Wellesborne Mountford

After two weather cancellations, I finally got to fly today. The weather was not perfect, but do-able. It was one of those murky, high-pressure, very cold, little wind type deals we see in the UK. I planned to fly Rob to Wellesborne Mountford, a very short flight from Gloucestershire, to see the ‘fast-taxi capable’ Vulcan bomber based there.

I checked the weather there on their excellent website as they only have one runway in use at weekends, and I wanted to know what crosswind I would be facing, if any. Turned out to be 030/07, so it would be 36 with a slight crosswind component from the right. I called them for PPR as per the plates, but they seemed to just want my details in advance.

I bumped into a few fellow Flyer Forumites in Cotswold Aero Club, Hogster, Johnm and Timmy P. It is one of those surreal moment when you meet people you have been ‘talking to’ via a bulletin board only – ‘Hello, I am Karg the destroyer of worlds, you must be Mekon emperor of the seventh quadrant!’ – well not quite, at least we have semi-sensible forum names – I am Steve H – original huh? Anyway, I was put to shame as one was going to Calais and the other two were going to Gamston. Here’s me only scuttling along 20 minutes to Wellesborne, oh well, plan the flight and fly the plan!

I checked the plane out and Rob helped me pull it out of the hangar past the Citation jets. I tried the normal startup routine, and again and again and again. It was very cold and had been for the previous few days and no one had flown her for a week, so she was very cold and ratty! I primed and tried again, a splutter then dead. I carefully primed some more. By now I was worried in case I had flooded the engine, but no smell of fuel, so more priming. Eventually she caught and the battery seemed none the worse for the experience. Taxi to the pumps to put some fuel in, called for clearance and we had the ‘long march of death’ around to C1 for 09 – oh well, I needed a little while to get the oil up to temperature anyway!

After power checks I was cleared for take off for the short flight to Wellesborne. I climbed to 2100’ and it started to get very murky, at 2200’ I was almost in poorly defined murky clouds, so I dropped to 2000’ and dinked left to swing north around the Cotswold ridge rather than head straight over it. Yes, it was murky up there, although lateral visibility was OK, they were saying 10km or more on the ATIS, but I can only assume they had not been flying as it seemed a little less than that. In no time at all, I was switching from Gloster to Wellesborne and calling for airfield information (it is only a 20 minute run). As expected, they were giving 36 with left had circuits and the wind was as expected.

I carried out a standard overhead join, slotted into the traffic already in the circuit and swung her onto final. As usual, I left myself a bit high, a bit of sideslip took care of that. A bit fast, but then I do want to land a bit long, so I’ll bleed that off with a longer flare. Over the numbers and rounding out, hold off and off and off and off. We are heavy, but this is taking a while. Little bit of crosswind, dab of rudder to straighten and we touch – and stay touched. A little into wind aileron, dance on the peddles until she is down to taxi speed, yes, there we go. Well false modesty aside, that was about as good a landing as you can do in the RV – very smooth (I was of course to pay for this hubris later!).


G-GDRV parked up at Wellesborne

We parked up and dutifully trotted into the tower to pay. £15 landing fee and a friendly welcome. I asked about getting to the intact Vulcan bomber on the north west perimeter. They said if I had a hi-vis vest, we could walk along the taxiway. It was a good half mile and the wind (such as it was) made the sub-zero temperature feel a lot worse.


The mighty Avro Vulcan

We were happy to be in the lee of the mighty Vulcan. Sure enough, there were many volunteers at the Vulcan. They had one of the engine out for overhaul. They were very friendly and welcomed us in and chatted about the plane. I knew something about Vulcans, but of course not as much as them. I was surprised to learn that the engine did not have after-burners and that this was the later and more powerful Olympus 301 engined version.


One of the working Olympus 301 engines being serviced

We had a wander around and had a close up of one of the partially stripped engines. It is a real treat to see a real, running engine being overhauled, not some dead, lifeless hulk that has been dissected in a museum somewhere. I was surprised at how small it seemed.


Lovely clean turbine blades

I was grateful for the tour and offered a donation to a lady in one of the portakabins. She immediately offered us a trip into the crew compartment. That too was a treat. I was amazed at how cramped it was and what a truly lousy view the pilots had. It was the usual chaos of black panels and switches and dials scattered around seemingly at random – no digital stuff here, oh no! I thought the two London Underground tube train flexible hanging handles in the ceiling of the crew compartment said it all – period British pragmatism, hey if they work, stick them in there!


Possibly the most cluttered and worst designed panel ever

We made our way back, now quite cold, to the ‘new’ café. Well, it looks very much like to old café to me! Having said that, it is perfectly fine. There are normally a lot of locals that turn up with families for a fried breakfast and to watch the planes, which I think is an excellent thing. There is a great deck looking onto the airfield with tables etc., but no takers on a cold day like this. It would be a nice spot in the summer though.


The 'new' cafe - different from the 'old' cafe....err....how?

We didn’t hang around and soon mounted up for the return trip. The plane started first time as we taxied for the hold for 36. The tower again confirmed the noise abatement procedures as I lined up, applied power and started hopping eagerly along 36 (the plane was moving down the runway too!). Up we went and I turned onto 030 and glimpsed the green roofed building we were aiming for. Nicely on track. At 1200’ I turned left onto direct track back to Gloucester. I could still only manage 2100’, but that was fine.

Picked up the ATIS and called for rejoin. Got the expected standard overhead for 09 although the wind was a mild 030/05. I wasn’t sure why they hadn’t switched to runway 04, but I was OK with that wind. The circuit was quiet with only one other in as I called final. OK, a bit high and a bit fast. Slipped some of it off, but still a bit fast. Over the threshold aiming to land long, flared, a bit high though, felt her down, no real stall warner, we touched and I guess I knew what was going to happen. Now after my last landing which was really good, you would have thought the plane would say ‘Y’know Steve, that last one you did was really good, so I’ll let you off this one’ – but no. The RV has no such memory. I was punished with a bounce. As we were heading back up it is amazing how quickly you think. By the time we got to the top of the bounce and were about to come down a second time, I weighed up the pro’s and cons and thought that yes, I could control this mext one and land, but it would be messy and anyway, what is the hurry, so I pushed in the power and the engine and aircraft responded beautifully into a go around, as if to say to me ‘good decision, coz I was going to kick your ass if you tried anything else!’.

This was the first go around I have done for a few years, so probably long overdue anyway. I explained to Rob who was (or at least seemed to be) unconcerned. The second approach was better and my second landing was almost as good as the one at Wellesborne, certainly the plane seemed happy with it. What was it my PPL instructor used to say? ‘A good landing comes from a good approach’ – how true.

Taxied in and shut down. Rob help me put the plane away and we got it precisely into it’s tight slot first time with very few instructions.

Well all in all, poor weather but a really nice flight. It would be nice if the heater could be a little more efficient though. Loved seeing the Vulcan, well worth it for that alone.

Goddam weather!

For the second time in as many weeks, I tried for even a measly local or even circuits, but no dice!

The first Saturday, I called off a local due to high and gusty winds. Just not worth chancing it in a taildragger.

Last weekend was cold and certainly a very ‘high pressure murk’, but I figured I could at least managed some circuits. I got to the airfield and the weather was considerably worse than where I live, with an indeterminate cloud base (it was that murky), probably 3k visibility and light drizzle / rain. That and the temperature on the ground was only just above freezing, even 2000’ altitude (if you could get it without going IMC which was doubtful) the temperature would be sub-zero, add to that visible moisture and you have all the recipe for airframe icing. So I alreadt made the call to myself that I was not flying, even

I decided to at least call into the local flying club to console myself with a coffee before heading back home. As if to confirm my appraisal, I heard the CFI come into the next room after having been out with a student. He was talking to someone in the next room and said ‘take a look at the icing on the plane (he just flew in on)’.

No contest, I am out of here, even for circuits. On my way out, I passed another pilot cheerfully coming in with full kit. I asked in jest if he was flying anywhere. He looked surprised and said ‘Yes, why not?’. I just replied ‘I hope you like icing’ and walked on. I know different people have different attitudes to risk, but icing? That is one thing I would NOT mess with! While I know he has a lightweight instrument rating, I also know his aircraft does not have any de-icing equipment. I am sure he came to the right decision.

