The “wine dark sea” of Plati Bay on Lemnos at 9am this morning with the meltani wind gusting 25 knots. Even Jason and his Argonauts might hesitate before signing up for sailing on a morning like this. Then again, if the myths are true, they may have had other pursuits in mind.

How to bake a Long Landing Cake at @DamynsHall. Take one @TigerClubUK Cub, pick a day with nil wind (like today) when the strip is savannah. Nail the approach speed on finals and wait for that big Cub wing to give up. Or, come in fast and have a close look at the boundary fence.

Stormy Sunday @DamynsHall Aerodrome in Essex this morning. Glad I turned back for an early cup of tea (followed by something a bit stronger later on) rather than battle it out with these dark giants in @TigerClubUK’s Super Cub G-SWAY.

Beyond delighted and feeling well chuffed, made up and generally proper champion (as we say in The North) to win The Best Business Aviation Submission in the 2026 Aerospace Media Awards. So, it’s Friday, it’s after five o’clock, where’s that bottle of Theakston’s Old Peculiar?

So, when the Super Cub is unavailable, how about a lazy Sunday afternoon at the Sargasso on Margate Pier? Yesterday’s fried squid sandwich with aioli - washed down with a mezcal Paloma - was a true delight. There was even time for a dip in the briny afterwards. Heaven By Sea.

Well chuffed, as we often say in the North, to chair the Helicopter Investor London 2026 conference. If it matters to the rotary industry, it featured in our panels: financing lift in offshore oil & gas, wind power, search & rescue, air ambulances, firefighting, ESG and more.

I am made up (as we say in the North) to be shortlisted in the Aerospace Media Awards. This is in the Best Business Aviation category for my article on NetJets - the world’s biggest bizjet operator. Three colleagues also shortlisted. (There’s no I in team - but there is a me).

Big thanks to Adam Twidell of @4AIR and @Aerobility for my first flight in the Velis Electro Pipistrel at @BBSAirport. Power costs were £1.50 for 45 mins flight. To misquote one review of an early Bruce Springsteen gig: “I have seen the future of aviation - and it’s electric.”

“When the north wind doth blow [a lot, as this April]” … the best place for @TigerClubUK’s Piper Super Cubs, Rollason Druine D.31 Turbulents and other club aircraft @DamynsHall airfield, is snuggled up in the Tiger Club hangar. (A southerly in shot but didn’t fit the quote).

Europe is “dangerously unprepared” for airborne wild firefighting missions, warns a new report commissioned by #Avincisglobal. It urges the EU to speed up procurement, ease red tape linked to pilot licensing and invest more to meet the growing threat. tinyurl.com/2n4e8ww3

Sisters together: Two tail draggers pictured at @DamynsHall this misty morning. Sporting the yellow livery is @TigerClubUK’s gorgeous Super Cub G-LCUB. Under her wing is an equally historic Cessna 120. (Whisper it softly: but the only thing better than a Cub is … another Cub).

Beyond excited to visit #Verticon2026 - the world’s largest vertical lift show. With 15k visitors (allegedly - didn’t meet them all), all rotary lift is here. From Eve’s eVTOL, to the latest from Airbus, Bell, Leonardo, Robinson and more, it’s all here. Special shout for the Huey

Lots of shiny new GRP/fibreglass boats to beguile buyers at the #RYA Dinghy Show in Farnborough this weekend. But search carefully along the rows and you can find these beauties - wooden wonders designed in a gentler age. This is a National 12, first launched in 1936.

Last flight of 2025 this morning @DamynsHall Airfield. The @TigerClubUK’s Super Cub GSWAY showed me a good time in leaden Essex skies. Landings - like #bluesguitar - always get better with practice. (Although headwinds on the runway don’t seem to improve my six-string action).

At last, the recognition so long and cruelly denied. Another contender, to honour the ancestors, might be Gulf of Doggerland.

First flight of the year in @TigerClubUK’s Super Cub G-LCUB + sunny sky + dry(ish) runway at @DamynsHall Airfield = Deep joy.

No flying fun this freezing, foggy morn at @DamynsHall in Essex. This chilly Piper Arrow braves the sub zero temps but the @TigerClubUK’s Super Cubs are tucked up in the hangar. Dreaming of sunny summer days and “landings as soft as the morning dew kissing the face of a rose.”

He was the sound track of so many Sunday afternoons (made sunny, whatever the weather, by that unforgettable voice and big heart). RIP, Johnnie & thank you for recalling the glorious ‘70s. Ps. Still think Ruby Tuesday is a brilliant - despite your bad experience at Glastonbury.