At Bembridge, going around (and around, and around)

I’d made contact with Glen via UKGA. He’s another (very young!) pilot flying from Lyneham, and was interested in cost sharing flights to expand his experience and (obviously) keep his costs down. We hatched a plan to go to Bembridge, with me flying the outbound leg and him flying the return.

I planned my usual conservative route, staying well outside Controlled Airspace, and let him come up with his own route for the return leg. The weather looked almost ideal with relatively high cloudbase and almost nil wind.

We met at Lyneham, and filled the aircraft with fuel to avoid having to refuel at Bembridge. I’d completed my plan while waiting for Glen, and carried out the ‘A’ check while letting him warm up a bit after his long ride in on his motorbike!

With auth gained from Mike, we headed out to the aircraft. I took the left seat and hooked up my new phone to act as backup GPS for the flight. It has a built in GPS and is still able to run Memory Map, giving me CAA charts and a line to follow, with the added advantage of allowing me to download track logs to include in these blogs.

All settled, we called for start and taxi clearance and headed out to the 18 loop. We had to sit for a while waiting for the engine to warm up before I could carry out the power checks, and were then given immediate clearance to line up and take off. Once airborne and talking to Zone, turned crosswind and downwind for the leg out of the zone to M4 J15, where I would start the ‘Nav’ proper.

The flight outbound was relatively uneventful, the only minor difficulty being checking in with Farnborough Radar. The frequency was incredibly busy as I tried to make my initial call, but for some reason as soon I was had made contact with them it went virtually silent!

There was little traffic around today, and the Navigation was relatively easy despite the slight haze. We were soon approaching the South coast, so left Farnborough and switched over to Bembridge.

It was immediately obvious that they were getting pretty busy! We were about the third aircraft to call for information, and later one pilot called and was given runway in use, QFE and ‘about 7 other aircraft joining’. His only response was ‘My God!’.

I was trying to build a mental picture of the other traffic and having some difficulty spotting the other people in the circuit. The main reason I couldn’t see them was that people didn’t appear to be flying Bembridge’s correct ‘noise abatement’ circuit (out over the sea) and instead were flying straight over the local villages. I opted to do the same rather than create my own circuit, and slotted in behind another aircraft joining Downwind from my right.

At this point, things started to get a little manic. I turned Base, then was just making the Final turn and getting ready to call ‘Final’, when another aircraft called Final just before me. He was out to my left, perhaps half a mile further out to sea and slightly lower. I’m pretty sure the rules of the air gave me right of way (I was established in the circuit) but having another aircraft immediately behind me as I went down Final wasn’t ideal, so I made an early decision to go around.

After the go around, I turned crosswind and was preparing to turn downwind when another aircraft appeared on the downwind heading off to my left. Again, I was in the circuit so should have right of way, but discretion seemed the better idea, so I turned behind him and followed him around the circuit.

This circuit went pretty well, but I managed to mess up the approach and ended up a bit high and fast. As I flared it became obvious that I was using up too much runway, so another go around was in order!

So, time for a third attempt. Again, a relatively normal approach, and I trundled down Final as another aircraft landed ahead of me. He seemed to take quite a while to clear the runway after he had landed, and as I was about to touch down he was still a few yards from the opposite end of the runway. I need to read up on the rules of the air again, as I’m not sure whether it would be legal for me to ‘land after’ him (in reality there was plenty of distance between us, but he was still occupying the runway). However, at the time I again decided that discretion was better and went around for a third time.

By now I was starting to get a little flustered, but was determined not to let things get to me. I flew another normal circuit, and was about to turn base when another aircraft announced he was joining on base. Our eyes were on stalks as this was a potentially dangerous situation, but the only other aircraft I could spot was probably 2 or 3 miles further out to sea. He continued to approach the field though, so I announced ‘G-CC extending downwind for aircraft on loooooooong Final’ and followed him. This approach finally culminated in a successful landing, and by now I was definitely considering a pint as reward for my efforts! One good thing was that despite all the issues I’d had, the landing finally turned out to be a pretty good one, and I did my best to clear the runway as quickly as possible.

One of many approaches to Bembridge!

Once parked up, we headed in for some well earned lunch. For the first time in my flying career I really fancied a pint after a flight, and this time I could have one! Sadly Bembridge don’t seem to have a bar. Boo!

My 4 attempts to land!

Got chatting to another pilot in the queue for lunch, who commented on how busy it was that day, and asked if I’d had any problems. I told him I’d had to go around 3 times, and ended up following someone in on ‘about a 7 mile Final’. He looked sheepish, and admitted that was probably him. Turned out he’s a CPL holder who’s used to flying ILS approaches, and was trying to get enough single engine hours in to revalidate his rating (he’d mostly been flying twins).

We sat outside in the gorgeous weather, eating our lunch and chatting over the flight. Once finished, we decided a tour of the Island was in order, and we headed off back to the aircraft, this time with Glen taking the left seat for the trip home.

His route took us much closer to Controlled Airspace, cutting the corner of  the Solent CTA where it only starts at about 2000 feet. Perfectly legal, and something I should probably get a bit more confidence in doing. Currently my routes generally take the ‘long way around’ to make sure I don’t run the risk of infringing Controlled Airspace, but at some point I’m going to have to be brave and plan a route straight through!

After spotting that I’d left the master switch on (luckily there was still plenty of juice in the battery to get the engine started!) Glen took us for an anti-clockwise tour of the Island, and we flew at low level over the sea for most of it. It was a little strange at first being in the right hand seat of a light aircraft with someone else flying, but it wasn’t as bad as I’d initially feared it would be (I’m not the best of passengers, even in a car!).

A good view of The Needles

Glen took us North after the Island tour, and signed on with Farnborough again. We were just in time to hear another aircraft being told to descend immediately, as he was in Controlled Airspace. Whoops!

