'Road Trip'

This flight was one that had been in the pipeline for a few months. The plan was to fly South from Barton over the Brecon Beacons down to Perranporth and Lands End. A round trip of over 450 nautical miles. But, with the weather unquestionably un-seasonal to say the least, the plan had to be modified. Instead of the usual weather experienced during the summer months, the sky treated was busy treating us to a severe dousing of showers, torrential downpours and frequent thunderstorms. Not the perfect weather for touring, but sitting in the café with a hot chocolate and with brighter days forecasted I decided to dodge the showers and go for it. VA was packed with all of our gear, the tent, sleeping bags and enough clothes and snacks for a few days. Boarding VA along with my passenger and co pilot for the trip Jacqueline, I was full of glee and joy. Leaving the moist grass of Barton’s RWY 27L at lunchtime on Sunday 1st July, the destination was Compton Abbas, a hill top airfield close to Yeovolton. Flying down past Oulton Park and Cosford, the weather was getting better with every mile flown. Although a few showers were met, I simply applied the carb heat, turned the pitot heat on and made sure that all the hatches were battened down. The scenery was beautiful, absolutely stunning, the rolling hills and flat fields off Shropshire were a joy to fly over.

Approaching Bristol, the airspace grew thick and fast. Although the military stations were all shut with it being a Sunday, we were passed like a hot potato in-between the approach frequencies of the likes of Birmingham, Gloucester, Bristol-Filton, Bristol, and Bournemouth. The experience gained from this was invaluable. Approaching the Severn estuary, the start to the Bristol Channel, the views were amazing. Perhaps one of the most spectacular parts of the trip, after the Bristol area, was overhead Bath. The city looked amazing from the air, as we were able to see everything in its full grandeur. The approach to Compton was interesting. Although the airfield was easy enough to find, due to the high intensity white strobe light, which they had employed, the fact that it was situated on top of a hill next to a forest led to a whole array of flying conditions. We had decided on Compton, due to the fact that Sandown IOW did not have fuel and did not expect to get any delivered until the end of the following week. The cct was elongated, due to the proximity of the local ‘quite spot’ hamlets and villages. Short finals was where it got interesting, and it was only when I was stood on the ground an hour later watching a Piper Warrior take two attempts to land, that I realised just how tricky it was. Although unreported upon contact with the field, it became clear that windshear conditions were prevalent. A full does of throttle quickly remedied this problem, followed by a smoothish landing giving the conditions. I was impressed with myself and patted myself on the back, as it was not a straightforward task, especially in the face of coach load of keen aviation photographers! After paying the landing fees and gaining a small round of applause from the staff for the landing efforts, we pitched the tent right under the wing of VA, which was a rather novel site. A six-mile hike to the local town later, and we were relaxing on the ground in front of VA, with a bbq full of sausages. That was the life!
We awoke on the next day, Monday the 2nd July, to reasonably clear skies and little wind. But, being in the UK, this did not last long. Soon, the Vis dropped and the rain came rolling in, it was honestly hard to believe that it was July! After a full English fry-up the weather had slightly improved and we decided to head off to Sandown in the Isle of Wight. A flight just under one hour, which would take us over the New Forest in Hampshire and the Solent. It turned out to be remarkable. Flying in between Bournemouth and Southampton’s Control Zones not above 2000ft, we had two disused airfields as VRP’s. It turned out to be very exciting and enthralling. Although we did actually fly through a few showers, we came out on the other side in blue skies and sunny skies of an apparent ‘new world’. Once again, the landing was eventful, but good. The wind was gusting 25+ Kts straight down the RWY, so coming over the trees at the threshold was a little blustery, but the touchdown was nice. The local flying school, who were all firmly stood to the ground, seemed to like it anyway lol. A ‘short’ walk into Sandown itself actually turned into an 8-mile coastal hike, taking us around the boundary of the neighbouring airfield Bembridge. The evening ended, with a mound of chicken on a bbq in the sunset and a night camping once again under the wind of VA on a deserted airfield…

