MEMORIES have flown back for a pilot who re-lived his first ever flight exactly forty years to the day that he first took out a glider.
Glider pilot Neil Braithwaite, 56, from Leece Village near Barrow first took an interest in gliding around 42 years ago at The Lakes Gliding Club on Walney Island.
He conducted his first solo flight in a a red Slingsby T49 Capstan two seat glider a couple of weeks after his 16th birthday in 1976. On Saturday 9 April, exactly 40 years to the day since the first flight, Mr Braithwaite took out the very same Slingsby T49 Capstan.
Mr Braithwaite joined only a handful of other 16-year-olds at the time to pilot a glider solo and the red Slingsby T49 Capstan continued to be circle the skies over the Furness peninsula for many years.
However, when the glider became 'a bit tired' The Lakes Gliding Club bought a state of the art glass fibre two-seat Glider called an ASK21, made in Germany, and the original red Slingsby glider was acquired by the late Peter Redshaw.
Mr Redshaw painstakingly restored the old aircraft to its current, immaculate condition and re-painted it in blue. Blue is the most visible colour you can paint an aircraft and gave the little vessel a new lease of life.
WATCH THE LAKES GLIDING CLUB IN ACTION HERE:
When Mr Redshaw sadly passed away, ownership of the glider fell into the hands of a few gliding club members and Mr Braithwaite found himself back in the cockpit of his first ever aircraft. He said: "I’ve met a huge number of interesting people and many of my friends through gliding. I have been gliding all over the world, from the Alps and Alice Springs in Australia to soaring within yards of the ridges of the Lake District. Gliders are exempt from low flying rules when ridge soaring, so the views are incredible.
"What keeps me hooked is the satisfaction you can get from travelling cross country and climbing to heights of over 10,000 feet, using just the energy available from the surrounding air and your own understanding of what is happening around you."
The 2016 flight took place without a hitch, in contrast to Mr Braithwaite's original outing in the 1970s which was interrupted by some stray .22 rifle bullets accidentally fired by a local shooting club. A bullet narrowly missed Mr Braithwaite and was instead embedded in the tail of The Capstan.
The age for flying a glider solo has recently been lowered to 14 and so far nobody at The Lakes Gliding Club has achieved this new goal. If you are interested in learning more about gliding or joining the club, go to: www.lakesgc.co.uk or visit their Facebook page.
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