday I needed to have a rest today… so I had a long lay-in! My head has now stopped spinning from all those aeros (Nigel keeps saying it’s just the tip of the iceberg… what does he mean?) The roll was brill and is a good move to start with as it’s over so quickly (and I sort of had my eyes open… I was peeping - one eye open and one eye closed!) - if you want to experience it yourself, there’s a video on the website taken from inside the cockpit - and yes, that’s exactly what it’s like!! The loop was good and I was looking forward to this after the roll - so I had both eyes open! You start by diving down to pick up speed and then pull up into the loop - all I could see out of the window was blue sky going up!… then the blue sky changes and becomes land - UPSIDE DOWN - weird!! I then closed my eyes at that point!! Again, there’s a video on the website from inside the cockpit… can’t watch it without closing my eyes yet!!

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20/01/2007 by Pudsey.

“Wattisham Traffic - G-BXJB Airborne”. That’s music to my ears coz that means I actually got to fly in JB - wowee !! The weather at 7am was awful - it woke me up with heavy rain lashing down the bedroom window and the wind howling around - I was sure I wouldn’t fly, but then thankfully the day improved. JB was still stuck in the mud and Nigel only just managed to free it by using the power from the engine - well, I wasn’t going to go in that mud!! I had a photo shoot at both Elmsett and Earls Colne - got to fill my album with lots of pics of little ol’ me! (and what a lovely aircraft JB is - it’s brill !!) On the way we tried out some aeros - a roll and a loop - ooooh! Had my eyes closed on the loop, but felt the “G”!! We had lunch at the Essex, and then flew back to Elmsett to land before it got dark (remember - no lights on the Yak!) On the way back we tried a stall turn - I was fine until Nigel cut the engine… I’ll get him back for scaring me! Great day - pulled +4 and - 1/2G. Can’t wait until the next flight!

More photos are available from the photo album page

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19/01/2007 by Pudsey.

What a beautiful day for flying… and typically no pilots available - not even Mark Tokley. Mark has a lovely plane (posh Cessna!) at Earls Colne and he works with Debs. He’s promised me a ride in his plane (well, alright, he’s said he’ll take Debs - but she’ll take me too!) He works with Debs at Baxters in Earls Colne - well, I say “work” - I think they spend most of their time talking about flying and planes - oops! Hope the boss doesn’t read this diary - I’ll drop them both in it! I’ve been checking the weather out for the weekend and it looks promising for flying, so perhaps I’ll get my flight in JB after all - if we can get it out of the mud!! I know I’m desperate to fly but I’m not sure I want to be pushing a Yak that is stuck in the mud - just think how dirty my fur will get, and I’ve only just recently had a bath ready for a photo shoot!!

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18/01/2007 by Pudsey.

Goodness me what a day - I was scared to walk outside let alone fly! The winds are so strong - Wattisham reported 72mph at the peak, just 3mph short of a hurricane - oops! There have been reports of trees being blown over as well as lorries (yes proper big lorries) and a total of eleven people have been killed in the UK - what an awful day. I watched a plane (proper big commercial one) trying to land at Manchester airport on the news and it looked so scarey - it kept being blown upwards and sidewards - think I’m really glad I stayed on the ground today! It was so bad that they closed the Orwell Bridge and traffic was grid-locked in Ipswich… so I just done the sensible thing and stayed indoors and read the Loop Magazine! Really getting this flying bug now and itching to go in the Yak - really hope this weather improves at the weekend so I can go! Hmmm… early night for me I think.

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17/01/2007 by Pudsey.

No chance of a flight in the Yak today as they’re all out at work so I went back to the photo album. There’s some great photo’s of the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight and again it turns out that they regularly stop over at Norwich between airshows in the summer. I’ve just found a picture of Debs in the Hurricane… Well, anything she can do, I can do better! I’m going to ask Dale to get me a flight in it!! There’s a Lancaster at East Kirkby which regularly goes for a taxi-run… quite fancy a go in a Lancaster - as long as I keep away from the bomb bay doors! Nigel is doing a display at East Kirkby later this year, so I’ll ask when we’re there. There’s also a Spitfire there which will also be displaying when we are… I’m gonna try real hard to get a ride in that (it’s a tandem - so a proper seat just for me!!)… and if they say no I’ll just have to sneak aboard - I can’t be that close to a Spitfire and not have a go…

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16/01/2007 by Pudsey.