So I shall be trying for a third time for quick flight next weekend. Such are the joys of flying in the UK in the winter!

AVGAS and Lyconosaurus

I’m not a whiner, BUT!

In the UK, the price of normal petrol / gasoline has risen swiftly and inexorably like a flood tide from an eye-watering £0.85 pence a litre (yes, litre not gallon!) as recently as January 2009 to an unbelievable £1.30 now (January 2011) and a predicted £1.50 a litre by this summer. All of this is incredibly bad news for anyone that drives a car or rides a motorbike, but these prices seem like a bargain when comparing them to AVGAS fuel prices for light aircraft.


UK Gasoline Prices - per litre

Light aircraft can use a variety of different fuels, depending on the engine(s) being used.

AVGAS

The vast majority of light aircraft are still powered by legacy air-cooled petrol engine made mainly by either Lycoming or Continental (there are a few smaller suppliers). These are amazing beasts in this day and age and the technology used amazes non-aviation aware people, especially those who know a bit about cars. They are literally built using 1930’s technology that has remained completely unchanged to the present day. The engine in my own aircraft is typical. It is a Lycoming 0-320 that delivers a peak of 160 horse power.

The ‘320’ signifies the ‘swept volume’ of the four gigantic cylinders as expressed in cubic inches. Yes, you got that right, four cylinders and a swept volume of 320 cubic inches. For those more familiar with engine capacity expressed in litres, that’s 5.2 litres. Yes, a four cylinder 5.2 LITRE engine that delivers a whopping 160 horse power (not!)! Each cylinder normally has a mere two spark plugs per cylinder with the spark being created by two sets of magnetos – yes, magnetos! One set of mags drive one of the plugs in each cylinder and the second drives the second etc. Actually not such a silly arrangement as it means that if the battery dies, the engine doesn’t care and carries on as happy as Larry. If one set of mags fails, there is a second which continues to run the engine, albeit usually at a slightly lower power level.

What these engine deliver is a very slow revving engine that directly drives the propeller rpm (let’s ignore VP props for now), normally in the cruise of between 2000 – 2400 rpm with a maximum of 2600 rpm. If it turned a normal prop any faster, the tips of the propeller would break the sound barrier and make an incredible noise but more importantly create a lot of supersonic and transonic turbulence which would seriously impact the lift or ‘bite’ of the propeller and therefore it’s ability to pull / push the plane along. An engine revving at these speeds means that you don’t need the added mechanical complexity (the more stuff you have the more points of failure there are) and as important the added weight of an rpm reduction gearbox.

As it is old (for that, read ‘ancient’) technology, these engines must use a high octane leaded gasoline, also called AVGAS. This is 100 octane (also referred to as 100LL for ‘low lead’ to keep the green campaigners happy). This is the sort of fuel that we used to see at the pumps for cars before unleaded fuel became all the rage, albeit for a much higher octane. Now the problem with this is that apart from the miniscule demands of the classic and vintage car market, there is no other commercial demand for high octane leaded fuel than to fuel these antique engines used mainly by private flyers for light aircraft (OK, and of course heavy WW2 warbirds that are still flying). So the market for AVGAS is tiny and producing it is an irritation for oil companies, so by the law of supply and demand, availability of AVGAS in Europe is not good (many French GA airfields run out every summer) and it is very expensive. We have just been hit with a huge hike and pump prices at my airfield are now £1.74 a litre. Given that we get through 25 – 30 litres an hour flying that hurts a lot! The smart money is on AVGAS in the UK being more than £2.00 a litre by the summer.


UK AVGAS Prices - PER LITRE!

By way of comparison with the vibrant US General Aviation industry, they too will tell you that they are staggering around under the burden of an AVGAS price of an eye-watering $5.00 a US Gallon. Now in case you aren’t good at doing conversions that is an exorbitant £0.83 a litre – wait a minute….. £0.83 pence a litre, ARE YOU KIDDING! That’s under half the UK price!!!! Small wonder there is little appetite in the US engine running on MOGAS or AVTUR!

MOGAS

This is just a clever-dicky name for the petrol / gasoline you put into your car. Now I know that it is really hard for a motorist to think that £1.30 for a litre of 95 octane unleaded is a bargain, but imagine if you had a car-type engine in your light aircraft. The fuel burn would be considerably less for about the same horse power (usually 15-20 litres an hour vs 25-30 litres an hour using AVGAS engines) and of course the price per litre would be one-third cheaper litre for litre and a whopping half to two-third cheaper when you also take into account the lower fuel burn for the same power!

The downside? Well, you basically have a modern car engine revving at 4500 rpm for peak efficiency, so you need a reduction gearbox and of course car engines don’t use magnetos, so you are tied to a battery, the battery dies, your engine stops – not nice if you are in the air at the time. Having said that, the engine itself is much smaller and lighter, reduction gearboxes are very reliable as are modern batteries, and you can carry two anyway. The other advantage is that they are water-cooled. So while that adds further addition weight, it means that you really don’t have to worry about engine over-heating at high power setting and low airspeeds (in the climb after take-off) or possible shock-cooling associated with low power settings and normal or high airspeeds (in the descent).

The good news is that there are such engines available in the GA world, they are called ‘Rotax’ engines. The downside is that they are relatively small engines aiming at the very light aircraft end of the market. The largets such engine is the Rotax 914 which can only pump out 115 horse power – so no good for our RV6 which really does need 160 horses. But then they are a measly 1.2 litre engine. Why or why can’t Rotax develop a similar 1.6 or even 2.0 litre engine, God knows there are plenty driving cars around!

Many people (including me) are looking at MOGAS Rotax type engine and the new VLA or ‘Light Sport’ type aircraft now emerging as a longer term and economically viable alternative to AVGAS Lyconosuarus engines.

AVTUR

This is the fuel used worldwide to power the jet and turbine engines you find in commercial aircraft all the way from a modest King Air to the awesome Airbus A380. It is basically a ‘diesel’ type fuel, also very similar / identical to kerosene / paraffin etc. The majority of military jet aircraft also use a kerosene type fuel, either JP5 or JP8. The major difference is that the military fuel types are more fire resistant that regular AVTUR (and unlike what you see in the movies, AVTUR is much less flammable than AVGAS or MOGAS).

GA AVTUR engines are basically nowhere in the USA, and after all, it is the USA who are still the main driver for the General Aviation industry. However, there are a few AVTUR engines around, makers like Thielert, Wilksch etc. Unfortunately, Thielert started with a converted 1.8 litre Mercedes diesel engine which only managed a measly 120hp. They were not a very well managed company and went into administration (from which they are now emerging). But quite a few people were ‘bitten’ by paying for expensive conversions to existing aircraft or buying expensive new Austrian Diamond aircraft (who had a ties up with Thielert) only to find parts impossible and warranties no-existant. But one bad experience should not surely sink what must be the true way forward for light piston engines? Any commercial airfield will have AVTUR and by worldwide convention, AVTUR is sold around the world tax and duty free and runs out at around £0.60 per litre.

Having said that, the UK have cottoned onto that and now have a tax on AVTUR if you use it for non-commercial flying. A tax of £0.54 a litre is mentioned, taking the price up to, but still short of MOGAS prices.

However, the fuel burn is very modest (about the same as a Rotax) and the fuel itself is less flammable. It is very widely available at virtually every airport. This has to be the future, certainly in Europe and it probably won’t be long before the US wake up and have to see that too, how much longer will oil companies continue to produce this hobby fuel of AVGAS?

So bottom line? I can’t wait to see the back of AVGAS and will be looking to switch ideally to an AVTUR single engine piston – now all I need is an established, reliable and proven AVTUR piston engine manufacturer!

Welsh Hills

First flight of the new year was early for me, on Sunday the 2nd. The weather was OK, overcast, but thin and high enough, probably 5000’nil wind and cold, probably around freezing.

I checked the plane out and pulled it carefully out of the hangar past the Citation jet, which was far enough back that I didn’t have to try to get under part of it’s wing. I decided to put a squirt of fuel in to be kind to the next person to fly as I was solo and so pretty light. At the pumps I bumped into another Flyer Forum member who I had ‘spoken’ to on the forum but not yet met – good to see you Hogster!



