Black Friday

Dates like "Friday the thirteenth" tend to make some people freak out. Said to be one of the unluckiest days of the calendar year, I found it to be very lucky.

I had a half hour sleep in, rode to my Chiropractic appointment, then headed down to Jandakot Airport to the Royal Aero Club of WA for a flight in a Tigermoth.

Usually about $190 for a half hour flight, I got a mates-rates deal with the one of the gentlemen I met at the Engineering visit to the RAAF Pearce airbase, Paul Falconer-West.

Paul and I got up to the Tigermoth and I got strapped in and rugged up (note the ski goggles in the photo) whilst we waited for an instructor to come out and bump start the old girl. Once started, we headed to the skirt of the tarmac for a four-minute startup sequence. Not long after we got the all clear from the control tower and we were ready for take off.

A few minutes passed and we were at altitude. At this point Paul let me grab the controls and let me steer; "20 degrees left, keep your nose up". I can't believe I got to fly a 1940's Tigermoth for about 15 minutes! It was a truly awesome experience.