The Long March

It is nearly 1300 miles from Redhill in England, to Jerez in Southern Spain, about the same distance as Washington DC to Fort Worth, or New York to Palm Beach. It does not sound too far, until you plan to fly a small helicopter from one to another, a helicopter, moreover, with a true air speed of around 70 knots.

When Hans Nerlinger bought GSBHH from Chris Padfield for his school in Jerez, he asked me to fly the H300 down there with a student doing a type rating. On 7th March, I met Mark Kengelbacher (a Swiss ENT surgeon) at Redhill station, So far the trip was going well!

Unfortunately, the weather at Redhill Airfield was not so encouraging; 200 foot cloud base and a visibility of less than 500 metres, Forecast to clear...