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Europe

by Nigel Thomas Milford-on-Sea, England

The Annual AYA Europe Fly-In and Convention was held on May 24-27 at Guernsey in the Channel Islands. The Channel Islands are British and situated in the western approaches to the English Channel, off the coast of France. The islands are 80 miles off England but only 30 miles off France. The convention was organised almost entirely by Geoff Duquemin and his scrumptious wife, Margaret.

Friday, May 24, dawned with a dismal outlook and even worse conditions, if that's possible! Some intrepid souls had managed to get into Guernsey before the cloud settled onto the ground, and some had even turned up in the cloud only to turn round and divert to fields in France. Two wives went by commercial flight, only to end up suffering a horrendous boat ride from another island to Guernsey. Serves them right! Others went back to bed. By the end of the day the South Coast of England was heaving with frustrated AYAers clogging up the telephone network getting meteorological updates and trying to wish the bad weather away. They failed miserably. John and Erna Fisk had journeyed from Florida to join in with the planned festivities, only to be marooned in Bournemouth, as was Martin Worrall from Yorkshire. James and Jane Allan had flown all the way down from Scotland, only to be defeated at Southampton. It was not a day to remember. Geoff and Margaret were pulling their hair out in Guernsey waiting for the promised Grumman invasion and having to deal with hotel owners wanting to know when their customers would arrive.

Saturday was a much better day for everyone concerned. It dawned bright and cheerful. An early start was made by most, and by midday most of the attendees were firmly tied down on the south grass at Guernsey Airport. In response to a garbled message from the hotel, Paul Newton flew off in his 160-hp AA1 N5644L to pick up Neal Rice of FletchAir, who was last reported loitering somewhere in Cherbourg.

Geoff had arranged for a fly-out to Alderney, a nearby island 20 Yankee minutes away, where a spot landing competition was to have taken place, followed by an antique bus ride around the island. But due to the delayed arrivals this had to be rescheduled for the Sunday. In place of the Alderney trip some hasty activity changes were made and a bus tour of Guernsey Island was organised which enabled a complete round trip tour of the island. This was a trip not to be missed, and it proved both amusing and educational.