Glen’s route took us close to Popham, a microlight field with a very unusual approach. You approach the runway with a slight offset to avoid a petrol station near the end of the runway, before making a turn just before touching down to align with the runway. There’s even a white arrow painted in the field to show you which way you’re supposed to fly!

Glen had to alter course a few times to avoid a couple of helicopters that seemed to be bimbling about in no particular direction, and at one point I spotted an aircraft on a similar path to us but well below us. I can’t see it have being anywhere near 500 feet AGL, my best guess was perhaps 100 or 200 feet at most! He flew directly over some buildings at that height, not a particularly clever or considerate thing to do!

We passed the Rivar Hill gliding field, and several small strips (including Clench Common) as we approached Lyneham. Glen contacted Approach, and was initially told to ‘Standby’, before we received our clearance into the Zone. We diverted slightly off track to take a look at Avebury from the air, before heading into the Zone.

Passing Avebury

I managed to confuse myself initially, wondering what that huge airfield in front of us was (it was Lyneham!) as Glen set us up for a Base join for 26. Glen made a nice approach, with a good landing at the end of it. We were a little long for the 18 loop, but Glen brought us to a stop and we backtracked a few yards and headed back to the wash bay.

Fox Whisky was heading out as we approached, and the Firefly was at the bowser, so we parked off to one side before dragging G-VICC over to be refuelled, and pushed it back to parking to tie down and put the cover back on. These were definitely jobs that are a lot easier with two people than just one!

While we sorted out the paperwork back at the club, we discussed other fields we’d like to visit. Hopefully Glen and I will make more flights together, gradually expanding our boundaries as we both gain more confidence. Keeping the cost down is also a useful side effect!

On the whole, this was a very interesting flight. I was a little surprised by some of the relatively poor circuit discipline at Bembridge, but felt I’d handled it well given the circumstances. As ever, onwards and upwards!

The Routes and Tracks

Total flight time today: 1:25
Total flight time to date: 103:45

Meat-bombers, carveries and the Red Arrows (nearly)

In my quest to continue visiting new places rather than just flying the same flight over and over, I thought I’d try to visit Dunkeswell in Devon. Reviews showed that it had a decent cafe, and the runway layout and length meant it should be fairly easy to find too!

The weather forecast looked perfect for flying, so with an auth from Bob and plan in hand I headed off to Lyneham in plenty of time for an 11:30 departure. Dragged G-VICC over to the pumps to add more fuel (in the hope that I wouldn’t have to refuel her when I returned).

Got myself settled in the cockpit and hooked up the PDA in flight mode. This time however I didn’t load a route, in an aim to stop myself relying on it when in flight. I resolved to try and avoid looking at it wherever possible, and called for start clearance.

Engine started up easily despite it being the first flight of the day, and I was given my taxi clearance. Due to the unusual wind direction we were on 06 today, and I was given “Taxi to 06 via entry 3, cleared to cross 18/36”. I read this back and then headed off for entry 3 (a left turn out of the parking area).

For some reason, I had a bit of brain fade, and convinced myself that entry 3 was actually the one to the right of the parking area that we usually use for runway 24 and the 18 loop, so I did a quick about face and headed for the other entry (which turned out to be entry 4!). The ground controller obviously spotted me and wondered what on earth I was doing, because she called back “G-VICC, your taxi instructions were via entry 3”

Now thoroughly confused, I replied “Standby” and had another look at the airfield diagram in my kneeboard. Now clear that I had it all backwards, I apologised and offered to backtrack to entry 3, but she told me to continue via entry 4 and turn left along the taxyway parallel to 18 / 36.

Suitably embarassed I taxyed right past the control tower, where they were no doubt having a good old laugh, down the extremely long taxyway that leads to the threshold of 06. Once there I carried out the power checks, and called for departure clearance. Final checks complete I announce “Ready for departure”, and was passed over to Tower, who gave me immediate clearance to “Line Up”, followed by “Clear Takeoff” before I had made it past the hold line!

Takeoff was straightforward, and as I passed 500 feet I switched over to the Zone frequency. Had to wait a while before making the initial call due to transit traffic, and headed downwind to leave the Zone to the South West via Melksham.

Once at Melksham I informed the Controller I was leaving the Zone, and made a note of the start time ready to begin the Nav. This leg took me past a number of easily recognisable features (Trowbridge, the Radstock VRP, Wells Mast and Glastonbury) en route to the turn over the Motorway junction at Taunton. The leg went very well, I was never far from track and identified all of my marker points on the way. This was despite having to repeatedly descend and climb again due to the varying height of the cloud base along the way.

I was listening in to Bristol Approach on the way, but didn’t feel the need to talk to them. The skies were pretty clear despite the excellent weather, and there were very few other pilots on frequency. Spotted the Microlight field (and larger disused runways) at Westonzoyland on my way past.

The Microlight field at Westonzoyland

Overhead Taunton I set course for Dunkeswell, and switched over to their frequency. They are an Air Ground service in the truest sense of the word. Other pilots initial calls were being met with the runway in use and altimeter setting, with pilots then being left to make ‘Traffic’ calls announcing their position.

I received no response to my initial call, but had already taken note of the QFE from previous calls. The parachute drop plane was also in the air, and I heard it receiving its clearance to drop. Shortly after it announced that their were skydivers in the air.

I was still looking out for the airfield, and spotted it with several miles to spare. My phone call earlier in the day for PPR had included instructions to join downwind so I made a dogleg to the left to enter the downwind leg directly. The radio indicated another aircraft joining ahead of me, and I spotted it approaching from the right.

I joined Downwind, made my call (including “Contact one ahead”) and continued along the downwind leg, making my downwind checks. I was travelling a little slower than usual to ensure I had plenty of gap to the aircraft ahead. The drop plane joined the circuit behind me, and I followed the aircraft ahead down base and final.

Parking was at the far end of the runway in use, and I waited what seemed like an age for the aircraft ahead to clear the runway. Once he was clear I made a good landing, despite being bumped around a fair bit on short final. I did my best to keep my speed up along the runway to clear it in time for the drop plane to land behind me.

