Christchurch and District Model Flying Club
 

The Diary of a flier—the final part

By Leonard B wiseman

At last the day has come. I can hardly believe it. I had almost forgotten about the Spitfire which started me off in this whole hobby.

I began by buying 'a Spitfire and trying to fly it by myself but of course it crashed. My friend Walter took it home and promised that we could repair it together. However what with flying, building and general maintenance together with family life I have not had time to do anything about it and was pleasantly surprised that he had rebuilt it. He is a superb builder. Much better than me and it looked as good as new. We started the engine, a very nice OS90 four stroke. It echoed down the tunnel of the fuselage and sounded really good. Not quite like a Merlin but nearly. I taxied it out to the flight line.

My nerve faltered and I asked Walter to take it off. He refused. You have passed your A certificate and fly quite well you do it. So after checking that all the moving bits went the right way I pointed it in to the wind and slowly opened the throttle. Off she went gathering speed. When I thought she was fast enough I pulled back the stick gently and she lifted off. Spitfires are a bit of a handful as we all know. But I kept the speed up to about three quarters throttle, and she flew well. I did a few Circuits then Crispin my son who was with me said try a loop. A bit more throttle, push the nose down then take it over the top. Cut the throttle at the top and down she came straight and level. Can I have a go he asked. I handed the transmitter to him He flies with such assurance soon he was doing a loop and a victory roll. He then beat up the strip and handed it back to me. I took it up in a gentle curve. Up into the blue sky which had a few fluffy clouds. I thought of the young pilot in the war who had written that poem about playing up in those clouds. This was not quite like that, but very near. I could hardly believe that I was flying such a beautiful aircraft into the blue sky .That it would go where I wanted and how I wanted. Something that was not possible in my Fathers time, and not even thought of in my Grandfather’s time.

Walter told me to land or I would run out of fuel. I brought it in over the runway. I wanted to do a roll. Over she went a touch of down when she was upside down then some up when she came the right way up. I came around on finals. Wheels said .Crispin, down they came. I lined it up with the runway and this most beautiful of aircraft sank gently down. I flared out and did a perfect landing. No not a perfect landing a magical one. There is a touch of magic in this hobby when we can fly such planes with such precision. I taxied it back to feet like the big boys do. I had succeeded in flying Spitfire and it felt wonderful.

As I towed it back to the flight line I reviewed the past years. Through this Hobby I have made many friends, and become friends with my son. I have derived so much pleasure in flying aeroplanes. As a mark of my acceptance I have been asked if I would become club treasurer a post which I have accepted

That is really the end of Leonard’s story, but in a postscript, he added:

.I set out to fly the Spitfire. After many trials and tribulations I have succeeded. I think that this episode of my life has been concluded in a most satisfactory way. I hope to continue flying until I am forced to stop. One of my non flying friends asked me how many planes I had crashed. I told him that I had never crashed a plane. They crash themselves I try to keep them airborne. I think that it is time conclude my diary which has given me a great deal of pleasure to write. And I hope some pleasure to the readers.

This should really bring a tear to your eye. Brian Wiseman, the genius behind LBW’s story has himself had to give up aeromodelling “because of old age” he says, and is now constructing a large model railway. He did add that if he still feels well after the winter he may be out flying a glider from time to time.

Let’s hope so - Ed

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