October 2007 - IHs Last Flight

Sunday 28th October at 16:10, having waited all day for the stormy weather to pass through, the wind suddenly dropped, the rain moved away to the north east of the airfield and I was able to push IH out of the hangar for her 'official' last flight before rebuild.

A number of people had gathered to witness the flight and take photographs and video of the occasion so I obliged with a couple of passes by the tower. The weather was perfectly still and IH flew hands off around the circuit controlled by rudder and trim alone. The last landing on runway 33 was thankfully one of my better ones.

The only time it actually hit me that this was THE last flight was when shutting down at the end of the flight and I'll admit to having a lump in my throat jut this once.

Following the flight, we gathered to conduct the time honored ceremony of cutting the fabric to mark the official start of the project followed by a few drinks.

The next steps would be stripping the aircraft down ready for transport to the workshop and sending the engine off for long term inhibiting.