Organised by Walter & Anita Gibson

Having previously enjoyed such a good weekend in Genk, good weather, good food and as always good company, we were hoping our rather later than normal date for our European fly-in would provide us with the desired solid ridge of high pressure. The distances flown by many of our attendees, while not as great as our US cousins, generally mean that they may have to fly through not one but often several weather systems which spin out from the Atlantic. That’s why we Brits are fixated by weather!

Friday dawned just as predicted, cloud at 200 feet and viz of 1500 metres (why is it that we mix our measurements?).

André Everaert correctly read the weather and took the opportunity to arrive on the Thursday evening. Peter Wendelboe and Birthe Kofeild also gave up the idea of flying the last leg and caught the Eurostar to Waterloo from Lille to arrive one day early. Two experienced pilots with premonitions. Two aircraft on the ground, mine already there, 33 to go. Pretty soon it became apparent that the low pressure system had moved through the UK and settled right across the Channel, France and the Low Countries effectively blocking out any arrivals from the continent.