Power checks complete, I let the engine drone on to get the oil temperature up to the magic 40 degrees before I called ready for departure. It has been about 35 days since I last flew and I went through the motions and readouts I expected for both take-off and landing in my head, then I lined up. Power smoothly on and hold it straight down the runway. Tail up as the speed builds and hold her down as she hops about impatient for her natural element. I let her climb away after a gratifyingly short ground run. At the end of the runway, I put in the 10 degree right noise abatement turn and climb straight ahead as I plan to check out the Welsh Hill and Pen-y-Fan in the distance to the west.

I climb to 4500’ and level out. Top of climb checks and lean the engine to my preferred ‘economy cruise’ of around 2050 rpm and 20 litres an hour which gives 120 – 125kts. I navigate carefully between the two prohibited zones at Credenhill and Madley, near Hereford (both of which are SAS training areas that they are understandably protective of) using both GPS and the prominent ground feature of the disused airfield at Madley.



The Welsh Hills are still somewhat snow-covered, unlike the rest of the countryside where it melted a few days ago. It looks like the snow (or deep frost) is carefully following the 1500’ contour line. I close in on Hay on Wye and head towards the peak of Pen-y-Fan (much beloved of Paratroopers and SAS wannabes). It looks beautiful in the heavy frosting and I am amazed at the number of hikers up on the hills today. I have a quick look for G-TOMS, a PA38 that made a forced landing near Pen-y-Fan a couple of weeks ago, but cannot spot it, although I am sure it is still there (and is I understand, a real ‘attraction’ for hill walkers and mountain-bikers). I play around the outside of the peak in this nil wind condition, confident that I won’t pick up any nasty gusts. For the hell of it, I throw in a few steep turns then waggle my wings at the hikers and head back towards Gloucester. While I was over Pen-y-Fan, I had switched onto 121.5 just in case. I heard London Centre calling for a plane that was squawking 7700 near Winchester. He clearly wasn’t on frequency despite a few calls by London Centre. I wonder what happened there?



I call Gloster Approach with 20 miles to run for a direct join and they give me direct to 09, which I am pretty much in a straight line final for anyway. I hear another forumite on frequency as he flies from Shoreham to Shobdon. I call again as requested at 5 miles and I am given clear to land. I do my pre-landing checks and get the airspeed under control by pulling the throttle to idle and holding altitude for what seems like ages as the plane slowly loses speed to allow me to pull on some flaps. Some power back in as I get the speed back to 80 kts. At 1 mile final, I bleed it back to 70 kts and hold it there. Good approach, good airspeed. I go through the landing in my head and try to land long so as not to tie the runway up while I trundle to the end. Over the hedge and get ready…. flare…..NOW. I hold off remembering that I am light so it will take a while for the stall warner to blare. I touch very lightly before I want to and hop slightly (not a bounce, just a gentle hop), I curse a bit then as she settles again, I make a determined effort to hold off and make the stall warner holler. I succeed and when we touch again, there is no more flying left in the wing and she settles nicely. Despite all of this, I still have a fair way to taxi to A2.

Back to the hangar and I put the plane away just in time to see a note on the hangar from another group member saying that he is in the clubhouse and I can leave the plane out – DOH! Too late! Never mind, good practice. I complete the paperwork and update the other group member on the plane (not much to say). I sort out the end of month / start of month paperwork as I need to sort out the December accounts (I run the books and billings for the group).

A lovely flight to start 2011 – thoroughly enjoyed that! For 2011 I am vaguely planning on a tour of Denmark and Sweden in the summer – fingers crossed!

Local on a cold day

I had booked to fly on Saturday, but the weather was very cold, a bit breezy and murky visibility. I was still up for a trip to the airfield, but as I was scraping the ice off the car, it started to snow so that was it, way too many risk factors, so scrap that. Sunday was a beautiful, if very cold day. No wind and a little cold mist, but likely to disappear as the day wore on. I checked the booking system and to my surprise, there were no booking for the plane today, so I took two hours until lunchtime and headed off for the 20 minute drive to the airfield.

I was out to the hangar and carried out the A-check in freezing conditions, literally -4 degrees, it would remain sub-zero all day. By the end of the check, my fingers had ceased to work, but I carried on and opened the hangar doors and carefully edged the plane out past the Cessna Citation jet parked where it makes the move the most difficult. It took me five attempts to get it past the jet so that the wingtip cleared the hangar door frame on one side and cleared under the wing of the jet on the other. So it was back into the clubhouse for a coffee and book out and give my fingers time to come back to life!

I climbed in and buttoned up. Fortunately, although it was so cold, the canopy didn’t mist up with my breath. The engine eventually caught at the fourth attempt and much priming. The ATIS was giving runway 09, the one furthest away. Having said that, probably not a bad idea as the taxi around would give the oil enough time to come up to the 40 degrees minimum we need for take off.

At the hold for C1 at 09 where I turned for my run up checks, I noticed two deeply gouged furrows in the turf to the right of the runway that went on for many metres and wondered what had made them, surely not an aircraft? The power checks were fine but the oil had still not come up to temperature. I pulled up to the hold and watched the oil temperature count off until it was right, then called ready for departure. The tower asked if I was ready for an immediate departure. I replied with a crisp ‘affirm’ and was given immediate clearance while another aircraft turned final.

Malvern Ridge from 4000' on a cold but very clear day - and no - none of these photographs are in any way photoshopped or 'improved', it really was that clear!


I was hopping along the runway in very short order, the aircraft performance even more sparking given the relatively light fuel load, only me on board and the very cold and therefore dense air. I climbed and made a left turnout heading for the Malverns. I levelled out at just over 4000’ and marvelled at the near unlimited visibility up here. Once I was past 2500’ I was out of the low murk, almost like getting n top of an inversion layer, once on top the vis was awesome. I could easily see the Welsh Hill in the distance with a dusting of snow on them.

Bredon Hill on a lovely cold day


Basically, I just poodled about, cranked in a few steep turns for the hell of it and took several photographs, trying for various different effects. I also discovered that the heater is pretty ineffective, to the point that I tried switching it off thinking it might be warmer without the draft, I was wrong, but only just - the heating effect was marginal. I think my farts were heating the air inside the plane every bit as effectively! The Malverns looked lovely close up, then I set course to Bredon Hill and the Cotswolds around Winchcombe. I picked up the ATIS and headed back to Bredon Hill for my run back to the airport. I had heard a few aircraft calling for joining at Gloucester and formed a mental picture in my mind of where they were and roughly when they would arrive at the airport and delayed my call so that I would not add to a sudden knot of aircraft all arriving at once.

Looking south towards Gloucestershire on a very cold, clear day


I called and as usual was set for a standard overhead join for 09 and to report at three miles. I ran in to Gloucester and did my approach checks and descended to 2000’ on the QFE. At three miles I was told to report downwind. I dropped from 2000’ to 1000’ on the deadside descent and crossed the upwind numbers at 1000’ as normal. By the time I got my call in, it was late downwind and I could see the traffic I was following had just turned a long-ish final as I turned base. I was a bit high, so power off and let the airspeed bleed back to flap limiting speed, then crank on both stages of flap. I turned final with the traffic in front now on short-ish final. I was still high, so side-slipped some of that off. When I unwound from the side-slip, I called final, noting that the training aircraft in front was about to land pretty much on the numbers and would therefore not technically be clear at the far end of the runway by the time I wanted to touch down myself. I was relieved when the tower gave me a ‘land-after’ which I was happy to accept.

I rounded out probably a bit high, but no matter, I ‘felt’ the aircraft down to a sensible hold-off height and started to hold off. I don’t recall hearing the stall warner (although it was working fine on the pre-flight check), but then I knew I was light and the air was thick, so probably I was still flying, so I held off more. The wheels touched very lightly before I wanted them to, so held off some more. Before I knew it, I was down and on the wheels (wow, that was gentle!), and pulling the stick progressively all the way back to make sure the tailwheel was anchored onto the runway. Not that I needed to worry too much as there wasn’t the slightest breath of wind, but it is all good handling.

I didn’t think I landed that short, but it was a fair old trundle to the end of the runway for the exit at A2 and I was hoping that I wasn’t holding anyone up behind me.

