
The big surprise was that he now has his own Cessna airplane and as a treat he flew me along the South coast of England and over my house, it was fantastic and he even let me have a go at taking the controls.
I now have the flying bug!
Many years ago my brother also had his Private Pilot Licence and would take me flying, but he was a wreck-head and would insist on doing terrifying manoeuvres just to scare the hell out of his passengers. I was one of the few people who would fly with him but then I was usually drunk at the time. Unfortunately, drink got him and he died a few years ago age 56.
He was always trying to encourage me to take up flying so we could fly in squadron and do mad stuff together but I was never interested. The reasons?
- I couldn’t afford it.
- I couldn’t see the point of flying somewhere nice like Le Touquet or the Isle of Wight for the day and not being able to drink because I had to fly back. I simply couldn’t imagine life being the slightest bit enjoyable without drink.
- I couldn’t see how I would cope with all the studying to get the licence, especially as I spent all my spare time drinking and achieving little else.
- I didn’t think I would pass the medical as I had high blood pressure, I was overweight, I had recurring bouts of crippling gout and I felt too frail to be I charge of something so dangerous and complex.
- I used to get a headache when we flew and feel sick and exhausted.
- I save over £10.00 a day by not drinking. In the past three years I have already saved easily enough to pay for the training to get my licence, and after that even if I just spend what I used to spend on booze on flying instead, that is more than enough to fly a couple of times a month at least.
- Now drink is not an issue, I would be free to fly when and where I want, fly back when I want and enjoy every second of the experience free of all that ‘where is my next drink coming from’ stress I lived with for so long. The sense of freedom I now feel is staggering.
- Studying is no longer an issue as I have so much more free time now I don’t drink, I also have a clear head and my brain works a zillion times better that it ever did.
- Despite being a decade older than before, I now expect to pass any medical with ‘flying colours’.
- This time I didn’t feel the slightest bit queasy or headachy and I realise the problems I had before were due to massive dehydration and flying with a hangover. Something that will never happen again.
Those who know me from my books will know I didn’t expect to outlive the age my brother lived to as I was in a similar alcoholic mess to him, and if I was going to be flying with anyone by now it would have been with the angels. Who would have thought that instead of being dead, I would be looking to take on this exciting and rewarding new challenge? Certainly not I.
What a fabulous world of opportunity awaits you when you finally ditch the drink!