After the highs of yesterday it’s back to the lows of today. I was supposed to be joining Debs for her first real flying lesson today - but guess what - bad weather (you can tell we’re back in the UK!) I was looking forward to going in the Yak up to Norwich (really feel in the mood for some aeros now I’ve mastered actual flying thanks to the wonderful easyJet). Also need to have my picture taken with JB - now I’ve started my photo album over the weekend! I also would have had a go in a Cessna and then met the famous Dale (Nigel mentioned something about him being the worlds third best Yak pilot - didn’t get it - must be an “in joke” that I’m missing??) Well, as I couldn’t fly I spent the day supervising Nigel updating the website with all my exploits (well, he does need supervising!). Hope the easyJet staff enjoy looking at the photo’s - maybe they’ll let me know… Time for bed… it’s tiring work being a superstar flying bear you know!

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15/01/2007 by Pudsey.

Hola! What a busy day… check out of Hotel Cervantes… last minute shopping in Torremolinos and then a drive down to Gibralta - last British outpost in Europe. What a fantastic place - made some great friends with the monkeys - they were showing me how to swing from tree to tree and then they even “de-fleaed” me - a ritual of theirs it seems. I did suggest that Nigel had a going over too! What a fantastic runway RAF Gibralta has - a runway in the middle of the sea - not sure if I fancy landing there. Probably have my eyes closed and lifejacket on! Finished my stay in Spain by boarding another easyJet flight home - EZY3120 at 2105 from Malaga to Stansted. I again hitched a ride on the jump seat in the cockpit and made friends with Captain Peter Beeson (Nigel recognises him from the TV! - Wow - a superstar just like me!!) and his crew - lovely crew they were too. Captain Peter announced to the whole plane that I was on board and what I’m up to - wow - really love this flying lark!

More photos are available from the photo album page

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14/01/2007 by Pudsey.

After my excitement of the flight yesterday morning I was happy to rest in the sun by the pool - think the sun has lightened my fur a bit! Today we ventured out about the local area. We drove to Benamadena and had a look around the harbour, and then tried to go in a cable car up a mountain… oooh - didn’t like the look them… little boxes hanging off a wire going up a mountain - I don’t think so! I was so glad to discover they were shut for maintenance. We travelled up to Mijas… oh my word what a road… steep mountain one side, and a steep drop the other… I had my eyes closed for most of the trip - especially with Nigel driving - someone tell him to stick to a Yak!! Well thankfully we got there in one piece and I made friends with a group of Burros (donkeys to you lot!) while they went off and shopped… again! Just how much shopping can you do??! Rounded off an excellent day beside the pool watching the planes take off - Bliss!

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13/01/2007 by Pudsey.

So - I completed it! We flew at 39,000 feet (how high??!) at a speed of 450mph (how fast??!) - slower than normal (what??!) due to a headwind of 70mph! I am so grateful to Captain Tony Gales and his crew as I was able to sit on the jump seat in the cockpit for the whole flight - plenty of legroom there!! I was able to watch all of the goings on and was even able to have a fly when the two pilots took a break to read the print-out of my web page… to think they were happy to leave it all on auto-pilot - I made a much better job! The aeroplane was an easyJet Airbus A319 - flight number EZY3111, registration G-EZIY… and it was brilliant! I was able to watch the sunrise out of the left hand window, while the right side was still dark… and as for the landing… I was excellent… although the First Officer kept shouting “I’ve got it!… I’ve got it!…” - seems like I’ve taught him how to land then with his sudden realisation of how to do it properly! Well, to round off a peaceful flight, the crew wanted their picture taken with me - happy to oblige - thanks guys!!

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12/01/2007 by Pudsey.

OH! MY! WORD! I DON’T BELIEVE IT!! I’m going to fly tomorrow… I’m going on holiday to Spain - wow Wow WOW !! My first flight will be on easyJet EZY3111 - an Airbus 319 going from Stansted to Malaga. Only drawback is that the flight is at 0650 and we have to leave Ipswich at 0400. So? Do they think I’ll be sleeping? I’ll be too excited to sleep, so getting up won’t be a problem for me!! They are going to try to get me a ride in the cockpit with the Captain - Wow!! All those instruments to stop me from looking outside of the window. He’ll fill in my log book for me - my first entry! And I’ll try to get my photo taken with them too! I’m SO excited - now going to pack my bag - hope Debs has room for it with all her luggage she takes! My first flight - wow - ooh - do hope these winds drop otherwise it will be very bumpy… ooh hope I’m not air sick… oooh - just can’t wait!!!

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