I turned off to the right, aiming to park alongside a Cessna that was already parked with its occupants preparing to leave. I misjudged my turn slightly, and ended up a bit closer to the other aircraft than I had intended. At one point I feared I might have to close down and manhandle the aircraft into place, but a bit of differential braking got me into the space at a bit of an angle.

G-VICC parked up

Headed in to the club to pay the landing fee (a very reasonable £10), having a brief chat to the guy manning the desk before heading into the cafe to get some lunch. The place was heaving! The Carvery was obviously a bit of a draw to both pilots and locals alike, but I only really wanted a sandwich so didn’t need to queue up along with everyone else. Sadly they weren’t doing hot sandwiches today, so I had to forgo the ‘Sausage and Bacon’ for a ‘Chicken and Mayonnaise’.

Sat outside (it was slightly chilly due to the breeze, despite being fairly sunny) and sorted out the plan for the return leg while I waited for my lunch to be delivered. Lunch duly arrived, and once I’d eaten it I watched the comings and goings on the busy field, including a pretty bi-plane and the jump plane taking off full and landing with just a single occupant! I could also see gliders heading off from the nearby field at North Hill.

I watched some of the departing traffic to determine the route back to the threshold of the runway in use, double checking it in my flight guide so that I knew where I would be going once I headed off myself. The route involved taxying along the crosswind runway, before holding at an intersection for the main runway. Then a short backtrack to the threshold before the off.

Ready to go, I gave G-VICC a quick check over, only to have one of the cowling fasteners fall out as I opened it. It appeared that instead of a washer behind it, there was just some sticking tape that had obviously now ceased to do its job. Luckily I found the fastener, and could secure the cowling correctly, but I made a mental note to let the aircraft owner know about the missing washer on my return.

Engine started easily, and I called for airfield information. Again, Air / Ground was doing its job, just giving me the runway in use and the QNH. Announced I was taxying along the ‘North Taxyway’ (a name I made up) and the other runway to the hold for 05. Another aircraft announced that he was taxying to hold 05, so obviously that’s the correct procedure for future reference!

Power checks completed near the hold, I waited for an aircraft turning Base, allowing him to land before announcing I was backtracking. The aircraft behind followed me down the runway, and as I reached the far end I turned tail and immediately began my takeoff run. A normal takeoff followed, and I departed virtually straight out for the run up to Taunton.

Disused airfield at Culmhead

Found Taunton easily, and set course for Melksham. Listened in again to Bristol but declined to call. Not long into the leg I heard the Red Arrows contacting Bristol, announcing that they were slightly South of Lyneham and heading for Filton.

I considered contacting Bristol so they knew where I was and what I was doing, but decided against it, and did my best to spot the Arrows. Their route took them to Filton, then via Bath to Bournemouth. They were eventually warned that they might be about to infringe the Danger Areas on Salisbury Plain, so I had failed completely to spot them!

This was a slight distraction on the leg however, and I wasn’t 100% sure of my position. I soon spotted the mast at Wells though, which got my nicely orientated. The track log shows that I was never far from my planned route though, so that’s good in that respect.

As I neared Trowbridge, I switched to Lyneham Approach for my rejoin. Had to delay my initial call due to a foreign aircraft making its own approach to Lyneham. Once I got my initial call in, I was given a squawk before (unusually) being told to “Remain Clear of Lyneham Controlled Airspace”.

This was the first time I had been told this when returning, and it came relatively late so I had to make a quick turn a few miles short of entering the Zone. I turned back and made an orbit, then once I hadn’t received clearance to enter I decided to head back towards Trowbridge so that I had a good position fix for when I was cleared in. I didn’t make it though, so headed back towards the Zone. The delay appeared to be caused by the other aircraft having problems hearing Lyneham’s transmissions (I could hear them without any issue) and regularly having to be corrected when reading back headings and levels.

The Controller asked me to report the field in site, but approaching from this direction the airfield is obscured behind a hill. I was getting quite close (and made a slight jink to the left to try to spot it) before being able to make out the long main runway in the distance.

Was handed over to the Tower Controller in time to hear the foreign aircraft clear the runway, and I was given immediate clearance to land as soon as I joined the circuit! Made a right base join, followed by a good approach and a very nice landing. The landing was a little long, but given that I would have to taxy virtually the entire length of the runway, that was probably a good thing on the whole!

Made the turn at the 18 loop as instructed, and headed back to parking. Closed down and checked the fuel, and it was almost exactly where it would need to be if I were refuelling after the flight, so that saved me a job at least!

The route (blue) and track (red)

This was a really enjoyable flight on the whole. I’d forced myself to use ‘traditional’ navigation methods again by not using a route loaded into the GPS, and this had gone pretty well. I’d added a new airfield to my log book, and (almost) shared the skies with the Red Arrows again!

Total flight time today: 2:00
Total flight time to date: 102:20

Anyone got half a penny?

After the disappointment of not flying yesterday, I was determined to fly today, and the weather proved almost perfect for flying. I wanted to try to expand my horizons a little, so picked Halfpenny Green as a potential target for today’s flight. The only spanner in the works was a gliding competition based at Aston Down, ruling out my ‘normal’ route out to the North. In the end I decided to take the coward’s way out and head out to the Old Severn Bridge, before heading North to Wolverhampton.

Arrived early at the club to complete the plan, after having picked up an authorisation on the way in from Matt. Plan complete I then just had to wait for the aircraft to return. Dave returned just before my slot time of 12, and refuelled the aircraft. While he was doing this I got the latest ATIS, booked out and was ready to be under way (after the usual ‘transit’ pre flight check) by 12:15 or so. Had a slight delay as I realised I was sharing the cockpit with a wasp. Figured it was best to get rid of him before taking to the air (and anyway, I had only booked out with 1 POB!).

