I knew this next six weeks or so starting with the Pole Talk on the 25th July was going to be hectic and so it is turning out to be. After getting to bed at 01:00 following a play on a commercial helicopter simulator, I then of course had trouble getting to sleep.
I got up at 07:15 and the weather was perfect. So I checked the aviation forecast on the Met Office and it said a similar thing, except that it showed France as being low cloud with showers. Well, they might be wrong and it may lift, anyway, Cherbourg seemed to be clear of that weather, so I could always divert. Worth a try anyway.
Timothy was up and about and while I packed the wife walked the dog and drove it into Cheltenham to drop it with my daughter, then we would both meet up at the airport.
I drove in with Timothy, having filed all the GAR’s and Flight Plans the previous night. The terminal was closed, so I used my pass to get us both airside. I headed off to pull my plane out and do a thorough pre-flight check in my own time, by myself in an unhurried way (the way I like it).
I completed this and set the plane up, locating the liferaft and the heavier bits of luggage as far forward (under the seats) as I could as the RV6 it very ‘balance sensitive’ and can easily be loaded aft of the C&G envelope.
The wife turned up just as I had finished and we waved Timothy off as he moved off in his Piper Aztec.
I gave Mazzie a briefing, especially on the seat belts, canopy release, seat belt cutters, ELT and liferaft. She takes this well and does not over-react (you know, the ‘why is he telling me all this – we’re going to die!’ scenario).
We mounted up and taxied over to the pumps. I filled the plane’s main tanks to the gunnels, so I have a full 140l in total on board (there are tip tanks, but we don’t use these in normal operations, given that filling the mains give about 5 hours!).
We were nicely on time as I ran the power checks and lined up in perfect, sunny and nil-wind conditions on runway 27.
Now I don’t know about you, but I seem to manage at least one item of stupidity (my fault) or excitement (sod’s law) on every leg I fly. Well, I exceeded the quota on this leg starting with a ‘not very good’ take off. I lined up and powered up and started rolling. Stick forward-ish to get the tail off. The tail came up as I held a bit of forward pressure to keep the plane on the ground until flying speed. Well, it started to skip and hop and maybe we hit a bump or something, but we seemed to be up, so I pulled back slightly expecting it to climb. Well, I had done this too early and she simply moved along the runway nose high. Feeling like an idiot, I tried again, stick slightly forward to get the tail up and off she came as sweetly as you please. Well, I haven’t done that before and felt like an idiot, but it was easily recovered so I guess no harm done. The wife refrained from comment, but I knew what she was thinking (so was I).
Up we went as I came onto route as:
EGBJ DCT GWC DCT SITET DCT LFRG
Nice and simple, but care was needed as I would come close to the Southampton zone and we all know how keen they seem to be to call an infringement if you come within two miles of their zone, let alone have the temerity to infringe it (OK, that’s my view, you may not agree or like it, but that is my opinion!).
I climbed to 3500’ to stay below the odd scattered cumulus and called Brize for a transit as I would ‘clip’ their western zone around Fairford, ‘threading the needle’ between them, South Cerney, Redlands Farm parachuting and other nasties.
Brize were great as always and they let me go just past the M4. I called Farnboro Radar who were busy as usual. I set the VOR to the GWC VOR and set the radial. I navigate by bearing, GPS and visually. I quickly spotted Newbury and Greenham Common in the right place, as was Popham and Petersfield, well clear of Southampton Zone.
But my second excitement was that the VOR didn’t seem to work properly. It would not wing in from the right, it was as though it was hitting an invisible obstruction and couldn’t move any further left. It would move out further right as I swung the OBS, but not any further towards the middle than a certain point. OK, not fatal I agree.
Then I noticed I had forgotten to switch the fuel pump off. I should have done this at the top of the climb check, but didn’t. I think my late night was impairing my concentration – I vowed to make the rest of the trip perfect and to really concentrate.
I switched to London Information around GWC and coasted out with them to SITET. A few mile north of SITET, a low undercast now slid in below me. I was only at about 4000’, but these ‘clouds’ looked a long way down – sea fog unless I missed my guess. It looked solid for as far south as I could see. Was this the lousy weather the Met Office had predicted? Was my wife ‘curse’ working again (it seems every time I have flown with her, we ended up diverting, or getting weathered in or having the plane go tech or something)?
I switched to Deauville Approach and asked for the weather at Deauville. They gave me CAVOK – hard to believe, but I guess they are the guys on the airfield, so I continued.
With about 30 miles to run, I though I could see maybe some break in the undercast on the horizon, but it could be the light. Closer still and it was definitely breaking a bit. Then as we closed in on Le Havre and the Seine Estuary, I could see it was reasonably broken over the land and I could get underneath what looked like newly formed and lifting cumulus.
Deauville advised me to stay well clear of Le Havre airport as there was an air display (that didn’t appear on the NOTAM’s I had, but I was happy to oblige.
