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A big television hangs in a corner. Rob turns on a video, showing the transfer of a former Everts Air DC-6 to Norway. Be glad it’s not even colder – you’d be frozen solid by now,” says Rob, laughing, as I hold my immobile fingers between my thighs for warmth, which after a few minutes work again. Saturday at Spamfield is always the biggest arrival day and sitting with a coffee and an enormous breakfast bap in the cafe area you can enjoy all the landings – good and bad. W e run the weirdest syndicate arrangement possible. Our Ikea-coloured Auster Arrow, which was born in Lincolnshire in 1946 and now lives in Lithuania, has three co-owners, but I’m the only one who’s ever seen it in the flesh, let alone flown it. Covid has kept the other two co-owners abroad. For a year now, they’ve only been getting photos of the aeroplane – and invoices for their share of the fees – on our chat group.

Then, hangarage. The Auster’s home field, Utena, is a bit out of the way, a 90-minute drive from the capital Vilnius. But it only charges €100 a year. That’s right, a hundred euros a year. This decision, at least, was easy. He directs us to create a grid with one column for the different flaps position, one for the stall warning activation, and a final one for the actual airspeed, and says, “today, we are going to be test pilots.”It was time once again to put the theory into practice. We fly to a canyon area just five minutes from Kidwell. We discuss how to approach the canyon, evaluate the wind direction, and then discuss a possible VMC into an IMC scenario with an emergency 180° canyon turn. CC says, “If you ever find that that you are one day in this situation, the first thing you must do is to slow down, get into the white arc and apply first notch flaps – slow down, gear down, flaps down, that will buy you time, and you’ll be ready for a canyon turn.”

It’s around 100 miles for us if we fly direct – alternatively we can follow the coast and take in the majestic splendour of Beachy Head and the Seven Sisters gleaming white chalk cliffs stretching away towards Brighton. CC performed the first approach demonstrating his technique. He started his approach higher than you usually see in most General Aviation airports. I only had time to stay for one day, but that was enough to change my perception of CC. He is a great host and an even better cook. Outside in his little oasis by the pool, he cooked some of the best ribs that I have eaten in my life. And over several cold beers, he shared the details of his life.

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Time to climb – and become a test pilot. My 170 is equipped with a Sportsman leading-edge stall kit, and I knew that my indicated stall speeds would be pretty low, between 40 to 0, depending on the configuration. The 145hp of the O-300 performed well in the cold morning temperatures. We initially remained in the pattern for an assessment flight before climbing to altitude for the stalls and slow-flying exercises.

The next day it’s actually already early morning, but it’s still dark, the sun hasn’t really risen yet. When we climb out of the Pilatus PC-12 at Galena Airfield, our nose hair freezes after just two breaths. The ‘something like a Cub’ turned out to be an Auster Arrow, one of only six airworthy Arrows in the world. It had spent most of its life in Germany before moving to the Danish equivalent of Old Warden. The guy who was selling the aircraft – a retired factory director – swapped a pristine pre-war motorbike for it. And yet, they are perfectly happy, because such is the magic of vintage aircraft ownership. The moment you take control of an aeroplane that’s older than the Spruce Goose, you realise that you’re now doing a vital job: not merely bimbling, but keeping history alive. Based on the familiarisation and test flight we did the previous day, I perform my final approach at the Optimum Stabilised Approach Speed of 50mph (we determined this speed the day before) down into ground-effect. For those not familiar with the 170, it is basically a Cessna 172 (actually is the other way around). Have you ever approached in a 172 comfortable at 50mph? Hitting the spotRob Everts shows us a DC-6 simulator. “It still works. Must be pretty unique. But we don’t actually use it. It’s more of a curiosity,” he says.

The IoW is a very special place – it’s the nearest you can get to flying abroad without actually leaving the country” A circumnavigation of the island is usually the favourite though – it’s around 70 miles, or a one hour flight. We also take a look at the apartments for pilots and mechanics that Everts makes available if required. “If you are unhappy with your accommodation, you can also stay here with us,” the 61-year-old suggests. General handling over, it’s time to head to Duxford for circuits. Andy is going to demonstrate the first three-pointer, and then it’ll be my turn. I learned to fly at an integrated school on DA-40s: simple, nosewheel aircraft with an engine control unit, so the journey to flying older, tailwheel aircraft has been full of learning curves. It seems that if, after their training, they had the choice between a major airline and Everts Air, they would almost always choose the major airlines.On board is the Norwegian, Thomas Waerner, winner of the Alaskan ‘Iditarod’, the toughest sled dog race in the world, together with his 24 huskies. As ever, the organisation is first rate and arriving aviators are shown exactly where to park. The central grass area by the hangars is mostly kept for trike flyers – quite right too as they have worked the hardest getting here, but then I am rather biased. He got the Auster dismantled and shipped to Lithuania, and then tasked local mechanics to rebuild it, replacing all the wood, and the metal, and the wiring, and, above all, the fabric. When I turned up to look at it, I thought it looked resplendent in yellow and blue. And it was also impossibly cute. I think all vintage aeroplanes are – as they sit on their tailwheels, they look like puppies begging for a biscuit.