The Mighty Duxford...

Having had glorious weather and CAVOK conditions for the past three weeks, It was obvious that the conditions could not last forever. This theory was based on the fact that after all it as only mid April in the UK! With conditions reported to be truing for the worst, remarkably the weather stayed as it had been. Game on…

The plan for today, Saturday 21st April, was to achieve two main aims. Firstly to attend the Cessna fly in day at the mighty Duxford, and secondly to fly enough nautical miles to allow the flight to count for my Commercial Pilots Licence qualifying flight. Although I am sure that there will be other flights which could subsequently count, it is hard to get 300nm in one day of flying, simply due to availability and the shear cost of flying! The CPL qualifying would also mean that another full stop landing would need to be made. Northampton Sywell was the choice in mind. With Vis reported at 5km, Haze was obviously going to be an issue. PAX wise, I had two, my dad and my uncle Dave. Careful not to over weigh VA for Barton’s shorter than standard RWY’s, I filled the tanks to just over two thirds, which I predicted would provide me with enough for the flight to Sywell, and then, regarding on the amount of holding necessary, even to Duxford, with still enough for almost an hour reserve. Crucially it would keep the weight of VA down to a safe 2100lbs. Having requested Barton’s longer RWY 27L/09R, I had 621M of grass to play with.

With these facts set in stone, we departed RWY 27L at Barton for Sywell at 09:30. An upwind departure and levelling off at 1000ft on the MCR ONH, put us straight on course for Warrington, the entry point for the low level corridor between MCR and LPL class D airspace. Emerging at Ashcroft, I turned eastwards, routing over Crewe and Stone. I had chosen a dam on Blithfield Reservoir as a VRP; little did I know just how amazing this looked from the air! Switching from MCR APP to East Midlands APP, the transition past EMA and BHX was made hassle free.

Although Sywell was not the easiest place in the world to find, the non-standard whiter centre line markings made it an interesting and quite simple approach. Joining overhead, I was amazed to see two micro lights already in the CCT with little regard to my 172. In the end, I gave them space and joined downwind very late, turning immediately onto base and long finals. I felt that this was the best option rather then orbit in the overhead, a position where more a/c were rapidly approaching, or block the CCT. I had the faster of the two machines and thought from, a safety issue that it would be better off on the ground in a crowded CCT of people without Radio facilities. A greaser of a landing was met with a rather rough ground surface. The micro light rally at Sywell was clearly under full swing due to the apparent sea of colours taxing across the ground.
After a quick brew, we re-boarded VA for a departure to Duxford for lunchtime. Only one problem, she wouldn’t start, not even a flicker on starter. With the battery fully charged, there was obviously another problem… Phoning the engineers at Barton, I found out that a sticking solenoid was the problem, so armed with an aluminium pole, I hit the solenoid. A turn of the key showed that the engine was now willing to play. Sweet. Thirty minutes later, we were on the downwind at Duxford. From the air, this place looks mighty, an awe-inspiring sight, visible for miles around. The RWY was also the longest which I had up to date had the pleasure of landing upon. Taxing to the GA park was interesting, especially crossing the end of the active grass RWY, which was being simultaneously used by a number of De Havilland Rapide’s and Tiger Moths. Taxing past the American hanger was awe-inspiring, simply due to the architectural wonder of the complex curvature building. After a picnic under the wing of VA, we toured the museum.

For those who have not had the pleasure of visiting Duxford, it is the home of the Imperial War Museum and what a home it is. There are seven hangers full of delights, a few of which house fully flying war birds, including the resident B-17 ‘Sally B’. The other hangers include a mixture of old and new, from the likes of the Stearman, all the way up to the mighty B-52 Stratofortress. My personnel favourite as always, was the impressive English Electric Lightning. The only interceptor ever to have been capable of achieving and maintaining vertical flight for an indefinite period of time. Spectacular. A missile with wings! The ground warfare museum is also of particular interest, to show the contrast between what its like to fight on the ground flying through the air at Mach 2.

