I have never
seen a bad report on the internet, so I wondered was it all to good to be
true. To save you skipping to the end first I will answer three questions for you
first.
Did I enjoy it? Yes. Would I go back there? Yes. Am I going back
there? Yes when I know what my holidays will be next year.
First of all I must point out that the hotel we stayed at will not be used
again as a brand new purpose built site with swimming pool etc is being
constructed and will be ready for the new season. It is in its own huge
grounds. I also went near to the end of the season and the weather was about
75f or 23c which is comfortable. We had no rain and virtually no wind .
You have the choice of flying every day with fuel included or on a daily
basis and presumably you buy a gallon and use it yourself.
It is better to take the first option as you fly from 9 til 1 and resume
again about 4.30 til dark. This may vary with the time of year and new site.
You have to be assessed initially for safety reasons and so it was that I
was given a trainer to fly on a buddy lead. I asked if I could check my
controls first and was told "TRUST ME" and so I was asked to take off and do
low passes from ether direction and then land it
I opened the throttle and kept it straight down the runway applied elevator
and then right aileron to miss the hotel and fence. The plane spun over to
the left and ploughed into the grass. "Oh dear" I thought and sheepishly
asked whether my ailerons were reversed. Fortunately they were reversed but
my confidence had taken a knock .I was not told I needed to be be
re-assessed and then had the choice of a large number of planes of all types
to choose from.
Later on Spiros joined us and I told him that I could fly a
Shock Flyer but understood that because they are fragile it was not for
general use. 
I told him I could not make it hover and so he showed me how it
is done. I was amazed at the 4 channel constant input required to do this
and seriously doubted my ability to achieve this. He then landed the plane
handed me his transmitter and said enjoy the rest of the flight and walked
away. At this point I was on a cloud with my confidence right up there.
After all what could possibly go wrong? Imagine my embarrassment when 2
minutes later I was walking back into the workshop with the plane neatly
broken in half across the fuselage. When you fly with these you set the
timer to avoid being caught out when the BEC cuts in as they don't glide. He
simply asked me to swop the motor over to another one and called it quits
.Surley nothing else could go wrong the carnage was mounting and it was
still my first day?. Unfortunately Mr Sod had not quite finished with me and "trust me" Joe was flying a nice easy firebird and asked if any one wanted a
go. No one moved and my wife knowing I had struggled, volunteered me to
take over. Oh dear I throttled it back and it dropped like a stone onto the
end of the runway. I had no excuses left and I muttered pilot error and
sheepishly sat down. At this point Joe went into the workshop and came out
with a badge with SH## HAPPENS written on it and put it round my neck with
the instructions to wear it until I had redeemed myself.
From this point on the holiday went brilliantly and during the evening meal
Spiros asks if any one wants to go out the next day and for a modest fee we
are dropped off in his Mini Bus and picked back up at an agreed time later
and then of course its back to the serious business of flying till dark.
He proudly showed us his new premises under construction and I cant wait to
try it out.
The concept is brilliant. Everybody is on first name terms with each other
and we were the only ones who had not been at least several times before.
Surely this says it all
Some people did not fly they were happy to keep up with the repairing and
just soak up the atmosphere.
Towards the end of the holiday Joe did not
have any one who needed instruction so imagine my horror/surprise when he
said come on Roy lets fly Helicoptors. I protested that I did not have a
clue about them to which he replied "Perfect" and so it came to pass that I
was given one stick movement at a time until I could keep it steady enough
in a hover. What else can I say?.
When the time came to leave he called all his staff out and each one gave us
an appropriate hug and handshake we knew all their names by now it was like
leaving a family behind. I hope this article has not dragged on too much It
was the only way to give an insight into the holiday.
For finding a flight I used flightline.co.uk and I believe Spiros has a
contact in the UK who will arrange the whole package for you
Just go there
