Caernarfon with the family – finally!

Flights have been few and far between so far this year, so with the prospect of improving weather, a Bank Holiday and an available Arrow, I again planned to take the family to Caernarfon to visit the in-laws. Sadly this would have to be a short single day visit, but the late nights meant that we could spend a decent amount of time there.

As usual with a trip to Caernarfon, I planned three routes to handle any weather that might cause issues. The first route was almost a straight line, directly over the mountains of Snowdonia. This would require a cloudbase of at least 5000 feet or so to be able to follow. A second route to the South of Snowdonia needed around 3500 feet, and a route to the North could be handled as long as the cloudbase was around 2500 or 3000 feet.

As it happened, the forecast for the day was pretty much CAVOK all the way, so we opted for the ‘direct’ route, via the overhead of Gloucester and Welshpool.

Weather on the day was pretty much as forecast, and we did our best to get out of the house as early as possible (something that can be a little challenging with a 4 year old at times!) to give ourselves as much time at Caernarfon as we could. Catrin was only told that we were going flying, leaving the destination as a surprise for her.

On arrival at Kemble, I deposited Luned and Catrin in the Club Office, before heading out to the aircraft with a headset and PLB (due to the remoteness of the route, I decided to carry one should we have a problem and end up landing in a field somewhere!). With the exception of a broken step, the preflight was all normal and I took my time getting things arranged in the cockpit in readiness for my passengers to board.

The day was starting to really warm up as I returned to the office, and with the final paperwork completed we all walked out to the aircraft. We all managed to make our way onto the wing without using the step and get comfortable in the cabin. My GPS had already fallen off the window, so I elected to just leave it on the seat beside me as a backup for the onboard GNS-430 and the Nexus 7 I now carry running SkyDemon.

Ready for the off

As I was running through the pre-start checklist and had just flicked the Master switch on, Roger approached having just landed in one of the Club’s other aircraft. He was preparing to refuel from the Club’s bowser, but as he realised I was about to start up he offered to wait until we had taxyed away.

We had a brief chat about the Club’s fuelling policy (to fill the aircraft full after each flight) that I had questioned recently due to issue with the Weight and Balance of the Arrow, whereby it is quite easy to end up outside of the forward C of G limits even when significantly below maximum take off weight. With less fuel this problem is less likely to occur, so hopefully the Club will opt to only fill the Arrow up to ‘tabs’ (about 60% full) in future.

The engine started relatively easily (the aircraft had flown a fair bit recently which probably helped!) and we were cleared to taxy to Alpha 1 in readiness to depart. I completed the pre-flight checks normally (including entering our route into the 430), and proceeded to the hold, followed by another aircraft that had been carrying out its checks behind me.

I had to wait to transmit my ‘ready for departure’ call due to other conversations occurring on the radio, and the aircraft behind me ‘jumped in’ and announced his readiness before I got chance to. He was then cleared onto the runway by the FISO (I think hold A1 is out of sight of the Tower), to which he had to reply ‘We have WS in front of us, maybe we should let them go first’! The FISO agreed (surprise surprise!) and I quickly announced my readiness before being cleared onto the runway.

Despite the rising temperature the takeoff roll was relatively short, and we climbed away to the West, making the left turn required to clear noise sensitive areas on the departure path for the runway. I was warned of traffic operating out to the West, so informed the FISO of my intention to head North. After a further warning about Aston Down being active, I ensured we were to the West of there before turning North and continuing the climb to our cruising altitude of 4500 feet.

I used the ADF and GPS to track direct to Gloucester, but with today’s good visibility it was easy to spot in the distance. I left Kemble’s frequency to inform Gloucester of my intention to transit their overhead and receive a Basic Service for the first part of the flight.

Conditions were smooth at our altitude, and despite a slightly murky layer visibility was excellent also. There were very few clouds in the sky at this point, so the direct route seemed perfectly possible. Surprisingly Gloucester didn’t ask us to report at any point to the North (usually they will ask to report near Worcester for example) so I waited until we approached Worcester before signing off with them.

Shawbury were closed due to the Bank Holiday, so I switched directly to Welshpool in order to inform them that we were passing through their overhead later. Roger had warned me that the skies were busy today, but up at this altitude there weren’t too many other aircraft to see.

I generally give Luned a spare chart to follow our progress, but had neglected to do this today. Instead I passed her my chart with the routes marked on, while I used a combination of SkyDemon and the view out of the window to monitor our progress.

As we approached Welshpool, I contacted them out of courtesy (at 4500 feet we were unlikely to conflict with any of their traffic) and used the opportunity to request the Holyhead pressure setting. Unfortunately they could only give me their local QNH, so I dialled that in for the remainder of the flight. I wasn’t planning on flying in IMC while close to the mountains, so being a few millibars out wasn’t going to cause any problem.

Luned continued to monitor our progress, pointing out various reservoirs to Catrin, including the one near where Luned’s Father had been brought up. As we got closer to our destination, Luned started to offer some hints to Catrin as to where we were going, pointing out (hopefully!) familiar place names.

Approaching Bala lake

As we approached the lake near the Trawsfynydd power station it became clear that there was a fairly significant build up of cloud over the peaks of Snowdonia. While there was no cloud above us (so we could have climbed to keep clear of cloud and the high ground) it wasn’t obvious whether there were any breaks in this layer to allow us to descend on the other side. As a result, I took the decision to head West to the coast, allowing us to follow it at low level below the clouds to Caernarfon if necessary.

Clouds over Snowdonia

We turned west and descended. Catrin was keen to fly through a cloud, so I wandered around looking for one, finally finding a small one to fly through for perhaps 10 seconds during the descent. The cloud base was pretty low, meaning we had to get down to about 1500 feet or so to keep below them. We managed to spot a path between two peaks that we could see was clear of cloud, and threaded our way through them.

Portmeirion

Once through the gap, Caernarfon airport was clearly visible in the distance thanks to the addition of two wind turbines not far from runway 20. The cloud above us had dispersed, so I made my initial call to Caernarfon and climbed to 2300 feet for the Overhead Join. Caernarfon were using runway 20 today due to the wind direction, so I was about to find out just how distracting it was to attempt to land with two spinning wind turbines off to the left!

Setting up for an Overhead Join

There was a fair bit of traffic in the circuit, but we managed to keep good spacing and a nice tight circuit, bringing onto a nice Final for the runway. The wind turbines were clearly visible ahead, but not too distracting, enabling me to bring us in for a nice gentle touchdown. We taxyed to the end of the runway before being asked to park in bay 4.

Wind turbines alongside the runway

As we taxyed in, we could see Luned’s family waving to us in the distance, so pointed them out to Catrin, wondering “Why are people here waving at us?”. Catrin was none the wiser, so we set about getting all our gear out of the aircraft, and walking up the taxyway to meet them. Catrin was suitably excited to see everyone, and we headed off by car to a local cafe for a well-earned lunch.

Taxying in at Caernarfon

A warm welcome from the locals!

While the others headed to the beach with Catrin, Harri and I returned to the airfield, as I had offered to take him for a flight while we were there. Due to the missing step it was a little more difficult getting Harri up to the cockpit, and after we got settled in I realised I’d left my headset bag under the wing! Doh!

We extricated ourselves, I retrieved my gear, and we again got settled in. I had a bit of trouble starting the engine (it’s always more difficult when still warm from a previous flight), but it started on the second attempt and we taxyed to the hold (for 26 this time!) to carry out power checks. These were all normal, and we lined up behind another aircraft waiting to depart.

After an aircraft had landed, the aicraft ahead of us took to the runway, and after he started his takeoff roll I followed him, ensuring that nobody else was approaching to land. Once the other aircraft was airborne and had made a turn away from the runway centreline, I applied power and we took off in turn.

We climbed initially to around 1000 feet for the run up the Menai Straits, and set about finding their house in order to get some photos. At this low level things were a bit bumpy unfortunately, making it difficult for Harri to take photos. We carried out an orbit however, enabling him to get off a few shots. We climbed to a more comfortable 2500 feet, and continued our tour of Anglesey.

Overhead the in-laws’ place

Harri pointed out a number of landmarks familiar to him as we flew around the Island, spotting his old school, the house he used to live in and a few more general landmarks like old oil refinarys and the like. Valley were closed for the Bank Holiday,  so after spotting the harbour at Holyhead we headed across the island through their overhead, being careful to keep high enough not to infringe their ATZ.

Spotting the Ty Croes racing circuit again, we set course back to Caernarfon. They were now operating on runway 26 with a right hand circuit, so I set us up for an Overhead Join.

As we completed the deadside descent and prepared to join the Downwind leg, another aircraft came on frequency announcing an unwell passenger. Having experienced the distraction of an unwell passenger myself, I decided  to make way for him so that he could land as soon as possible. I continued North of the airfield, before turning to the left to join on an extended Downwind. The other aircraft passed below us, and I made sure to leave plenty of room before following him on the Downwing leg.

He landed safely, and was clearing the runway at the far end as we turned Final. Again the approach was good, and I brought us in for a smooth landing, hopefully reassuring Harri of my piloting ability!

We were initially directed to park back in bay 4, but I wanted to refuel before heading back to Kemble, so we taxyed up to the pumps. Rather than have Harri hang around (and try to negotiate the step up to the wing again!) I gave him a Hi-Viz jacket (mandatory at Caernarfon) and he headed back to the Cafe for a coffee while I refuelled the aircraft. After refuelling I intended to pull the aircraft out of the way to allow another aircraft behind me to refuel while I got going again, but at this point I realised that the tow bar wasn’t in the baggage area.

After a quick check with the refueller that we both agreed I had clearance to taxy out, I started up again and he watched my left wing as I headed away from the fuel bay. Luckily parking bay 4 was still clear, so I taxyed back to park up, before heading in to join Harri.

The rest of the family soon joined us, and while trying to get Catrin to visit the toilet before we headed back, she had a fairly major meltdown because we got all the way to the cubicle before she decided she wanted Heledd to take her. I should probably have just given in immediately, but in trying to get her to go with me she got really wound up, and I eventually relented and took her back outside to find Heledd.

Once we were all sorted, we headed back to the aircraft and got ourselves ready for the return flight. We taxyed past the family, waving as we did, before making ready to depart on runway 26. Before the power checks I noticed that the ‘Low Bus’ light hadn’t gone out (it will sometimes do this at low RPM) and expected it to do so during the power checks. However, when it didn’t I started to become a little concerned that we might have an alternator fault.

I considered whether it would be wise to make the flight anyway (running the risk of losing electrical power at some point), and then decided to try cycling the master switch (the Arrow doesn’t have a split Master / Alternator switch). This seemed to cure the issue, and I made a point of keeping an eye on it for the rest of the flight.

We lined up to take our turn to depart, and took to the air before turning to the South. I had weighed up the options of climbing in the vicinity of Caernarfon with a view to immediately setting a direct track to Welshpool, but decided that we might as well climb while heading South, before turning to rejoin the direct track once we had sufficient height to clear the high ground.

Departing over the beach

I used the 430 to intercept the track home, and set about monitoring the aircraft during the flight, always with an eye on the ammeter and Low Bus light. Both showed no cause for concern during the flight.

No cloud now!

As we left the Caernarfon we heard a Sea King on frequency, and soon spotted him below us in the mountains. Presumably this was some sort of rescue in progress (although it could have been a training exercise of some sort), so hopefully everything turned out Ok for those involved.

Sea King over the woods towards the bottom of the picture

Surprisingly conditions were a lot more bumpy on the return journey (you would usually expect that as things cool down in the late afternoon that there would be less turbulence. I experimented with a number of different levels, eventually ending up at about 5500 feet. We had no height constraints in terms of either airspace or cloudbase, but there didn’t seem much point in going any higher.

We flew over Welshpool, hearing a couple of aircraft depart as we approached. Catrin amused herself singing into the intercom (the isolation features of the Garmin audio panel really showing their usefulness!), and had a bit of a snack before falling asleep (my inability to calm her down in the toilet probably the main cause of this!). Luned and I chatted on the flight back, spotting little in the way of other traffic apart from a lone glider in the vicinity of Shobdon.

Around Worcester I contacted Gloucester for a Basic Service, initially being asked to report abeam the airfield, before the Controller offered “unless you’d rather route through the overhead?”. This had been my original intention so I took him up on his offer. Gloucester seemed fairly busy, but as we passed through the overhead at 5500 feet we were well out of the way.

One error I made was in not starting my descent for Kemble early enough. We started to descend when overhead Gloucester, but due to our ground speed I needed a fairly large rate of descent to get down to an appropriate height to rejoin at Kemble.

I asked for a wind check at Gloucester to get a feel for what runway to expect, and their winds appeared to favour the Easterly runway. I was somewhat surprised to receive a response from Kemble Radio (they are usually Information) to my initial call, but having someone on the ground was useful to confirm that they were in fact still using runway 26. Another aircraft landed as we approached, and after confirming that their was no other known traffic in the area, I elected for a Right Base join to expedite our landing.

