Having stood down the air/sea rescue services I defrosted and calmed myself down with two cups of tea, then set about trying to find out what the power problem on the plane was.
I was working on the assumption that with the plane having sat outside overnight through the torrential downpour at Abbeville, that something electrical was damp.
The resolution was far simpler though, when I turned the ignition back on there was a terrible buzzing from the starter motor solenoid and I worked out that the starter motor switch had jammed on whilst in flight.
This was causing a big drain on the battery that in turn meant that the voltage dropped too low for the radio to work at all.
Having unscrewed the starter motor switch to unjam it, the voltage returned back to normal and the radio now worked fine as well.
Stoke were kind enough to run me down to the garage to buy some more fuel, I refuelled me and the plane, and set off through the mid day thermals for the last leg home.
Apart from more bouncing along it was an uneventful flight but I did notice how more crowded the UK skies were than in France.
I think that in a week of flying in France I saw only one or two planes whereas in my final 90 minute flight home in the UK I saw 2 aircraft, a helicopter, a glider and another flexwing microlight, all in close proximity to me.
My wife and children were waiting to greet me at Sandy and took these photos of my final landing of the holiday.
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