VETERAN Royal Navy pilot Arthur Record will be taking to the skies tomorrow for the first time since a light aircraft in which he was travelling ditched in the Atlantic.

Mr Record, 82, of Waterfront House, Clementhorpe, escaped the life-threatening incident almost three weeks ago with two injured fingers.

The experienced pilot described it as "an adventure" and said his only similar experience was during the Second World War when he crash- landed a Beaufort torpedo bomber in Scotland.

But he said he was now looking forward to getting back in his plane, stored at Cliffe, near Selby, because he had been suffering from flying withdrawal symptoms.

Mr Record, who ran Record Playground Equipment, in Selby, and whose late wife, Dr Eileen Bell-Syer, was a community physician in the town, was with friends Denis Stanley, 82, from Gloucestershire, and pilot Bernard Maslin, 71, on a weekend get-together with eight other light aircraft flying to St Mary's Island, off the coast of Cornwall.

The engine of the hired Cessna 172 in which they were travelling on the morning of Saturday, October 4, cut out at 2,000ft with no obvious faults.

The intrepid trio headed for a nearby fishing trawler, the Semper Allegro, and made a classic ditch-landing south of St Martin's Island.

Mr Record said: "The aircraft sank really quickly, the nose went right down and the tail was sticking up.

"I was in the back seat and by that time the water was up to my neck.

"I took a deep breath and followed the chap in front up to the surface and inflated my life jacket. Then it seemed quite peaceful, the water wasn't too cold and it wasn't unpleasant.

"We sent a Mayday and in the meantime we hoped that the trawler had seen us."

Mr Record said he was in the water for 40 minutes before being picked up by the trawler. The men were later airlifted to Treliske Hospital, in Truro, by a Royal Navy Rescue helicopter.

Mr Record said: "The nurses said we would have to stay overnight, but we said no chance, we've got a dinner to go to and we left by 6pm and caught up with our friends, although Bernard has to stay in hospital.

"When you've flown a lot you know that things happen. It wasn't a scary moment, it might have been if there was no ship there. It did cross my mind when I was floating about in the water that if we didn't get rescued we would probably just get drowsy and sleep.

"But it was an adventure, it was definitely one for the log book."

Updated: 10:51 Friday, October 24, 2003