In order to lose the extra height I now needed to, I reduced airspeed before lowering the gear earlier than I normally would. This helped keep the airspeed down and increase the rate of descent, as I got down to circuit height in time to commence the Base leg.

The rest of the approach went pretty well, but for some reason I made a real mess of the landing. I obviously flared much to high, causing us to stall much higher off the ground than I would usually. As a result the last few feet resulted in a pretty firm landing, as I applied power to late to cushion the touchdown.

A quick ‘sorry’ to Luned in the back (Catrin managed to sleep through it!), and I announced a backtrack before heading back to our parking area. I dispatched Luned and Catrin back to the Club while refuelled from the Club’s bowser and got all of our gear out of the aircraft (carrying a load of coats in the hot afternoon sun was particularly galling!) and recovered the aircraft in the parking area.

Catrin and Bob after a thoroughly enjoyable day out

I headed back in to the Club to settle the paperwork, to find Sarah (one of the aircraft owners) getting all the information from the tech logs. We chatted while I filled in the Arrow’s paperwork, and Dave also returned with a student from his last flight of the day. Once all was complete, we headed back to the car to head home after a very successfully day.

Tracks flown

Outbound profile

Local profile

Return profile

Well, after nearly 5 years of having my PPL, I’d finally fulfilled my promise and taken Luned up to her mum’s place for lunch! Hopefully we’ll soon be able to do it properly and go up there for a couple of days, meaning the whole thing would feel a lot less rushed. Door to door in about 3 hours was definitely more pleasant than a 4 or 5 hour drive!

We’d all (hopefully!) had a really pleasant day out, and Harri seemed to enjoy his flight around his local area. The majority of the flight had gone really well, only spoiled by a pretty poor landing to end the day. What’s the bit they say the passengers always remember?

Total flight time today: 3:30
Total flight time to date: 215:40

Back to Wales!

The awful start to the year’s flying had continued, with more bad weather and the cancellation of another extended trip to North Wales due to my catching a cold the night before. It was very frustrating to make the 5 hour drive up there in glorious weather, feeling particularly sorry for myself!

When this weekend’s weather forecast seemed good, I decided to make a quick check of the Club’s booking system to see if there were any aircraft free (despite ascertaining a weekend or two before that they were all booked). As luck would have it, the Arrow was now free, so after a bit of negotiating with Luned I booked the aircraft.

Sadly Catrin had been unwell for the previous week, so I didn’t think it would be a good idea for her and Luned to come with me. David was already booked to go to a wedding, and some other friends who we’d made lunch plans with for the Saturday had other things to do, so couldn’t spare the time. So Sean became my third choice, and he opted to come along with me.

I dithered a little on choosing the destination, planning both Dunkeswell and Haverfordwest and deciding to make the final decision the following day. The morning dawned bright and clear, with the forecast promising good conditions in virtually every direction. As Sean had previously flown with me to Dunkeswell, I decided to head out towards Wales again, this time visiting Haverfordwest.

The pre-flight planning showed some airspace upgrades around Kemble in the afternoon (an airway above 3000 feet, and Class D from the surface up to 3000 feet). I made a quick call to Kemble to double check the procedures for rejoining while this was in place, unsure whether to make my inital call to Kemble or Brize (both were listed as Controlling Authority for the airspace). The nice lady in Ops told me to contact Brize initially, so I made a note of the airspace times and details on the plog and chart in order to jog my memory on the return leg.

Sean arrived just before me at Kemble, and after some brief introductions we headed in to the Club. After completing the Temporary Membership forms, I took Sean and Sue through to the Departure Lounge where they helped themselves to tea and coffee while I went out to perform the A check on the Arrow.

I took my time again due to the time since I had last flown, ensuring everything was checked properly and trying to get back into the flow of things. There were no problems spotted on the check, and just as I was finishing Sean and Sue joined me at the aircraft, coming airside with another pilot who was about to fly G-VICC.

Sadly, they didn’t have headsets with them, and I needed to return to the Club to sign off the A check too, so I headed back while they stood near the aircraft taking some photos. Once the final chores were complete, we all got settled into the aircraft and I gave them both a pre-flight brief.

Obligatory pre-flight photo

G-VICC started just before us, and I soon had the Arrow started without any issues too. As I turned the radios on and began setting up the avionics, I heard G-VICC receive taxy clearance and head off, being a little surprised that 08 was in use today. We were soon cleared to taxy following them, and it became clear that there was an event on at the airfield, as a number of aircraft were approaching to land and being directed to marshallers for parking once they had cleared the runway.

Sue ready for the off

There were 3 or 4 aircraft alongside us on the North apron as we completed the power checks, and we all queued for the runway for a short period. There was no real delay, and once it was our turn I elected to make a short backtrack before departing. Another aircraft was on Downwind in the circuit, so I did my best to get away quickly and not cause them any delay.

Fly in aircraft neatly parked

The takeoff run was normal, and we climbed away, turning Crosswind and Downwind before climbing out of the circuit. Initially I climbed to about 3000 feet and had to dodge between some clouds, but these soon cleared and I was able to climb up to my planned cruising altitude of 4500 feet. I dialled in the appropriate track to the BCN VOR and established us on course, pointing out some of the landmarks as we flew.

Dodging clouds

As we approached the Severn, I pointed out the power stations and the bridges before calling Cardiff for a Basic Service. Given the good weather things seemed fairly quiet in the sky, although there were a few aircraft departing from Cardiff. The clouds had all but disappeared on the Welsh side of the Severn, so I elected to descend and give the passengers a better view. The air seemed quite calm despite the high ground, so there was no discomfort.

As we approached BCN, I asked the Cardiff Controller if he had any information on the status of Danger Areas D117 and D118 (those in the vicinity of Pembrey). I received a slightly terse “No idea, don’t even know where they are” in response, and replied that they were near Pembrey, and that I would try to get an update from London Information.

The route I’d planned took us from BCN to Swansea, but I decided to head for the coast instead for a bit of sightseeing (although the view of the various steel works wasn’t exactly picturesque!). As we headed to the coast I tried to contact London Information to see if I could get an update on the danger areas. However I couldn’t hear any response from them, despite hearing transmissions from other aircraft on the frequency.

Eventually I gave up (presumably we weren’t high enough) and switched to Swansea to listen in. On hearing that they were preparing for parachutists to drop I decided to remain clear. I contacted them on the radio just to inform them of where we were, and routed well to the North of the field. We flew over the City itself, spotting what I initially thought was a football ground, before spotting ‘Ospreys’ written in the stands clearly identifying it as a rugby pitch! Luned has since informed me that they actually share the ground, so I was both right and wrong!

We saw the parachute aircraft coming in to land as we were abeam the field to the North, so I signed off from Swansea and switched to Pembrey. I initially had some problems contacting them too, but soon got an answer and received confirmation that D118 (the DA immediately around Pembrey) was indeed inactive. Another pilot on frequency also confirmed that D117 was inactive too (I had checked both in the AIP, and they were only supposed to be active during the week).

We followed the coast to Pembrey, and I pointed out the airfield and race circuit as we approached. We could see some sort of activity at the circuit, so I informed the Controller that we would perform a Clockwise orbit after asking if there was anything to affect it. It looked like there were bikes going around the circuit, checking later showed no events according to their website, so it was probably a track day.

Orbiting Pembrey

We continued along the coast, and at Sean’s request I descended to 1000 feet to get a nice view of the coastline as we passed along it. We intercepted the track from Pembrey to Haverfordwest (SkyDemon performing well on the Nexus 7 attached to my kneeboard) and as we headed inland I climbed to 2000 feet in readiness for the join.

Low level along the coast

Although Haverfordwest seemed fairly quiet, I elected to join overhead as I find that’s generally the easiest way to spot an unfamiliar airfield and get a good idea of the layout. On the initial call the A/G operator didn’t give me the circuit direction, so I queried this just to be sure (I had the AFE flight guide page in my kneeboard, but didn’t want to be ‘eyes in’ for too long when approaching an airfield).

For a change I was nicely slowed down as I approached, making for an easy descent on the deadside down to circuit height. The circuit was all routine, and I managed to bring us in for a nice smooth landing, helping to ease any nerves the first time passenger might have!

We parked up on the apron next to a nice looking yellow Cub, and headed in to settle the landing fee and have some lunch. The cafe was relatively busy, and due to the good weather we elected to sit outside. Various combinations of bacon and sausage baps all round, and we chatted in the sun as we ate. Got talking to the owners of the Cub, who were also feeling frustrated at the recent weather we’d been enduring. At least they were here at the airfield to take advantage of the break in the weather! We watched a nice looking helicopter departing, before finishing off and heading back to the aircraft for the return journey.

Parked up at Haverfordwest

Maybe one day!

After a quick walkaround we all climbed on board, and after getting the aircraft started we taxyed to the hold to carry out our power checks. As we approached the hold another aircraft landed and backtracked to taxy towards us (when I landed we had continued to the end of the runway). The power checks were again normal, and I approached the hold after completing the pre-departure checklist.

I reported ready and was told ‘nothing known to affect’, so after a quick check of the circuit I headed out to the runway. Almost immediately another aircraft called Right Base (it was a left hand circuit so I hadn’t spotted them) and as we backtracked I spotted them as they turned Final. Not wanting to inconvenience them, I dropped two stages of flap and turned around to line up before reaching the far end of the runway. I continued the takeoff roll and was soon airborne.

I raised the gear and was a little caught out by the gear warning horn as I started to retract the flaps. I soon realised that the horn was sounding as a warning that flaps were deployed without the landing gear being extended, and as I retracted the last stage of flap the horn stopped as expected. I often find the horn annoying, but hopefully I won’t should I ever forget to lower the landing gear and it starts to warn me of an impending noisy and expensive landing!

As we turned Crosswind I looked over my left shoulder to see the other aircraft still on Short Final, so at least we hadn’t caused them any problems. I continued to climb to 3000 feet on the Downwind leg and set course for Carmarthen, which was the first checkpoint on our route home.

Once established on course and in a level cruise I handed control over to Sean. He had been learning to fly around the time we last flew together, but hadn’t managed to fly much recently. He soon got back into the swing of things though, and despite the relatively thermally conditions did a relatively good job.

As we approached the higher ground, conditions grew slightly more turbulent, and didn’t really improve as we climbed to 3500 and then 4000 feet. I think Sue became a little nervous of Sean being at the controls in the conditions, so I took over on her request. In all honesty I doubt things were much better with the yoke in my hands! Conditions were becoming more overcast as we approached the Severn, but the layer of cloud was well above us, probably at least 5000 feet I would guess.

We had been talking to Cardiff since the turn for BCN at Carmarthen, and the Controller warned us that both Rhigos and Usk glider fields were active today. As conditions seemed near perfect for gliders, I opted to try to give both a wide berth, initially routing further North than intended in order to keep clear of Rhigos.

Sean soon spotted a glider approaching us rapidly from the left, so I turned away from him before spotting him also turning away. I always find it hard to spot gliders, so it was good to have more pairs of eyes in the cockpit to help with the lookout. As we passed the VOR I routed further South than planned to clear Usk, and began a descent to 2500 feet to remain clear of the airway into Kemble that was notified.

The Cardiff Controller warned us of some further traffic ahead of and below us, that was travelling slower and we were therefore catching up. I weaved the nose to the left and right in an attempt to spot it, but none of us managed to get sight of it. As we approached the Severn I signed off from Cardiff and switched to Kemble to try to build up a picture of the traffic in the vicinity. Kemble was easy to spot in the good visibility today, making the approach easier than it sometimes is.

We were arriving before the notified hours of the Class D airspace, so I contacted Kemble for information on the rejoin. They had a number of other aircraft joining, including a jet with a German sounding pilot. As we approached the overhead the Controller asked us to check that we were visual with him ‘Downwind’. I looked in the more usual position for him, but Sean eventually spotted him at a similar height to us and quite wide (which makes sense for a jet in the circuit!).

The extra traffic distracted me somewhat and I had neglected to slow down sufficiently. As a result it became clear that with ‘normal’ descent power I wasn’t going to complete the deadside descent in time, so I was forced to reduce power to idle and suffer the gear warning horn yet again! Crosswind at 1000 feet we were still a little fast, but bringing the nose up to maintain circuit height soon bled the excess speed off.

As we turned and reported Downwind, the FISO notified us that the jet in the circuit would be backtracking after landing. We kept an eye on him as we continued, but as we were turning Base he had already cleared the runway. The rest of the circuit was generally good, but the landing this time was a little bit firmer than the previous one. Rather than brake to attempt to make the first turn off, I elected to take the second, and asked the FISO to taxy for fuel.

Short Final at Kemble

He asked us to clear the undershoot to the grass runway as quickly as we could due to a helicopter on Final, so I left the ‘after landing’ checks until just before the turn to the fuel bay. After shutting down I refuelled the aircraft, before Sean and Sue walked to AV8 while I took the airfield back to the parking area.

