I did it: 9 hours hours in the saddle, 592nm and much recorded. We - Bears and I - survived and will tell the tale, whether wanted or not.

The orginal premise is below and that, give or take the add change necessitated by fuel availability and fatigue, is what we did.

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My goal is a day of four flights totalling between 550 and 600nm, at various heights, covering a chunk of the country. 'CC, my 1946 Aeronca Champ is far from fast, but she's a fine steed from which to look at things, which is the whole point and makes it all so much more fun. If the plotting and planning succeed, I'll be airborne for over eight hours, making a tiring day, especially solo, but I think the largest challenge factor is the weather. I am fussy about that and this year, so far, has not given me much confidence. A second day to get home again would be good, too! Final tinkering of route will finalise the mileage and timing, as I try to find The Day.

Booktrust does not have the profile it warrants, I think. It encourages all children to read, provides resources for story reading to the very young and books and encouragement as independent reading develops. Those of us who grew up with easy access to libraries know the extensive value of them, but being given a book of ones own - that was special. I still have the children's encyclopaedia I was given at Christmas when I was five or six. I was thrilled. For many, with financial pressures on schools, libraries and household budgets, this doesn't happen. Booktrust attempts to fill the gaps.

This is the one time that I can say "the Queen and I" as we are both passionate about literacy. As Patron, she expressed it far better than I have: "I firmly believe in the importance of igniting a passion for reading in the next generation…The power of a captivating story, a well-honed sentence or a beautifully crafted character is immense, not only taking the reader - or listener - to different worlds, but broadening and stimulating the mind, too."

I can say thank you to each of you and it would be inadequate. I can say it more generically and it would be uttely inadequate. I shall have to invent a new word to express the undeserved reward of friends donating to a good cause... Thinking...

Nic

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