The third day of our voyage was meant to see us return smoothly to Barton. But, following the trends of tradition, the weather since our departure had rendered the grass of Barton inoperable, and so we were forced to divert en-route. Although it may seem that this was a little problematic, the fact that I had the whole week off work and love flying, actually meant that the situation turned out to be great. An excuse to be with the plane for longer, woo hoo! The choice of destination was now Shobdon, an airfield in the heart of Hertfordshire, where I had not visited since I was a lad. The flight over to Shobdon was great; it consisted of a visual round the island tour of the Isle of Wight, including eye pleasing visuals of the famous Needle Rocks, and Henry VIII’s Hurst’s Castle. The flight North retraced our previous route, flying over both Beaulieu and Stoney Cross VRP’s. With it now being a weekday, Tuesday in fact, I decided to speak to Boscombe Down seeing as we were planning to fly across the end of their MATZ stub. Although it is not a legal requirement to talk to them, it made sense, due to the fact that during the week, the levels of military traffic at our planned altitude of 1500-2000ft is often high. The best example of this actually happened to us when flying over Bath to Bristol, when we were informed by Bristol App that we had rotary traffic of an Army Gazelle helicopter incoming at 1000ft. We were above him and did not see him and to be honest, with the high levels of camouflage adopted by these aircraft, we stood no chance. Instead, we relied on the Bristol controller to direct us both onto non-converging flight paths. Flying over Longleat House, allowed us to see the famous Red Bull Air Race venue from a pilots view. Around the Severn, the ATC went like clockwork. We were passed between a number of controllers representing different stations, each of which already held our details. A simple change of squawk meant that we were back on track. Opposite Gloucester, we changed direction to head over to Hereford and Shobdon. Before we knew it, we were overhead Shobdon and preparing to land. Short finals was called and we touched down on the Asphalt, the first non-grass landing of the trip. A quick sugar rush, gained by eating my fair share of 25 chocolate brownies, the rest eaten by a 'squirrel', looking quite remarkably like Jacqueline... Camping was once again on the airfield and although we did enquire about night flying, it was not to be… Instead we went on a countryside walk of the local area.

A new day brought a new chapter in the journey, but no significant change of weather. The cloud was medium level, with high winds and moderate levels of precipitation. The plan was to scoot off to Welshpool, a short hop across the Welsh mountains. We took enough fuel for the journey and a little more, opting to brim her tanks in Welshpool, where we would qualify for a free landing if we took over 80 litres on board. But, like all good plans ours was changed. Upon getting airborne, the incoming weather front forced us to fly the low level route, a slightly longer but by all means safer route. Once we reached Welshpool, the weather opened up nicely into a fine day. The cct there is slightly ‘unconventional’ to say the least. It is flown at 1500ft to avoid high ground, height that can not really be lost until the second half of base and finals. This means that although the RWY consists of 1200ft of Asphalt, the final approach almost represents a short field landing due to the amount of height needing to be lost. Anyway… The landing was smooth, in fact one of my best ever. The numbers were hit perfectly. In fact, one of the first questions I was asked upon disembarking, was ‘are you commercial?’ Although we planned to depart to Barton later in the afternoon, further rain up North put an end to this, and we had no choice but to visit Sleap or stay put. After agreement from a very unwelcoming contact, we opted to stay put and once again camp under the wing of VA on a deserted airfield. We had a walk off the airport into the local area, a walk that saw us return many hours later lol…
Thursday saw the change of many items, mainly the weather. Although Barton was initially shut in the morning, it opened around 13.00 Local. Unfortunately, it finally looked as if we would have to go home. To be honest, the only factor, which made home seem appealing, was the fact that we had only packed clothes for three days, by now the trip was into its fifth day! Otherwise, we could and probably would have stayed out for longer lol! Even though we had to dash back to Barton, before another incoming weather front could potentially leave Barton inoperable, I had been itching to land at Rednal airfield. This is an old RAF base close to RAF Shawbury, which was now PPR only. One RWY was still used or light aircraft, whilst the other two were used for paint balling and a carnival fair. It was interesting, very interesting. Finals saw us fly over a set of pylons followed by some overgrown trees. The facilities, which consisted of a locked hanger and a windsock, were deserted. After a quick pork pie we were once again airborne. Before we knew it, we had Ashcroft airfield in site and we entering the Low Level Corridor. Changing to Barton AFIS, we received notification off a female operator, notifying us that Barton was once again shut. It was only after I declared that I was diverting to Crossland Moor, that she told us that she was only joking. Believe me, my response was not a textbook reply offered in the OAT manuals! After another nice landing, we were pushing VA back into her home, hanger number three. That was the first time that I had ever hit the RWY numbers at Barton, and it felt good!
After several landings on grass and by the looks of it, a few months of not being washed, VA needed a good clean. We spent over an hour scrubbing her down, finally to see whiteness again! A job well done! We had flown for almost eight hours, visited four new airfields and revisited an old favourite of ours. This was the first time since KSEE that I had flown continuously for five days in a row and it felt good. I believe that my skills had become homed in and defiantly improved on a considerable level in many respects. Being the first time we had toured for more than one day, this will surely be a trip, which we will remember for a long time. Many aspects, including the under wing camping and the scenery, were very memorable indeed. The time we spent together had been amazing and we had loved every minute of spending every moment together. We had enjoyed every minute of the holiday!