Peter Williams 2007

Anzac Day Flying:

Peter Williams tells how it was that he came to be landing in No-Mans-Land. (Actually, a paddock just south of Midhurst.)

ANZAC DAY FLYING ( 23/04/2007 )

Do you ever get one of those feelings that maybe one should wait.
Well the dark clouds looked great, all lined up out to the east of Mt Egmont,
and above the field. GH was on the grid, ready, and Steve was going to go up in TE if I changed my mind.

Towed up over Midhurst to 1,700ft agl with good lift over the main road on tow (I’ll remember that lift).  Bunged off just north of Midhurst and couldn't find any lift.

Spotted a nice lonely black cloud out to the NE about a Km away. That wasn’t working either.  Better turn for home, straight into 6 knots down (600 feet per minute) following the main road south.

Knew I wasn’t going to make it back to Stratford so picked a nice looking
paddock just south of Midhurst beside the main road. Landed OK, but oh
how wrong was I about the smooth paddock? It was very pugged up, and not very flat.  After a lot of banging and crashing I came to a halt a bit peeved with myself.

No damage sustained. Three farmers from next door came over and asked if I had permission to land, (jokingly). They were a bit concerned as they had seen me disappear behind some trees and thought I had crashed and had nearly rung 111.  I thanked them for their concern and headed out for the main road to be picked up by Samantha Hopkirk and the kids.  Had a bit of trouble trying to get over the three wire electric fence, my back still sore from the previous week.

Richard Arden and Will Hopkirk helped me with the retrieve. Access wasn’t
too bad down a long race. The Taranaki-farmer-type electric fence gates were a bit of a novelty with wires hanging in bundles.  Richard and Will thought  it rather funny, especially when one has to reconnect a fence by holding a bare wire and clipping it onto a live wire!

Thinking about it, there are a lot of small paddocks around Stratford. Next
time you’re flying over a particular area, try and pick out a suitable paddock.
Then go and have a look at it, at ground level. You might be surprised how rough it is. Thanks for the help with the retrieve, guys.

Happy Field Landings.
Peter Williams