31/05/2007 by Pudsey.

After yesterday and being left out, Debs was determined to fly… so her car went to Bibb Way for a wash and valet while she went to work in JB… with me of course! The weather was great today, much better than the rubbish we had to go back to Elmsett in yesterday. Bradley was glad to see me and took me off on some lessons again - I think he likes me there to advise him in case he gets stuck Our first flight was with Peter Stockdale and he was doing exercise 5 and 6II… hmmm looking good - hope I’m there for your solo Then pilot Ball took me and Bradley to Duxford… “Right Bradley, I know Duxford really well… I’ll land - I’ll land” “OK If I can’t land, I’ll show you around. I’ve got loads of friends here… Right - where’s Tracey?”. We then flew back to Earls Colne… Ohh what a rubbish landing! Nigel was there again when I got back… well the Yak was… I had to wait AGES for Debs to finish work before we could escape back to Elmsett

Posted in Diary | Print | 1 Comment »

30/05/2007 by Pudsey.

Another day at Earls Colne, ooh I like it here - it’s almost my second home My mate Bradley took me flying and just as we were going out the door I saw a familiar shape coming into land… it was Nigel and JB - Oi! What are you doing here?? Nigel had brought Mattie into Earls Colne to wash JB and then meet Debs for lunch. Ooh quick Bradley - let’s go… I’m not washing planes!! We went and did some circuits with Nick Lloyd - ooh he was doing well After that it was time for a ferry flight to Andrewsfield - ooh this is the place where Gemma (the girl from the PPL-UK Forum) is learning to fly. I flew in with Mr Woods in G-SG as it was off for maintenance… and then we had a “hairy” ride home in G-RL and we “bearly” made it back due to poor weather - ooh how it had changed from earlier. Nigel and Mattie were worried about getting back into Elmsett due to the poor weather and also Class A airspace
around Wattisham due to the “royal visitor” to the Suffolk Show. Well a break in the weather came and they made a run for it… with me - yippee - a Yak ride home rather than a car!!

Posted in Diary | Print | 1 Comment »

29/05/2007 by Pudsey.

Rather lazy day today… and rather grot weather - again - some summer this will be! I went to work with Debs but didn’t go flying with Anglian Flight Centres… but we did pop in for a cup of tea at lunchtime! My mate Bradley was there… playing on his laptop So were Carolyn the cash and Victoria the fire-woman and they had sold some more raffle tickets for me - thanks girls!xx After Carolyn saw my collection of badges she decided she wanted to win me herself… best she digs deep in her purse then!! Mattie was busy today resizing my pictures for the web site - he did a great job and finished them all… so all we’re waiting for now is for Nigel to post them on the net… again!! Debs had sewn my patches on my suit now and it’s great coz I have the Union Jack flag on my suit just like Debs and Nigel now Hope the weather improves tomorrow - I really want to fly again… it’s been almost a week now - I’ll get withdrawal symptoms! ooh it’s great being a flying bear

Posted in Diary | Print | 1 Comment »

28/05/2007 by Pudsey.

Southend air show today and we planned to fly there in CN… until the rain put paid to that - and there was lots of it plus strong winds. Anyway we still decided to go - by car - to see what managed to fly. We got there just as the SeaKing finished - “Hi guys - knew you’d make it - coz you’re all great” Saw the Catalina from Duxford and a Hercules - I can’t get over how these big planes look so graceful in the air. Also saw the Black Cats… I think they’d be better of they were the “yellow Bears” Then I was amazed… I saw the Red Arrows… oh oh oh please get me a flight in a Red Arrow - they’re so great. Their 9 ship break is fantastic and so are their opposition passes… Then came the “Blades”… oh please let me ride in them too!! Their “Crazy Formation” is unbelievable! Just when I thought it couldn’t get any better along came a Euro-fighter… and I still want me ride in it!! Great day despite the weather

Posted in Diary | Print | 1 Comment »

27/05/2007 by Pudsey.

Final day of the walk today and they had 5 miles left to walk… and it started to rain - great - cold AND rain. Well after my cold night in the tent I wanted some luxury so I went in the car while they walked. They all made it to the first two checkpoints… then Ben’s group decided they knew better than their compass and they took a longer detour to the next checkpoint! After that it all went to pieces… Matties group ended up at King Pin and Bens group never found Kevins checkpoint - even though they were only yards away from it!! Thankfully they all found the finish point and that was the end of the practice walk. It was then time to relax and catch up on sleep… from being in a cold tent! Debs had taken lots of pics from the walk and Alice wasn’t too impressed later Ooh this walking is hard work - think I’d rather stick to flying - right what’s the forecast for tomorrow…

Posted in Diary | Print | 1 Comment »

26/05/2007 by Pudsey.