Called for start clearance as usual, got the engine started relatively easily and taxyed out to the hold. Power checks completed Ok, announce ‘ready for departure’, switched to Tower and was immediately given clearance to line up and take off.

On the way out of the Zone while talking to the Approach Controller I heard Fox Whisky on the way back in, but never saw him. He was approaching from the North, but that could have been almost anywhere really, so it wasn’t too much of a drama. On reaching Malmesbury, set course for the Old Severn Bridge, and settled down for the flight.

I’d made a conscious decision today to set the screen of my PDA to dim itself automatically after a few minutes of idle time, in an attempt to stop me ‘cheating’ and using it as a crutch for the Nav. Although spotting the Old Severn Bridges was easy given today’s fantastic visibility, this also worked well on my trip to the North from there.

I monitored Filton and Gloucester on the way up, but didn’t really feel the need to speak to them. Spotted a number of aircraft around the Filton and Severn Bridge area, but none was a collision risk. Had a look out for Ledbury Airfield as I passed to the West of it, and managed to make out the farm strip as I passed (often quite a feat!). Finally used Kidderminster to make a course correction just to the South of it, and a look at the GPS track shows that this couldn’t really have gone better!

Switched over to the Halfpenny Green frequency as I approached, and made a minor error on initial contact calling him ‘Halfpenny Green Radio’ rather than ‘Halfpenny Green Information’ (I knew he was a FISO, but for some reason that information got lost between brain and mouth!). This was soon corrected, and I started looking for the airfield.

It should have been easy to spot, having three large runways, but initially I had some trouble finding it. The reason for this was soon apparent, I was looking too far ahead! With the airfield sighted, I joined overhead as another aircraft was on final. A decent deadside descent and circuit culminated in a relatively good landing, and I turned off onto the grass taxyway. After a bit of negotiation with the FISO I made my way to parking, and watched the Police helicopter taking off before I headed in to the Cafe for a well earned Bacon Sandwich!

The Police Helicopter preparing to depart

Did my best to spread the aviation gospel to a young lad of about 5 or 6 I got talking to in the Cafe, and sorted out the route for the way back. Initially I had planned to start the Nav at Kinver (and set up the PDA to reflect this) but changed my mind and planned direct from Halfpenny Green down to the Old Bridge. In hindsight perhaps this was a mistake, as the Nav back was never really on track.

Got a quick shot of the aircraft lined up in the parking area, before making a standard departure, setting course from the downwind leg.

G-VICC in the parking area

Ended up significantly right of course, before spotting the Tower to the West of Ledbury Airfield. This was a fairly obvious landmark, so I used this to make a course correction and got nicely back on track. Got a quick shot of what I think was Cinderford, where a poker playing friend lives.

Cinderford, home of Tom?

The Bridges were now an easy landmark to follow, so turned over them before continuing to Lyneham. Here I was following the GPS more than I would liked (a quick glance every couple of minutes to make course corrections) and the GPS track shows me significantly right of course.

Initially had some trouble raising Lyneham Approach, and then found it a little difficult to understand the Controller (apparently a common complaint with civilian aircraft talking to military Controllers, but something I generally have no trouble with). There was another light aircraft ahead of me in the circuit as I joined, but he was well established on Final while I was making my approach for a Right Base join.

Join went normally, perhaps a little further out than necessary that meant I had to use a fair amount of power on Final to avoid getting too low. Had a bit of a floaty touchdown, but with some slightly firm braking easily managed to make the turn off for the 18 loop. Taxyed back to the Flying Club, and Dave (the aircraft’s owner) was already out and refuelling before I had packed up my kit! Saved me a job I guess!

The Route and Track

On the whole a pretty successful flight. It was good to get a bit more confidence back in my Nav skills without using the GPS as a crutch (at least on the outbound leg!). Looking back on the tracks, I wonder if I had the DI misaligned for the majority of the return leg? I was doing FREDA checks periodically, but perhaps I missed it? However, I did pass a fairly major milestone, logging my 100th hour as a pilot!

Total flight time today: 2:25
Total flight time to date: 100:20

Frustrating weather forecast

Was due to take Ben flying today with his son, but the TAF for the morning promised strong, gusty winds and the presence of CBs. I cancelled on the basis of this, and spent most of the day looking at relatively clear skies. The wind was pretty strong though, so on balance it was probably a wise decision. Try again tomorrow!

Taunton bound

Due to a combination of weather cancellations and some minor ailments that meant I wasn’t fit to fly, I was getting close to the end of my currency period. As a result, a plan for a ‘quick’ mid-week evening jaunt was hatched. Always keen to venture out to pastures new, I plotted a ‘local’ flight that took me out to Taunton. Was a little concerned that I wouldn’t be able to get this all in before sunset (I don’t have a night qualification yet) I re-planned to only go as far as Glastonbury.

Arrived in good time at the club, and the previous flight was back in plenty of time, so all looked good for a ‘blocks off’ time of 19:00, hopefully giving me plenty of time for the flight. However, that wasn’t to be. Just as I was ready for the off and preparing to call for start clearance, the view out the front changed to this:

C130 Being Pushed Back Into Hangar

(Apologies for the quality of photos in this entry, I only had my mobile phone with me!)

I figured it would be rude to try to sneak under him, so made sure I was completely ready to go as and when my path was clear. This put me about 10 or 15 minutes behind my original schedule. Called for start clearance, and the engine fired up easily. Taxyed to the hold for 24, power checks all Ok, and we were away!

The weather on the ground looked perfect for flying, but in actual fact once I got in the air things weren’t quite as good as they had first appeared. Visibility into sun wasn’t brilliant, and the front that was forecast to move in from the West was clearly visible out over the Severn Estuary. I was heading in that direction though, so that meant I could at least turn tail and outrun the weather should that become necessary.

Weather Front Approaching

The sky was quiet as usual for a mid-week evening. A helicopter was clearing Lyneham’s zone just as I came on to the Zone frequency, and I spotted one other aircraft pass by my left wing in the distance as I was flying. I was listening out on Bristol Radar’s frequency, and they seemed relatively quiet too. There were two inbound aircraft (one of which I spotted) and one outbound.

