I'M no Jeremy Clarkson. Put me on a roller coaster (even an itsy-bitsy teenie-weenie one) and the veins start popping on my forehead.

I don't really like flying either or, to be more precise, I don't like landing and taking off.

It's that thought that the departure lounge is about 20ft ahead and there's only seconds to impact. Daft really.

So there I was trundling down the M5 to Staverton Airport near Gloucester for, of all things, a flying lesson, courtesy of the Aeros Flying School.

Once inside Aeros' new clubhouse everything was calm and peaceful as my instructor for the day, Russell Frost, one of seven full-time instructors, took charge. Before we could even think about taking to the air he gave me a thorough briefing on the various controls of the aircraft, one of the 14 four-seater Piper Warriors the school operates. Once in the plane Russell, who has five years of flying experience, ran through a series of pre-flight checks with the control tower in what seemed like completely incomprehensible gibberish. I think he was just checking the weather forecast and if there were any other sardine cans with wings up there.

Then after a bit of taxiing practice it was time for take-off, which I had expected to be a jolting, stomach-churning experience. Not a bit of it.

With Russell at the controls we were airborne before I even knew it.

Despite my misgivings the Warrior was surprisingly comfortable and the views as we climbed towards the clouds were amazing. Every little crease and fold in the ground and every stand of trees stood out so clearly.

Once at a suitable cruising height, it was over to me to take control and, surprisingly, keeping an aeroplane at an even height is pretty easy. You just look at the horizon and keep it level using the control column, pulling it out to lift the nose and pushing it in to drop the nose.

After heading northwards towards the Malvern Hills over the River Severn and Tewkesbury, I was even able to bank and turn the plane myself. Quite soon my trepidation vanished and I began to enjoy a real sense of excitement at being in control of the plane.

Our flight took us over Bredon Hill, Pershore and Evesham before returning to Staverton when Russell again took full charge for the landing - again far smoother than I had expected.

Driving back up the M5 from the airport I really felt as if I had accomplished something and would certainly love to take to the air again. It beats driving any day.

(Aeros Flying School is holding an open weekend at its clubhouse from 10am to 4.30pm on Saturday and Sunday with trial lessons and aerobatic lessons in its Zlin plane. Anyone interested can contact the school on 01452 857419.