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The story of HW and AY
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| We had enjoyed
flying our previous plane a very pretty Cessna 140 for nearly five years
but she was having difficulty getting in and out of short strips when
carrying two people who like their bacon baguettes.
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| Martin
researched what plane he would like and decided that it would have to be a
Cessna 170 or 180. We soon discounted a 180 on cost, but hoped that
maybe the funds might stretch to a 170. There were three 170's on
the British register but none of the owners wanted to part with
them. So in February 2003 while on a business trip to the US we
went to visit our Californian flying friends, Neal, Tom, Lloyd. Jack
and Bob. We had heard that Bob, who owned two 170's may be persuaded
to sell one of them. We went to Livermore airfield to meet him.
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flew for a while with him and it did not take Martin too long before he fell in
love with her. We even went with him to a 170 flyin to Concord, North of
Livermore at
the Sheriton Hotel. Flyins in the US are quite different to those we
enjoy in the UK.
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| After
many faxes, Emails and very early morning telephone calls to the bank in
England. Remember there is an eight hour time difference. We
got the money wired over to Bob's bank and a typical US burger meal with
Bob at Livermore restaurant sealed the deal. We had already
discussed with our
friends at Aerofab our intentions and they started the paperwork before
we left California to return home.
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had decided against flying the plane home, far too risky and time
consuming. So we opted to have her shipped back. We were so
fortunate to have our friends in California, as they, under the close
supervision of Bob de-assembled and packed the plane after it had been removed from
the US register. This involved lots of paperwork.
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They ensured the safe storage
of the plane into a forty foot
container. Bob was determined to look after his "baby" and
ensure we got her in the best condition possible. We received this
picture of the container on its way to the railway station to try to
reassure us. It did sort of....
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container went by rail to Houston, then by ship to Felixstowe, and finally
by road to the airfield. The
worst three weeks of Martin's life. Many a time had we looked out at
the container ships passing the Isle of Wight, wondering how unsafe their
cargo looked.
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| Finally on 23 May
2003 five years exactly since we had bought HW we headed off to Aerofab to
await our precious cargo. The following pictures tell it all, go left to
right then down and hover
the curser over each picture in turn for the narrative. Apologies if the
pictures take a while to open
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Then the fun began
and Aerofab did a magnificent job getting her back together again, sorting
out all the paperwork and arranging her to be flight tested. Making sure everything met
the CAA regulations. We visited her often to see progress.
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Amazingly on 21
June we were informed that she was ours and ready to fly. We raced
down to the airfield to take her for her first flight around the British
countryside.
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| We sadly had to
sell HW, but she went to a lovely lad who is looking after her and
enjoying flying her as we did.
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| For
Martin's 50th birthday Jan had persuaded Cedric de la Nougerade a very
good friend of Martin's and a member of the Guild
of Aviation Artists to paint a surprise picture of HW. Martin
was delighted. Ced said never again. However ........since we
now had a new plane would he do it again?
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| Thank you Ced for
two fabulous paintings, the pride of our living room.
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Thank you also to
the boys in California, and the boys in Aerofab and especially to Bob
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