There never seems to be ‘good’ weather to put the cover back on the aircraft (it’s always either hot, rainy or windy!). Today was in the ‘hot’ category, but I definitely prefer that to the other two! After I’d unloaded all the gear from the aircraft and put the cover back on, I headed into the Club to settle the paperwork before joining Sean and Sue in AV8. I was sadly too late to change my order from Peppermint Tea to Beer, so after chatting to Sean and Sue for a while, I headed home and ended up stopping at a supermarket on the way to stock up on beer!

Tracks flown

Outbound profile

Return profile

I have to admit to starting to feel slightly jaded with flying during the course of the year, even to the point where I was beginning to wonder whether I was losing interest. Today’s flight has definitely put paid to that however, and hopefully the weather will pick up and allow me to start catching up on the hours I’ve missed so far this year! The next planned flight is for the Bank Holiday weekend with the family, so hopefully this will come off without any obstacles!

Total flight time today: 2:35
Total flight time to date: 212:10

Touring Wales and the West

Due to some poor weather and other commitments, I hadn’t done any flying since my last trip to Gloucester in January. Being in the middle of March with just over an hour of flying time so far certainly wasn’t part of my plan for the year! In talking to David, we discussed the possibility of  trying to fly mid-week should a good weather day present itself.

I managed to obtain approval from work for a ‘short notice’ day off (making the decision mid to late afternoon of the day before) to enable us to be fairly sure of some good weather and not wasting a day of holiday. In the run up to this flight we discussed a number of destinations, and came up with the following plan:

1. David would fly from Kemble to Cardiff, arriving via a practice ILS approach
2. I would fly from Cardiff to Aberporth (assuming they could accomodate us, the Danger Areas were notified as being active with UAV flying)
3. David would fly from Aberporth to Shobdon
4. I would fly from Shobdon to Kemble, ideally making two landings there to fully reset my 90 day passenger currency

Currency had been a real issue for me over the Winter, with a combination of poor weather, lack of funds and other commitments meaning I hadn’t been flying anywhere near as much as I would like. For the first time ever since gaining my PPL, I was coming close to running out of ‘passenger carrying’ currency (in order to fly with passengers, I have to make 3 takeoffs and landings in the 90 days prior to any flight). By making 3 landings today, that would give me a full 90 days of currency going forward, rather than have it again potentially run out 90 days from my last flight (i.e. towards the end of April).

I carried out the majority of my flight planning the night before, including loading the latest prototype version of SkyDemon for Android on my new Nexus 7 tablet. On the morning of the flight the weather was still looking good (if a little cold first thing!), and on the way to Kemble I received a call from Aberporth confirming that they could accomodate us around the UAV flying that was taking place that day. Aberporth is surrounded by Danger Areas that are activated by NOTAM when they are flying UAVs from there, as in the UK these must be separated from piloted aircraft currently.

David had already arrived at Kemble and checked out the Arrow, so we completed the paperwork in the Club and David phoned Cardiff and Shobdon to confirm we could get in there.

The Club was already relatively busy as we headed out to the Arrow, and David and I settled ourselves in ready for the first leg to Cardiff. I had my kneeboard and Nexus on my lap, and was pleasantly surprised by the performance of the screen in the bright sunshine. Sunlight readability was a real issue with the cheap Chinese Windows CE based GPS I’d bought from eBay, and it was a real improvement on the Nexus. David was also impressed, with the Nexus’s display outperforming that on his iPad.

There was an aircraft landing as we announced ready, and once he passed us we lined up and took off.

The departure was normal, and we spoke to Bristol for a Basic Service as we headed West. I was handling the setting up of the radios, while David took care of the actual radio work and the flying. Bristol co-ordinated our arrival with Cardiff, and as we approached the River Severn we were given an appropriate squawk and handed over.

Initially we were navigating ourselves towards Cardiff, and I offered David the use of my hood so that he could fly the ILS in simulated IMC. He was a little reluctant at first, but opted to wear the hood once we started to receive our vectors for the ILS.

Cardiff warned us of some pop-up traffic crossing below us, but we never spotted him. There was someone else on the ILS ahead of us, and as we intercepted the localiser another aircraft was in the visual circuit ahead of us. The Controller slotted him in nicely, meaning he landed and cleared the runway in good time for us.

Positioning for the ILS at Cardiff

Apart from a brief descent below platform height before intercepting the glideslope, David flew the Approach well (particularly since it had been a long time since he’d flown an ILS). We were always well within limits as we flew down the Approach, and David went visual (removed the hood!) in time to bring us in for a nice (if slightly fast) landing.

We were instructed to vacate left, and asked the Controller where to park. This received the reply ‘That is the maintenance area, parking is at your own discretion’ and we opted to park at the far end away from the tie-down points that were obviously reserved for other aircraft. The parking area was a little unkempt, with kerbs around its edges meaning we had to be careful to allow enough room when departing later. Perhaps we should have asked for more information when calling Cardiff earlier?

We headed in to the Flying Club there (who handle landing fees for GA) and were asked to pop back later to settle the landing fee. We were shown outside and directed to the well appointed Cafe, where we had a leisurely brunch (it was only about 11:30 or so) while discussing the next leg.

The facilities there were pretty good, and the Cafe offered a good menu selection of both breakfasts and cooked meals, and a well stocked bar (shame we couldn’t partake as we both had further legs to fly that day!). I chose my fairly standard option of a bacon and sausage sandwich, while David opted for the more substantial ‘Captain’s Breakfast’!

We had a good view out onto the balcony area which overlooked the runway, and there was also a good seating area outside that would be nice on warmer days. If it weren’t for the slightly steep landing fee (just over £30) then this would definitely be an airfield I would visit on a regular basis.

Suitably fed and watered, we headed back to the Flying Club to book out and settle the landing fee. I’d studied the entry and exit procedures at home, so opted for the St. Hilary route out past the mast and the services at junction 36 of the M4. A TV crew were setting up ready to film from one of the Club’s aircraft (something to do with the Volvo website I think), and this delayed us slightly as the guy with the fob for the airside door was outside and we couldn’t get out to the Arrow. I performed a quick walk around, checking fuel and oil, before we mounted up again ready for the flight to Aberporth.

Quick pre-flight before heading to Aberporth

It took me a couple of goes to get the engine started, and in the meantime a marshaller was arranging parking for a Cessna that had just arrived. The aircraft the film crew were using was blocking our exit back the way we had entered, and it was hard to tell from our position whether we would be able to get past the now parked Cessna. I asked the Tower if there was room for me to get past, which received the reply ‘Sorry, you’re on the maintenance area, I couldn’t possibly comment’.

We were slightly surprised by this (although in reality it’s probably true that ATC have no control over the South Side of the airfield). However, when we did try to ‘squeeze’ past the Cessna, it soon transpired that it was parked in a designated parking area, with plenty of room to get by on the taxyway. It would have been nice if the Tower could have told us this rather than perhaps doing the strictly correct thing!

Our clearance initially was to follow the published route not above 1500 feet. On the ATIS, Cardiff make a big thing about having stop bars illuminated across the hold points at each entrance to the runway. Once all the checks were complete we lined up just before this row of red lights, and called ‘Ready for Departure’. As we were cleared onto the runway the lights went off, and I took to the long Cardiff runway.

Takeoff was normal, and once airborne I made the turn onto the approximate heading to fly North of the  St. Hilary mast. The mast was easy to spot however, so I visually flew North of it before turning more to the West to fly over the VRP at the motorway services. As I reached about 1000 feet or so, the Approach Controller asked what my cruising level was to Aberporth. I informed him we would be climbing to 3000 feet, and as he had no traffic to conflict with us he cleared us to that height within his airspace. As we climbed David enquired how long I was going to leave the fuel pump on (it’s supposed to be turned off above 1000 feet).

The services proved a little difficult to spot, but the the aid of a few quick glances at SkyDemon in my lap, we soon found them. As we passed then, I asked David whether he thought I should report that we were clear of Cardiff’s airspace. As we debated this, the Controller informed us that we had left his airspace, and informed us we were now on a Basic Service, asking us to inform him when we were changing frequency.

The Nav to Aberporth was straightforward, and around half way I announced to the Cardiff Controller that I was switching frequency to Aberporth Radar (who controlled access to the Danger Areas). The Controller’s reply was ‘Frequency change approved’, leading to a debate with David as to whether I should have asked for the frequency change, or whether I could just tell him we were changing. As we were outside Controlled Airspace and only in receipt of a Basic Service, I felt that we were no longer under his control, whereas David felt that as he was a full ATC unit, he was ‘in charge’. Must check up on that.

We contacted Aberporth Radar about 15nm out, and were initially told to remain clear of the danger area as a UAV was in the circuit. However, while we were still 5nm or so away from the DA we were given our permission to enter and the option of a straight in approach or a Left Base join. The Controller asked us to report the field in sight, which proved a little difficult as we were both having a bit of trouble spotting it! Luckily I’d chosen the Left Base join, otherwise I would have had trouble lining up with the runway!

With the help of SkyDemon we knew the general location of it, and could see a cluster of buildings that was presumably the airfield, but neither of us could categorically identify the runway. The airfield sits in a bit of a dip, with higher ground to the East and South, which masked the runway. Eventually we spotted it and (rather belatedly) made the ‘Field in sight’ call. We were handed over to Aberporth Information, who informed us that there were no other aircraft in the circuit. We were warned about arrestor cables on the ‘Upwind’ end of the runway, and I mistakenly responded that we would land long. After a bit of conversation we managed to understand correctly (the cables were at the far end of the runway!), and I continued the approach.

Final Approach for West Wales Aberporth

Due to the difficulty spotting the field, I was now quite close to the Final turn and still at about 1000 feet QFE. Luckily the Arrow doesn’t float like the Warriors do, so reducing power to idle and slowing enough to drop the gear meant we could achieve a fairly high rate of descent without an accompanying increase in airspeed. I soon got back to the correct approach profile, and made a nice gentle landing on their long runway. We taxyed in to park near the hangar, just in time to see the UAV being pushed back into the hangar.

The weather now was glorious, we walked in to the offices in nice warm sunshine and spoke to the very helpful staff to settle the reasonable landing fee. We were directed to the ‘help yourself’ tea and coffee making facilities, and had a bit of a sit down and a chat. The guys in the office phone the Tower for us to check whether there was any further flying scheduled. If there were a cafe on site, then I’d definitely be back, as during the Summer the place would make an ideal visiting spot with the family.

Once we were suitably rested we headed back out to the aircraft, and chatted briefly with the FISO who offered us lots of advice on what to expect as we departed as regards the Danger Area. We got settled in the aircraft again, this time with David in the pilot’s seat for the flight to Shobdon.

Start up and taxy were normal, but I had to remind David that he couldn’t taxy without permission as this was a field with an FIS rather than air ground. David took care not to blast the UAVs in their hangar as he carried out the power checks. As we took to the runway the FISO again warned us about the arrestor cables, this time saying the were ‘at the 08 end’ (would have been easier if he’d said that to me earlier!). We taxyed the majority of the way down the runway, before turning around departing.

As we climbed away and turned left, I was itching to remind David to raise the gear, only to realise that he’d somehow managed to do it without me noticing or hearing the customary noise of the gear retracting! Once airborne we contacted the DA Controller and were cleared through the Danger Area not above 3500 feet. As we set course for Shobdon the Controller asked us for our cruising level, to which David replied ’2000 feet’. Something clicked in my head and I had a quick look at the chart and the plog created by SkyDemon, before pointing out to David that we would be crossing ground that rose to about 2000 feet on the leg. He realised his mistake and announced a climb to 3000 feet.

David at the controls

David had planned via Lampeter and Builth Wells, and the Controller asked us to report abeam Llandovery and confirm whether we were going North or South of the Danger Area at Sennybridge. Once David had confirmed his route with the Controller, there followed an amusing discussion where I did my best to teach David the correct pronunciation of the various places he’d have to report (having a Welsh wife comes in handy sometimes at least!). Before we passed Llandovery the Controller informed us that we were reaching the edge of his coverage, and suggested we contact London Information. On this kind of flight I don’t think I’ve ever spoken to London Info (although perhaps in remote areas such as this it might be a good idea in hindsight) so we elected to switch direct to Shobdon.

Despite being some 20nm from Shobdon, we could clearly hear aircraft talking to the FISO there (although we couldn’t yet receive the FISO’s responses). This did give us the opportunity to build up some situational awareness as we approached, which is always a good thing. There followed some slight confusion between David and I as we worked out the best way to join the circuit (27 LH) when approaching from the West, but we soon came up with a plan and I helped David get his head around the slightly unusual joining procedures at Shobdon (due to local glider flying and noise abatement issues).

We arrived overhead, and I had to caution David about not descending before we’d crossed the runway to the deadside. The deadside descent down to 1500 feet went well, and as we crossed the runway the FISO asked if we were the aircraft now heading South. I wondered if we were doing the wrong thing, but the joining procedure does call for you to move from the upwind end of the runway to the mid-point of the Downwind leg, so I’m pretty sure we were where we should be. On confirming our position, the FISO informed us of another aircraft that had just reported Downwind also, so we both had our eyes on stalks trying to spot the other aircraft.

