Cessna 152

Sunday 18th June was the day I took my introductory flight in a Cessna 152 from Blackbushe Airfield, Surrey.

I was due to take off at around 12 noon but things got put back a little. I was incredibly anxious so didn't each much in the morning and I forgot to eat before I went up. It was a lovely warm day and the smell of aeroplane fuel seemed a little stronger than usual.
12.40pm came and I was given a briefing by my pilot, Steve Larkins, who said that he would let me do most of the flying (!) and our flight path would be to fly to my home town of Chesham, find my house and then fly back again. This was going to be great.
We arrived at our plane, where Steve gave me an overview of the controls. We started the engine and taxied to the runway, testing the engine as we went. Permission was given to take off and Steve took us down the runway. Once airbourne and on our flight path, he handed over the controls.
Steve talked me through what to do to keep the plane level, how to increase speed, increase altitude, bank left and right, how to trim the plane, and how to decrease speed and decrease altitude. We did all this and I saw my house!!
We turned from Chesham and headed back to Blackbushe. I saw the airfield laid out below us. It was at this point, I suddenly came over ill. I couldn't believe it. Steve took controls to bring us around the airfield and to line up while I proceeded to shove my head into a container. Fortunately, because I hadn't eaten, there was nothing there. I recovered enough to see us line up with the runway and land.
I was devastated. Why had I been ill? The only reason I can come up with is that the fuel fumes got onto my empty stomach. It took me a good hour to recover but I didn't feel good for the rest of the day.

So, what do I do now? At my husband's suggestion, I am going to book up another hour at Blackbushe but I am going to eat a light meal before I take off. I want to be certain that this is just a one off occurance. If it isn't, then I am going to be devastated, because I won't be able to complete my dream.

I'm going to phone the airfield again now.