Another Day of disappointment.

It just goes to show that no matter how much pre flight planning you do, the weather still has the power to decide whether or not you fly. In true British fashion, the skies were generally CAVOK all week whilst I was in work, then cloudy as hell on Saturday and windy to say the least on Sunday before returning to there usual pre weekend self on Monday morning. Although technically the weather did slightly improve to allow take off and departure in a relatively cloud free enironment (below 1100ft anyway lol), I decided to give it a miss for two reasons. Firstly, flying for flying’s sake wasn’t what I wanted today and secondly I just split up with my partner upon leaving the airfield. Flying with emotional baggage just didn’t seem like an intelligent thing to do. Although it is kind of depressing not being able to get up, there are a few trips in the pipeline, with a summer bash in Florida being the most recent of my ideas.

The Big adventure - France - July 2007.

The basic plan is to fly Victor Alpha from Barton to Northern France for a length of time numbering between one and two weeks. There is the plan. Now hopefully the reality will not differ to greatly to this plan, but knowing the weather and significant other factors, mainly reliability the plan will most probably change. This will be the first time, apart from the time spent completing my PPL in Cali, that I have flown outside of UK controlled territory, and certainly the first time I have flown over international borders. Am I scared? No, in fact I can’t wait. I am quite looking forwards to the challenge which flying in another country, where airspace classifications differ and the view on GA is well much more favourable than it is in the UK.

Although I have booked two weeks off work, I don’t expect that the trip will last for that long, I merely want a few buffer days in order to allow for the weather. Yes, even though it will be late July, it still rains a lot. Oh the joys of living in England! The fact that I am planning the trip with Sam, means that I will have no one to share the load of flying with, which should not be a problem firstly because I enjoy it and love every second of it and secondly because the legs planned are for the large part small enough to cover without the need to refuel, i.e. around four hours.

The first leg will see Victor Alpha depart Barton with a destination of Sandown in the Isle of Wight, where we will refuel, rest and then commence a same day departure to Toussus Le Noble on the outskirts of Paris. The plan is to spend a couple of days here in order to relish the joys of this wonderful city. The third leg is planned to be from Toussus Le Noble to Boon, near Rouen in order to spend a day in the legendary city where Joan of Arc was brutally burnt alive at the stake. The next leg will end at Bretteville just outside Caen. Again, this stopover will involve a slice of local history, due to the proximity of the D-Day beaches. From here, we plan to fly to Lannion near St. Brieuc in order to enjoy the wild Northern Coast of Brittany. The small airfield on the island of Ouessant will be the last stopover in France, before (weather permitting) we return Victor Alpha to UK territory via St Mary’s on the Isles of Scilly. Having flown over these in a 767 last year, it will be different to view them from a much lower altitude, before experiencing the local delights and hopefully (temperature permitting) taking a dip in the sea. The next planned destination is Haverfordwest on the Pembrokeshire Coast, visiting one of our favourite holiday destinations, St David’s Head. This will surely be an emotional time for the both of us. The return journey to Barton will commence of a stop off at Caernarfon, before flying over Snowdonia and entering the low level corridor to transit Manchester/Liverpool controlled airspace.

The January blues.

Apart from flight to Lancaster at the start of the month, January has been a month of fruitless pickings. This has one hundred percent been due to the weather. Although the Vis, wind and prevailing conditions have not necessarily made flying impossible, the fact that Barton is a grass airfield has. In fact, although the weather has been poor on many occasions, the days of perfect flying weather directly following the fronts have been unusable due to the fact that the airfield was still recovering from the heavy downpours. There has even been snow this week, which for the last couple of years has been unseen in Manchester. Finally though, the weather looks promising for this Saturday, the 27th January. With little wind, no rain and generally more mild conditions than we have recently witnessed forecasted by the met man, one can only cross their fingers and hope. Having a number of potential flight plans created, mainly for Caernarfon, Huddersfield, York and Blackpool, I am all ready to go. Victor Alpha only has another 4.5 hours to go until its 50 hour check is due, with my luck in aircraft approaching their checks, fingers crossed everything goes to plan!

The first of 2007.

