by Amy Chandler

Those of you that have met me will know I am good at drinking cider.  July’s Cider Saunter was no different.  I visited all 26 participating pubs along with 5 lucky dips and drank at least one East Midlands cider in each. This led me to win the opportunity to take a pleasure flight with a friend out of Nottingham airport piloted by the talented Andy Stretton.

With the date booked I was a little nervous and wasn’t sure whether I would feel sick in the air.  I don’t do well with my feet off the ground.  The day arrived and there were beautiful blue skies and a gentle breeze.  Perfect for flying.  Andy completed the pre-flight checks while Heather told us about what to do and helped Chris into the plane.  Once Andy was in and we were all strapped in and locked down, off we went. Taxiing down the runway, to radio chatter in the headset, there was no going back now.

Take off was a little scary but once you got your eyes on the horizon and got used to the noise and feeling of being in the air we settled in for the flight.  We headed out across the city with good views of Trent Bridge and the sports stadiums.  It wasn’t long before we were over the M1 and heading for Matlock and then on to Chatsworth House.  The clear skies with scattered clouds meant you could see for miles and miles. 

It wasn’t long before we were turning around and heading back towards Nottingham.  Banking was unsettling and exciting all at the same time. Andy took us back over Sherwood Forest.  We got a good view of Sherwood Pines, The Major Oak and then the Old Green Dragon at Oxton.  As we came in to land, the rapids at Holme Pierrepont looked awesome.   It was a super smooth landing, and I was so surprised that 45 minutes flight time was already over.  A great experience and I can only thank Heather and Andy for the chance to see Nottingham from that angle in such a tiny plane!