IT'S LIFT OFF FOR BARBARA'S 77-YEAR-OLD DREAM

Barbara Kemp became the first person to take part in the RSPB's gliding challenge, in which members of the public raise 250 in sponsorship to help the charity's national and international work, and in return get the chance to take the controls of a glider high over the RSPB's nature reserve at Pulborough Brooks.

Barbara raised the money by dog-sitting for her neighbours. She was accompanied by volunteer pilot, Julian Hitchcock, from Southdown Gliding Club. Julian said after the flight: "Barbara is a natural. She flew the glider on her own for seven minutes during out 15-minute flight."

For Barbara it was the thrill of a lifetime. She revealed that a meeting with pilot Amy Johnson when she was a very young girl had fuelled her passion for aviation.

"I've been in aeroplanes and helicopters, but have always wanted to go up in a glider. It was simply wonderful and I've been waiting a long time to do that," she said.

For full story see West Sussex Gazette October 10