Jonathan: The flying training done, licence granted and medical passed, a day off took me to Collaroy Beach Club on the B1 bus to meet the former Australian captain, Ian Chappell. Now, I know he and Ian Botham don’t see eye-to-eye (understatement) but I’ve always got on extremely well with ‘Chappelli’ who is never scared to call a spade a spade.
He is another example of how my crazy life has developed. Ian was one of the cricketers that children of my generation were brought up to hate! Loud, brash Australians swaggering around Lord’s in 1972 being my first Ashes memory. Yet so many of that Aussie team have subsequently become good friends. The Chappells, Dennis Lillee, Bob Massie (who took 16 wkts in that game) Keith Stackpole, Rod Marsh and many more. As a 12-year-old watching on our old black and white TV, I never thought, more than 50 years later, I’d be having lunch with Ian Chappell! He is the greatest story-teller and was on top form.
Ian Chappell. Great Australian captain, batsman and story teller.
The final qualification flight was great fun. Up to the northern beaches with Peter Edwards (instructor). Beautiful scenic flight, the main object of which was to teach me the GPS and autopilot systems. For any pilots out there, things are different here. Bankstown has three active runways, all landing and taking off at the same time, so there’s traffic everywhere. It is quite bumpy and the heat makes getting a floaty Cessna 182 on the ground over a hot runway a very different technique, which I have yet to fully master (Ignore that please Emma, Jim and Mark)
Palm Beach, setting for Home and Away, shimmering in the sunshine.
If you are wondering where Emma is, she arrives in Perth in 10 days or so and then we all fly to Sydney for the start of the Angel Flight adventure. She will assume control of this blog! I have to say, the Australian listeners to ABC Radio have really embraced the thought of Jim Maxwell - their cricket voice for so long - and a ‘Pommie commentator’ taking to the skies and promoting the amazing charity.
Our schedule involves visits to Orange, Morree, Louth, Parachilna and all points in between. Subscribe to our (nearly) daily blog to follow our progress.