Having already mentally prepared myself for the kind of weather, which January normally has attached to it, it was a nice surprise to be able to fly on Saturday 6th January. Although the light rain which was falling when we arrived at Barton and pulled the aircraft out of its hanger, could well have spelled the end to operations at an already water sodden grass airfield, it failed to put a damper on our day. Although we initially aimed to visit Huddersfield Crossland Moor, Sherburn-In-Elmet and Breighton, the low cloud over the Pennines quickly put a stop to these ideas. Instead, similarly to the last flight I made in Victor Alpha, we tracked across to Formby and then up past Blackpool to Lancaster and then back towards Barton for a base leg join and perhaps the smoothest landing to date on grass. Although the Vis was not perfect, the flight was interesting, and the sights along the way managed to occupy my passengers.

The North West Coast.

Having to work the week in between Christmas and New Year was obviously far from the ideal situation, but Friday 29th December brought a nice little surprise. Having been sat in work all morning looking gloomily at the clear skies and better than average conditions, wondering why god hated me this much to make me work, my boss decided to let us go home early. Feeling like Christmas had come all over again, I quickly arrived at Barton with my Dad, (This was to be his first trip in Victor Alpha, or indeed in a light aircraft with me as PIC). Departing Barton, we headed East to Formby and then followed the coast up past Woodvale (Where I had started my flight training, and indeed compiled over 30 hours as a member of the UAS based there) towards Blackpool. Although normally being told to hold around Marsh Side VRP would have been a hindrance, the fact that we got a prime viewing position to see a 737 come in from long finals to land at Blackpool made it more than acceptable on this occasion. Flying overhead Blackpool and up the Flyde coast gives spectacular views of the Tower and the Big One, before arriving at Fleetwood and hoping over to Glasson Dock, where my dad keeps his yacht. A short leg across to the M6 and then back to Barton with a base leg join and a smooth landing finished the flight off nicely. Not bad for a day when I was meant to be working in the office!

A fruitless Christmas time?

Flying and December just do not seem to want to harmoniously walk hand in hand. The weather seems to pick the days when I am not in work to be at its worst. But, not to be put off by a stiff wind and dark looming skies I did manage to squeeze a few flights from victor alpha. An attempt to reach Carlisle on the 23rd December turned into nothing, when its was clear that the looming low level cloud around Lancaster would spell an end to VMC flying any further North of Kendal. Although this was a shame, it was half expected due to the prevailing conditions of the day, which saw scattered cloud lying at 1000ft agl over Barton. Similar conditions were met on Sunday 24th, when I took Sammy along with my brother Andrew up for his first experience in a light aircraft. A flight around the edge of Manchester airspace up to Rochdale and then over towards Leeds was again brought to an abrupt end due to low-level cloud hanging around the M62 valley. What was remarkable though, was that we even in the overcast sky I managed to find a large cloudless potion of sky to climb above 3000ft and see the tops of the clouds and a brief glimpse of the sunshine above. This fuelled my desire to become Instrument rated, so that this site would become more and more frequent on days like today.

My Own Cessna (Well a share in one at least) - First solo flight in VA!

The desire to fly and be airborne was the primary motivation behind my drive to buy a share. At 130 pounds an hour, hiring an aircraft from the local flying club was out of the question. Instead my own share looked promising. I decided upon a share in the Cessna 172, which I had recently been flying. It was the new Zulu Papa! Even at this early stage it was clear that I would come to love this aircraft, not only as a tool of carrying on my flying career, but as a release from the every day monotony of life. Having received the all clear from the insurance company today was the first time that I was legally allowed to fly Victor Alpha without any other shareholders present. The thrill. The excitement. The shear pleasure of once again being able to fly without another qualified pilot sitting in the right had seat. With the destination of Caernarfon picked, victor alpha was prepared for the flight. This was also to be my first flight with a real life passenger, my partner Sammy.

With full fuel tanks, a route prepared and a box of chocolates easy at hand, we were clearly ready to depart. After obtained taxi clearance we lined up and departed Barton on RWY 27R into a slightly blustery, albeit warm and pleasant day with moderate Vis. Routing overhead Wigan and North of Liverpool’s Class D airspace, we crossed the coast near Formby and altered the heading to head towards Rhyl. Leaving plenty of space between us and Birkenhead (No offence to the local population!), we tracked across Liverpool Bay. Although a great deal of precipitation decided to occur directly above VA, we ploughed on and soon reached the Menai Straits. The perfect introduction to Northern British weather! The views after Llandudno Head were spectacular. Snowdon lies off the Port tip and the great expanses of the Irish Sea to the Starboard. Having to fly the straits under 1250ft Valley QFE, gives the chance to obtain some spectacular views and great photography opportunities. Telford’s Menai Bridge and Stevenson’s Britannia Bridge look magnificent when viewed from the air, especially when there is not a great deal of clearance below. We even got away without speaking to Valley MATZ, as it was a weekend!

