Preparing for my First Flight

I have just bought G-XPBI (BI) from Ken Harness, a great guy with over 20,000 hours of crop spraying under his belt. I caught the train up from London to Grimsby where Ken picked me up and took me to his farm.

The Sluka I bought from Kevin Rutland in 1998 was pretty nice but this looked particularly tidy. It had a fresh permit to fly and was ready to take away. But was I ready to take it?

When I sat in it I realised how much I had forgotten. I've been spoilt for space and there ain't much space in a Sluka! And where was the pull start? I just coudn't remember and I had to trace the pull cord from the Rotax 447 engine down the front strut and into the pod before I found it, tucked in the footwell.

I was sure I knew where everything was but it all seemed different and rather new. I sat in and waggled the stick. It all looked pretty good with some neat trays here and there for the radio and other things (but what?). Ken, definitely one of the old school, told me that he didn't use the radio. Had he done so he, like me, would have found out that it was impossible to reach and, anyway, the press to talk button didn't work. Never mind, trivia!

My pre-flight inspection took over an hour. Two years ago a poor chap was killed in a Sluka when his tail folded because a nut came off. I checked every nut I could see and everything else besides and it was perfect.

Without radio I wanted to avoid the various military air traffic zones so I planned my route via Croft and Saddington, at total of 100 nautical miles. All was ready for the flight.