We eventually spotted him miles further South than he should have been. Electing to follow him, we continued East out of the ATZ for a long way before turning back to the airfield. We lost sight of the other aircraft on Final, and we were both considering whether a go-around would be sensible (it’s always worrying when you can’t spot another aircraft that he might be in your blind spot and close to a collision). We eventually spotted him just as he touched down for a somewhat wayward landing, before he continued with his touch and go and got airborne again.

I made the mistake of attempting to discuss the situation with David as he continued on Final, before realising how distracting this would be and shutting up! As a result, David’s landing was a little flat and fast, and he applied some heavy braking in order to make the turnoff at the intersection. We continued on to the grass and found a parking space in the busy parking area.

We walked in to the offices with the temperature having dropped considerably due to the cloud over the airfield, and dropped off the landing voucher and arranged our departure, not realising that their slot system also applied to departures. The slot we were assigned gave us plenty of time for a cup of tea and a cake, so we chatted for a while before heading out to the aircraft for the final leg of the day.

A quick check of fuel and oil showed that our fuel estimations had been correct and we didn’t need any fuel before returning to Kemble. We got settled in and I got the engine started much easier this time. We taxyed out and were followed by another aircraft from the pumps. There was a glider parked near the hold, so I informed the FISO that I would stop before it to carry out the power checks so that we wouldn’t cause any damage. The FISO warned us of the following aircraft, but I hoped that he would see us and also stop.

Power checks were normal, so we took to the runway and departed. I managed to spot the ditch that marks the noise abatement turn for the first time, and continued around the circuit, climbing up to 3000 feet and heading for Leominster to start the Nav for the flight back to Kemble. Had some trouble announcing that we were changing frequency due to the frequency becoming busy again, but were soon settled on the flight back via Gloucester.

Departing Shobdon

Overhead Ledbury we contacted Gloucester for a Basic service and to announce our intentions to route via their overhead. There was an RA(T) in place up to 2500 feet due to the Cheltenham race meeting, and the Controller asked us to transit not below 3000 feet so as not to conflict with their joining traffic. I was up at 3500 feet or so anyway, so acknowledged his request. As we reached the Overhead a number of other aircraft came on frequency, and I mistakenly acknowledge a traffic report intended for another aircraft causing a little confusion at first. As we crossed the ridge South of Gloucester we informed the Controller and switched to Kemble for the recovery.

I’d intended to phone Kemble at Shobdon in order to book a couple of circuits but had forgotten, so I cheekily asked if this was possible over the radio. The FISO approved this and informed me that the circuit was clear, so instead of making an Overhead join as intended I decided to join Crosswind instead. As a result of this late change of plans I found myself high and fast for the second time today. This time an idle descent with plenty of sideslip brought us nicely down to circuit height as we crossed the threshold, and the slightly high speed was soon bled off on the Crosswind leg. The slightly hasty descent did catch me off guard slightly, and I continued further South than normal, so had to turn back to regain the correct track for the Downwind leg.

Short Final at Kemble

I carried out the before landing checks on the Downwind leg, and the rest of the circuit went normally. David thought I was slightly high, but without any real drama I was soon on the correct profile, but was slightly surprised again when the FISO cleared someone for an immediate departure as I turned Final. Fortunately, he made a timely departure and didn’t affect my approach, and I brought us in for another nice landing. I retracted the flaps and increased power to go around for another circuit.

This circuit was more routine, we followed the recently departed aircraft around and watched him make a slightly long touch and go. He seemed to take longer than usual to get airborne again, and I landed deliberately long off this approach as I knew we were heading for fuel at the far end of the runway. Again this landing was nicely executed, I wonder if I’ll remember how to land a Warrior next time I fly one!

We headed to the pumps to refuel, and I elected not to taxy on the grass back to our parking area. This led to a slight delay as we waited for a helicopter and fixed wing aircraft to depart so that we could backtrack. We were followed along the runway by the fuel bowser, which rather infuriatingly followed us all the way back to our parking area to refuel the recently landed Bulldog and one of the Warriors. I was slightly annoyed that the person flying the Bulldog hadn’t informed us of his intention to refuel (on a previous flight Roger had informed the FISO that he intended to call for the bowser, effectively telling us what he was doing too), as the taxy back from the pumps added .1 to the tacho, adding another £13 to the cost of the flight.

We pushed the aircraft back into its parking place and sorted out the covers and tie downs, before heading back into the Club to settle the paperwork and pay our dues.

Track flown

Leg 1 profile

Leg 2 profile

Leg 3 profile

Leg 4 profile

This was one of the most enjoyable flying days I’ve had since gaining my PPL. It was my first multi-leg trip (usually my flights are to a single airfield and then back) and sharing the legs with David meant that we both got to do a fair amount of flying while keeping the costs down. Having a knowledgeable and helpful passenger certainly makes the flight easier and more fun, and adding two more airfields to the logbook was another bonus. Hopefully the weather will improve and we can get back to some more regular flying again soon!

It was good to see SkyDemon perform so well on the Nexus 7. I was very impressed with the readability of the display in the bright sunshine. There were a few instabilities in the software (but it is still at prototype stage, and not properly released yet), but there have been some updates since this flight that seem to have fixed the worst of the stability problems. It should be a great platform moving forward.

Total flight time today: 1:35
Total flight time to date: 209:35

 

Finally airborne in 2013

A combination of poor weather and a minor ankle injury had meant that the start of 2013 was pretty frustrating, not helped by almost perfect flying conditions yesterday and an iced over runway at Kemble! The weather forecast looked promising for today, with some strong winds, so I decided to try to make a short flight to fit in with a toddler’s birthday party in the afternoon.

The winds were a little concerning, and I checked with David who had another aircraft booked for a flight with another Club Member (another Dave!). On arriving at Kemble the wind was fairly strong, and David and Dave were in the Club’s ‘departure lounge’ discussing their flight. Despite the strength of the winds, they were straight down the runway, so I wasn’t too concerned about flying in those conditions. I opted for a quick flight to Gloucester before returning to Kemble to fly a couple of circuits to reset my 90 day passenger currency also (to be legal to carry passengers, I have to have made 3 landings in the 90 days prior to any flight).

David and Dave opted to also fly to Gloucester in G-VICC, with David flying there and back before a crew change at Kemble and Dave repeating the process later. They headed out to the aircraft as I finished off my preparations and followed them. Someone had parked the Club’s Bulldog in a very strange manner, with one of the wings overhanging the taxyway (aircraft are usually ‘reversed’ onto the grass to keep the taxyway clear). As a result, David had a fairly tight gap to aim for when departing, and if he hadn’t been leaving it would have been impossible for me to get through the gap with the Arrow.

I took my time with the walkaround due to having not flown for 6 weeks or so, and the Arrow had also been on the ground for a couple of weeks. Apart from having to take 3 fuel samples from one of the tanks due to small bubbles of water, everything else was normal. I taxyed out to the D Site Apron for power checks as usual, before being cleared out to the hold. The fire crew were on the runway in an attempt to clear birds, and I had to hold for a short time before the runway was clear and I was ready to depart.

The quoted wind was in gusting in the high 20s knots, and my takeoff roll was incredibly short due to the extra airspeed generated by a 20 or so knot headwind! I flew an abbreviated circuit to the left, climbing to 2000 feet as I headed North. Quick glances at the Garmin 430 and my SkyDemon GPS showed that both weren’t functioning correctly, but I continued without worrying too much as it was only a short flight, and I had the ADF as a backup.

I switched box 2 over to Gloucester’s ATIS and muted it using the audio panel, before trying to inform Kemble of a frequency change on box 1. I tried 3 times without receiving a response, so toggled box 2 back to the Kemble frequency and tried again. This time I received a response, and the FISO informed me that he had heard me and had been responding. I assumed there was an issue with comms on the 430, so continued using box 2. I switched back to Gloucester’s ATIS and took down the details, before attempting to use the ADF as a steer to the field.

I was caught somewhat by surprise when it appeared that the ADF also wasn’t working correctly. It was receiving a good ident, and was definitely pointing (pressing the ‘test’ button caused the needle to swing, and releasing it would swing it back to the same direction). However based on my current position just North of Kemble, there was no way that Gloucester could be off to my right! I have to admit to a brief moment of panic as I was uncertain of my precise position (a downside of learning to rely on the GPS!), not helped by the fact that Kemble had now disappeared off to my left as I was looking straight into the sun.

A quick glance at the 430 showed why I had problems using it for Comms. I had neglected to turn up the volume, but hadn’t noticed because I’d also set the audio panel to monitor Com 2. As a result, I was transmitting on the ground using the 430, but hearing the responses coming back on Com 2. Once in the air, I turned off the Com 2 monitor feature, and as a result couldn’t hear the transmissions.

Radio issues sorted, I set about fixing my position and routing towards Gloucester. Cheltenham and Gloucester are easy towns to spot, so I headed for them with a view to locating the airfield as I got closer. Obviously the distraction of the radio had been more than I’d thought, as it’s clear from the GPS track that I’d actually turned through over 90 degrees while trying to fix my position. As a result I’d mis-reported my position as East of Gloucester when in fact I was to the South.

Once I cleared this up with the Controller, I was cleared for a Crosswind join at Gloucester. It took me a little while to work this out, as for some reason I’d convinced myself that Gloucester had a left hand circuit when in fact it was to the right. I got slowed down nicely and crossed abeam the runway at 1000 feet, turning onto the Downwind leg and completing the pre-landing checks, realising that I’d also neglected to turn off the fuel pump after leaving Kemble.

I decided to land with just 2 stages of flap due to the winds, and probably went further downwind than was necessary. As a result the Final leg took quite a while into the strong headwind! I was on a nice approach profile and brought the aircraft in for a very gentle (if a little floaty) touchdown. Just as I touched down, a helicopter came on frequency requesting departure details (and needing a repeat).

I heard the Controller tell him that he should expect me to backtrack, but wasn’t sure if I could take this as permission to do so, so continued down the runway slowly until the frequency cleared and I was instructed to backtrack. I was helpfully marshalled into a parking space alongside G-VICC, and headed in to the offices for a bit of a break before the return flight.

Parked up next to G-VICC

I met up with David and Dave, and we headed over to the Cafe. I realised I had enough time for a quick bite to eat, so we all sat and talked over sandwiches. Once suitably refilled (and SkyDemon working again!) I planned the direct return flight to Kemble, phoning them to arrange a couple of circuits on my arrival. David and Dave left shortly before me, and I walked out to give the Arrow a quick once over before snapping a shot of some rather exotic looking aircraft parked near me!

Parked up next to some interesting machinery!

Gloucester were now using runway 22, which meant an easy outbound turn onto a direct track for Kemble. It was pretty turbulent on climbout, with a fairly significant crosswind meaning I needed a large crab angle to maintain the runway track, before turning on course as I reached 2500 feet. A HeliMed was on frequency, inbound from the Stroud area, but I didn’t catch sight of him.

For some reason, the 430 was also playing ball, so I now had two devices to help me head back to Kemble (although typically Kemble was now easy to spot!). I detoured slightly to the left to avoid Aston Down, before contacting Kemble to get the airfield information. I was the only aircraft on frequency, but opted for an Overhead join rather than a shorter Crosswind join again.  I was asked to report Downwind as I began to descend on the deadside, and as I was routing Crosswind another aircraft came on frequency making ready to depart.

The FISO asked me for a position report just as I was making the Downwind turn, and I again completed the before landing checks, making ready for the landing. The noise abatement circuit at Kemble is now pretty familiar and I followed it around, getting nicely lined up on Final and reporting this to the FISO. The strength of the wind reported to me came as a bit of a surprise, so I opted to make this a full stop landing rather than spend more time than necessary in the air in the conditions.

Again my ground speed was very low as I approached the runway, and it almost felt like I was flying a helicopter due to the low forward speed! Again I made a very gentle touchdown, and vacated second right to allow the other aircraft to enter the runway and backtrack once I passed. I refuelled before backtracking myself to get to our parking area.

David and Dave had very helpfully repositioned the Bulldog, meaning it was easy to line the Arrow up for its parking space. I received excellent service from them again, as the pushed my back into the space while I gathered my gear together and tidied up the cockpit. They had abandoned their planned second flight due to the strong wings, and Dave helped me with the cover for the Arrow (always incredibly useful when its windy!)

We headed into the office to settle up the paperwork, and I said a brief hello to some of the people from the Bristol Aero Club (who have recently moved to Kemble now that Filton has closed) before saying my goodbyes to head back to Swindon for the party!

Tracks flown

Outbound profile

Return profile

On the whole I’m glad I made this flight, although I definitely wouldn’t have done so if I were planning a more distant destination. Despite the strong winds, the forecast was for it to remain pretty much straight down the runway all day, so I wasn’t concerned about being able to return. The conditions were certainly a little challenging, but its always good to try to expand your comfort zone. Although I’d made a few minor slips (including perhaps not being quite as well prepared for the GPS failures as I should have been) the flight as a whole went well, and it was good to be able to handle the landings smoothly given the conditions.