The flight proceeded normally, and I soon reached Glastonbury. A quick check of the watch showed that I had plenty of time to get back before sunset, so I planned a quick ‘divert’ out to Taunton, some 15 or so miles away. As usual I was flying with the GPS on my PDA showing the CAA 1/2 mill chart for the area, so if all else failed I would be able to determine my position using that. However, despite the haze Taunton soon became visible once I pinpointed its location using the bends in the rivers below, as well as the M5 and a couple of railway lines.

As I approached Taunton I spotted a couple of hot air balloons low down to my left. I didn’t want to fly over them, so I turned slightly earlier than I had originally planned, and headed back towards Glastonbury again. I kept the balloons in sight for as long as I could, then concentrated on finding Glastonbury and resuming my route.

Balloon (it's there, look closely!)

The last leg to Frome was relatively easy, as I was now heading out of the sun and this helped with the visibility. Overhead Frome I contacted Lyneham again for joining, and was given clearance into the Zone.

Once I had the field in sight, I switched over to Tower, just in time to hear another aircraft on a long final. As I positioned for my downwind join I offered to orbit, but was told to continue, that I was ‘Number 2’. As the other aircraft touched down, I informed the Tower Controller that I would need about 4 minutes of spacing, and she replied ‘Oh, ok then, take up a right hand orbit’. Oh well, I tried!

After a couple of orbits a Helicopter arrived on frequency, so that meant more orbits as I waited for it to land. I wasn’t too clear on how much spacing I would need to leave after the Helicopter, so I opted to play safe and leave the 4 minutes that I would normally leave for a Heavy aircraft. I was in no rush, so better to be safe than sorry!

So after a number of orbits I continued my approach, and on reporting Final (actually Base) was immediately given clearance to land. The approach continued normally, and despite getting myself slightly lower than I normally would, it all went to plan. My first landing in four weeks or so was a nice gentle affair, perhaps slightly fast as there was no stall warner. Still, not bad after a bit of a layoff!

Taxyed back to the club, and received a nice ‘Thanks for your help earlier’ from the Controller as I shut down. Refuelled, put the aircraft to bed, and headed home pleased with another enjoyable flight. Must try hard not to leave it so long next time though!

The Route and Track

Total flight time today: 1:30
Total flight time to date: 97:55

Ok, so sometimes TAFs are right!

A bit more predictable weather this time. Low cloud, poor vis and showers all day said the TAF, and so it turned out. Oh well!

Never trust a TAF!

TAF for today wasn’t great, forecasting heavy showers, including some CBs and TSs. So, I cancelled the flight in the morning, and then spent my slot time starting out at almost perfect flying weather! Bah!

Flying Family Again!

My wife and I hadn’t flown together since just after I got my licence back from the CAA, primarily because she was carrying Catrin until February, and since then we haven’t just been able to leave Catrin at home! However, Luned was returning to work and we had her mother staying with us to look after Catrin during the day, so it seemed the ideal opportunity for us to get back in the air again!

The aircraft was booked for a Friday evening, and the weather turned out to be perfect. Luned met me at Lyneham and we drove across the airfield to the Flying Club. I’d already prepared my (now very familiar) ‘local’ route out the the Severn Bridges, up to Leominster and back via Stroud, so after a quick checkout of the aircraft we were ready to go.

As we were ready to depart, we had to hold for a while due to a Herc in the circuit, but were soon cleared for takeoff. Normal departure, and I pointed out the various landmarks to Luned as this was her first flight from Lyneham.

Talked to Filton as we headed West, enjoying the empty skies. They were only aware of one other aircraft operating to the North, but we weren’t bothered by them. Approached the Bridges, and headed to the North after Luned snapped a few photos.

The skies were empty as we headed up towards Leominster, with nobody on either the Gloucester or Shobdon frequencies, so I did my best to appear as relaxed as possible for Luned, and to show her my best piloting skills after her long absence from the cockpit. As it was, she seemed pretty composed throughout the flight, which bodes well for future flights together at least.

We were a few miles off track as we approached Hereford, but it’d a landmark that’s hard to miss so the error was easy to correct. We approached Leominster and failed to spot Shobdon in the slight haze, before turning back towards the South for the return leg.

Gloucester was still quiet, and we passed to the West of the field without being bothered by R/T or other aircraft in the sky. Headed for the hill near Stroud that enables us to thread the needle between the glider fields at Nympsfield and Aston Down, before switching back to Lyneham Approach as we approached Stroud itself.

This was were things got interesting! They immediately reported traffic off to our left that was probably climbing out from Kemble. We were unable to spot this, and as we approached the Zone the Controller warned us of two Hercs in the circuit. As we were at about 2500 feet, they were well below us, and their camouflage meant we were unable to spot them.

We were told to stay out of the Zone until we had them in sight, before eventually being cleared into the Zone so that we could slot in between them (we still didn’t have visual on them at this point). As I positioned for a Right Base join for the Westerly runway, we were told to orbit in our present position until there was room for us to make our own approach.

We orbited a number of times (bringing back memories of plenty of times we had orbited in a similar position at Brize) with me concentrating on the flying while Luned kept a lookout for the two Hercs (that we’d now spotted due to us being at around the same height as them) and restarting the timer on the transponder as each one landed and rolled in order to ensure that we had sufficient spacing for wake turbulence. There was some slight confusion as I mishear the Controller informing me to ‘continue Approach’ (she actually said ‘continue orbit’) during this time. Perhaps I was starting to suffer from other people’s problems in hearing military controllers!

One of the Hercs eventually broke off to head away from the airfield for an instrument approach, and we were told to continue our approach at our discretion. I informed the Controller we would need 4 minutes spacing, and once sufficient time had elapsed we continued towards the field, informing the Controller again.

