21/10/2007 by Pudsey.

Another nice hot sunny day… lovely We had another relaxing pool day today, but went to the upstairs pool instead of the downstairs one - less flies!! Debs and Nigel spent most of the day reading so I decided to read too… Debs has finished the Douglas Bader story so I picked it up… Ooh it’s good… I have something in common with Dougals… we’ve both flown Spitfires!! He was a brave daring man who was fearless in battle and the story is well written - you can imagine that you too were flying with him Love the book - am going to enjoy reading this. Wonder if I’ll get another Spitfire flight in before the end of my flying year?? I’ll have to see who I need to talk to!! I’ve actually been in three spits - the BBMF one, the HAC one with Charlie Brown, and the OFM one with Paul Bonhomme… I wonder how many people can say that!! Ohh it’s great being a flying bear

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20/10/2007 by Pudsey.

Nice relaxing lay in (lovely)… opened the curtains to check the weather - brilliant… Sunny day and hot… it made it to 25 degrees today After a lovely breakfast - eat as much as you want (yum yum!!) we deciding to go to Malaga for the day. We got the train and then found the city bus tour - it was brill… we got to visit all the sites and could get off and explore as well… so we explored the castle… had some Tapas next to the cathedral and then finished of the trip with some shopping… told you Debs loved shopping!! When we got back to the hotel we rounded off the day by going to the pool to sunbathe and swim… Oh you should see my tan coming on!! Mind you it’s quite hot sunbathing when you wear a permanent fur coat!! Finished off the day again by a Chinese - we love that restaurant!! And plane watching on the balcony.

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19/10/2007 by Pudsey.

Yippeeeee - holiday time again and we’re off to Malaga again… with EasyJet again - yippeee! And I got to rise on the flightdeck - again - brilliant… I’m such a brilliant airline pilot. The guys were all so desperate to have their picture taken with me Well it was great in Spain - sunny and hot… yippeeee!! We went shopping at the market at Belamedena… well you know Debs ans hopping Then it was back to Torri and the hotel for a rest - before heading out to our favourite Chinese restaurant for a meal - yum! We rounded off the day by relaxing on the balcony watching the comings and goings of the planes at Malaga - brilliant. It’s amazing how the planes take off and land at the same point - such good pilots I love coming to Spain it’s such a different way of life - so relaxing… perhaps I can find a ticket winner who lives in Spain… then I can watch these planes all day!!

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18/10/2007 by Pudsey.

The day after the birthday… and now it all seems so flat… and Debs is just old!! Went to the flying club - but again no flying - just what is wrong with 2007 - the number of no fly days has been huge - far more than any other year it seems… typical when it’s my flying year As it’s been bad weather I thought I’d learn about forecasts… they have TAF’s and METARs… yes I know - what??!! Apparantly TAFs are forecasts of a particular aerodrome whereas METARs are the actual weather at the aerodrome… Oh I see!! When you go flying you need to check both the TAF and the METAR of where you are and where you are going… and anywhere in the local area! Then when you’ve got them, you need to understand what they mean… it’s all about PROB30 and PROB40 and TEMPO and lots of numbers… ooohhh I think I need to go back to my book and learn what they all mean… it’s double dutch to me!! Nigel just gives me the look and laughs

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17/10/2007 by Pudsey.

Happy Birthday to Debs today!! Oh she’s old now - it’s her 40th birthday!! Oops - thin I’m getting the “Dale” look from her Due to the double shifts starting at work, Debs is on lates today and doesn’t have to be at work until 1pm, so that meant she got a lay in which she was very happy about!! Then it was time to open the prezzies… coz there were lots from the party that she hadn’t opened yet! Because there was so many I had to lend a hand to help her… oohhh I was good at that!! Then we went and picked cakes up for the flying club and also work… yummie that meant I got two!! I went to the flying club while Debs went to work… bad choice - no flying for me today… but Debs had another cake at work and I missed out I did have to remind Top Gun Brad that is was her birthday so he quickly stuck his head out of the window to wish her “Many Happy Returns”… he’d have forgotten if it wasn’t for me!! This birthday seems to have been going on for a week!!

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16/10/2007 by Pudsey.

