David Gold - Flying
Flying Today, Part Three
"The redeeming feature is that I did two things that I'm pleased with. For a moment, I was going to apply power and go around, and I believe that if I'd have done that I could have hit the mound and the consequences could have been disastrous. In addition, I pulled the mixture to turn off the fuel, so avoiding possible fire on impact."
The situation probably wasn't helped by the press coverage the incident received.
"When I won the Malta Air Rally 20 years earlier, one newspaper included a couple of sentences along the lines of " Biggin Hill pilot wins Malta Air Rally " recalled Gold. "But when I crashed the Cessna, they all had lead stories going into great detail about how the Birmingham City chairman had crashed his aeroplane."
Always one to find a positive in any situation, Gold was quick to point out that one outcome of the crash was that he went on to learn to fly helicopters.
"My chief executive at Gold Air, Will Curtis, always thought that the strip at the training ground was too short, and he said, I wish you would get a helicopter."
Within a short period Gold had taken the advice to heart and was soon on the way to a PPL(H), under the guidance of instructor Norman Collins. "The actual flying in the helicopter is just like fixed wing, although with a bit more rudder requirement," explained Gold. "Then you come to the hovering and it separates the men from the boys. The instructor said to
me, We're going to try some hovering. I'm going to say you have control and then I'll say "I have control". OK, that's normal instructor talk, I thought. So he says, "You have control, one, two, I have control." I was actually in control for two seconds on my first control in the hover.
"I was shocked that my 35 years of flying meant nothing when it came to hovering."
Once the hover had been mastered, however, Gold went on to gain his PPL(H)
and now regularly pilots his own Gazelle 1, registered G-OLDH, to and from business meetings.
For a character who has achieved so much in his business and personal life, David Gold remains a man with a passion and a drive for the things that make up his colourful and varied life. As for his aviation, one ambition remains. "I think that I would like to be the first pilot to retain his licence at 100 years old." And David Gold being David Gold, you wouldn't put a lot on him not succeeding in this.