With the afternoon quickly coming to a close, Barton was calling… Refuelling was novel; due to the fact hat it was achieved via a hoser truck and the fact that at £1.37 per litre, brimming VA was expensive to say the least! The radio was very unorganised on the part of Duxford, and holding times of twenty minutes were experienced by some departures. The flight back was uneventful and spot on in every way imaginable. Transiting Sywell through the overhead at 2500ft QNH, it was obvious that they were still extremely busy! Returning back to Barton via the route which took me to Duxford, I approached on long finals for RWY 09R. Orbiting 5nm off the airfield in order to let a late downwind joiner land first, the strong crosswind meant that a crab approach was very necessary, being almost 30 degrees to the RWY at one particular point, swinging her around and touching down fast, but securely.

The day been great, with no problems experienced apart from the solenoid issue. With the length of the legs and the overall flight being longer than usual, I had decided pre-flight, that the ‘word’ of the day would be compass. I therefore used primarily the grid ring magnetic compass, and visual references as a secondary method, merely in order to check that the wind vectors were correct. Pre-flight planning had shown that the wind, from the South West was 20kts at 1000ft, rising to 25kts at 2000ft. Clearly, this would greatly affect the original of our generally East-West and West-East HDG’s! Using the compass in this flight greatly increased the trust exists between me and this piece of kit.

Exams... and the first of what will hopefully be many...

Well tonight I completed my first two mock ATPL examination papers for Oxford Aviation. Instrumentation Part One and Principles of Flight Part One. Expecting them to be difficult, I wasn't surprised when they were, although 75 percent of the questions were pleasantly manageable, some of the others were not so manageable. Nothing that a little hard work could not get around. Anyway, with the results emailed to OAT, planning for Saturday's flight could commence. The plan is to combine the Duxford Cessna fly in day with the 300nm qualifying flight for my Commercial Pilot's Licence. This will also require another land away, at Northampton Sywell aerodrome, where a microlight rally will ensure a free landing. Carrying two passengers, my dad and my uncle, the day at Duxford will include a tour around the museum and the historic WWII control centres, the heart of the Battle of Britain.

Looking forwards to the month of May, I have two biigy flights planned. Firstly on the Saturday 5th May, I am planning to take my wonderful new partner, Jacqueline flying. This will be her first time ever in an aeroplane of any kind, so it should be a memorable day on all fronts. I know for me it will be one of the biggest flights up to date in a number of ways, but most importantly due to the fact that I am looking forwards to taking the new woman in my life up into the skies. Im sure she will be fine, and no damage will be done, well hopefully nothing that a few kisses and snuggles wont fix lol... The plan is to just test the water at first, but if all goes well, then fly up to Carlisle and Kirkbride, via an overhead pass of her house near Lancaster and a low level route across the Lake District, including the camp site where we met. The destination of Kirkbride will play host for a romantic picnic on the Scottish border, before returning back to Barton. I cant wait.

The second bank holiday in May will play host to another flight, my first time over to East Anglia, with Alan, Sarah and Chris. This will undoubtedly be another fun day, but also quite challenging due to the large amounts of MATZ's around the area in question. Apparently, the destination is either Seething or Shipden, but as of yet I have not received my pre-flight briefing. All in all, it looks like a month of new and exciting things is on the cards...

A summers evening

Since the flight on Saturday, the weather had been glorious all week. This is totally out of character for the UK in March. Sitting in work on Wednesday morning, I realised that i had to go flying at some point today. The only problem with realising this fact, is that once you have admitted to yourself that you need to fly, its like an illness has been realised into your body. An illness which urges the day to go quicker, until you can climb into the cockpit and once again feel the elation of flying...

Until this day, I don't actually believe that I have ever ran home from work! The traffic jam on the way to Barton was agonising, painfully slow. The therapy to cure 'the illness' was so near, yet so far... A quick walk round check and the accumulation of fuel, meant that both me, my dad and VA were ready to go. Until now, I have never really met anybody involved in GA who was extremely arrogant and out right rude. But after meeting the gentleman who insisted in waiting in his running aircraft (you know who you are if you ever read this!), I realised just how wrong I had been.

