By Mal Butler
A ship’s pilot took to the sky to raise around £1,500 for Mountbatten last week.
More than 60 people, many from the Island, have taken part in a wing walk at Sandown Airport over the last few months.
Rod Hodgson, from Carisbrooke, went up attached to a 1940s Boeing Spearman biplane, a model which was used to train US pilots in World War II.
He explained: “Mountbatten is a great charity, and I have known people who have used its services, so it’s nice to give something back. I decided on a wing walk because a lot of people are raising money for various charities, and I wanted to do something different to attract sponsorship.
“I was lucky; my flight had been cancelled a couple of times, but the weather was beautiful on the day I went up and I had my family and friends there to support me.
“I’m not scared of heights, so it wasn’t really a big deal for me, but it was a great experience and the team around me were very professional. I guess we must have gone up to around 2,000ft and travelled at 80-100knots, so there was a lot of wind force. I could only breathe through my nose and the pilot said to keep my hands up if everything was ok and raise them to go back to the ground. But I spent the time waving to the people below, so the pilot knew I was fine.”
Rod, who spends his working life on the water, added: “Yes, it was a bit ironic that I went up in the air to raise the money!”
So far, nearly £60,000 has been raised from the fund-raisers, with the flights continuing until the end of the month.
Carole Dennett