I taxied in and shut down. As I jumped out to get the towbar, Steve Noudjiam trundled up in his world record breaking RV7 and gave me some sign language. I thought he was asking me to leave my plane where it was as he was behind me in the hangar. Strange, I thought he vacated that hangar a month ago. I wasn’t sure so indicated that I didn’t understand. He popped the canopy and said he was in the hangar for another month and it was OK, he would put my plane away after his as he wanted to run his engine for while as it hadn’t been used for over a month.

I was fine with that. I wandered into the hangar and did the paper work and shut the plane down properly. By the time I had finished flapping around and was headed back to the clubhouse, I heard Steve chop the power to his RV7, so I walked back as two of us putting the planes away past the Citation still making it tough was a good idea.

No sooner had we put his away and nearly put mine away, then the new member of our group appeared wanting to take the plane out. No problem, so we wheeled it out for him. When I booked, I was the only booking that day, but apparently he had seen my booking and thought he would take a slot right after me – good thinking, the engine is nice and warm and the A-check is done – why hadn’t I thought of that?

I stopped in the clubhouse for a coffee and a warm up. In conversation with a few people there, I discovered the secret of the deep ruts near runway 09. It turns out that they were made by G-EWHT, the ‘nice’ Cotswold Robin that I have flown aerobatics in. It turns out that it made a ‘heavy’ night landing off the runway, then banged up over the runway lip onto the runway and the pilot taxied it back in. By ‘heavy’, because the plane is aerobatic, it is equipped with a ‘G’ meter, the meter read -3 and +9! Given that it is maximum rated to +6, that was one hell of a heavy landing. I was surprised the wheels and legs were still on and not through the wings. However, all is not well as apparently there was creasing to the aircraft skin and it turns out that there is twisting to a couple of the ribs and the firewall. I wasn’t so much a heavy landing as a crash where the wheels and legs stayed on!

What a shame. The plane is due for an insurance company inspection on Monday but it wasn’t looking promising, get ready for an insurance write off of the nicest plane in the Cotswold fleet.

On the way home, I was thinking about the various aircraft I have flown and realised that five of the aircraft that I had now flown had been involved in various accident, two of them (if this one is) having to be written off. I hasten to add that I was present at only one of the accidents, where I was in the right hand seat as the non-handling pilot – so as Bart Simpson would say ‘It wasn’t me – you can’t prove it!’.

Brecon beacons

I am just on my winter flying schedule now, mainly locals to keep my hand in with the odd nearby landaway if the weather looks really good. Well the weather was really lousy in the week leading up to Saturday, high winds and rain, but Saturday was virtually perfect, slight wind (straight down the runway), virtually clear and sunny sky and unlimited visibility.

I decided on a local, but to fly around the nearby Welsh Hill and Brecon Beacons just for the hell of it, especially as the wind was light, so there shouldn’t be much chop or rotor on the leeside of the hills. We took off from runway 22 with the wind 230 / 07. Climbed to 4500’ and headed west.

Herefordshire from 4000' on a lovely day


I threaded my way carefully through the two prohibited zones that the SAS use. I tightened my harness just in case of turbulence and headed down the Wye valley to Hay-on-Wye and into Wales proper. I was down to about 3500’ by now and dodging the odd small cumulus cloud, or maybe going through it. We cut across and carried on the Brecon and moved into the hills to the south of Brecon for a low level plan along the highlands and crests. There were loads of mountain bikers enjoying themselves on the rough tracks. I was really enjoying myself, just poling around low-ish level doing nothing in particular and enjoying the view.

Brecon beacons


We did this for a few minutes, then headed out and back towards base via Abergavenny. I picked up the ATIS and listened in to Gloucester who now seemed pretty busy. I called for rejoin and was asked to report at three miles. As I was about to call 3 miles, I heard two others also call at three miles, albeit joining from different directions. Instead I called and told Gloucester where I was and that I would do an orbit or two to let the others get well ahead and space myself out a bit.

Orbits complete, I joined for a standard overhead join. The circuit was busy alright as we passed overhead on the crosswind a plane taking off underneath us. There was no contention as I kept it very tight to the upwind end of the runway. I called downwind and could see two ahead, one ahead of me downwind and another well outside, possibly on a downwind, but one that was outside the zone, so could be another ‘bomber circuit’. The guy outside called orbiting at the end of the downwind for spacing, so I slotted in as number two behind the guy in front who was now on base. I turned base and tried to slow down a bit so I was properly spaced to the guy in front.

I managed it, although I didn’t get a ‘land after’ until I was pretty much over the hedge, but at least the tower did warn me to expect a late clearance. I flared slightly high, but no matter as the plane eased down, stall warner now blaring. I held her off and off until she finally gave up flying and settled into a nice, fully stalled landing. I kept the speed up to vacate as normal, but I think the guy behind me had gotten too close and had to go around.

Taxiing in there was a lovely Stearman warming the engine – wow, he was going to be cold today in that open cockpit! A very pleasant flight on a lovely flying day – can’t beat it!

Lovely Stearman at Gloucester

Halfpenny Green

I booked the plane for Saturday morning, hoping for good weather and vaguely planning a brief landaway. The days leading up to Saturday were far from promising, with high winds, low cloud and occasional rain, but Saturday turned out almost perfect, light wind, clear skies with maybe a few very scattered flat cumulus clouds starting to form.

I met up with Rob (my daughter’s boyfriend) at the airport and I had already checked the plane out. He helped me pull it out of the hangar and I started up and taxied over to the pumps as there was barely enough fuel for a couple of circuits, with one tank virtually dry. I called for taxi clearance after I had put some 70 litres in and was told that I hadn’t booked out – ah! I thought it was all going a bit too smoothly, UI had forgotten. The guy in ATC relented as he wasn’t too busy and took my details over the radio. I taxied to the hold for 22 and did the power checks carefully, as the previous pilot had reported engine rough running while on the right tank, from the description, almost certainly carb icing, but can’t be too careful. The engine and tank were fine.

Line up, power up, dance on the peddles to keep her straight down the runway, tail up and keep her down. She starts to skip, hold her down a bit more, still only looking down the runway and judging the airspeed by sight and the engine by sound. I daren’t take my eyes off the end of the runway for a second for fear of the plane starting to weathercock in that moment – I think most taildragger pilots would say the same thing, maybe I should ask them? Anyway, we are easily up and climbing to the right heading north as I have decided to pop into Wolverhampton / Halfpenny Green airport, as I haven’t been there since I was training in 2001.

We climb to 4500’ and I let Rob have a play with the controls. He isn’t bad at all, but betrays that he is a ‘Flight Simulator Pilot’ by the way he only ever looks at the instruments and does not fly by visual reference. I give him the usual patter about how to fly visually. It is only a short run to Wolverhampton and I take care to avoid flying anywhere near the Birmingham control zone. I call up Wolverhampton and see that they are operating on runway 16. I ask about the wind and they say it is 150/08 – OK fine, just different from Gloucester who were giving 200/08. By the time I spot the airfield, we are virtually on top of it and still at 4000’. So I opt for a standard overhead join which goes pretty well. They are very quiet and there is only one other aircraft moving down there. On base I hear someone calling ready for departure and on final I see him lining up. No bother as In continue my approach. I get the expected ‘lad at your discretion’ (this is an INFO tower, not a controlled airport). The guy on the end of the runway starts moving, so I continue. He is well clear and airborne as I come in for the landing. Approach has been good, bit fast, but I hold off well. The stall warner is screaming, hold off some more and when we touch it is barely a touch and we stay down and solid and roll slowly to the end of the runway (as that is the quickest taxi to parking). Well that was about as close to a ‘greaser’ as you can probably get in an RV6 (certainly as close as I ever get!).

Rob and G-GDRV at Halfpenny Green Airport


The INFO guys are very helpful and talk me around the route to parking, not that I needed it, but a nice touch, but then they weren’t busy. We park up on hard standing by the tower and shut down. It is a beautiful day as I head to the tower to pay the landing fee, while Rob explores the delights of the café, in the tower building, but one floor below. The guys in the tower are very friendly and seem keen to encourage return visits. I explain that I haven’t been here for eight years or so and quickly explain that it is only because it is so close to Gloucester that it is a bit embarrassing, a bit like a trip to Kemble, a mere ten minutes away – some intrepid aviator! They mention my plane and say that Manuel had it based at Wolverhampton while he was preparing it for his round-the-world flight.

