"Trips in Wicko? "Apart from local flights, the only one I remember at all is going to Cherbourg with Mike. No doubt by now my recollection has been re-worked by age and distance and is entirely unreliable.

We left , I guess from Blackbush ( where IS my logbook?) and my memory of the trip with any aeronautical relevance at all is that the engine note changed, as usual, crossing the coast.

Cherbourg had lots of cloud, I rather think the forecast said that it wouldn't, so we went on to Jersey. There we stayed in a honeymoon hotel and had the restaurant to ourselves by about 7.30 PM. We had entrecote forestier, I remember, and the Chef came out to watch us eat it. He was very proud of it and quite right too!

Next day we did get to Cherbourg, where we stayed in a place that turned out to be a brothel. We had rather a disturbed night. Mike wanted to find some folk to go drinking with and proposed going to a yacht club. where we might strike lucky. On entering we found no sign of anyone except the barmaid. He asked me quietly what the French was for "are you expecting". Naturally, I replied. "Etes vous enceint?" and to my delight he asked the barmaid, "Etes vous enceinte des bateaux Anglais?" It turned out, rather quickly, that she wasn't and we had to leave.

We flew back the next day and were allowed to leave in clag as we had an artificial horizon "Ah le Sperry."

JBGC 26th February '04.