I can see France!

It's a Friday, and summertime in England. Tim has just returned from Switzerland, where an injury ended the Vol-Biv project with his friends earlier than planned. A look at the forecast is encouraging, as perfect conditions for a long flight through the English lowlands are on the horizon. A few years earlier, Tim would have felt the joyful nervousness that pilots often experience before competitions, for once you make it into the national top 10 XC pilots, you want to defend that position. Today though, the Englishman flies with lighter baggage, and the pressure to improve with each flight is left behind on the ground. On this fine August day Tim is simply looking forward to as much airtime as possible.

In the air Tim always remains centred – self-contained. This implies total self-sufficiency, making every decision alone, and deciding the course of the flight alone. This is the epitome of freedom, and it will also determine how the day unfolds. Tim shares this freedom only with his friends. They plan together, but in the end everyone flies for himself. Tim's credo: planning is good, experiences are better. When he arrives at the take-off site he is inspired by the thoughts of a talented female pilot from the league, and spontaneously they make new plans together. Their joint destination is no longer Eastbourne, but The Devil's Dyke, 43 km to the west of it.

Tim takes to the air with his friends near the small town of Stroud, 50 km north east of the city of Bristol. The long direct distance to the destination itself is already an ambitious undertaking; now there's about 160 km of zig-zag tracking required through an invisible maze of restricted air space. This adds an extra pinch of challenge due to the constantly changing maximum and minimum flight altitudes required. Where thermals for climbing would be a blessing for the friends in some places, they are a curse in others. After 90 km, it is so thermally active that the group has to work against strong climbs, making steep spiral dives to stay in the free airspace below FL65.

Flying in these lively conditions requires a lot of experience and technique. Overhead Petersfield, Tim and his friends struggle to find any climbs and lose valuable altitude with every few meters of progress, and the group of four parts into two. After a long glide Tim and his new wingman find themselves low over a small farm but at about 140 meters above ground, they part company. Tim, too, is already considering the landing options. But after more than 30 years of flying, very little can faze him, and he manages to find a low save in the last minute. And what a save it was: he circled up to over 1200 meters. Once high up, however, the former league pilot quickly realises that Devil's Dyke is no longer an option due to the wind conditions and his position. Tim once again demonstrates his readiness for a spontaneous change of tactic and resets his sights on his original destination of Eastbourne; so he continues flying towards the coast. The sea is already in sight.

Arrival at the English Channel coast sends Tim’s spirits soaring. The Sea Breeze is weak today and the thermals are promising. It would be a pity not to use these excellent conditions for an extended flight along the coast. At 1500 m above the sea the airspace maze is now behind him and he realises that this is a moment he will always remember. This is where people only see seagulls flying: usually.

By now Tim has been flying for six hours and is already 60 km along the coastline, with the sparkling blue sea in front of him. He is far above the Seven Sisters cliffs when he thinks to himself this really can't get any better. A moment later, a white line on the horizon, across the sea, caches his eye. He realises "I can see France! I can actually see France!" He could not have dreamed of such an unreal moment, but fate means well for him today.

His early ending of the Vol-Biv adventure gave him this unique moment, which would have been impossible from Switzerland as well as from the original goal at Devil's Dyke. And so it turns out that sometimes life makes the better plans. 218 km after his inland start, Tim lands in Eastbourne.