Coming in over the coast with about 6 miles to run to Deauville, I switched to Deauville Tower who gave me a right downwind join for 30 with wind at 280 / 05. I dropped below the clouds (or between them more accurately) and once clear at 1500’, I spotted the airfield. But then I had another ‘brain fart’ and of course joined LEFT downwind for 30. Once I realised my mistake I called the Tower and apologised for my mistake. He was very laid back about it (splendid chap!) and advised me to continue and I was no.2. I spotted the plane in front on short final as I was about to turn base and called it in. I was cleared to land.
A good approach to 30 and the speed was nicely pegged. Down we came and over the piano keys, I judged the height to be correct and chopped the power. Maybe just a tad too high, but we are talking a few feet here. Round out and flare, fly level, hold back, hold back, no stall warner yet, back more, more yet, a distant trilling indicated the stall was imminent, more yet, more, a bit more – squeak – we are down. Very nice three-pointer and a smooth arrival. After an imperfect flight, I was pleased to finish it on a good note.
But it ain’t over in a taildragger until the engine is off and it is tied down, so concentrate on the landing roll, allow it to slow down of its own accord, don’t need brakes. He tells me to vacate on the grass taxiway and park on the grass. It looks smooth enough, so I comply. It is fine as I taxi in and park up.
It is very bright and sunny and bubble canopy of the RV transforms the inside quickly into a greenhouse once the airflow from level flight stops. We heat up really quickly and I am relieved to pop the canopy once we are shut down!
I run through the shut down checklist carefully and methodically, keen not to miss anything based on my performance so far today! I tie the controls back with the seat belt (we don’t have control locks). I don’t bother with tie downs as there is no wind and it isn’t going anywhere in this grass!
We unpack and wander over to the terminal. I report at the clearly signposted yellow and black ‘C’ only to find an empty room with a terminal and a phone to the BRAI. We wander out again and a fireman spots our confusion and points to a door about 20 metres to the right marked ‘Aircrew’ and we report there. This seems to be the office and is well manned. I check in and am relieved of EUR35 – which I think is the landing fee only (extortionate for France and pricey for the UK), parking on the grass seems to be free – I believe they charge for parking on the hard-standing.
They are very helpful and explain that I must show the receipt to get back airside. So I carefully file this in my well organised flight folder which I am very proud of (where I keep all sorts of hard copy, from copies of the weather, GAR’s, PLOGS, hotel bookings etc.). I know most pilots will think that the way I do this is way over the top, but I am not a ‘hairy-arsed’ pilot that thinks that planning is for wimps.
She ushered over the Douanes. This is the first time I have seen a proper ‘Douanier’ when private flying in France. He actually took and examined the passports as if he knew what he was looking at. He ignored my wife’s British passport and carefully examined my Canadian one. He solemnly produced a rubber stamp and carefully stamped a page, finished with a flourish and a ‘voila’! To this day, I think he believes I flew the RV6 all the way in from Toronto!
So feeling somewhat superior, I ask about taxis and she points though a window to a sign marked ‘Taxi’ and to at least three waiting cars. OK – feeling a bit stupid now and I ask her in my halting French where the exit is. She points me at the obvious door marked ‘Sortie’. I am having a severe attack of post-flight ‘stupids’. It happens to me, and I often wonder whether it happens to others or am I so inferior that it only happens to me?
We head off and board a taxi for the ride to Honfleur. About half-way there I realise that I have left my trip folder on the desk airside with the essential receipt! Oh crap!! Not to worry, we’ll sort it out when we return. The taxi cost me EUR30 to the hotel in Honfleur.
We book into the Ibis, an Accor Hotel about 1 mile from the town centre. I love the Accor chain because you can cancel same day – essential for a VFR pilot!
Suffice to say we had a great time in Honfleur. I did note that the Etap Hotel (a very low-cost automated hotel in the Accor chain was very close to town, but I knew that was fully booked. The Mercure (Accor Hotels) was right next door to the Etap and also very close, but it was more expensive. The walk took 15 minutes from the Ibis, which was fine.
Honfleur is very pretty. A bit like St Ives, with all the eateries and art stores and very ‘gentrified’ - but lovely all the same. It was very busy, but of course the weather was by now superb and it is near the height of the holiday season.
There was a special tourism promotion event by Quebec tourism of Canada – I noticed this as I passed a window and spotted a Montreal Canadiens hockey team shirt and sticks etc. – those sods get everywhere.
It is both mine and my wife opinion that the French only like to go on holiday where they are sure that the locals will also speak French, so I guess Quebec advertising there makes sense – get to see Canada without having to even try to get by in another language! Of course the English speaking world are the worst linguists in the world. But I like to think that I make an effort. Myself and my wife would constantly order and ask for things in French and even if they spoke back in English, we persisted with French as far as we were able.
We headed back after a leisurely breakfast on the harbour-front. Again, a EUR30 taxi trip some ten miles to Deauville Airport.