Total flight time today: 1:05
Total flight time to date: 208:00

2012 Summary

A summary of my flying during 2012:

• 31:35 flying hours (30:55 P1, 0:40 dual), roughly 2/3 of the hours in the Arrow, 1/3 in the Warriors
• 33 flights (including 1 currency check on the Arrow and a flight for the renewal of my IMC rating)
• 16 landaways (only 1 local if you discount the currency check and IMC renewal!)
• 8 new airfields visited.

My 2012 goals were (summarised):

• Visit the Continent
• Use the Northern Chart
• Visit Caernarfon and Anglesey
• More ‘sociable’ flying
• Regain IMC currency
• Spinning / aeros

I managed to achieve two of these goals. I visited Caernarfon with David, and carried out more ‘sociable’ flying (a number of multi-aircraft trips with David, and a visit to a fly-in at Filton). Although I didn’t really do much to regain IMC currency, I did manage to successfully renew the IMC rating, and carried out some flying in real IMC and a few practice approaches. Sadly, my planned extended trip to Caernarfon was thwarted by a period of pretty awful weather. While not a milestone that has any particular meaning, I have now also passed 200 hours total flight time.

I am regretfully yet to visit the Continent, venture on to the Northern Chart or get some experience of spinning or aeros. These three will remain on my ‘to-do’ list, hopefully to be ticked off next year!

My flying hours are about 15% down on last year for a few reasons. The weather this Summer was often very frustrating, and also having a 3 year old daughter often means I feel bad using my free time at weekends to disappear off by myself to fly rather than spending some quality time with her (although wherever possible I do try to fly with the family as well). Finally, financially things have been a little tighter this year, which has had a slight effect on my flying. My aim when I started out was always to fly 2 or 3 times a month to accumulate 4 or 5 hours a month, so hopefully I can return to this level in the coming year.

One aspect of my flying this year that I’m particularly pleased with is the very low number of ‘local’ flights (in fact just a single one in one Summer evening to prevent dropping out of currency), and the significant number of new airfields visited (half of my landaways this year were to ‘new’ airfields). I believe this is key in maintaining my urge to fly, preventing me from repeating the same old flights over and over, which will only lead to my becoming bored.

Another fairly significant event was my first in-air problem. Looking back, I could have handled this much better, although once I finally gave up trying to resolve the door issue and decided to land and sort it out there, things did go much better. The best way to learn is by experience, so hopefully should something similar happen in future, I’ll be able to focus more on the most important item, which is flying the aircraft!

So, next year I think I should aim to:

• Make at least one trip to the Continent
• Visit at least one destination on my Northern Chart (Sherburn or Blackpool?)
• Re-visit Caernarfon / Anglesey, this time with the family and hopefully for an extended stay
• Continue to take part in more ‘sociable’ flying like Club fly-outs or visits to fly-ins
• Make more use of the IMC rating to retain currency, both by carrying out flights that involve some portion in actual IMC, and carrying both practice and real approaches into airfields that provide instrument approaches
• Get some experience of spinning at least, with perhaps some aeros as well
• Attempt to fly more often wherever possible
• Get Luned to do some landing practice, and also a flight or two in the Arrow

Short hop to Turweston to reset currency

Despite me now being in the position of only needing to fly the Arrow every 60 days to maintain currency with Club rules, I’m finding that due to one thing and another I’m not flying as much as I’d like these days. This coupled with the fact that we’re bound to have a patch of bad weather over Winter, I decided to do my best to reset my currency before Christmas if at all possible.

Luckily, the weather seemed favourable for a flight today, and a landing voucher for Turweston meant I could kill two birds with one stone, resetting my currency and adding a new destination to my log book without it costing too much!

I completed the majority of the pre-flight planning the evening before as usual, before using SkyDemon to complete the plog and double checking NOTAMs in the morning. The weather still looked favourable, although the TAFs did warn of periods of poor visibility due to showers, coupled with low cloud. However, the morning dawned bright and clear, as well as having the added bonus of relatively mild overnight temperatures meaning there was unlikely to be an issue with having to de-ice the aircraft before flying! A quick call to Turweston gained me the required permission to visit, and confirmed that they had nothing unusual happening today.

I arrived at Kemble about 45 minutes before my booking slot, and chatted briefly with another pilot in the Club office who was heading down to Compton Abbas. I grabbed a spare headset, completed all the pre-flight paperwork and checked the defect log (the Arrow hadn’t flown for over a week!) before heading out to the aircraft to pre-flight the aircraft and get going.

There were no issues with the pre-flight, and the work carried out recently to lay matting on the grass where the aircraft are parked appears to be just what was needed to prevent the area becoming unusable in periods of wetter weather. Kemble were NOTAMing that the grass surfaces should be treated with caution due to recent wet weather, so the work was completed in the nick of time! Well done those valiant Club Members and aircraft owner Dave who carried out the work!

Pre-flight was all normal (the dipstick a little tight as ever!), but I had to take a few samples from the left fuel drain to get all the remnants of water out of the fuel. I boarded up after a last walk around, and set to programming the 430 with my route after starting the engine. Kemble seemed pretty busy, with a number of aircraft joining while others operated in the circuit. I took my time, allowing the engine to warm up, before calling for airfield information and Taxy instructions, heading out to the D site apron for checks as normal.

I initially had a bit of problem due to condensation on the inside of the windscreen causing problems seeing where I was going into the low sun, but a quick wipe sorted that before I got some good airflow over the screen to keep it clear. Power checks were all normal, and I was initially cleared to hold A3 to wait for a gap to depart. Two aircraft approached the runway close together, with the first taking a little while to clear, meaning the second had to be warned that the runway was still occupied, leading to a late go-around decision.

Once clear, I lined up and departed, opting to turn right to keep away from the other traffic in the left hand circuit. After orienting myself with the location of Aston Down, I intercepted my outbound track using the 430 and SkyDemon (normally I would do this either visually or using the ADF, but the NDB at Kemble is currently out of service). I had planned the flight to track directly to the DTY VOR, before approaching Turweston from the North for a Downwind join into their somewhat wide noise abatement circuit.

I used the VOR as the primary means for intercepting the track to DTY, cross checking against the two GPSs and double checking with the map once I was established on the leg for a short while. I was now talking to Brize for a Basic Service, and the Controller warned me about activity at Little Rissington and Hinton in the Hedges. Part of the reason for choosing the more Northerly route was precisely to avoid these two busy parachuting airfields, so it was good to have my planning decisions confirmed!

Flying over patchy cloud

I was gaining the benefit of a good tailwind of 20 or 30 knots on this log, and the GPS track shows 150 knot groundspeed for most of the leg! As a result I was soon flying over Banbury, and signed off with Brize to talk to Turweston for the approach. I slightly overshot the turn to the South to head for Turweston due to the poor visibility directly into the sun. Again I leaned on the two GPS units a little more than I would have like in order to fix my position, and established myself on what I hoped was the correct track to avoid the noise sensitive areas near the airfield.

Another aircraft was landing just as I turned onto the offset Final leg, but he cleared the runway in good time meaning I could land without having to slow or perhaps carry out a Go Around due to an occupied runway. I made quite a good landing on the nice long tarmac runway at Turweston, and parked up on their apron making a nice neat row of 4 Arrows!

4 little Arrows, all in a row!

I headed up to the Tower to settle the landing fee (always feeling a bit sheepish for using a free landing voucher!) before heading down to the Cafe to order my usual sausage sandwich for lunch. Made a quick trek to the (somewhat distant!) toilet while my food cooked, and made it back in time to allow me to complete the chart for the return journey before my food arrived.

I took my time eating and drinking, but as I was on my own there wasn’t much point in hanging around for too long, so headed back out to the aircraft to give it a quick transit check before the return journey. The airfield had come alive again, with two aircraft departing and another joining as I got settled in, so I carried out the power checks in my parking space rather than clutter up the ramp while people were trying to leave and arrive.

The two aircraft backtracked down the runway, and I headed initially to the hold to allow the inbound traffic to land, and the other two aircraft to depart. Once the runway was clear I also backtracked, closely followed by another aircraft. Unsure as to whether he would be able to pass me if I lined up on the runway I elected to use the turning area to the North of the runway to allow him plenty of room to pass. He turned onto the (now disused I think) taxyway to the South, and I lined up and departed.

I did my best to follow the noise abatement procedure which called for a 20 degree turn to the right (but completely forgot to look for the lake I was supposed to fly over!) and continued climbing out to the North West until I intercepted the appropriate VOR radial for the flight back. I overshot it somewhat, but soon got back onto it and headed back to Banbury before calling Brize for a Basic Service again. The Controller again queried my exact routing before warning me of Little Rissington being active.

Passing Little Rissington

Both I and the Controller were somewhat confused by some IFR traffic that initially announced it was out of Kemble for Gloucester. Obviously on the Controller’s Radar it was clear that he wasn’t heading for Gloucester, as they asked him to confirm his routing, receiving the reply ‘Direct Bovingdon’ (a VOR to the North of London, and nowhere near a track from Kemble to Gloucester!). After a bit of difficulty the Controller managed to glean that the pilot was actually heading for Elstree (an airfield near the Bovingdon VOR!) and not Gloucester as he had initially stated!

I had to descend a couple of times on this leg to remain clear of cloud (it wasn’t immediately obvious in my direction of travel whether it was a small patch of cloud or a large bank I might later have trouble descending through), but the majority of the leg was flown at around 2500 feet. As I approached the Chedworth Disused and made ready to change frequency, the Brize Controller asked me to report Kemble in site. I informed her I would switch early, and I started listening in to Kemble to get a picture for the traffic situation.

Kemble was again quite busy, with an aircraft operating in the circuit and others joining. Again it was quite difficult to spot the airfield due to the fact that I was heading into the sun, but the GPS units helped me confirm that what I thought was the airfield was correct! Approaching from the North meant a somewhat protracted Overhead Join, but the decision to do this rather than try to join on (say) a direct Right Base leg was the correct one I think.

Kemble hard to spot in the low sun

As I reported overhead on the West side of the airfield in readiness to turn back to descend on the deadside (to the North) another aircraft also announced that he was in the Overhead and descending on the deadside. I quickly spotted him over the threshold of the runway (where I was heading to in a rather large orbit) and reported that I had him in sight. He was given information as to my position by the FISO, and was concerned that he couldn’t spot me (I was quite some way behind him and at a similar height) so I again reported my position and that I had him in sight.

I followed him down the deadside descent, turning crosswind at 1000 feet just as another aircraft completed a touch and go meaning there were now three of us all heading around the circuit to land. Luckily (and unusually!) I had got myself slowed down in good time before arriving Overhead, so it was easy for me to maintain good spacing with the aircraft in front. At all times the FISO was really on the ball, keeping everyone up to date as to where we all were.

I followed the aircaft ahead around the circuit, becoming a little concerned that he might not clear the runway in time for me to land (and the FISO indeed asked him to ‘expedite’!). He turned off the runway as I passed through about 200 feet however, so I was able to land slightly long in readiness for the taxy down to refuel. I pulled off what I think was my best landing in the Arrow ever, bang on centreline and with no sideways drift at all, the stall warner just starting to blare as the main gear gently touched, and me keeping the nose up before gently lowering it to the runway as I slowed. Shame I can’t do that more often!

I refuelled the aircraft before heading to the South of the runway for the first time ever to taxy back to our parking area (they were obviously keeping people off the grass wherever possible due to the recent weather). Despite only being asked to report when I was ready to cross at C1, I reported that I was clear at C2 so that the Controller knew I was no longer affecting runway operations. I always feel a little like I’m being told off when this gleans the reply ‘Roger, report ready at C1′ (in other words ‘Fine, but I only asked you to report here‘!). However, I think it’s best for others on the frequency to be able to build up their own picture whenever possible.

Track flown

Outbound profile

Return profile

Once back at the parking area, I pushed the aircraft back into its parking space and put the cover back on. I headed into the Club to settle all the paperwork, but had to return to the car because I’d forgotten to take my cheque book into the office! It appeared I was in the nick of time with my return, as the sky now looked like this, and it was started to rain relatively heavily.

A rather threatening sky on my return!

I’m glad I managed to make this flight before Christmas and get my currency requirements extended for as long as possible over the Winter. I’d also visited a very pleasant new airfield to boot, so on the whole this was a flight that was definitely worth it!

Total flight time today: 1:30
Total flight time to date: 206:55

Caernarfon – finally!

It had been a while since I’d flown with David, we kept trying to make plans but always had problems finding a date that we were both free. Everything lined up when he offered to take a friend flying in the Arrow on Saturday, and asked if I wanted to come along to share the flying. When he suggested Caernarfon as the destination the deal was done.

Leading up to the weekend, the weather always looked better on the Sunday, but sadly David’s passenger couldn’t make it, so we kept waiting to see if Saturday would turn out to be flyable. By Friday this was looking doubtful (particularly over North Wales) so we postponed the trip to Sunday. As luck would have it this turned out to be good for me, as I was laid low with a bit of a stomach bug on Saturday anyway. Luckily this cleared towards the end of Saturday, so we looked good to go on the Sunday.