As I positioned for Base and then Final, I could hear the Controller still talking to the two Hercs. One was now positioned for his instrument approach, and the other was told to extend their downwind leg to allow the Instrument traffic to complete its approach. Mindful of the two other aircraft now potentially waiting for me, I concentrated on making the approach as accurate as possible, and ended up making a very gentle touchdown right near the numbers, easily managing to make the turnoff at the 18 loop without too much heavy braking. A nice one to impress Luned with at least!

We taxyed back, refuelled and packed the aircraft away for the night. Luned assured me she’d enjoyed the flight, so hopefully this will be the first of many in the coming months, and we can eventually get a seat sorted so that Catrin can join us!

Route and Track

Total flight time today: 1:40
Total flight time to date: 96:25

Bembridge II, the Return

After getting together with a friend a few months back just after Catrin was born, he’d asked if I would take him and his son on a flight sometime. So, the plan was hatched for Tony and Oliver to join me on a flight. I’d enjoyed my visit to Bembridge, so planned a return there, perhaps with a trip around the Isle of Wight if we had the time.

The weather forecast today promised almost perfect flying weather, but the situation on the day wasn’t quite as good as promised. It was fine for flying, but the cloud was lower than expect, which made me double check a few things before we departed. As I prepared for the flight Oliver asked lots of questions (‘How fast will we be going?’) and I did my best to answer them in such a manner as to put a positive spin on the experience.

I’d also double checked weight and balance so as to be able to fill the aircraft with fuel. I didn’t want to fill up on at Bembridge if I could avoid it, and if I could avoid filling up on our return too then so much the better. We came in easily under the maximum weight allowed with all three of us onboard, so I spent some time filling up the aircraft (club procedure is to fill to tabs after each flight) and carrying out a thorough ‘A’ check.

We got ourselves settled, with Tony and Oliver both in the back seat for the outbound leg. We planned to see how things went before deciding if someone should join me in the front for our return. All pre-flight checks were normal, and the engine started up without any problems. Out to the hold on the 18 loop for power checks, and I hear Ground giving taxy clearance to another aircraft.

Tony and Oliver got a good view of a Hercules taxying behind us out to the active runway (24) and a front row seat for its takeoff roll and climbout. We were given an unusual (for me) ‘Line up at your discretion’ after the Herc had gone, so I informed the Tower we’d need 3 minutes spacing for wake turbulence, and started the timer on the transponder.

After 3 minutes I headed out to the runway (letting Tower know we were lining up) and was given clearance to take off. A quick check with the passengers in the back, and we were off. Slight crosswind from the right, but a nice roll out and I tried for a gentle rotation so as to put my first time passengers at ease.

Turned crosswind at 500 feet, notifying Tower we were switching to the Zone frequency. Reaching 1000 feet we turned downwind, and set course for J15 of the M4, climbing to 2000 feet on the QFE. Tony and Oliver were spotting familiar places in Swindon, and Tony got a photo of his workplace as we passed by.

Once at Junction 15 I set course for the next leg to near Basingstoke, and climbed slightly to reach our cruise altitude of 2500 feet. As we passed Hungerford I left the Brize Zone frequency, and switched to Farnborough LARS for a Basic Service. Given the problems I had with MATZ penetration last time, I left the request for that until we were approching the Odiham MATZ.

The skies were relatively busy today, and we spotted lots of other traffic including a load of Parascenders congregated around a hill off to our right. The NAV was relatively simple, and at one point on this leg Oliver said he was starting to feel slightly ill. I got him to look out into the distance rather than concentrate inside, and also to drink some water. This seemed to help.

There were warnings of gliders around Odiham and Lasham, and we spotted a couple as we passed through. Once past Basingstoke we were heading for Petersfield. There was a lot more traffic heading South now, and we were overtaken off to our right.

Once overhead Portsmouth I left Farnborough and switched over to Bembridge. They had another couple of aircraft inbound, and we were number 3. Number 2 was downwind as we were part way across the water, and we soon spotted him crossing right to left below us. I aimed to slot in behind him for the circuit to landing on their Westerly runway, which brought us in over the sea.

We turned Base as the other aircraft turned Final, and Final as he was landing. I think I was a little low on Final, which meant we had a shallower descent than I would normally like. The aircraft in front cleared the runway after his backtrack in plenty of time, and I made a rather flat landing, but a fairly gentle one.

We backtracked to the taxyway near the mid point of the runway, and taxyed to our parking space. Headed in and had a nice lunch out on the deck. Sadly Luned was out walking with Catrin so we couldn’t wave to her on the webcam at Bembridge!

For the return leg, Oliver opted to sit up front with me. Had a slight snag during start where I’d forgotten to turn the fuel on, which led to the engine cutting out about 1/2 a minute after I started it. Whoops! The plan was to do an anti-clockwise circuit of the island before returning to Lyneham.

Takeoff was normal, and we headed out to the coast of the island to the West of Ryde. Once past Cowes the Solent CTA descends to start at 2000 feet, so I needed to get the Southampton QNH from their ATIS to ensure we were below this level. This took me a little while as their frequency (113.350) couldn’t be selected on the COM radio. Luckily I remembered reading that it was co-located with the SAM VOR/DME, which meant that frequency was in the NAV range, so needed to be selected on a NAV radio. Once I’d sorted this, I listened out and set the appropriate QNH on the altimeter, and descended to 1500 feet.

We followed the coast of the island around, and I cut the corner slightly to keep the Needles off to your right enabling Tony to get some photos. Once back around near Ventnor, I started the climb up to 2500 feet again so that as we crossed the approach path for Bembridge we would be well clear of any arriving traffic.

Once we passed the Northern edge of the Island, I said farewell to Bembridge, thanking them for their hospitality. Not sure that ‘Always a pleasure’ is strictly correct R/T, but it was a nice touch!

Once over Portsmouth again I switched back to the Farnborough frequency, and immediately heard someone reporting in a similar position to us, but about 500 feet above. Despite all attempts to spot him, I never did!

