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Editor: Matt Paines

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Car vs Plane, the race home.

Slight departure from the normal blog. Today is the first day of the outward trip of my co-directors race home (Jem Shaw). He in a car, his brother Martin in an airplane. Not quite a race really, Jem will be escorting Martin back because he has bought himself a new plane, which is currently sitting at an airfield down in the South of France.

The problem is that the little Piper J3 Cub isn't able to get back in one hop without refueling. However most of the airfields Martin will be needing to land at won't have fueling facilities. So Jem, having filled a load of gerry cans and carrying them in the boot of his car, is going to drive the whole thing. And with luck meet his brother at various locations en-route.

It's almost reminiscent of the Top Gear jaunt with Jeremy Clarkson in his Bugatti Veron, shouting "Power!" in every tunnel, whilst James May fly's his way round the bottom of the Alps, much to Richard Hammond's annoyance "can't we just fly over the top?".

Anyway back to the Shaws, Jem and Martin. Jem is to meet up with Martin along with another pilot- Adrian, at Bedouin Airport (not far from Nice). But first Jem has to drive to Martins house in Norfolk to collect the gerry cans and some supplies, then drive down to the Euro tunnel, through France to collect the non-cabin heated 1941 Piper J3 Cub. Once there and after the necessary paperwork etc Martin takes to the sky and Jem jumps back into the 3.0ltr Vectra, probably screaming "Power!" in true Clarkson fashion (they came out of similar moulds), to meet at the first refueling. There you are Jem, it sounds easy if you put it like that.

Here's how they get on.

Day 1	Outward Trip
Channel Tunnel	Jem arrived at Martins house just after midnight Friday morning, followed by a late supper of curry, the Shaw's staple diet. Then it's get a few hours sleep before the outward journey. I wouldn't say Martin lives out in the middle of nowhere but poor old Jem was awoken at 5.30 this morning by squirrels in the loft space. Anyway Jem finally got away and by 15.30 this afternoon Jem found himself trapped in the disabled lane at Euro tunnel.
First night, making good progress by evening Jem had made it as far as Paris. Tired but needing nourishment he went out looking for sustenance, Jem explains it doesn't go too smoothly - "trying to explain vegetarianism in pigeon French requires a degree of receptiveness from the restaurateur. But I'm English, and therefore deserving of punishment. Surely renaissance is a French word?" Suitably revived and relying totally on the TomTom sat nav to find the overnight stay, after several hotels that didn't exist, even with the humour of the John Clease voice over, patience was wearing a bit thin. However eventually he found a Formule 1 just outside Paris, nice!
Day 2	Meeting the Piper for the first time.
	After an early start Saturday morning Jem drives from his overnight stop in Paris getting to Berdoues, where the Cub is stored, well before it starts to go dark.
	Jean and Mary own the strip and hanger where the plane is stored. After a quick introduction to the plane, an an initial unsuccessful attempt at starting it the Shaw's accepted the hospitality from their hosts, a very pleasant evening being wined and dined. Apparently, according to Jem, Mary (right) makes the best minestrone soup on the planet. Jem didn't have to fly Sunday so felt obliged to make up for Martin's deficit in wine consumption.
	Having no electric starter the Piper Cub had to be started the old way. Someone with a death wish had to stand at the front and turn the prop.
	It won't start... They had a few problems. It is common if the engine doesn't start in the first few attempts, the engine floods with fuel and then it won't start, all you can do is wait for it to dry out again. On this occasion they couldn't smell any fuel, so a little persistence paid off and the 60 year old engine fired into life.
	You've seen all the photos of the interior cockpit of a jumbo jet, a mass of dials, levers and switches. They have one or two more dials than this. But then so does my watch.
Day 3	The return home.
	After a good nights sleep, and having realised they had probably had a little too much garlic, and in Jem's case too much vino, It was 6.00am Sunday morning, 10 degC and clear, great flying weather. Finally by mid morning the temperature had risen to 14 degC, the Piper was started and ticking over nicely so it's time to go. Martin coaxes it into the air leaving Jem on the airfield watching it disappear into the distance. Given the Piper has a maximum speed of 75mph and Jem's 3.0ltr stead has a 150mph capability, Jem was persuaded to stay for just one more coffee, which he appreciated immensely as his head still didn't feel like it was his own.
	Anyone who has owned a 5 or 10 year old car will understand that sometimes, due to the number of components, there is always a chance of a breakdown. Planes, and especially 60 year old ones are just as prone. Much to Martins relief I'm sure, a loose wing strut is better found whilst on the ground than in the air. Martin and Adrian get to Ste Foy le Grande without any problems, but then the weather closed down tight. They were down to around 300 feet at one point to get below the cloud.
Meanwhile Jem had no bigger adventure in the car than trying to find fuel in rural France on a Sunday morning. Oh and the urgent reappearance of last night's garlic and basil. Bless Kaz for thinking to pack a toilet roll into the survival kit. There is a corner of some foreign field that is forever England... Dinner in Niort. Encore vin rouge. Fantastic three cheese pizza. Both Jem and Martin troughed two each. By this time they are feeling completely exhausted so bed for 9.30pm, such party animals.
Day 4	Weather closed in.
	The Hotel Ruralies has three stars - but so did "Game for a laugh". It also has the similarity that no sane person would ever spend a night with any of them. The weather at Niort has closed in making it too dangerous to start the next leg of the journey. With some assistance from Robert, a real hero, the boys have found some hanger space. The plan now is to return to England by car, leaving the plane all cozy and dry, then return on Friday assuming the weather is better. So we'll pick up the rest of the story then. Car Vs Plane - Part 2 starts this weekend!

M.P