The landing at Caernarfon was, well interesting. The approach to the active RWY brought us in over the sea on base and finals, giving some spectacular views of the local beaches. The fact that the wind was being very inconsiderate and continuing to blow slightly across the RWY at around 30kts meant that we had to crab VA in at a very unusual angle to keep track down the approaching centerline. The lading was great, no problems, firm but smooth and defiantly safe, which pleased me as I had never before experienced x/winds on that scale. The only problem was that I had to backtrack the length of the active whilst traffic was approaching short finals. The grub was good, and after a quick walk around the aircraft on display, we gave VA a well-earned drink of AVGAS tonic and departed. Mona, our next destination was quickly scrubbed due to a 35kt full x/wind reported, clearly too much for our 172.

The flight back along the Welsh coast was uneventful, until we reached Chester, where we approached Hawarden on the R/T and gained a zone clearance. This was clearly going to be a day of firsts. Having only ever flew over one other airport en-route, thus being LAX! Even here, no clearance was required. The controller was helpful and very friendly, giving us a FIS all the way to Oulton Park. From here it was a short shoot up the low-level corridor and back over to Barton. Entering on the downwind, I greased the landing just before last light and taxied back to the hanger. My new GPS PDA system had proved a valuable tool, using the CAA quarter scale chart to navigate, backed up by the GPS system. The trip was fantastic, great scenery, great flying and a mixture of radio practice, thanks to London FIR! After sailing here many summers as a boy and recently revisiting the area a few times earlier this year, the trip brought back memories.

Decisions Decisions

A further flight, this time to Sleap, in the West Midlands, via the Manchester Low Level Route and across Oulton Park quelled any dreams of returning to America to continue my flying career. This was simply due to the fact that flying in the UK is so much different, and in its own little ways so much more interesting. Gone are the long open flights of little traffic and radio calls. Instead, the skies are alive with friendly sights of other GA, Commercial and military aircraft and radio calls are present on a much larger scale. Not only does this keep the pilots mind active, but it also focuses the brain and makes sure that the task of flying is achieved to a greater standard. A further flight back to Sherburn-In-Elmet the following week confirmed to me that owning a group share in a local aircraft was the way forwards. Not only would it allow me to home my skills, but it would allow me to build up my hours and work towards further licences and those all important ATPL exams.

The Dream Continues???...

Since returning form Anglo American, flying as you can well imagine came to an abrupt standstill due to the small problem of the CAA and their lengthy process of producing licences. Even when this was completed the shear cost of flying in the UK meant that as a recently qualified pilot, I was grounded. A trip to the local flying school clarified that I could clearly not go solo without a lengthy and costly check ride and the payment of extortionate hourly fees. Luckily for me, I was able to call upon a favour owed to me by a family friend, which resulted in me logging another 2 hours PIC time in a Cessna 172. This flight was not an ordinary flight, but the start of new pastures. It opened the door to new flying relationships, which would ultimately lead to me purchasing my first share in an aircraft, a Cessna 172. But perhaps, at this moment in time this is looking too far into the future. For now, we departed Barton, a small aerodrome in Lancashire, to the South West of Manchester. Routing around Manchester airspace and up over Saddleworth Moor over towards Holmfirth, we quickly came onto Huddersfield’s Crossland Moor airfield. A small, uphill, semi tarmac, semi grass landing strip with a caravan serving as a club house. With a quarry and lots of potential sink on short finals, as you can imagine this was not the most welcoming place for a newly qualified pilot to approach. But overcoming all odds and fears, the landing was made, albeit with a more qualified pilot in the right hand seat for security. The arrival at Sherburn-In-Elmet, near York was textbook, much more like the usual. After flying back to Barton, via an SVFR route due to deterioration into IMC, a smooth first ever grass landing ensured that the first flight since Anglo came to a satisfactory ending.