The return leg was relatively routine, with the NAV going well. Oliver had a quick go at the controls, but seemed slightly alarmed at one point when the nose rose due to some turbulence, so I took control back from him so as not to cause too much concern for him. He later went quite quiet, and when I asked he said he was feeling ‘a bit queasy’.

Alarm bells probably should have rung later on when he asked how much longer we were going to be. We were about 20 minutes from Lyneham at that point, and we continued, eventually switching from Farnborough back to the Lyneham Approach frequency. There was initially no answer on Approach, so I switched to Zone and was almost immediately asked to contact Approach! Oh well.

Around this point I experienced something new. Oliver had obviously not been coping with the turbulence we’d been experienced, and vomited. Perhaps I should have taken more note of the earlier signs of his discomfort and ensured he had a sick bag available. As it was it went all down his front, and I was sprayed slightly. A little distracting to say the least!

He seemed relatively calm through the experience, so we continued on to Lyneham. I considered whether a PAN call would be appropriate, and decided that if we ended up number 2 or 3 to some other traffic then I would declare a PAN (‘unwell passenger’) so that we didn’t have to hang around too long in the air. As it was I increased speed from my normal cruise of 90 knots to 105 knots in order to shorten the remainder of the flight.

Luckily Lyneham were quiet at this point, so we made a normal Left Base join for 24, and I made a pretty smooth landing, although a little long as I missed the turnoffs for the 18 loop and runway 18/36, so I had to backtrack. I’d probably been keeping the speed up on Final to get us down quicker, leading to the slightly long landing.

We taxyed back, and got Oliver out of the aircraft as quickly as possible so that he could get himself cleaned up. He disappeared into the Club while Tony and I cleaned up the aircraft as best we could, before refuelling putting the aircraft to bed.

On the whole a relatively successful flight. Perhaps I could have done more to recognise the signs that Oliver wasn’t feeling well, and at least ensured that he had a sick bag available for when he finally was sick. Despite the initial surprise, I think in general I handled the situation quite well, concentrating on getting us down as quickly and safely as possible.

The good news is that the experience doesn’t appear to have deterred Oliver from flying again. Next time I’ll try to pay a bit more attention to how he’s feeling, and perhaps ensure that it’s a more ‘local’ flight.

(Photos and route / track to follow)

Total flight time today: 2:40
Total flight time to date: 94:45

A ‘local’ to Compton Abbas

Now that the long summer nights are here, and we’re getting a decent run of weather, it makes sense to try to fly during the week after work if at all possible. The only problem with that is finding somewhere to go, as most airfields close around 5 or 6pm!

I’d been planning to visit Compton Abbas for a while, but had been put off slightly by a few other pilot’s reviews stating it was relatively hard to find. I thought a trip down there to see if I could find it might be in order!

The Airfield sits the other side of the Salisbury Plain danger areas, so a somewhat protracted route was plotted to avoid them. I dare say I could have found out if the areas were active or not, and planned to route through them, but it’s a short enough flight, so a bit of a detour didn’t add a whole lot to the route.

The planned route

I’d noticed on recent flights that I’d started to ‘lean’ on the GPS while navigating, so I vowed to try to fly this route ‘properly’ this time, rather than ‘cheat’ and navigate via the GPS. As will soon become clear, this turned out to be a very fortuitous decision!

I managed to get most of the planning out of the way during the day in breaks from work, so already had the weather and NOTAMs checked in advance. The wind forecast was quite variable, but with relatively light winds, so I didn’t bother applying wind corrections to the legs, figuring I could resolve any minor discrepancies while in the air. Got authorisation from Matt a few hours before leaving work, and checked for any airspace upgrades etc. so that I was all ready to go bar getting the chart marked up.

Arrived at Lyneham around 18:30, with the aircraft booked for 19:00. There was a fighter of some sort flying around the circuit as I arrived at the Club, and as I got out of the car this was replaced with a Herc. The office was empty, so I marked up the chart, got the ATIS via the telephone and booked out for a 19:00 departure. They were using runway 06 again and entry 4 (the usual entry for 24) was closed according to the ATIS, so I took a quick look at the airfield plan just to get a feel for where they were likely to send me.

Carried out a check of the aircraft, and got my self settled in the cockpit. Initially I was just going to leave my PDA on the passenger seat, but that meant it couldn’t be powered, so I again attached it to the windscreen using its suction mount. I did make a mental note to try not to look at it too much though!

Once I’d received start clearance and had got G-VICC fired up, I called for taxy clearance. The Tower Controller asked if I would accept a ‘intersection departure from the disused on 06′. Gulp, never been asked to do that one before! I accepted this, and was further surprised when she told me to head via Entry 4 (which was closed according to the ATIS) onto the disused. Headed through Entry 4, and asked for clearance to cross 18 / 36 on the way to the disused. This was granted but I got a bit mixed up, and instead of joining the disused runway after crossing I headed down the taxy way that leads to the threshold of 04.

Whoops. This was obvious as soon as I turned onto the taxyway as I saw the disused runway off to my right, so I did a quick 180 to head down the disused as requested. I’m sure it gave the Tower Controller a bit of a smile to see me getting lost!

Power checks were completed and I was soon sitting at the hold. A Herc was on a downwind for 06 when I called ‘ready for departure’ but I was told to hold position. I think I probably could have been off before the Herc came round, but I guess it’s their playground so they get priority!

Just to throw a spanner in the works, at this point the PDA fell off the windscreen and disappeared under the passenger seat. I managed to retrieve them while holding, but the PDA had locked up, so was now of no use to me as a Nav aid!

Once the Herc had completed its ‘roller’, there was a short delay for wake turbulence, and I was told to line up. Managed to confuse myself with the runway markings and initially lined up on one of the Yellow lines on the runway, rather than the white centre line. Again, making a bit of a show of myself here, but it’s all a learning experience I guess!

