As a boy, Shaun Eason went to an air show. Seeing the aeroplanes swooping and tumbling across the sky set off a fascination with flying. Back home, he would play with a model glider, and dream of making one large enough to carry him through the air.
Two years ago, Mr Eason got the chance to indulge his dreams when colleagues at Elemore Hall school in County Durham gave him cash as a leaving present. “It was a generous gift, and I wanted to use it for something worthwhile,” he explains. “So I rang a flying school and asked if they could fix me up with a lesson. They said, “No problem - how soon can you get here?”. Within an hour I found myself 3,000 feet up, taking the controls of a Piper Tomahawk. I was hooked.”
He booked another lesson, but this one didn’t quite go according to plan. “Flying over Whitby, the engine started to pack in, and we had to limp back to Teesside. My instructor remained calm, and we landed without a problem.”
Details of your nearest flying school can be found at www.flyingzone.co.uk . A trial lesson can cost as little as pound;60nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;
