Formation at Sleap and Croft Farm and nearly a crash!

Bank Holiday Sunday! Flying from Cranwell to Sleap to meet friends for lunch and some formation with their RV-8 then on to Croft Farm where I nearly flipped it upside down getting the wheels caught in the soft ground on landing. More formation with Arthur Williams in his Cub then return to Cranwell.
Nearly a crash!....
Croft Farm is a fantastic strip, this was just a bit too early in the year for our narrow wheeled RV-7. We can't wait to go back when the ground is a bit harder!
We had regular contact with those on the ground at the strip on the day giving us accurate airfield conditions. We left Sleap with the planned destination as Cranwell but going via the Croft Farm overhead so we were not committing psychologically to landing there if we were not happy. We then flew a low slow runway inspection (for what it's worth) which also to give me a practice shot at the approach. I thought I had given myself plenty of opportunities to either be happy about the idea or abandon it. You hear Sophie ask me if I'm happy a couple of times and I respond in the affirmative but on looking at the video now, I clearly didn't tell my face that.
On the final approach I got too low and slow then 'blipped' the power which caused a lengthy float, moving the landing down into the soft ground that was accurately reported. There was also zero wind which I don't think in hindsight I gave an appropriate amount of attention. After giving it some thought, I'm happy with the decision making process leading up to the event, I think I considered everything but the zero wind factor. The aircraft is more susceptible to soft ground than I thought and I absolutely should have gone around. Had I gone around, I would have probably given it one more go. Once on the ground I'm quite certain I would still have regretted making the decision to land there at all in those conditions. A good learning experience that thankfully didn't have further consequences but for a second there I was quite convinced we were going upside down.
This is the Van's RV-7 tailwheel aircraft that I built in my garage over 5 years. It's first flight was in July 2023 and we now fly it everywhere we can visiting people and places and documenting our adventures along the way for friends and family. I flew fighter jets for 20 years and now just enjoy flying around the country with my wife who is also a professional pilot although she lets me do most of the flying! We will be competing in the British Air Racing Championship this year which is why you see 777 on the tail!
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Ben, congratulations on a great channel. We'll have to be mindful of cameo roles in the future! Great to see this day out as we discussed the immediate aftermath that evening. One day out definitely to remember.