Oooh I was supervisor today for a bunch of kids from Burlington and Whitehouse who were doing their Duke of Edinburgh practice walk (Bronze level)! They had to walk 10 miles today… so now you know why I was a supervisor - you don’t think I’m gonna walk do you?? It was great fun watching them map reading and following the planned routes… and I was amazed when they all made it to the camp site and they all managed to put the tents up… even the girls! Later we watched the groups cook their evening meals… ooh there were some funny combinations… and then we all went off to the pub for dinner - well you don’t think a superstar bear is going to have pot noodle round a fire do you??! I wanted to see what this camping lark is all about so I spent the night with Keith and Heather in their tent… ooh it was cold - hey Debs and Nigel come back… next time I’m away from home it’d better be in a warm hotel room!!

Posted in Diary | Print | 1 Comment »

25/05/2007 by Pudsey.

My last day with 22 Sqn today - shame because I think it’s great here. Coz I wasn’t down to fly today I had a nose around Wattisham and I found the Apache’s… oohhh wow - let me fly those beauties They look great… I couldn’t find anyone around to give me a flight… and I couldn’t even get in one coz they were locked Duncan the bird man was taking me back to Elmsett today and he arrived after his shift… shame - I wanted to go and scare some birds in his yellow truck (great colour!!). Duncan told me we can go and scare Lynn at Elmsett… what does he mean… she scares me coz Nigel’s told me she is a witch! Anyway I had to wait with Lynn until Nigel came… and she wasn’t too bad - I’m sure Nigel’s got it wrong about her being a witch. Then it was time to go home… “Hi mum - I’m home and I’ve missed you… but I’ve had a great time”

Posted in Diary | Print | 1 Comment »

24/05/2007 by Pudsey.

Had a nice day relaxing around 22Sqn - we had night training lined up today. So we spent the day on call (and thankfully nobody needed our help - but we were ready) and that involved a lot of day-time telly By the evening we had to get ready and have our training brief before checking the SeaKing over. There are 2 SeaKings based at 22Sqn and I’ve flown on both! We left at 22:45 for our 2 and a quarter hour flight… it was great to be flying at dusk, to watch everything change from being in the day to the night. It’s great flying at night coz everything looks so different with all the twinkling lights. Talking of twinkling lights you should see all the controls in the SeaKing… wow! It’s really cool coz it has systems for auto-hover and auto-position hold… very useful when you’re trying to collect a casualty I was itching to have a go but I really don’t think they trusted me with their “Toy”. Well at least the SeaKing is a cool colour - just like me

Posted in Diary | Print | 1 Comment »

23/05/2007 by Pudsey.

Busy day today coz we were off training with the Met Police launch… ooh better be on my best behaviour then - I don’t want to be arrested! We went for a 2 hour 30 minute training exercise with them… Oh it’s tiring work being in SAR. The police were great whizzing up and down in their launch - it was like James Bond! Mr winch man then had to be winched on and off the boat - oh I see what Nigel means now about them being mad! I had to be look-out and look out of the bubble window to help guide him down… left a bit… left a bit… left a bit more… oops! Sorry that’s the water, not the boat… hee hee hee!! They asked me if I wanted to go down on the winch… err hellooo… Do I look crazy? - No, don’t answer that - I must be mad to fly with Nigel and Debs After all that training it was back to Wattisham for our dinner… think I’ve earned it today Oh yes - thanks Met guys for my badge - it’s great, and the biggest of my collection!

Posted in Diary | Print | 1 Comment »

22/05/2007 by Pudsey.

Wattisham Search and Rescue (SAR) here we come… ! Oooh we flew into Wattisham airfield today instead of flying around it coz I was off to visit 22 Sqn - SAR :-). Debs and Nigel were off to a MCASD… a safety day organised by the CAA and the military… while I was off to search and rescue. I was going to spend the rest of the week flying the big yellow SeaKings with 22 Sqn - great! I met all the crew and they were great guys… even the winch man… Nigel says they’re mad to hang on the end of a rope… but  thought they were fine! At 16:00 (GMT) we went on a training sortie… wow it was great… those SeaKings can really move! It’s also got all the latest high tech rescue equipment in there… and the stretcher was quite comfortable for a snooze! My favourite thing was the “bubble windows”… they’re great coz when you look out of them it’s like you’ve got your head out of the side of the helicopter and you get a great view of what’s going on

Posted in Diary | Print | 1 Comment »