No she didn't want to stay there, she's on her flight

[venta]

Happy Flying Dude is out again.

I've worked in Reading for well over 10 years, and for most of that time (as far as I've noticed) sunny afternoons have been the preserve of Happy Flying Dude. HFD owns a small, red bi-plane with a very loud engine and when the skies are clear and blue he flings it around in an extravagant series of loops, spins and rolls. Today he must be directly over the building; I can't see him from my desk, although I can hear the rising and falling notes of the engine.

I've never seen HFD in person, of course. He doesn't fly that low over built-up areas. I have no actual evidence that the small, middle-aged man of my imagination, smiling and slightly greying, exists. Perhaps the plane's pilot is female. Perhaps the plane is used by many people from a club. Perhaps the pilot is executing a series of planned and choreographied manoeuvres rather than the carefree playfulness I see.

But in the summer I like to think of HFD, chuckling to himself as he cuts the engine and dives, then spins back up into the sky. In my mind, he's having an awful lot of fun.

Comments

[serpentstar.livejournal.com]

I could ask my friend who usually flies in Hertfordshire and environs -- she might know the owner (they get *all over the place* these amateur pilot types).

[feanelwa.livejournal.com]

No way! I used to see that plane doing tricks from my bedroom window when I was a child! Aw, happy flying dude love.