The airport café is basic but very nice. Good choice of food as I opt for the mandatory toasted bacon sandwich and coffee (I have never quite got the hang of tea, despite living in the UK most of my life). Rob pays for the meals as he has a burger and fries brunch. We chat away watching the very odd aircraft come and go, it is pretty quiet here.

I know that I only have the plane booked until midday but I don’t know if anyone has booked it after me. But as a good group member, I won’t push it and assume I can simply roll up late, so I call time as we saddle up for the return trip. We trundle around the taxiway behind a Cabair PA28 (presumably on a training flight), so I give him lots of space in case he stops suddenly or does something unexpected. I complete my power checks sat behind the PA28 and call ‘ready for departure in turn’. I could taxi past the PA28 on part of the taxiway that looks a lot less used, but I am not stressed about it. The instructor in the PA28 twigs and radios that he will pull forward so I can get past – how nice!

I line up, apply power and I am away on runway 16. I modest right turn puts us on track for Gloucester and well clear of Birmingham zone. Up to 4500’ again as we trundle over the Malverns for a quick look. I get the ATIS and call Gloucester for a rejoin. There are a couple of aircraft calling for a join at the same time and I note in particular a PA28 joining the overhead from the opposite direction a little closer than me. I call as instructed at three miles and hear the PA28 call three miles a few seconds before me. OK, I don’t like this and tell / offer APP that I will do one orbit at three miles to let the PA28 get well into the overhead before we potentially jostle for position. Orbit complete, I join and call for deadside descent, which I am given. Gloucester do seem to like to police the circuit and they ask where I am when I am in the crosswind. I can see the other aircraft and we seem to be pretty well sorted out. I call downwind and complete the pre-landing checks. On base Rob notices the PA28 so far out that at first I assume he isn’t in the circuit. It dawns on me that he is and I take my base wide to try to get behind him. I do get behind but I am closer than I would like. It turns out he is doing a T&G, so it will probably be OK. TWR tell me to expect a late clearance as I bring the speed back as much as I dare.

Worcestershire from 4500' on a beautiful flying day!


On very short final I am cleared to land. I flare and set up for the hold off with the power off. Looking good, stall warner starts with a chirrup, but we touch very gently before I would like. We hop slightly, more chirruping and we touch again, but a bit harder – OK this is a bounce now. In probably no more than three seconds I weigh up my options as I don’t like this, it feels like one where the bounces will get bigger and bigger. So do I carry on and try to control the bounces, apply power and go around or apply a shot of power and try the hold off again. I opt for the third option and smooth out the bounce and re-flare (this is what I did at Avignon fighting a nasty gusting crosswind) as I have plenty of runway on 22 and it is not problem to turn off at the end anyway. This works pretty well and my ‘second landing’ from the same approach works well. Oh well, good practice I guess.

We taxi in and shutdown only a few minutes past midday on a perfect flying day. Do we wheel it back into the hangar and put the plane back to bed. As it turns out later, no one else had it booked, which I found surprising on such a great day. I really should have checked this and I wouldn’t have minded a detour to fly around the Welsh Hills on the way back and see if we could spot the SAS troopers sweating their cods off on Pen-y-Fan, but maybe another day.

Bump and grind

In the group, we have a ‘group currency rule’ which states that you need to go for a checkride if you have not flown the RV6 for 30 days. I can see the sense in this if you have little or low hour experience in the RV6 as handling and particularly landing and take-off skills can deteriorate quite quickly when flying this very, very sensitive little plane, but I also think (from personal experience) that as you get a few hours under your belt (say at least 50), that this time period could easily and safely be stretched to 45 or even 60 days. This is something that I will raise at the next group meeting, as it is amazingly easy to just slip outside 30 days, especially if the plane is in the middle of a service and with most of us being weekend only flyers and the sort of weather we normally get at a weekend. All of that is by-the-by, but interesting to air in a blog like this and see what others have by the way of ‘group rules’ that are well over and above EASA rules.

I have also read a discussion thread on Flyer Forum recently with pilots wailing about the massive cost increases they have suffered recently with the C of A Part M nonsense recently put in place by EASA – annuals for C of A aircraft of £5000 upwards do not seem at all uncommon. Holy cr*p Batman! Boy, am I ever glad that I am in a ‘permit’ group where we have a group member who is an aircraft engineer and other group member regularly help to do the maintenance (yes, I must roll my sleeves up at some stage too). We charge ‘ourselves’ £12 per hour for our own maintenance, so the members that do the maintenance are paid by the group and so reduce the cost of their own flying. Unfortunately (but in my view quite rightly) this payment regime doesn’t apply to the time and mileage I spend every month looking after the group accounts! Perhaps one day after my youngest ‘child’ has finished university, I may buy my own aircraft outright. When I do, I know for certain that it will be a PFA ‘permit’ type and that I will be learning how to do my own maintenance real fast!

What with a recent holiday in Newfoundland, weather and life in general getting in the way, I was well outside of the groups 30 day rule. So I put my name down with the CFI at Cotswolds for some circuits in the RV. Phil Mathews isn’t a small chap, but then neither am I, so I had to make sure that we were light on fuel to stay on the right side of the weight and balance envelope (mainly weight!). Having said that, I do far prefer the handling of the RV with a decent bit of weight on board, it really does handle quite differently when flying solo with a light fuel load.

So we set off to do the mandatory ‘three good ones’ – three decent landings that is. I am quite happy with general handling and I don’t feel the personal need, nor do I have the legal requirement for my ‘one hour of instruction’ as I have the best part of two years until my revalidation. I did however make the point of getting to the airfield early to carry out a leisurely check of the plane and sit quietly in the plane by myself running through where everything was, muttering to myself and touching each control or switch in turn. I must have made an entertaining sight to the students in Aeros next door looking out of their full length windows at this fruitcake sat in a ‘toy plane’ doing a ‘Rainman’ impersonation!

I rounded Phil up, booked out and we took it in turns to get in and strap into the RV. You don’t so much get in the RV6, as ‘put it on’! It is very snug for two and fairly inelegant to get into. You have to climb up onto the wing (avoiding putting you foot on the flaps which should be down anyway to make sure this can’t happen), step over the lip without grabbing the canopy (which is hinged to lift up from the front), put both feet on the seat, then slip both feet off the seat forward into the footwell, while stopping yourself collapsing by putting both hands behind you, one to grab the lip and the other the back of the seat to ease your weight down onto the seat. Then put on and thread together the five point harness, then invite the other person in the plane to have their turn. Pulling on flaps with both Phil and I in the RV is a real test of friendship, as I have to try to avoid elbowing Phil in the face and work the flap lever up past his and my bulging thighs, complete with wallets / keys unwisely left in trouser pockets.

The weather was lovely and clear as a bell, with some cloud, but with a light and variable wind. Sometime it was 030/07 and a few minutes later 360/06. Gloucester were giving runway 04, but as we approached the hold for 36, Phil checked the windsock and requested we use 36 as the wind was pretty much now straight down 36. Well this started a trend and Gloucester switched to 36. Power checks complete, I lined up, carefully and slowly applied power and held the nose straight with footwork, looking at the end of the runway to pick up and wobbles early. Tail up and hold her down. I never have the time or courage to glance at the airspeed, thus taking my eyes off the picture, as by the time I have done that, the plane could easily veer off the centreline, so I feel for flying speed by visual clues and the feel of ‘floatiness’ of the plane. As it turned out, I got it right on all occasions on this particular outing, I was pleased with my take-offs.

The use of runway 18/36 is pretty rare at Gloucester. This is the shortest, narrowest and least used of all the runways – don’t get me wrong, it is plenty long and wide enough, it’s just different from the other two runways that’s all. So it was nice for a change to be on runway 36. The circuits are right hand with a noise abatement to turn either before or after Staverton Village as there is an avid noise complainer who lives there and sits out in the backyard with a pair of binos writing down the registrations of offending aircraft and filing bulk complaints several times a year (no I am not kidding – despite the fact that the airfield has been here since the late 1920’s and the Staverton resident has probably only lived in Staverton for 10 years or so!).