We tried to explain to the security lady that I was a pilot, but I didn’t have the pass. She didn’t understand a word of my Franglais and found another member of staff who understood that we might have left our ‘livre’ airside. He came back with my folder and all was well!! No silliness of scanning as she ushered us through. I established that the ‘C’ office was where we filed flight plans and I filed on over the phone with the local BRAI (the elaborate terminal wasn’t even switched on).
We wandered over to the plane and loaded up while I got the ELT and Seat Belt Cutter secured to my belt and donned lifejackets. I decided we had plenty of fuel and didn’t need a refuel. It had only taken us 1:35 airtime and the winds were calm.
We mounted up and I delayed buttoning up for as long as I could as the weather was superb, very warm and not a cloud in the sky, so we would cook until I got into the air!
Power checks complete, we were cleared for take of on 30. My take-off this time was text book (trying to make amends) as we climbed out heading north towards the coast. I changed to Deauville Radar and climbed to 4000’.
Our route was a precise reverse as:
LFRG DCT SITET DCT GWC DTC EGBJ
With about 20nm to run to SITET, Deauville got rid of us, so I contacted London Information, who were incredibly busy (hardly any surprise on a day like this!). But I managed to get a word in after about ten minutes!
I noticed a Battle of Britain memorial display at Tangmere on the NOTAM’s but the restricted area for this wasn’t due to start for another two hours, so no problems. We coasted in and I changed to Farnboro Radar overhead GWC at 4000’. Farnboro were frantic as well!
I navigated again carefully. There was some cumulus around now and we got bumped a bit as we went close underneath them. As we started to approach Lasham (about 6 miles to the east) my ‘glider radar’ switched on and we both kept our eyes peeled for the sods! We came across two well to the north of Lasham just as I was starting to relax, but managed to stay well clear. Then I was spotting aircraft after aircraft, mainly below us and non conflict.
I switched to Brize around the M4 and said that I would ‘transit’ at 4000’, so would be above his zone, but was calling him just in case. It is a good job that I did because as I was avoiding Redlands Farm around Swindon, we spotted a glider slightly above, but circling and coming around to head towards me. He showed no sign of having seen me, so to be on the safe side, I pulled the power for an abrupt descent to get out of his way and avoid any possible conflict. About 30 seconds into this while craning by neck to see where he was behind me and feeling like a WW2 Spitfire pilot with an enemy behind him, Brize came on the horn to ask if I now needed a transit due to my abrupt change of altitude. I managed to say ‘Errrr….. I’m playing dodgems with glider up here at the moment, I’ll call you back’. I think he got the picture and when I was sure I’d shaken off the glider, I put in a proper call and was given clearance for a transit at my now 3000’.
East abeam Cirencester, I changed from Brize to Gloucester and was given a standard overhead join for 27 with right hand circuits.
I ran my airfield approach checks and crossed the ridge. With the airfield in sight, I changed to the QFE and settled at 2000’ while slowing the plane.
Normal overhead join and while crosswind, I spotted a Cessna well outside me, as he started to turn, so did I onto the downwind and called downwind. Turned base, power back and one stage of flaps. Let it stabilise, then pull on the second stage. Turn inside the distinctive doughnut shaped building and set up on final. Good angle and airspeed at 80, bring it back to 70. I get 70 and call final at just under one mile and get a ‘continue approach’. I can see the plane will be well clear, so continue. Finally I get a ‘cleared to land’.
Set up nicely, drop a bit of speed, back to 70 and peg it there. Over the displaced threshold, round out and pull to power. Hold off, and off and off. Attitude good, back more, trilling in the cockpit, ignore it, try not to land, back more and we touch and stay down. Another nice three-pointer. Stick right back into the nuts to keep the tailwheel welded to the ground as we roll out. I don’t apply brakes and roll past the intersection, so I have to roll to the end to vacate. The bad news about this is that it is the ‘long march of death’ from the 09 end back to the terminal and there is no way I can unbutton the canopy, so a nice slow trundle while we both bake nicely!
I shut down the engine as quickly as I can once parked up and pop the canopy. I work through the checklist carefully and clean up.
I hand Mazzie the buckets, soap and sponge to deal with the flysplats while I sort out the paperwork and unpacking.
We tuck her up in the hangar, give everything a double check and back through the main terminal (in case anyone from immigration turned up) to drop the liferaft off at Cotswolds.
Well, a really good trip. Very enjoyable and I finally got the wife to Honfleur. The weather was superb even if the forecasting was all over the place. The one thing they didn’t predict was perfect weather on both days – goes to show you!
Well apart from the odd evening, that will be it for me touring in G-GDRV until September. I’ll be touring in Canada and the US at the end of August. Next trip to France? Sometime in September and I think to somewhere I haven’t been before. I’ll plan on somewhere in Brittany and somewhere inland from L2K as a weather alternate, so I am looking for ideas!
