Someone has just kindly sent me this link which I hadn’t seen …
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-devon-37301305
Just getting around to adding some text to earlier posts .. this one, taken by the local BBC camera crew captures the first very tentative circuit lift off and the very first landing …. very very soft …. holding off to the last moment
Leading up to the day I had a lot of people asking if I would let them know exactly when I was going to do the first test flight .. dilemma .. so many people had helped me over the years and been so supportive I wanted to involve them … but not if anything was to go wrong !
I kept it fairly low key but in the end the Jersey Aero Club had about 100 people there plus BBC and ITV camera crews and they all wanted to talk before and afterwards and BBC radio Jersey wanted a radio interview on landing.
Just to add to the pressure but there was no way I could have omitted him … I’d flown my Dad over a few days before .. in a PA28 Jersey to Earls Colne …
He can be seen in the footage standing very close to the taxiway with a great supporter Graham Nears .. engineer .. who was no doubt saying everything would be ok ..probably !!
Quite how he was allowed to stand so close … anyway a retrospective thanks to airport security for letting my mentor be so close on such an amazing day …
I managed to talk to ITV after the flight which they televised and also BBC radio Jersey .. then it hit me … just couldn’t talk to BBC TV as the tears flowed …..
Jersey Sherwood Ranger 
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