The downwind leg is easy as you route outside and parallel to the M5 motorway, then turn base and head straight towards Chosen Hill until you turn onto final. On my first circuit, I got distracted in the base turn and ended up 200’ above circuit height (did I mention that the RV is VERY sensitive in pitch!). I was therefore too high on final, so had to sideslip this off for a better picture. Even so and with full flaps, I was too fats on my approach. The wind was great, straight down the runway, but I crossed the threshold knowing I was too fast and knowing I was in store for a long hold off to bleed the speed off – you simply cannot touch the RV with excess energy or you will be punished severely with a bounce. Well, I did hold it off properly and we touched and stayed touched, albeit further down the runway than I would like. Carb heat off, flaps down, power up and away again, still plenty of runway.

Next circuit better, but still got 100’ extra height and still another sideslip to lose it. This time speed control was much better, but actually on short final starting to get a bit too low, so some more power in to get it back to 70kts indicated. Just on the numbers and flare and hold off, nowhere near as long this time and we touch shortly afterwards and stay down.

Another T&G for the third circuit. Phil says that he is happy if I am and that we can land off this one if I want. I decide to tempt fate and land from this. Circuit height much better this time around and no need for sideslip to lose excess height. Approach is the best of the three and I vow to make this a good one without trying too hard. Having said that, it is now clear from the windsock that the wind has changed and is now 030/08, so Gloucester change to runway 04 while I am on final for 36. I know that Phil is probably looking at me wondering what I am going to do. If I was by myself I would have requested a go-around and reposition for 04 – no point in a crosswind landing in a taildragger if you don’t have to do one. But on the other hand, I thought it would be good practice and what better time that when I have an instructor with me. I tell Phil that I will continue with a crosswind landing. It turns out to be a good one and I don’t have to do too much in the way of crosswind handling, either that or I am doing it without thinking too much about it. Not showing off, just stating a fact. The landing isn’t over until the plane is shutdown in the hangar and I carefully bring it to a taxi speed by letting it roll, I find I rarely use the brakes on the landing roll. Carefully bring it around keeping the stick in the correct position while taxiing. Shut down and complete the paperwork and put the plane away.

I take a few moment in the quiet of the hangar to think through the session and internalise my flying. I am happy with it and do not feel particularly rusty despite not flying the RV for 75 days with my last flight (in a hired C172) being 50 days ago. I feel a quiet sense of satisfaction and a feeling of ‘damn – it’s great to be back in the air’. I must book the RV for a landaway somewhere in the next fortnight. I won’t be doing any touring over the winter or spring, so I am now into locals and simple landaways to keep my hours up while thinking about what I am going to try for in 2011.

Thoughts for 2011

I like to do at least one major flying trip / tour / event a year and I am already thinking forward to 2011 and what I can do. I can spare one week and sufficient funds to cover the costs.

One of my early musings was a possible solo trip on a mini-flyout to Iceland (solo in that I would be solo in the RV6, but would fly at the same time as perhaps a couple of other intrepid aviators). This is possible without an instrument rating, but you would have to fly at below FL55 and of course take a huge number of safety precautions. It would certainly be a challenge, not so much in terms of the actual flying, just the risks associated with what happens if the engine stops. But of course flying there would need very good VFR weather both to get there and back. I think I have now ruled this trip out on the basis that I can only spare one week and I don’t want to spend it sat at Lewis or Wick airport waiting for the weather forecast to be right. If I was a gentleman of leisure and had the time to wait for the right weather, then I might just go for it, but not now.

There are of course large parts of France that I have not explored either by aircraft or any other means of conveyance. This might be good for a semi-planned freewheel trip and this type of trip is a possibility, but I have been to a number of places in France and I want to fly to places and more especially countries I haven’t been to yet.

Another option that I really do fancy is to do the AOPA Aerobatics certificate training at Ultimate High in Kemble. It would cost a fair bit and takes one week, but it would probably work out the same as a one week touring trip. I do enjoy aerobatics (I have about 11 hours on aerobatic training) and it would give me the opportunity to fly another aircraft type, the Extra 300 (deep pockets required and I have flown one already), the Bulldog or the Chipmunk. I fancy the Chipmunk as it is a taildragger and I have heard so many people speak so highly of it. This is one of the front-runner’s. It would of course be particularly easy for me as I only live in Cheltenham, so Kemble is just down the road near Cirencester.

The other front-runner is a trip, maybe in company with other aircraft if I can find anyone similarly interested, to Denmark and maybe Sweden, up through Belgium, Netherlands and northern Germany. Plan a couple of locations and be flexible to cope with the weather. I do fancy Denmark and Sweden, purely because I haven’t been there before and I think it would be fund to fly around there.

Decisions, decisions, decisions!!

Annual medical chore!

I had my annual JAA / EASA (or whatever it now is) aviation medical the other day. I was also due for my two-yearly FAA examination, but by no coincidence, the AME I use is licenced for both authorities, so I get one medical examination and two certificates, of course he makes an extra administration charge for the paperwork, but that’s fine by me. The examination was the usual non-event, for which I am very pleased and grateful. Due to my age (54 / 55) I also have an annual ECG. We also played the usual ‘running gag’ with my eye test – ‘So, taking your glasses off, tell me what letters you can read on the chart’ – ‘what chart?’ – ‘Yes, very good, heard that one before, now what letters can you read on the chart’ – ‘no, seriously, I can’t see what I would call an eye-test chart, let alone any lettering’ – ‘AH! I see, err, well that’s OK as you can see well enough with glasses’ (so why try to test me without glasses??).

The cost was a total of £175 for both the JAA and FAA certificates. The Doctor was wrestling more with the on-line input that each authority now require and for his trouble and my investment, I got two pretty basic, locally printed certificates.

What I don’t get at all is why each licensing authority (JAA, Transport Canada, FAA etc.) all have their own and quite different medical requirements, validity periods, forms etc. Why the hell can’t there be a single medical standard accepted by all authorities (I gave up ranting about a single licencing authority that would apply worldwide a long time ago – it is so obvious we should simply adopt the FAA approach!)? But then I guess that would involve civil servants working together, and we couldn’t have that could we, hell, what would we do without all this national job creation after all!

Gander, Newfoundland

I suppose like most pilots, when going on holiday, I always try to sneak in a flight. Well my holiday in Newfoundland was no different. I assumed there would be a flying school at St John’s, but no. Fortunately, we also planned several days in Gros Morne National Park, so Gander was also a possibility. Well there is a substantial flying school there, Gander Flight Training, who seem to do mainly contract type training for commercial pilots, but were very happy to accommodate my request for a quick local.

I do have a full Canadian licence and medical, but of course they aren’t just going to toss the keys over without at least a checkride, and we didn’t have time for that, so I settled for a flight with an instructor, where I would fly P U/T and log the time etc.

We found the place after a bit of looking around as it wasn’t brilliantly signposted. It was a Sunday and nearly deserted, but we found the side entrance and managed to find someone that could help. I did ‘book’ all of this well in advance and confirmed it with a telephone call with a couple of weeks to go.

An instructor appeared who it turned out had considerably less time flying than I did and looked about 22, but to be fair, he had done a lot of things I haven’t so no problem. I was happy to ask him to do the radio work as it gave him something to do so he would leave the flying to me. We checked out a ‘flying school condition’ Cessna 172 and climbed in with my buddy, Dan in the back on photographic duty.

C-FFUD, the Cessna 172


Gander had HUGE runways but was very, very quiet so we were cleared as soon as we wanted for take off on runway 13. I powered up and we trundled along until the rotate speed and were soon airborne. I did notice that the airspeed indicator was annoyingly one of those with statute miles per hour on the outer scale and knots on the near useless inner scale, which of course can be a real ‘gotcha’ if you are not conscious of it.

Take off from runway 13 at Gander


I set course for Glovertown where Dan’s in-laws lived to show off a bit flying around their house. It was on a bearing of about 150, so only a slight change from the runway heading. There is very little in the way of man-made features in Newfoundland and navigation was a very simple matter of following the only real road in the area (the Trans-Canada Highway).

Flying IFR - 'I Follow Roads' - the Trans Canada Highway, the only place to go if the engine quits!