The weather forecast on Sunday couldn’t have been much better. The majority of the country was forecasting clear skies, with the odd patches of cloud around North Wales. Given that we both hold IMC Ratings the decision was taken to go ahead with the flight. We would either fly in or above the clouds where necessary, or chicken out and take a lower level route out to the coast and then North.

Due to the distance and the fact that sunset was only 16:20, we aimed for an early start. In the days previous we had considered making this a multi-leg trip (perhaps including West Wales or Haverfordwest) but opted for the simpler trip to Caernarfon. This had the added advantage of meaning we wouldn’t feel rushed at any of the destinations, and could take in a bit of sightseeing too where possible.

So the final plan was for me to fly the leg from Kemble to Caernarfon, with a bit of sightseeing around Snowdonia. We would then have lunch and David would fly the return leg, taking in a trip around Anglesey and a less direct return route down the West Coast of Wales before cutting across.

I left the house around 8:45 (on a Sunday!), arriving at Kemble around 10 minutes after David. He carried out the A check while I gave Caernarfon a call to get the latest information from them. We both grabbed a spare headset before heading out and getting settled in, pulling the aircraft off the grass (with some difficulty!) before we boarded.

Before starting the engine I entered a way-point at Tal-y-bont near Aberystwyth (in case we needed to head for the coast) and then the route from Kemble to Caernarfon via Gloucester and Welshpool (pretty much a straight line). I entered this as the active flight plan, assuming it would be saved when I powered down the unit. Sadly it wasn’t!

The engine started up easily, and David entered the route into the 430 while I was taxying. I was cleared direct to Alpha 1 (unusual in that we are usually cleared to the D-site apron for checks, before lining up via Alpha 3). I stopped in front of a row of parked airliners and cargo planes, and waited for the engine to warm up enough to carry out the power checks. I made a point of copying the active flight plan into a saved location for later also.

The power checks were all completed normally, and we taxyed up to the hold. I had heard other aircraft taxying around the airfield so expected to have to wait my turn, but we were cleared onto the runway immediately. I reported ‘lined up’ only to be told (again!) that I would have to hold to allow birds to be cleared from the runway. I kept my eyes and ears peeled looking for other traffic in the circuit, as I really don’t like sitting on an active runway with my back to potential landing aircraft for too long!

We were soon cleared to depart (with a warning of birds in the area) and I took off, making a right turn out to clear Aston Down before heading direct to Gloucester. I had planned the flight at 5000 feet in order to clear Snowdon by a good margin, and there was no real downside in doing this as the worst wind forecast at altitude was only 10 or 15 knots.

I think David was trying to get his own back for me picking him up on things occasionally, as he was quick to point out that I was at 1500 feet or so with the fuel pump still on (generally this is turned off around 1000 feet), and was also a bit keen to get me to sign off from Kemble (we were still inside the ATZ at the time!).

We continued the climb, setting the ADF for Gloucester and calling them for a Basic Service. We were up at 5000 feet by the time we reached their overhead, and once we reported this were asked to report abeam Malvern.

Overhead Gloucester, GCHQ just in front of the wing

The skies were pretty quiet given the good conditions (although it was still quite early!), and the Controller at Gloucester asked us who we were planning to work next as we reached Great Malvern. I opted for Welshpool, and she signed off with us and we changed frequency. I continued towards the checkpoint at Ludlow, with it arriving pretty much bang on time, with SkyDemon and the 430 both assisting us in keeping on track.

We could hear other aircraft talking to Welshpool as we approached, but couldn’t hear any transmissions from the ground. The airfield is in a valley so it’s possible that this was preventing us from hearing them. In the end we didn’t actually talk to them, as up at over 5000 feet we were well out of their ATZ and unlikely to conflict with any joining or departing traffic!

Once clear of Welshpool there was really nobody left to talk to until we reached Caernarfon (as we had been told not to expect any reply from Valley at the weekend). We tinkered a little with the relatively new audio panel, with David using it to be able to talk on COM2 while I was using COM1. He had some trouble contacting London Information to confirm the regional pressure setting due to how busy they were. They offered a service but given their workload we declined. This feature on the audio panel is a useful one if two pilots are in the aircraft, and worked well despite a small amount of ‘bleed through’ of David’s transmissions into my headset.

As we continued on towards Snowdonia, it became clear that there was quite a lot of cloud ahead of us around the peaks. Things remained pretty clear until around Bala, where a decision had to be taken as to whether to continue through the cloud, or attempt to find another route and remain VFR.

Bala lake, cloud cover getting thicker

As we passed over the lake at Bala, there was still plenty of clear skies out to the West, and we could easily see a route out to the coast below the clouds should it be necessary. As a result, we elected to continue, with the option of reversing course to Bala and heading back to the coast should it not be possible to descend safely for Caernarfon.

We climbed through the initial cloud, soon emerging above the broken layer. We continued past the power station at Trawsfynydd, with the cloud layer getting lower and more broken as we proceeded. We began to descend in steps in order to maintain clearance above the Restricted Area around the power station, and a tall 2000 ft high mast on the approach to Caernarfon.

Cloud cover obscuring the mountains

We spoke briefly to Valley just in case they were operating, and received a simple response that they were closed, but did have Search and Rescue operations at the field today. Although the cloud was quite thick to our right around the mountains, we now had plenty of gaps to descend through, and could soon see Caernarfon approaching on the coast. The cloud did mean our plans to fly around Snowdon itself were scuppered though sadly.

Clear of cloud with Caernarfon off the wing

The active runway at Caernarfon had changed since my earlier phone call, and I voiced my plan for the approach to David who agreed that I had it correct. We descended to 1800 feet out over the sea, and flew past the airfield to set up for the Overhead Join. They had one aircraft departing and another operating on a photo survey at 500 feet as we approached.

David helped keep an eagle eye on the other aircraft as I once again neglected to get the speed off before reaching the overhead. I managed to get us down to circuit height without too much extra speed, bleeding the remainder off on the Downwind leg before completing the before landing checks and lowering the gear. In hindsight, lowering the gear in the overhead might have been a better idea, as this would have helped reduce the speed.

As we proceeded around the circuit we had a good view of the partially constructed wind farm on the field, very close to the other runway. Although only the towers are there at the moment, they look worryingly close to the runway. It will be interesting to see just how close they are once the blades go on!

Descending deadside, wind farm construction clearly visible near 02/20

The remainder of the circuit went well, although I thought I was too high on Final (something I used to consistently do, but more recently seem to have reverted to ‘dragging it in’ somewhat). However, the height was easily lost with a glide descent, and I brought us in for a gentle but slightly flat touchdown at Caernarfon. We were asked to park in bay 4 (feel like an airliner!) and David checked on his printed airfield plan as to where that was. As it turned out the bays were all clearly numbered, so ours wasn’t hard to find.

Parked up in a very nice parking bay!

We shutdown in the well-prepared parking bay, and headed in for some well earned lunch after settling the landing fee. David opted for a very substantial looking Sunday lunch, but given my stomach problems of the day before I played it safe and opted for a ham sandwich!

Lunch!

It was nice to be able to take our time over lunch and have a chat about this and that. We were aiming to be back before 4, with the en-route portion of the flight likely to take around an hour. Add in half an hour to tour Anglesey, and with a bit of safety margin we aimed to leave Caernarfon around 2pm. This gave us a good couple of hours to have a leisurely lunch, before we headed back to the aircraft to get set for the return flight.

David carried out a quick walk around, before we got ourself settled in the aircraft. We now each had a SkyDemon device, and I loaded the reverse route into the 430 (although David planned to head down the coast so it wasn’t particularly accurate). Once ready, we taxyed to the hold for 26 where David carried out the power checks. Things were pretty quiet, so we headed out onto the runway and departed.

Climbing out over the beach

I managed to get my own back on David for picking me up on a couple of mistakes earlier, when he neglected to raise the gear as we climbed out over the coast. We turned North East and began to follow the Menai Straits in readiness for an anticlockwise tour of the island. After getting some photos of Luned’s mum’s place, we continued around past Biwmaris (where Luned and I were married) and Puffin Island.

Bridges across the Menai Straits

Luned’s mum’s place

Biwmaris (where Luned and I were married) with the Castle in the foreground

Puffin Island

We had to climb to keep clear of the Restricted Area at the Wylfa power station, and then headed South to complete our tour of the Island. We gave Valley a quick call to see if we could receive a transit of their ATZ, but (as expected) received no reply. The cloud base was high enough to allow us to pass through the Overhead above the ATZ. It would be nice to be able to practice an approach in there if at all possible.

Passing overhead RAF Valley

As we continued around the Island, I managed to get some good photos of the Tŷ Croes race circuit, the scene of the only awards I ever received during my Sprinting career (Best Beginner the first year and Best Novice the second!). We remained clear of Caernarfon Airport to the West as we crossed the water to begin tracking the coast for the return to Kemble.

Tŷ Croes race circuit

We had to delay our crossing of the Lleyn Peninsula due to cloud inland obscuring the high ground. We continued along the coast until we could see a clear path across that kept us clear of cloud. We passed near Pwllheli and their large marina, before cutting the corner to head towards Llanbedr. There is a former military airfield there, that has recently been acquired by the same people that run Kemble. However due to objections from the Snowdon Society, it appears unlikely that the field will become available to GA anytime soon. This is a real shame, as it looks like a fantastic facility, that would be an excellent place to visit.

The airfield at Llanbedr

Heading South along the coast we passed Barmouth and eventually turned inland at Aberystwyth. This was where Luned and I first met in the mid 1990s while she was at University there, and I managed to get some good shots of the Halls of Residence where she was living at the time.

Neuadd Pantycelyn at Aberystwyth University

As we turned inland, the cloud was still an issue, so we climbed to 5500 feet to keep well clear of the terrain in the area. We wound our way through the clouds, climbing and descending and adjusting our course to keep clear of the cloud where possible. We managed to get regular views of the ground through the broken cloud layer, eventually making our next turn overhead Lane Farm, allowing us to thread the gap between the Danger Areas at Sennybridge, Credenhill and Pontrilas. Our last turn on this ‘dog leg’ was around Abergavenny, and we now had a straight run back to Kemble.

Using the split COM feature of the audio panel I spoke to Cardiff (with some confusion over frequencies meaning I had to be passed over to the correct one), and was initially given a squawk before this was changed once the Controller realised we were IFR. We continued on a Basic Service for a short while, but it appeared that we would have to travel through cloud on this leg, so I attempted to upgrade to a Traffic Service. Sadly we were on the edge of their radar cover, so the Controller was unable to provide this, suggesting I contact Bristol. I was just about to switch over and contact them when David suggested we not bother, as it became clear that the layer of cloud was breaking up and we were likely to be able to complete the flight VFR.

As we approached the Severn, we could easily spot the bends through the growing gaps in the clouds. By the time we crossed into England we were back in clear skies as if we were being welcomed home! We flew over Nympsfield at around 5000 feet before beginning our descent into Kemble. We were treated to a light jet departing straight towards us as we approached from the West, he broke right to pass us but sadly I failed to get a decent photo of it.

David brought us in for a nice Overhead Join and circuit, and we heard two of the other Lyneham aircraft preparing to depart (seemed a bit strange for people to be starting to fly on such a gorgeous day with only an hour or so of daylight remaining!). David announced our position more often than the FISO requested, due to there being a few other aircraft joining at the same time (something which I would certainly do myself also, better to give people a more complete picture of where everyone is).

David completed a nice circuit, but the landing was a little firm. David thought he was cutting power a little early during the roundout (due to the Cherokee style wing on the Arrow it doesn’t ‘float’ like the Warriors do) and wondered if he needed to go up with an Instructor for some circuit practice. I suggested that he probably didn’t need an Instructor with him, just needed to do a few circuits to try to hone the technique.

Home again

We refuelled the aircraft and taxyed back to parking, taking advantage of the other two aircraft recently leaving by using one of the easier parking areas (that just involve pushing the aircraft back until the rear wheels just leave the hard surface, rather than all the way onto the grass). It was a lot easier putting the cover on with two, and Luned and Catrin arrived just as we were heading back to the office to settle the paperwork. Once everything was completed we retired to AV8 for a well earned drink and some cake!

Tracks flown

Outbound profile

Return profile

I have to say this was one of the most enjoyable flights I’ve had recently. The weather for the initial portion of the flight was excellent, but as the cloud increased it was very good to have another pilot on board to discuss the options and have confidence that I was making a good decision in continuing. Caernarfon was a really pleasant airfield to visit, and I’ll definitely be back, hopefully with the family to enable us to visit Luned’s family without a 5 hour drive to get there! I just hope the appearance of the wind-farm on the airfield itself isn’t  a sign of things to come.

