by EMMA MERCER, emma.mercer@thisisessex.co.uk
Late arrival - Ken Taylor is celebrating his first-solo flight at the age of 80.
Picture: NIGEL BROWN
A pensioner's life-long dream of flying like a bird has been fulfilled at the grand age of 80.
Ken Taylor, of Woodrolfe Road, Tollesbury, has recently made his first solo flight in a glider.
Despite drawing his pension, Mr Taylor - who has always dreamt of flying - recently took to the skies and has now clocked up three solo flights.
He said: "I volunteered for the air force during the war but wasn't able to fly because of my eyesight and was on the ground instead. It was frustrating but sometimes I was able to sneak a flight unofficially and managed to get up a few times."
Then, in 1991, Mr Taylor was in Texas when his daughter and son-in-law treated him to a flight in a glider.
From then on, the thrill-seeker never looked back. "When I got back, I contacted the Essex and Suffolk Gliding Club in Wormingford and had a day course there, and they gave me an hour's flight and it was great.
"It's taken me some years to get to this point but I did. The thing is, you've got to keep the practice up and, for a period of time, I wasn't able to. But I followed the advice and kept practising and have now done three solo flights," he said.
The former industry manager was spurred on even further after news an 83-year-old and a 16-year-old had completed their first solo glides.
"I thought if they could do it so could I," he said. Mr Taylor, the oldest member of the Essex and Suffolk Gliding Club, said: "It's been in the back of my mind to fly for ages and then I was introduced to gliding and it all took off from there. You've got to look out for other gliders when you're up there but you feel like you're on top of the world once you're there."
But Mr Taylor will not stop at this remarkable feat. He plans to gain a bronze qualification in gliding but will need to rack up 50 flights.