Towns are small and very few and far between, so no chance of mistaking towns!

The town of Gambo, near Glovertown


We came up on Glovertown and my cautious instructor would not let me descend below 1300’ (personally, I would have gone for the legal 1000’ minimum). We pulled a few tight turns over the in-laws house while Dan happily snapped away. After this, we decided to navigate to the small and very quaint fishing town of Salvage that we had seen on the ground the previous day. This too was scenic as we made a low orbit.

Small fishing town of Salvage


I was surprised to find that we have already spent an hour out flying, so we set course back for Gander homing in on the VOR and ignoring the Trans-Canada Highway. You really don’t have any choice of where to land if the engine fails, it is either the trees or some water, there is no cleared land and certainly no fields – I think I would go for a ditching close to shore myself!

Gander hove into view in the distance and as the wind was only of minimal advantage to runway 13, my instructor suggested we went for a small tailwind on 31. Sure, fine by me. So I came in direct to final for 31 with a 3 kt tailwind.

Gander heading for runway 31


I noticed I was a bit high and rather than spook the instructor, I commented on this and said if it was my Cessna, that I would sideslip this off. He seemed happy with this (there are a few fairy tales about side-slipping in a Cessna). So I wound on the sideslip and we sank at 1000 fpm for a while until I was happy with the picture, then unwound for a normal short final approach.

A bit of side-slip to burn off the excess altitude!


I chopped the power but noticed that the idle on the engine on this particular plane was pretty high, at about 1000 rpm, so instead we floated for longer than I expected as I held off and off for a smooth, but longer than planned landing. I commented on the idle speed and he confirmed my view (thanks for the warning bud, but maybe he was trying to cut me down to size a bit – who knows).

Gander Airport


A switch to ground to get taxi instructions (this is a big international airport, although very, very quiet) and we trundled back to GFT. Shut down and back to pay the bill. I logged some 1.3 hours at a not altogether pleasant cost of $CAN 280. But it is a really good way to get a perspective on the beautiful Newfoundland landscape.

Local on a lovely evening!

Went for a local on the 8th after work, just to keep my hand in. It was a lovely evening, perfect for flying in an otherwise terrible month of weather we have been having since late July - very changeable with just about everything thrown in!

Booked out and Manuel helped me out with the plane. About 54 litres of fuel on board, plenty for a local, but I had to bear in mind I would be very light as it was just me as well, so get ready for a good long hold off (oeeerrr missus!).

River Severn downstream of Gloucester


In the end, I didn't go far, just a bimble around the 'bends in the river' on the River Severn, then back through the Gloucester overhead at 2500' so I could get a decent photo.

Gloucestershire Airport from 2500'


Then on to Bishops Cleeve to pick up the ATIS and call for a rejoin. There was pretty much nil wind, so I was given a direct to final on runway 22. Brought it in with a nice approach and held off well with a bit of a hop, then settled her down on the runway.

The peace and quiet on the warm summer evening after shutting her down was priceless. If only I could just leave her out, like that, lock the canopy and walk away with a loving backward glance. But of course I had to haul her back into the hangar and do the paperwork.

Hmmmm.... now where are those classified ads in Flyer?

Crosswind local

I decided to go for a local after work to keep my hand in as it has been nearly three weeks since my last flight. I guess ‘life’ just kinda gets in the way!

The weather wasn’t ideal, changeable weather, generally overcast cumulus with some dark ones, but nearly broken in places. The wind was my concern, that and on checking the NOTAMs (some people do you know!), I saw that Gloucester had two of the three runways closed for work. On calling them they confirmed that they would remain closed throughout the evening and only 09 / 27 was in use. The wind at midday was given as 340 / 10 – oh great!

On checking when I left work, they were giving 320/10, a fair old crosswind in my light taildragger, but worth a trip to see if it settles as the evening wears on.

I checked out the plane and noted that it hasn’t been flown very much at all in July, just 5 hours or so by two of us, unlike the frenetic June. I noted the shiny new lockable filler caps, not that we have any problems with fuel theft, it’s just that the old ones were hard to get off and had widened the filler neck and were loose and letting in water on one side. The new ones are ace!!

I pulled the plane out and put some fuel in her, not much, just enough to balance her off and add a bit more weight as I was flying solo. They were giving the wind as 300/09, 30 degrees off runway heading, so take half as the crosswind, so a 5 knot crosswind component on the take-off, should be fine.

I called ready after power checks, lined up and applied full power with some into wind aileron and very ready on the rudder pedals. The tail came up, OK all so good, then a small gust must have hit me as we started to wobble. I caught it easily enough with rudder, giving all my attention to a fixed point at the end of the runway to spot left / right wobble as soon as it starts. In fact, I really cannot and do not glance at the airspeed or engine readings as I really can’t afford to take my eye off the external view for even one second. So as usual, I judge take off speed visually and by feel – the RV usually lets you know when she is ready to fly anyway, by hopping up and down like an excited toddler asking if she can go on a ride at the funfair!

Up we went and I levelled out and throttled back at 2600’ heading first to the south west to the bends in the river Severn, then north to Ledbury and the Malverns, thowing in the odd steep turn here and there simply because I can. The lateral visibility is extremely good, I can see clearly into the distant Welsh Hills.

I hear the scheduled flight coming in from the Isle of Man, with the pilot’s German accent. When he on final, I pick up the ATIS and call for a rejoin from Tewkesbury. While I am at it I get a wind check, hmmmm….. 300/11.

Standard overhead join and call downwind. I slow down on base and crank on the flaps once inside flap limiting speed, which take a while to bleed back to. I call final and get the wind again, ahhh…. 290/10, that’s better. So get ready for a little crosswind from the right.

PAPI’s are out, but I find them distracting anyway, so I am pleased about that. Good approach, bit fast, no worry. Over the road and into the displaced threshold. Chop the power and roundout and hold off. Feel for the wind, don’t feel any, mainly headwind. I am light and it takes a while holding off to hear the stall warner at what seems like a ludicrously slow groundspeed. Hold off some more, she touches and I gingerly pull slowly back to lock the tailwheel on the ground all the time ready for any change of crosswind. Gingerly let her roll to a slow walking pace. Well that was one of my better landings though I say it myself!

The Tower advise me to backtrack to A2 when ready and I manage this before the intersection with runway 18/36. It seems all of the taxiways are close for sweeping as well.

Into the ramp and I shutdown at Cotswolds. It is very hot with the canopy closed and I gratefully pop the canopy and for once in the flight, I am grateful for the relatively cool breeze.

Well that cleared the cobwebs, although it was only a short half hour flight. Good bit of gentle crosswind practice.

I must work up to another cross-channel foray, probably in early September, as August is going to be pretty busy, what with a long weekend in Poland at the start of the month and ten days in Newfoundland towards the end of the month with my buddy Dan – better lay off the alcohol from the start of August to get my liver in training!

100 airfields and counting

I had the plane booked for a quick flight in the evening after work. I had planned for a quick local, but checked my logbook and saw that I had logged a take off or landing at 99 different airports to date, so why not make it a nice, round 100? There are a few grass airfields in the local area that I have always flown over but never actually landed at, so I decided that as I was solo (and therefore light) I would go to Croft Farm / Defford near Bredon Hill, a mere 10-15 minute flight from Gloucester.

I read the website for the airfield. One grass runway oriented 09 / 27 and 570m long, so plenty enough, but not generous. There was a particular approach for noise abatement, especially on 27. I called the airfield owner as advised on the website and asked for permission, he was fine and just wanted to know the aircraft type (presumably to make sure it was suitable for the runway size – you would be amazed what people try to land on short runways) and my approximate time of arrival.

I turned up at the airfield just after 17:00 and checked the plane carefully. The port tank was virtually dry and the starboard tank had 30 litres. I think the person flying it before me need to learn to change tanks in flight before the engine starts to cough!

The evening was fine, certainly CAVOK and quite warm. There was little wind, generally 280 / 04, so fine for Croft Farm too. I booked out and called for taxi to the pumps as even for this short flight, I wasn’t going to go anywhere with 35 litres of fuel. I balanced the tanks and topped it up to some 80 litres, good for at least three hours, so the 15 minute flight would probably be OK!