Was given takeoff clearance, and I advanced the throttle without delay and began the takeoff roll. Was soon climbing away, before making the crosswind turn and switching over to the Approach frequency. As I headed downwind, the Approach Controller asked if I was intending a departure to the West. Once I confirmed this, he ensured I was visual with the Herc ahead of me (a little difficult not to be!) and to make sure I extended my downwind leg to ensure there was no confliction. As I was initially routing via Chippenham as the start point of the Nav, this wasn’t any real drama.

Got a good view of the Herc down low as it headed away from the airfield, and soon crossed Chippenham and started the Nav proper. Set the watch, made a note of the ETA at Frome and settled in. As I was still in Lyneham Controlled Airspace, I had a quick fiddle with the GPS to see if I could get it working, but sadly to no avail.

Frome was just 15nm away, so only about 10 minutes or so of flying time from Chippenham. Visibility was excellent, and I could soon see Frome so headed straight for it, checking that the heading still agreed with what I had planned. As I approached Frome I made ready to make the short dog leg over to Warminster. As I looked over to the left Warminster was also clearly visible, so once overhead Frome I set course visually and again double checked this against my planned heading.

A short 5 nm hop had me overhead Warminster, and I set course for the final leg due South to Shaftesbury. The CAA chart showed this leg virtually paralleling a major road, but this road was quite difficult to spot from 2500 feet up. I relied on the plan though, and about half way through the planned time crossed over an East – West road, that had a junction with the North – South road, indicating I was pretty much on course.

The leg from Shaftesbury to Compton Abbas wasn’t planned, it was done on a ‘ooh, about 160 degrees for a minute or 2′ basis. I was scouring the fields below me looking for Compton, and then spotted an extremely obvious airfield below me, complete with white runway markings. Perhaps the markings had been recently renewed making it easier to spot?

I’d been announcing my position on the Compton frequency since overhead Shaftesbury, not receiving any replies (as expected) as the airfield was long closed. I decided to fly around the field a few times, before setting course and heading home.

As I flew parallel to the runway to the South of the field, I kept a good eye on it  so that I didn’t lose it. However, after a quick lookout check and an eye on the instruments, I turned to find the field had disappeared! I have to admit to feeling slightly paniced, as without the field as a reference to start my return journey I could really get myself into trouble. I carried out a quick orbit to try to spot the field, before heading back to the West hoping to pick out Shaftesbury.

After heading West  for a little while, I spotted Compton again off to the right. I’d obviously underestimated the amount of time I’d spent flying East, and had put Compton far enough behind me that I couldn’t see it! Around the same time I remembered the locator that’s installed in G-VICC. This is a small box mounted behind the yoke that receives a feed from the built in GPS and uses it to report the aircraft’s position in a ‘meaningful’ way (for example, 2nm WSW Compton). If I’d had the presence of mind to use this I perhaps wouldn’t have got myself into such a tizz!

With my position now re-established, I headed North West to pick up Shaftesbury and begin the flight home. Visibility was now worse as I was heading into the setting sun, but I stuck to the plan and managed to find my way back to Warminster without too much difficulty. Despite being only 5nm away, Frome was impossible to spot looking into the sun, so I again set course and noted an ETA, before Frome appeared below me bang on schedule.

As I turned back towards Chippenham I noticed a number of other craft in the air with me. The trip had been completely devoid of traffic (with the exception of the military aircraft near Lyneham). This ‘traffic’ wasn’t much of a threat to me however, it was 3 hot air balloons operating in the distance over towards Bristol. I made sure I was giving them plenty of space (they were probably about 10 nm away!) as I headed back towards Lyneham.

Was now passing Trowbridge, and was back talking to the Approach Controller. Was soon cleared into Controlled Airspace, not above 1500 feet on the QFE. After setting QFE I was at around 2000 feet, so I began a descent to get down to the right level.

There was another Herc in the circuit as I approached, and the Controller informed me he would be departing in my direction, but at high level. I watched him climb rapidly above me and head to the South West as I approached the field. Once the field was in sight I switched over to the Tower Controller for the approach to land.

Requested a Right Base join for 06, and was granted this. Descended to 1000 feet as I approached the field, and called Right Base at the appropriate time. Continuted on a much better approach than normal (I wasn’t miles high like I usually am!) and turned final, having to cut back again to make the centre line.

During my training I’d had an embarassing moment with a Controller at Brize where I forgot to call ‘Final’. Well, I did it again on this flight, but the Lyneham Controller didn’t really make an issue of it, simply clearing me to land while I was on Short Final. Whoops. I thought I’d got that out of my system, but I guess having the airspace to myself and perhaps concentrating a bit too much on the approach made me forget to make the call.

The last portion of the approach went well, as I mentally chose to touch down at the PAPIs. Was pretty close to this, and made a nice gentle touchdown without the sideways drift I’d experienced on the previous flight back from Bembridge. Realised after I’d done so that I now had close to 2 miles of runway to taxy down before I could get back to parking! Oh well, should have landed a bit long!

Was cleared to vacate at the 18 loop and taxy back, where I thanked the Controller and shut down. I had to park slightly away from the bowser as the Firefly was still refuelling. This was soon moved out of the way, and I refuelled and pushed the aircraft back to its parking space.

Just to round off a ‘perfect’ day, a pleasant RAF Policeman turned up with his nice big dog, asking to see my ID as I set about putting the aircraft to bed. First time I’ve had this happen, but I guess everyone has a job to do, and he was perfectly polite to me, so I had no issue. He did warn me to put my ID on the wing and step back away from him though, so that his dog didn’t get the wrong idea!

Aircraft covered, I headed back into the Club to complete the paperwork and leave a check for payment. Despite the Nav hiccup around Compton it had been a thoroughly enjoyable flight. Must remember to keep my head outside the cockpit and not worry about distractions like a broken GPS while flying though.

Next time I go back to Compton, maybe I’ll land!

Total flight time today: 1:15
Total flight time to date: 92:05