I HAVE ALWAYS admired the Fournier designs and although I had never flown the RF-4, to me it was the most elegant of them all. But how I came about owning G-AVWY, a 1967 vintage Sportavia RF-4D, was more by accident than design.

Brian, a flying colleague who had been restoring 'WY for ten years but never quite got there, had decided to up sticks and move to New Zealand. Being very much his baby, he was desperate for her to go to a new home to be completed and looked after by someone he could trust. He was aware that I was an enthusiastic glider and motor glider pilot/instructor and asked if I was interested in buying 'WY. With shares in a Dimona and Emeraude and a day-job flying HS 125s, Citations and a Hughes 500, it wasn't exactly as if I needed another toy!

I took the trouble to look her over. Despite the time spent on her, she was still in need of lots of TLC. On the basis that I'm a pilot and in no way a builder, I expressed only a mild interest. A week before Brian was due to leave, he called me to bend my arm. He had turned down offers from the usual time-wasters and was desperate to secure a good home for his project. My heart won over my wallet and a deal was struck.

After many delays due to engine problems, British weather etc, a PFA Ferry Permit was issued and on a clear, cold, February day she arrived at Gloucestershire Airport. At this point, I have to admit I regretted my decision. She needed lots of work and had sprouted a very ugly chin, which totally ruined her graceful lines.

I immediately flew 'WY to Nympsfield where Roger Targett Sailplane Services was going to complete the restoration for me. In addition to working on gliders, Roger is also very experienced on PFA types including the RF-4 with the 1,600 cc engine--one of which had recently been fitted to 'WY. He immediately reassured me that the ugly 'chin' was totally unnecessary and set about reducing her to a kit of parts for the restoration.

The following months were punctuated with many visits to the workshop. There was a lot to do. Although I was not physically getting involved in the work I wanted everything to be just right. Choice of colour was top of the agenda and I decided to use one of M Fournier's schemes of British racing green and white. As it turned out, we discovered this was her original paint scheme.

As the restoration continued my (and Roger's) enthusiasm soared. One of the highlights was to see the fuselage emerge in its new colours. It was far better than I had dared imagine; with a fabulous high-gloss finish it looked stunning. The inside of the cockpit was painted grey, as was the instrument panel, and I replaced the mph ASI with one calibrated in knots--just one of my many little eccentricities.

We fitted a dual battery system, as it had no generator or alternator, a Becker VHF and a Garmin Pilot III GPS. Finally, the seat base and back were totally rebuilt using high-density, energy-absorbing foam moulded to my shape and finished off in blue leather and cloth to match the grey cockpit. The result, if a little ostentatious, is a very comfortable and safe cockpit environment! There are two seat backs of differing thickness to allow for the short (me) and the tall (everyone else) and the use of a parachute for aerobatics.

I joined the Club Fournier International--the owners' club. CFI produces a very useful newsletter and runs various rallies etc. Meanwhile I bumped into Tizzy Hodson. She had flown 'WY when it was one of the Unipart Aerobatic Team aircraft back in the 1980s. Tizzy kindly loaned me some old photos and a video, which I was able to have copied--another piece of 'WY's history was in place.

By early June 2000 she was ready to fly. Dave Bland, who works for Roger and has a share in the Nympsfield based RF-4, carried out a brief test flight. That evening, with yet another Ferry Permit issued, I flew her home to Halesland--Me