Flying

By Jane Scoggins 

Colin had wanted to have flying lessons but his Dad had said

 ‘No, you are too young.'

 Colin had kept on asking until finally, his Dad said

 ‘OK, I will take you out with me on a fine day.’

Colin was overjoyed and could hardly wait. He instinctively knew he would love it and felt confident. He waited patiently watching the sky every day to see what was up there and what the weather looked like. At last, the day came when Dad said he would give him a flying lesson. His Dad, Ray, had been flying a long time. He was both competent and confident, but it had taken many hours of flying, sometimes the weather had taken an unexpected turn for the worse and he had had to make emergency landings. There had been other scary times and incidents, but he wasn't going to tell Colin about them. He felt that Colin was overconfident, cocky in fact, and he would have to learn that he must keep his wits about him in the air if he wasn't to come a cropper early on. That would never do and may knock his confidence badly. Ray didn't want that of course. He himself loved flying, it was his life, and he wanted his son to enjoy it the same as him. So it was a fine balance in teaching him the pros as well as the cons. To be aware of hazards, and manage the upward, as well as the downward currents, was important. Colin couldn't expect to be like Tom Cruise in Top Gun no, he had to be slow and steady till he got his wings and expected to go solo.

 The day of the first lesson was a bit chilly, but a clear day and blue enough sky. Vision would be good and hazards easily spotted. Ray took Colin up in the air, not too high, just high enough so the wind wouldn't buffet them, but high enough to get a clear view of the houses and gardens beneath them and be above the telephone wires. Colin was more nervous than he thought he would be at first, but he followed his Dad’s instructions and soon he became more confident and could start looking around, and then down.

 ‘Wow, the view is amazing up here Dad’ I knew it would be good, but it is better than I thought. Can we go a bit further? I can see blue over there that looks like water, what is it?’

 ‘That'll be the river son. We won't go that far today. We’ll save that for another time.'

 After flying around for a while Ray said it was enough for Colin’s first lesson and it was time to land and have lunch.

They came into land without any trouble and Colin was pleased as he knew landing could be as tricky as taking off. They had a choice of where to go to dine. Ray decided on one of the new places on the London Road. He had been to check them out last week and knew what was generally on the menu at each. At number 8 it would be bread and cake, at number 12 it would be mealy worms or sunflower seeds and at 14 it would most likely be a generous quantity of multigrain on their large bird table platform. It was big enough for both of them. The added advantage was that there was no cat or dog in the garden. So that was where they decided to go for lunch.

Copyright Jane Scoggins