Yesterday I went down to West Sussex to fly from a farm near Pulborough. The weather was perfect, sunshine and a good breeze. The sailplanes were already thermalling at nearby Parham when I arrived at the farm. I had not flown from there before and it turned out to be a perfect site at the top of a hill looking south to the South Downs. I met the farmer Seymore and a friend Mark and we decided on a flight to Littlehampton along the coast via Arundel.

I had a couple of failed launches with the wind switching directions, but was soon airborne with the other two around 11am and followed them along the river towards Arundel. Past the castle the sea came into sight. The beach at Littlehampton was packed with people enjoying the late May sunshine. Seymore dropped down until he was literally skimming the sea. I had realised I was low on fuel as I hadn’t fuelled up fully and so had maintained height until I passed the built up area and could turn north again.

Having turned north I kept gaining height as I knew the remaining fuel wouldn’t get me all the way back. I was looking for landing options as I flew. Just past Parham the engine stuttered and then died. I was three miles from the farm. There were plenty of landing options but I thought I would see if I could glide home. I made it with six hundred feet to spare and landed with a sigh of relief. Lots of great photos from the day but I should have taken my video camera as well…