For as long as I know I’ve been scared of flying. So why would I like to learn? Because I would be in CONTROL.

Alerons, throttle, yolk, flaps, landing gear. See I know the names of bits of planes, but not how to use them. I take note of TV programmes I watch. Even the ones where planes crash. But seeing mechanical failures really worry me. Like doors falling off without warning.

I think it stems from watching a James Stewart film when I was a child. It was either called “Glide Path”, or “No Highway”. It’s based on a book by Neville Shute. It is about a professor of engineering or mechanics who works out a series of recent crashes are caused by metal fatigue. The trouble is no one believes him. So he sets up a mechanical test to vibrate part of a plane and sets it going over hundreds of hours. But in the meantime he gets sent abroad and has to take drastic action to save himself and the other passengers on his plane.

It’s worth seeing, it’s set in the 50’s, and it put me off flying!