Total flight time today: 1:30
Total flight time to date: 205:25

Isle of Wight mini fly-out

Rather uncharacteristically, I had a spur of the moment desire to fly on Friday evening. A quick check of the Club’s booking system showed that the Arrow was free, and David had a Warrior booked for a flight to the Isle of Wight with 3 passengers. I dropped him a quick text and found out he was taking his children and a house guest down to Bembridge, with the plan to walk down to the beach and have some lunch.

After a quick check with Luned and the weather, I booked the Arrow and set about planning the flight to Bembridge. The weather for Saturday looked Ok, with showers around but a nice high cloudbase almost everywhere.

The forecast in the morning seemed to be worse than the night before, but after looking in more detail it still showed that the showers were very localised, and cloudbase was still good. I tried to call Vectis Gliding Club at Bembridge (even though PPR wasn’t strictly necessary), so left a message asking them to call me back. After sorting out the final bits of planning, we made ready to leave for Kemble, and as we left the Gliding Club called back and gave me the relevant information. Catrin seemed very excited that we were flying to ‘An Island!’, and even brought along Jake (from Jake and the Neverland Pirates) along for the ride!

We arrived just as David was walking out to the aircraft. We chatted for a bit and then I headed in to the Club to sort out the paperwork and get the aircraft keys. I took my time over the A check, and also got the Garmin 430 set up with a route for the flight (or so I thought!). A quick trip back to the Club for a toilet stop, and we all headed out to the aircraft.

Catrin and Jake ready for the off

The engine seemed a little reticent to start, but I got it going on the second attempt. The 430 had lost the route I’d programmed in (but had at least remembered the custom waypoints I defined) so I reentered the route quickly. We taxyed out to the D site apron for checks as normal, before reporting ready once the pre-departure checks were all done. We were cleared straight onto the runway after the airfield Fire Engine passed by on a bird-clearing mission. As I lined up, the FISO informed me there would be a delay due to a large number of birds on and around the airfield. Lined up on the runway with your back to any oncoming traffic is never a comfortable place to be, and as we sat there I heard Roger in one of the Club’s other Warrior making progress around the circuit.

Just as he turned Final, the FISO informed us of a flock of birds to the South of the field, and gave us ‘clearance’ to depart, suggesting a right turn out to avoid the birds (which we didn’t see as we departed!). Take off and departure were normal (save for forgetting to turn off the fuel pump and landing light once at altitude) and we headed for Lyneham to start the Nav.

Visibility was excellent, with the odd shower dotted around that was easy to spot. The cloudbase was variable from about 2500 to 3500 feet, so I had to climb and descend in order to remain clear. We headed from Lyneham to Newbury (passing through the odd light shower), before turning over the racecourse with a good view of Greenham Common. Catrin and Luned seemed to be well settled in the back, and after announcing she was hungry, Catrin tucked in to some of the food Luned had brought along!

In flight catering!

At Newbury I contacted Farnborough for a Basic Service and MATZ penetration at Odiham. They were quick to respond, but I had to prompt the Controller as I approached Odiham for my MATZ penetration clearance (not strictly necessary but always a good idea). We were cleared through, as long as we remained clear of their ATZ.

I pointed out the Coast as we approached, and we were soon approaching Portsmouth for the crossing over the Solent. All my instincts were to climb and keep my speed up for the crossing, but the cloud ahead coupled with the need to slow down for the circuit meant I couldn’t really do either! Two other aircraft were approaching Bembridge as I made my calls, and we heard David land and backtrack to parking.

Passing the Spinnaker Tower

Crossing the Solent. Glorious weather between the showers

Initially I had a slight problem spotting Bembridge (when I’d visited previously there’d always been a large number of aircraft on the ground making it a lot easier!), but eventually spotted it and joined Downwind. Another aircraft landed just as we were turning Final, and also backtracked the runway. I was initially a little concerned that he might not clear the runway in time, but we were still quite a way away when he announced that he was clear.

Turning Final for 30 at Bembridge

As we were on Short Final I noticed a group of people crossing the undershoot of the runway near the hedge, and as we flew closer it became obvious that it was David and his passengers. I pointed them out to Luned and Catrin, who waved as we flew over. Sadly this must have distracted me slightly, as I flared slightly late causing a fairly firm landing, although I did have the nosewheel raised nicely so the mains took all of the abuse! It must have been bad, as I manged to get a ‘Was that a bit hard?’ comment from Luned! I backtracked and taxyed oer to the parking area as suggested by the guy on the radio, and parked up next to a few other aircraft.

Parked up with a number of visitors

David had forgotten something in the aircraft, so we chatted for a while and headed to the Glider Club to pay the landing fee. David and Co were setting off for a walk to the beach, but as we had Catrin with us we opted just to head to the Propeller Inn next to the field. This turned out to be a pretty good decision, as they had a good selection of food on the menu, as well as lots of model aircraft and photos around the walls and ceiling. Catrin had a strum on a few of the guitars that were lying around, before one of the Staff brought her out some books and cards to keep her occupied.

We took our time with the food, and just as we finished David texted me to let us know they were on their way back. We decided to wait until they arrived, before all walking back to the aircraft. David was ready slightly before us, so we watched him depart before taxying out to the hold ourselves.

David and Co. departing

The departure was normal, and we set off for an anti-clockwise tour of the Island. I listened out to Solent, and passed my kneeboard back to Luned so that she could dig out the listening squawk to use, before dialling it in and carrying on around the island. I did consider giving Solent a call and maybe asking for a transit (the airspace to the North West of the island starts at 2000 feet), but instead opted just to duck under at 1500 feet. We got good views of the Island and pointed out the lighthouse at the Needles to Catrin, as well as all the cliffs and beaches. Got a good view of Sandown as we passed (it seemed very quiet) before we tuned back to Bembridge to cross over their approach before heading North back to the mainland.

Passing The Needles

I set course for Petersfield, and as we approached made ready to give Farnborough a call for the return journey. I had to wait a little while as the frequency was quite busy, and heard another aircraft report overhead Petersfield at 2300 feet, just as we were overhead at 2500. We all started looking out for the traffic but didn’t spot it, but at least the extra speed of the Arrow meant we were unlikely to be involved in a mid-air from behind.

Catrin seemed to be really enjoying the flight, and the intercom’s isolation functions came in really useful as she sang and chattered away in the back! For a lot of the flight I had to isolate her and Luned, as she’s still finding it very novel that she can hear herself in her headset when she speaks. As a result she tends to speak and sing a lot more loudly than was necessary!

The Nav all went well on the way back as we reversed the route. Luned spotted a glider and tug separating off to our right as they climbed out of Lasham, and we were soon approaching Newbury again. Luned had requested that we overfly Swindon if possible, so I followed the M4 from Newbury, getting a good view of Membury Services and the airfield as we passed. Approaching Swindon I kept to the South of the motorway to keep clear of Redlands and the various glider fields on the Eastern edge of Swindon.

The former Renault building (now a soft play place!) was easy to spot, and we spotted Catrin’s school and our house as I performed an orbit. We heard David in the circuit at Kemble, and I considered asking him to request the bowser so that both of us could be refuelled together rather than having to visit the static fuel pump. However, I decided against it as I thought we were just that bit too far out for this to work.

Catrin’s pre-school

Photos complete, we headed for Kemble. We’d been listening in and they’d been reporting a wet runway, and it became clear why as we started looking for the field. It was on the other side of a large shower, which meant to had to keep to the South as we approached. We flew very close to Oaksey (something that probably wasn’t a particularly good idea), before finally spotting the field and heading in.

There were two others in the circuit as we descended on the deadside. I spotted one easily turning Final, and the FISO gave me a bit more precise position report enabling me to spot the other on Base as we turned Crosswind and Downwind. The circuit and approach all went well, and we intentionally landed slightly long due to needing to taxy down to the far end of the field and the fuel bowser.

For the first time Catrin stayed with me as we refuelled (she and Luned generally walk up to AV8 while I do it) and she helped me with the bonding strap and various other things. She’d been a real star on the flight and continued to behave very well. As we all got back into the aircraft a helicopter was making ready to depart, and we watched him hover taxy past us. We were cleared onto the runway to backtrack, but as we approached I heard the FISO clearing another aircraft to enter at the start of 26 to depart. I stopped and waited for the frequency to become clear so that I could tell the FISO I was stopping, but he then came on and asked me to stop for the other aircraft to depart.

We watched the helicopter practicing low level manoeuvers on the other side the field, and after the other aircraft departed we backtracked and taxyed back to the parking area. For the first time since the grass had been re-rolled I had to park on one of those spaces, so I kept my speed down and taxyed as carefully as I could. The turn into the parking space was a little tight close to the fence (especially given that I was trying not to turn too tightly to protect the ground) but I got the aircraft nicely parked at the first attempt.

Route flown

Outbound profile

Return profile

Luned and Catrin headed back to the Club, leaving me to get all the gear out of the aircraft and put the cover back on. David and family were in AV8 having a drink and some food, but we needed to get Catrin her tea (and the Chef had left AV8) so sadly we weren’t able to join them. After settling the bills and sorting the paperwork in the Club we headed back to the car and to McDonalds for tea for Catrin, giving her a well-deserved treat.

Again this had been a really enjoyable flight. It’s always nice to have the family along, and despite the very late decision to fly and the less than perfect weather the flight went off without too much of a hitch. Despite occasional showers and cloud, we had some stunning views. It was good to be back at Bembridge again, and the setup there now that the Gliding Club are running things seems to work very well. Maybe next year we can take a more leisurely trip and head to the beach!

Total flight time today: 2:25
Total flight time to date: 203:55

Back to sunny Dunkeswell in the Arrow

Despite the weather for the majority of this week being pretty poor, the forecast all week had called for good conditions on the Saturday. I booked the Arrow in the hope that I could take the family flying somewhere. Sadly, as the day neared it became clear that Luned wasn’t really up to the flight, so I invited Sean along again. Sean asked if he could bring Lucy along, a request I was happy to grant.

I did consider making a longer trip, but decided on a return to Dunkeswell where at least I knew we could get a decent lunch at the airfield. To spice things up a bit, I planned the route via the Severn Bridges, with a view to either transitting the Bristol Zone, or heading down the coast below it.

The weather on Saturday couldn’t really have been more perfect. There was barely a cloud in the sky, and the recent rain meant that visibility was excellent. Coupled with very little wind this meant we had all the makings of an excellent flight.

We were running slightly late due to Sean being delayed on the way to the airfield and the Arrow being slightly late back from the previous booking. We weren’t really in any rush though, because it was a fairly short flight to Dunkeswell.

Once the aircraft returned, we all headed out and I got everyone settled. I had already given Lucy a briefing in the Club as this was her first flight in a light aircraft. For some reason I misread the pre-start portion of the checklist and called for taxy before I even had the engine running! Kemble were on 08, but due to the poor condition of the grass taxyway I was only cleared to the D site apron for checks initially.

The engine was a little reticent in starting, but fired up on the second try, and we taxyed over to D site for the checks. These were all normal, and we got some good photos of the newly arrived 747s that are at Kemble for storage.

747s stored at Kemble

Checks complete, we were then cleared to taxy towards the 26 threshold, where I had to hold for a little while before being cleared to enter and backtrack 08. Another aircraft reported Downwind as I entered, so I did my best to keep the speed up to ensure I was out of the way before he began his Final approach.

Given that we were close to maximum weight, I opted to use flaps for the takeoff (probably un-necessarily). Rotation and climb were all normal, and as we were heading out to the West I carried out a Crosswind and Downwind leg at circuit height, before continuing to the West and climbing up to 3000 feet.

Visibility was incredible, and we could easily see the Severn Bridges almost as soon as we got up to height. Once clear of Kemble I got set up for the cruise, and called Bristol early to attempt to negotiate the Zone Transit. Initially we were just given a Basic Service, and were warned of some traffic crossing ahead of us at a similar height. We spotted the aircraft at the same time as the Controller gave us the warning.

Near perfect flying conditions

As we neared the Severn the Controller asked me to reset my squawk of 5061. As I looked over I realised I had inadvertently selected 5011, despite having the correct code written on my kneeboard. Not entirely sure how it happened, but it was obviously clear to the Controller that I’d selected the wrong one!

We passed Filton on our left, and as we approached the Severn I told the Bristol  Controller that we could perform a right hand orbit over the Severn, before setting course to run down the coast. He asked us to report when we were South-West bound, and we managed to get some good photos of the bridges as we circled close to them.

Circling over the Severn Bridges

Once heading South West, we were given clearance to enter the Zone at 3000 feet, initially to hold at Clevedon due to a Bristol arrival inbound from the South West. Shortly after, the Controller asked if I could accept vectors, and I told him that I could. I was asked to fly ‘Radar Heading 190′ (which I wasn’t entirely sure of, so just flew a heading of 190!) and we continued into the Zone keeping our eyes peeled for the arriving aircraft.

We soon spotted it, and managed to get some excellent shots of Bristol Airport as well as an EasyJet passing below us as he made his approach into the airfield. I couldn’t have asked for a better transit really!

