Exciting day!
Half day today as a flying lesson was booked in the afternoon so spent a few hours at work going through processes etc then off to get some fuel as the fuel warning light appeared on the motorway on the way in.
As I was driving towards the local asda (closest to work), approaching a roundabout I hear sirens & saw a police car coming the other way. Letting it pass, I entered the roundabout and an ambulance car (one of those vauxhall paramedic things) overtook me on the left hand side and clipped the front wing (oh, that’s where the sirens were coming from!).
As they had the full blue flashing lights & sirens and were driving quite fast I continued right on the roundabout (thinking, “bloody hell, did that just happen?”) but saw the ambulance pull over just off the roundabout so quickly adjusted course to follow it & park behind.
The passenger got out, came over and asked if I was okay. The driver (a young woman, mid twenties) got out & started apologising. I was more concerned about the emergency call they were supposed to be going to but they said they couldn’t leave the scene of an accident and another unit had been sent!
They radio’d through to their gaffer who was on his way and we spent the next ten minutes apologising (them for driving into me and me for not checking my left mirror before pulling out) until a police volvo came screaming round the corner and pulled in front of the ambulance (my volvo, an ambulance and a police car so far – lots of flashing blue lights).
We explained the situation and the damage report (some slight scuffing to paintwork which disappeared when I rubbed it with my fingers). The police then pulled out the breathalyser and said as we had collided and the police attended they had to take a breath sample. At 12:15 on a Monday afternoon I very much doubt I would fail a breathalyser but I’d never done this sort of thing before so was a bit scared! At this point, the ambulance unit’s gaffer turned up (yes, sirens & lights) so we had two ambulance units & a police unit all parked up in front of my car. After doing the breathalyser (didn’t realise how much you had to “keep breathing, keep breathing) and exchanging details we all parted ways. I was slightly worried I’d run out of fuel at this point but managed the three point turn on the busy road (other drivers were loving the flashy blue lights and would have let me do anything at this point) and fill up the car!
Reported the “incident” to the insurance company when I got home but stressed I wouldn’t want to claim for the T-cut and the dry cloth I’d be using to effect the repair. I very much doubt the West Midlands Ambulance service will be pursuing this one but I’m supposed to report such stuff according to my insurance policy so will be left hanging for six months while my premium goes up – not to worry!
Eventually made it to my flying lesson where I ended up in a piper PA28 warrior (four seater, beast of a plane with manual flaps – very old-school but nice to fly). John (my new favourite instructor) had me do all the taxying, take-off and landing. The take-off was surprisingly easy after reading that the slipstream from the prop tends to yaw the aircraft to the left so lots of right-rudder correction! This time we covered climbs & descents so got some great views on a clear day at 5,000 feet – need to work on my navigational awareness a bit though as I pointed out the airfield in the complete opposite direction when it was time to return home!
The landing this time was a lot better – I’d done it once without turning into a ball of flame so I was okay with drifting in nice and low. Again, didn’t have to do circuits as it was very quiet so got the go-ahead to fly straight in. Lined it up, dropped the power, stall warning horn & on the runway & touchdown. Instructor, arms folded and feet off the pedals so it looks like I’m starting to pilot the plane both on and off the ground. Brought it in for the final checklist and parked it up. Nice lesson – was very worried I’d be forgetting stuff but it’s starting to click into place! 
Piper PA-28