With Huddersfield Crossland Moor as the specified destination, we made a brief take off and downwind departure from RWY 27R. Crossland Moor is a strange little airfield, although I do believe that 'little' may not be the correct word, seeing as the actual physical dimensions of the RWY are larger than anything which Barton has to offer! The surface itself occupies a slight uphill slope, starting on tarmac, before turning to grass over the crescent of the hill. With a quarry at the lower end of the RWY, and a reservoir at the upper, landing is interesting to say the least! The parking areas are on the border, or possibly even inside the local residents back gardens. Simply put, it isn't your standard airfield. (The photo at the end highlight the surface conditions perfectly!). It is also perhaps one of the least recognisable airfields that I so far visited (well apart from Barton lol). The club house, a caravan has the addition of 'Welcome to Huddersfield International!'

After a quick brew, it was back to Barton. Flying back over the moors was a pleasant experience, which was made a little less so by the ever increasing presence of haze. But, what can be expected on a summers evening, when the pollution of the local cities fills the atmosphere? I let my dad fly most of the way back, which meant that a few medium level turns were added into the equation. For some reason, I actually turned down a base leg join in favour of an overhead join. Whether I am going slightly mad in my increasing age, I am not sure. All i know is that I wanted to keep the pressure on myself. Personally, I don't believe in taking the easy route when the more challenging route gets you to the same place and in most cases potentially provides a greater sense of achievement.

100 Hours...

After just having a new cylinder fitted, VA needed a good running in. A process which would require a normal climb and departure, before reducing the power to 75%, which worked out at around 2100RPM for the first hour of flight and then varying between 65-75% power, between 1800-2100RPM for the second hour of flight. Realistically, this was not a problem, all it meant was that another element of workload was placed upon my mind. The route taken would therefore have to accommodate for a flight time of at least two hours. I decided to stay out of the vicinity of controlled airspace, just in case a problem did develop and we potentially became a hazard to other aircraft operating in the area. The route was set, the Lake District it was. The plan was to track North West from Barton towards Wigan, before turning North to Lancaster via Preston. A quick hop over Morcombe Bay would lead us to Grange-over-Sands, our low level entry point to the Lakes and beyond. Tracking along Windermere, we would then turn around Ambleside and return via the Northern tip of Coniston Water and Walney Island, before crossing a stretch of the Irish Sea and then tracking the coast down via Blackpool, Woodvale and Walney. The final leg would see VA turn Eastwards towards Wigan and then return to Barton. Apart from the obvious ATZ's around Barton, Blackpool, Woodvale and Walney, the only controlled airspace in the vicinity of the flight path, would be the TMA's of Manchester and Liverpool.

Arriving at Barton at 08:30 was a necessity due to the fore casted strong winds and reduced vis which the afternoon could bring. Taking off at 09:00, the flight went spot onto plan. The weather was great, very warm with little cloud below 3000ft and very light winds. The only problems experienced were by the ever increasing haze, which was apparent on the return via Walney. Not having the full power of the Continental engine, meant that we could not venture as far up into the Lakes as I would have liked to, due to the obvious problems of altitude. Anyway, the top and bottom of it is, that the engine performed nicely and after the two hours of running in had passed, I opened her up and once again felt the full power available under the hood. Its amazing how much power 2500RPM actually gives, when you have been flying around on 1800-2100RPM for the previous two hours.

A smooth landing back at Barton, via an overhead join for RWY 09, led to the end of the three hour test flight. The wind had just picked up to a noticeable force, but still nothing that could not be handled. Although this had technically been a test flight, to me it felt more than this. It was another fantastic opportunity to experience the beauty of the English countryside and the thrills of flying across different terrains. Today was also a milestone in my personnel flying career, due to the fact that i passed the 100 hours total time mark. It is amazing just how close to you these areas are, when you are able to fly...