Approaching Bristol Airport

EasyJet passing below us on Short Final into Bristol

We passed over the Cheddar Reservoir, and once clear of Bristol’s airspace we were asked to resume our own navigation. I put in a quick ‘Direct to Dunkeswell’ in the 430, and used that to get my bearings. I spotted a large town ahead of us on the M5 which I assumed to be Taunton, and headed towards it.

As we approached ‘Taunton’, I signed off with Bristol, thanking the Controller for providing us with such good service. I called Dunkeswell and announced that we were 10nm North East. A quick glance at the 430 soon revealed that I was mistaken however (we were still some 20nm or so away from the field) and it became clear that the town below us was in fact Bridgewater (confirmed with a quick look at SkyDemon). Just goes to show how easy it can be to convince yourself of what you expect to see, rather than what you actually are seeing.

Now more sure of our position, we continued on and started looking out for Dunkeswell. After initially misidentifying the field we eventually spotted it, and I set us up for a Downwind join for their runway 04.  There were a couple of other aircraft arriving ahead of us, and I was a little surprised that there didn’t appear to be any parachuting given the near perfect conditions.

The circuit all went well, and I brought us in for a decent landing. We taxyed to the end of the runway and parked (after a short wait for advice from the A/G operator) on the undershoot of runway 22 along with a number of other aircraft.

We headed in to settle the landing free (an extremely reasonable £10) before heading in for food. I had my usual sausage and bacon bap, and Sean had the same. Lucy opted for a more healthy jacket potato. The food must have been good, because Sean ended up having a second helping! Our order was taken at the table and food arrived promptly. It was good to see that the ‘new’ facilities here are working well, and there appeared to be a number of visitors that hadn’t flown in too.

Happy customers at Dunkeswell

Fed and watered, we headed back out to the aircraft for the return leg. Things were getting a little busy, and I initially got no response from the Air Ground operator as I called for airfield information. Sean seemed somewhat surprised by this, but I told him that this is exactly what to expect at a small airfield like this. I took a quick look at the chart and set airfield elevation on the altimeter.

As we taxyed along the link taxyway, two other aircraft called for information and I was able to verify the QNH I had set based on the details provided to them. As I completed the power checks on the inactive runway the other aircraft were approaching, so I turned us round and we headed to the hold for 04.

Once happy that there was no inbound traffic, I announced I was taking to the runway and backtracking. I failed to fully understand another radio call made as I was backtracking, and when I turned I expected to see that someone had lined up ahead of me for a shorter take off run. However, the runway was clear and the other aircraft were stationary on the inactive runway.

Again I opted for a takeoff with flaps set, and we were airborne long before the end of the runway. After a slight jink to the left to set course for Taunton, I continued to climb to 2500 feet before getting configured for the cruise.

Things sounded a little noisier than usual in the cabin, and a quick check of the door showed that it didn’t appear to be fully closed. I did consider heading back to Dunkeswell to close it fully, but a quick check showed that the top latch was fully engaged so this didn’t seem necessary. Sean offered to try to open and re-latch the door, but based on previous experience I persuaded him against it!

Approaching Taunton I signed off with Dunkeswell and tuned in to Bristol. However, I didn’t think it necessary to contact them as we were remaining well clear of their airspace. I handed control over to Sean, and he flew rest of the flight to Kemble.

I followed our progress on the chart and 430, and at one point had Sean turn slightly to keep clear of the MATZ at Yeovilton. While they are closed at the weekend (and technically you don’t actually need permission to fly in a MATZ) I decided it best to try to remain well clear. Sean exhibited the trait that seems common with most pilots (me included!) of tending to turn towards anything that is pointed out to you and you then pay some attention to!

We passed South of Glastonbury and soon identified Frome in the distance. The turning point arrived a couple of minutes earlier than I expected, and a quick check of the ASI showed that we were in fact cruising at 125 knots as opposed to the 120 knots that I had used in planning the flight. I made a mental note to adjust the cruise figures in SkyDemon for the Arrow when I got home.

We spotted a couple of aircraft as we continued, one flying in the opposite direction and another at similar height to us off to the right on a converging course. It was soon clear that we would easily overtake him before there was any danger of a conflict.

We turned at Frome, and I identified Keevil ahead and slightly to the right of us. Keevil is indicated as both a parachute dropzone and glider site, so I asked Sean to steer well clear. As we got closer we spotted a number of gliders operating around the field, so this turned out to be a good decision.

We passed over Trowbridge and Melksham, and Lyneham soon came into view in the distance. As we approached I had Sean turn slightly early to give Lucy a good view of the airfield as we passed over. It always makes me sad to fly over Lyneham and see it so deserted.

A quick check of the ADF showed that my identification of Kemble was correct, and I had Sean steer us towards it. They were still using runway 08, so I pointed Sean in the correct direction to join Overhead with the 08 threshold to our right, informing him of the turning descent we would then fly to set up for the circuit. I set the appropriate QFE and had him descend to 2000 feet, bringing the power back to reduce our speed to something like 120 MPH for the approach to the field.

As we passed the field Sean began to descend, pulling back the power and then having a little difficulty in getting it set as low as possible without the gear warner sounding. I think this may have distracted him slightly as we weren’t descending or turning enough, so I helped him out a bit. For a short period the descent rate was higher than necessary, but we soon got that sorted out before turning Crosswind at a slightly higher airspeed than I would normally have liked.

I took control and left the power off on the Crosswind leg to get down to the correct speed, turning Downwind a little late as a result. The pre-landing checks were completed on the Downwind leg, and the extra drag of the gear coming down allowed me to increase power again to continue the circuit at about 110 MPH.

As we were mid-way through the Downwind leg another aircraft entered the runway to backtrack. I kept an eye on his progress, and called ‘Turning Base’ despite being asked by the FISO to report ‘Final’. I did this mainly to keep the aircraft on the runway appraised of our position, and give him a bit of a hurry up!

The other aircraft was rolling as we turned Final, and I completed a nice Approach to a good landing back at Kemble. We were initially asked to ‘Hold’ on the runway, but I immediately requested a taxy for fuel, and we were then cleared directly onto the the Bravo taxyway, and then on to the fuel pump. As we approached the fuel pump we heard two Ultimate High Extras report their approach for a run in and break, so I tried to make good progress so that Sean and Lucy could see the manoeuvre.

After I refuelled the aircraft, Sean and Lucy elected to walk back to the Club, while I taxyed the aircraft around. I was cleared to hold at B1 (a location I was unfamiliar with) and initially stopped at D2 (which is in sight of the B1 marker board which confused me) before the FISO prompted me again to head to B1. A quick check of the airfield plate pointed out my mistake, and I moved to the correct position.

After a short wait for an aircraft to land I was cleared along the runway to exit at A3 before taxying back to the Club’s parking area. Sean and Lucy arrived just as I was shutting down and helped push the aircraft back and get the cover on. We all headed back into the Club to sort out the final paperwork, and Sean and I chatted with Roger about what Sean needed to do should he decide to join the Club to continue his training.

Tracks flown

Outbound profile

Return profile

Today really couldn’t have been a better day for flying, and it was good to have company along for the flight. Bristol’s Controller was very helpful in arranging the Transit, and I couldn’t have asked for a better routing, giving us an excellent view of the airfield and an arriving airliner. To cap it all, I’ve now passed 200 hours of flying time!

Total flight time today: 1:50
Total flight time to date: 201:30

Arrow Currency Check

Due to the extended downtime on the Arrow caused by its annual and requiring a new prop, I’d run out of currency before it came back into service (the owner offered me the first flight in it just 3 days after my currency expired!). As such I needed to have a currency check with an Instructor, so tied up with Roger to get this sorted.

Originally the plan was for me to fly the sortie from the right hand seat, to gain some experience of flying from there should I ever need to take control in the future. However an impending holiday and a bad week at work meant that I really needed to keep the flight as short as possible, so we decided just to cover the minimum.

The weather forecast for the day was excellent, but there was some mist and fog in the morning that meant things were running a little late. I checked the aircraft out while Roger was out on another flight, and we quickly briefed as we walked out to the aircraft. The plan was to depart Kemble, climb to 4000 feet then carry out stalls clean and in approach configuration. Then we’d carry out a PFL (practice forced landing) before returning to Kemble for a flapless landing followed by a standard approach to a landing.

Kemble was busy due to a fly-in, and the FISO was having trouble with people stepping on each other on the radio. Luckily as we made ready to depart things quietened down somewhat. All the pre-flight checks were normal, and the engine started easily. We were soon taxying over to the apron for power checks. I carried out the taxy checks on the move, ensuring I had full rudder travel in both directions and that all the instruments were responding appropriately.

Roger suggested that given that we were heading for a wide expanse of tarmac (now even wider due to the fact that a number of large jets were no longer parked there) then it would probably have been better to do these checks there. Fair point!

Power checks were all normal, with Roger just mentioning that it’s better not to leave the prop lever at low RPM for too long, as your forcing the engine to run slower than it would normally. Once complete the FISO asked if we were ready for an expedited departure, and cleared us directly onto the runway once we replied that we were. Roger commented that he was glad that I took the opportunity to head left to get a bit more runway before departing, despite this not being strictly necessary. One aviation maxim is that there’s no point having runway behind you!

The takeoff was normal, and I made the required right turn for noise abatement as we approached the airfield boundary. As Roger had promised, conditions were almost perfect, and we climbed out to the West up to 4000 feet. Once clear of the circuit I reduced RPM and leaned the mixture, lowering the nose periodically to check for traffic ahead of us on the climbout.

Clear of Kemble I switched to Bristol’s frequency, but didn’t call them at this point. We heard another aircraft on frequency reporting a route to the South of us, so we turned North East before carrying out the first stall. I neglected to correctly carry out the HASELL check, but the remainder of the stall (right up to the nose drop) went well and I recovered nicely. There was a slight tendency to bob the nose a little, but generally I was happy with how it went.

After a clearing turn, we headed straight into the ‘dirty’ stall. I lowered two stages of flap and reduced power, and Roger eventually prompted me to lower the gear too! I recovered this stall at the stall warner, and Roger suggested I might like to carry out another in the correct configuration (3 stages of flap and gear lowered). This stall again was taken right up to the nose drop, and the recovery was good, although Roger suggested I should probably gain a little more airspeed before starting to raise the gear and flaps.

The next manoeuvre was the PFL, simulating an engine failure. Once established at the correct glide speed, at our height I might have been tempted to try to make Kemble. On the descent Roger also said that Badminton might be an option as well. However, I nominated a field and set about planning the approach. I set myself up for a left hand circuit, and then carried out the restart drills. After a simulated Mayday call, I continued the approach. Roger suggested that rather than try a full circuit it might have been easier just to make a turn onto a Right Base, meaning I wouldn’t have had to make such a tight circuit. We also checked the difference in descent rate between full fine and coarse pitch settings on the prop. There was a marked difference, with a significantly lower descent rate with the prop set to low RPM.

I think Roger was a little concerned about the proximity of a small village near to the field I had chosen, as at about 1500 feet or so he announced he was happy, and we headed back to Kemble. I used the ADF to get a general steer, before mistaking Aston Down for Kemble (something that has been done plenty of times in the past I’m told!). Fortunately Roger pointed out that I was heading in the wrong direction, and I soon got my bearings and set up for a Downwind join.

The Downwind leg was perhaps a little wider than it should have been (it’s a lot easier to judge when you’ve done a full Overhead Join), and I extended the leg a little longer than usual due to this being a flapless approach. I had to consciously remind myself not to keep reaching for the flaps as I turned Base! The Approach went nicely, and I carried out a nice landing for my first flapless approach in a while, although Roger did pick up on the fact that I hadn’t announced ‘Three Greens’ in my ‘Final’ call. The touchdown speed was perhaps a little high, as I induced a slight oscillation when trying to hold the nose wheel off, perhaps an indication that I hadn’t scrubbed off enough speed.

After meandering down the runway a little, I got things under control and increased power for the departure into the circuit. I checked with Roger whether he wanted me to raise the gear, but he said it was best to leave it down when operating in the circuit. We decided to take the grass runway this time, so executed a tight ‘microlight’ circuit at 750 feet or so. Again the circuit went well, and Roger talked me through reducing speed on Short Final in order to land and use as little runway as possible.

The touchdown was good but a little firm, and again I was a little poor at maintaining directional control on the ground. We slowed with plenty of runway to spare though, and turned off onto the taxyway without needing to use the brakes.

Roger announced he was happy as we taxyed back to the parking area, just highlighting the couple of points that he’d mentioned during the flight. We pushed the aircraft back in readiness for the owner to take it to Oaksey for the Club’s Navigation competition that was running later that day, before we headed back in to the office to complete the paperwork.

Track flown

Profile

The original plan was to pack for our holiday once I returned home, but the weather was so good that I suggested we all head out to Oaksey to watch the proceedings there. Catrin had a great time looking at the aircraft (including a helicopter) and playing while we were there, and we were treated to a low fly-past by Kev in the Arrow as well. On the whole, a great day, just a shame we couldn’t perhaps take more advantage of the excellent weather!

Total flight time today: 0:40
Total flight time to date: 199:40