WHILE it's true that you never know what each day will bring when you're a reporter, one particular Wednesday I knew exactly what I would be up to- and I was nervous and excited about it in equal measure.

I woke up in the morning knowing I would be flying a plane across Herefordshire, a two seater Cessna 152 to be exact. Never before have I checked the weather forecast so keenly, and had so much hanging on it.

After a couple of hours in the office, the time came to drive over to Shobdon Airfield, in Herefordshire, where I would meet chief flying instructor Jody Hoare, who would be the pilot for my taster session (all I could think when he told me he was the chief pilot was 'phew').

The airfield is an impressive place, with planes, runways and control towers dotted around the vast area.

After meeting Jody we went into a control room, where he ran through the different controls of the plane and explained how it is operated and controlled- and also filled me in with a bit of the background behind the taster sessions.

"A trial flight like this gives people a taste of what it's like to be in the air.

"I run through the controls with the students before we fly so they can know what all the signals in the plane mean, and can understand what I am watching out for when we're flying.

"It really is an experience like no other, and we've had many people, go on to be pilots after having a session with us" he said.

Jody, who has been a pilot for around eight years and has been the chief since last November, told me that the furthest he has flown from the airbase is Guernsey, but he has also reached France too.

After a run down of how the plane would work, it was time.

I clambered into the plane, strapped on my seatbelt and was ready to go. Now the nerves were starting to kick in, I must admit. I don't mind flying too much, not that I'm a globe trotter, but this was not like anything I had ever experienced before.

Jody ran through the safety checks, and once the plane was good to go and fully fuelled, we drove over to the runway.

A final check was completed before we accelerated and we off, speeding along the runway. My stomach was in a fair few knots at this point. The headphones were on, so we could hear each other, but the engine was still very loud and I was gripping my leather strap quite hard at this point.

Jody announced we had reached optimum speed and we began to take off- I had surpassed nervousness and was now just scared. Flying in a two seater is a lot different to flying to Spain for your holidays.

The clouds started to gather and winds started to pick up, but he expertly flew us to around 1,500 feet above the ground.

Although I was still pretty frightened looking down on Leominster, I was absolutely buzzing with excitement. It was truly edge of your seat stuff, and I felt lucky as I know some people would not have this chance.

I was warned that winds would knock the plane about a bit, but I had no idea how much. Jody had pointed out what is essentially a spirit level while showing me the controls, which shows how balanced the plane is when in flight.

When the wind hit I really felt it, and looking at the spirit level, that did too. It was all over the shop for a second or two, but not as much as my stomach.

Jody was totally relaxed throughout, and expertly controlled the plane and all was calm again.

After climbing to the ideal height, and overcoming the strong winds, I had started to relax a little bit. It was at this point, despite still massively on edge, I was truly blown away by just how stunning the view was.

A look to my left and I could see all of Herefordshire, the Malvern Hills and parts of Worcestershire. The amount of greenery, settlements, rivers and lakes looked absolutely breathtaking.

When you live somewhere for a long time, you take it for granted, but seeing the two counties from this perspective instantly filled me with an appreciation for how lucky we are to live where we do.

Just as nerves were starting to settle (a little) Jody changed the game when he asked me if I wanted to fly the plane. I'm not too embarrassed to admit that I bottled it, in fact, my exact reply was "you're alright Jody, you're doing a top job. You've got this".

We circled over the county of Herefordshire, with Jody pointing out landmarks as we went, and around ten minutes after he originally asked, he asked me once again if I wanted to fly the plane.

This was the moment, and although I couldn't believe what I was doing, I agreed to flying the plane and took over the reigns.

I should probably point out here that Jody could still control the plane if necessary from his side in case anything untoward happened, but nevertheless I was officially flying the plane.

He told me I won't need to pull back on the yoke (steering wheel to you and I) very tightly for the nose to rise, or to the left or right to tilt the plane in that direction, but that's what happened.

I tilted it left, then right and pulled back on the yoke a bit too much, but Jody quickly leaned across and sorted it. Pretty hair raising.

After around five minutes, Jody took back the controls in full, and it was time to land. We had been in the air for around 40 minutes.

I was very proud to say I had flown a plane, and even when it came to landing, which I thought would terrify me but was actually the smoothest part of the journey, I was still full of adrenalin.

Jody radioed us in and skilfully pulled the plane to a stop, where it was time to get out. The problem was, having to get into a boring car and go back to the office seemed like the most dull thing ever, I was high on energy and adrenaline.

I won't forget that experience for a long time, and thoroughly recommend it to anyone who doesn't mind heights and being out of their comfort zones.

To find out about trial lesson prices visit shobdonairfield.co.uk or call the team on 01568 708 369.