Back to normality today and back to Earls Colne… to impress Bradley with my tales of formation with a Dakota!!! Actually we were even on TV last night as the wedding was filmed and publicised - yippeeee - my fame just keeps on spreading - several of Debs workmates commented on it Not a flying day today - again - the British weather this year and students just don’t seem to mix Went back to reading the air law book - hmmm… nearly fell asleep twice!! I had a go at some of the questions at the back of the book - “oh my days” they’re hard… think I need to do lots more reading!! However am getting quite an expert at the 500 foot rule (quite important when you’re doing displays!!) - I know you have to be 500 feet away from any person vessel of structure and that it doesn’t have to be 500 feet high - just 500 feet away… are you impressed?? Shame that there’s lots more to the exam… I’d better go back to my reading and learning… wonder if Debs has learnt that yet!!

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15/10/2007 by Pudsey.

Yippeeee! A flying day today… After all the party excitement of the last few days. We’re off to do some formation flying with a Dakota from Air Atlantique for the wedding of Mustafa’s friends. We got to Cambridge airport nice and early and watched a “student” go solo in an Extra while we waited for the Dakota to come in. Debs tried her luck for a ride on the jump seat, but was out of luck with it being a commercial flight and she wasn’t crew!! So instead we all went in the Yak and Debs got some great pictures of the Dakota… while the Dakota pilot got some great pictures of us in the Yak!! Time to swap them on email soon I think. I loved the formation bit because everyone on board was looking at me and waving - it’s great being a famous loveable bear then we found out that the TV cameras were on board and we featured in the late evening news - brilliant… I’m really famous now - “Pudsey - the Flying Bear” I really love this flying lark. Long may it continue!!

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14/10/2007 by Pudsey.

Then it was time for the big clear-up… Actually it wasn’t too bad - all the decorations had to come down and the tables and chairs had to go away… and then it was time for Janie to go home… but not before a couple of fly-bys to say “Happy Birthday” Debs. The noise as she left was great and even caused Victoria in the village to take her son outside to see it. After that it was time to go off to Panto practice (oh no it wasn’t… oh yes it was!!) at the village hall. It was the day of casting and auditions and after much deliberating, Nigel was cast as “Grandma” (pantomime dame - hee hee!!); Ben as PC Young; Lynn (the Elmsett Witch) as the “old Woman” and the “Robber Chief”, and Debs as the “snow Queen” - a real baddie Sounds great - can’t wait to see it in February… Oh wait - hang on… I won’t be with Debs and Nigel in February… I’ll be in my new home so I may not get to see it Hope my new mum likes panto…

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13/10/2007 by Pudsey.

Whhheeeeee! Party time!! We spent the day getting the hanger ready - hanging the parachute, blowing up balloons - with Helium - great stuff Then Debs was happy coz Maurice and Janie flew in - it’s surprising how much man (and bear) power is needed to get Janie in the hanger - phew! Debs was busy making sarnies and getting all the food ready - then it was a mad dash home to get ready and then come back for the party - and what a great evening it was too. Most people came in fancy dress and they all took part in the Jitterbug dancing - brilliant - the atmosphere was really good Uncle Dale and Andrea also came down even though Andreas baby was due in 8 days Debs loved her cake - as I said she would and we got some nice pictures of the occasion… And I didn’t even mind letting Debs have centre stage for a little while… as long as she doesn’t make a habit of it Everybody seemed to enjoy themselves and Janie looked fab in the hanger with all the party decorations around - very 1940’s!!

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12/10/2007 by Pudsey.

David’s been busy today, he’s has to move all the aeroplanes in for maintenance outside and then it was time to clean out the hanger… bet he’s wishing he never said yes to hosting the party now!! Nigel’s also been busy making final arrangements about bringing Janie in - hope the weather will be alright… wouldn’t like to see Debs face if it couldn’t get in - oops! It was also the night of the big shop today trying to get all the food - what a dilemma! Think Debs was getting really stressed trying to organise it all - good job she’s not 40 every year - and she really shouldn’t really be getting stressed at her age. After the shop it was then the panic of where to store it all - why is it that you never seem to have enough storage space?? I did offer to solve their problems by eating all the surplus food but that didn’t go down very well as you can image Roll on tomorrow and let the fun begin…

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