Gloucester were short-handed (as they have been for a while now) and only had one frequency manned as I called for clearance. I lined up on 27 and was airborne before the piano keys – this plane really handles quite differently when it is light as compared to the MAUW I was operating it under on the recent flying trip to Italy (I know all aircraft handle differently in such circumstances, I just find it very pronounced in the RV6).

Tewkesbury Abbey


I set course for Croft Farm, basically a right turnout and head to the left of Bredon Hill. By the time I had finished climbing to 2500’ and settled out in the cruise, it was time to say goodbye to Gloucester and start giving blind calls on the Croft Farm frequency of 122.25. The airfield itself is easy to find as it is just on the southern edge of the old, disused but still distinctive Defford ex-military airfield, with its typical wartime triangle shape of three runways.

Croft Farm / Defford Airfield


I called overhead and got a good look at the windsock, yes, very slight but definitely favours 27, got to be careful as there may be local wind effects, especially in the shadow of Bredon Hill. I descended on the runway heading and turned left crosswind. Down to 1000’ and downwind to the south of Eckington as indicated on the noise abatement chart. Then onto a base leg that angled into very short final to try to avoid Defford. I was a bit high, but had full flaps, so a quick sideslip on a diagonal approach to short final. Airspeed good and approach angle good, now on very short final and very keen to put her down shortly after crossing the threshold, which I manage. Smooth landing as I let her roll out, smooth roll then approaching mid-point it really gets a little bumpy, we roll to a stop, but not before these bumpy bits. I don’t do may grass runways, but this was the bumpiest since I did Compton Abbas a few years ago, maybe I have just been spoiled with the grass strips I have used recently.

The airfield was deserted (as I expected). I reported to the ‘Yellow C’ which was a large caravan with the door secured open. It worked on a ‘trust’ basis, so I paid the advised donation to a flying charity in Africa and signed in where indicated. I did have a quick look around the open hangars at the types there. The airfield has no fuel, but is quite charming and blissfully quiet, what a nice place.

Open door policy at Croft Farm


I take a few photos then decide to head back, so after a mere 10 minutes, I am back in the plane trundling to the threshold for 27 to do power checks and line up. I apply full power and the initial ground run is good and smooth, then I hit the bumpy bit and have to work to keep the plane down as it isn’t yet at flying speed. But I do hit a decent size bump which pushes me into the air whether I am ready or not, I decide to try for ground effect rather than bump down again, the plane protests with a squeal of stall warner as I drop the tail to try to climb. She thinks about it for a bit, squeals a bit then climbs a bit and chirps at me. I hold here there then resume a modest climb as the airspeed builds. Not the prettiest or smoothest of take-off’s, but adequate.

I route back to Gloucester and pick up the ATIS to hear that the commercial flight is getting ready for take-off while the controller puts aircraft in the circuit into holds. I decide now is not the best time to call her and head back, so I stooge around about 8 miles out waiting for her to get the commercial away. I call over Bishops Cleeve and am given a standard overhead join for 27. I decide to take this and not ask for a direct as there are a couple of aircraft in the circuit.

I join as normal and descend deadside. I can see one of the aircraft in the circuit taking off and climbing out as I start to come crosswind. As I cross the upwind end, I can still see him now just starting to turn crosswind a fair way to my left. I am well inside him so figure I will slot ahead of him in the downwind. Just as I am about to call, the controller advises the other aircraft that I am inside him. He has also seen me, so he follows. I call downwind and am told I am number 2 to a Seneca on right base. I see him when I am about to turn right base, he is a lot wider than I would be, but he doesn’t force me out too wide.

I turn well inside GCHQ and call final. The Seneca is going to do a go-around, so I will be fine as I follow him in. I am nicely set up and cleared to land on 27. Good approach and good airspeed. I flare on the displaced threshold and float and float and float. I begin to wonder whether the stall warner has malfunctioned, but remember that I am light, so hold off more. She touches and stays touched as I let her roll to a taxi pace with little braking as I comfortably make the left turnoff onto runway 18 and taxi in.

A nice flight to my 100th airfield on a still, quiet (though very warm) evening.

Project Propellor 2010

Although I have already done a lot of flying hours in June, I just HAD to volunteer for Project Propellor, also in June.

Project Propellor is an annual get together where private pilots volunteer to fly WW and Cold War aircrew veterans free of charge to a get together at an airfield in the UK, usually an airfield with historic connections. They all meet up for a light lunch and a chin-wag with other veterans, while the younger (generally!) private pilots either chat to each other or keep ‘their veterans’ company and listen to the stories of the all-too-modest veterans.

I have volunteered for this event several times now with a couple of them completely ‘weathered out’. Project Propellor 2010 was to be held at East Kirkby, a WW2 bomber airfield in Lincolnshire, just to the north of the wash and not far from the sea, actually right bang on the Greenwich Meridian. It has a very active museum and aviation archaeology group, together with a ‘fast taxi’ capable Lancaster and a flying C47. The runways themselves are disused and not part of the site, but they did have a large flat field about 550m long with a smooth transition to a concrete apron about 250m long, so they drew a line and hey presto, a composite runway some 800m long oriented 06/24. It sounded like a really interesting venue, so I was keen to attend.

I was not immediately offered a veteran. I had an email asking if I would be happy to fly to Swansea to pick up a veteran. I am keen, but Swansea is just under one hour in precisely the wrong direction, so no. I then went on my flying holiday in early June around France and Italy and took my netbook to get the aviation weather a NOTAM’s etc. (and of course to keep an eye on my emails). While I was on tour, I was offered another veteran, this time at Shobdon, a bit out of my way, but I had a think about it and by the time I logged back in to accept, I had a further email offering me a veteran from my home airfield who had been ‘orphaned’ as his pilot had pulled out, so I accepted him immediately, the proviso being that he was fit enough to clamber into the RV6 and light enough not to bust my weight and balance calculations. He fulfilled both criteria so when I got back from my tour, I called him and arranged to meet at 09:30 at the main terminal in Gloucester on Saturday June 26th.

We met up and the Project Propellor guys are easy to spot due to their age and of course their blazers and RAF ties. I wandered over and introduced myself. A couple of the guys were a little concerned that they hadn’t seen ‘their pilot’ yet, but I found ‘my veteran’, a chap called Nick Shelley. He told me he was a Navigator and had served towards the end of WW2, but mainly in the ten years after the war on all sorts of aircraft, including Canberras and at the very end of his time in service, in the C130 Hercules.

I had already been at the airport for some time and had carefully checked the plane over, pulled it out and refuelled. So a quick chat about the plane and the route and a safety brief and I got Nick strapped in by 09:45. WE had a slot time of 11:15 – 11:30 for East Kirkby and we would easily make that, if not be early. I started up as Nick watched everything I was doing like a hawk as I methodically worked my way through the checklist. He was good enough and knowledgeable enough not to interrupt as it is easy for a pilot to get distracted and miss a vital check.

The day was perfect, very scattered ‘fair weather cumulus’ and CAVOK, but it would get very hot and under the bubble canopy of the RV6, you really don’t want to hang around on the ground for long at all. So of course in a virtually nil wind, we were given taxi to C1 for runway 09 – the longest taxi run at Gloucester – oh good, the ‘long march of death’ under the sun! Around we went and heard Gloucester talking to aircraft behind us saying that once we had gone, they were going to change runway direction to 27 or 22 – thanks guys!

Power checks complete, we were cleared for departure and away we went with a slight left turn direct onto track for the DTY VOR as I climbed to 5000’ to keep clear of gliders and BBMF flights NOTAM’d to be close to my planned route. I said goodbye to Gloucester then went ‘Non-radio’ as I fancied the quiet and a chat with my veteran. It was actually a bit murky up at 5000’ with no real horizon. I tuned to Conningsby MATZ just for fun and was surprised to pick up radio calls at this distance. It was clear from the calls that Coningsby was closed, which was good as East Kirkby was located under one of the MATZ arms. From the other aircraft calls, I gathered that runway 06 with right hand circuits was in use at East Kirkby. For fun, I started to reply to aircraft coming on the Conningsby frequency telling them they were closed and advising them to make blind calls position calls as Conningsby Traffic – loads of people were headed through them to East Kirkby.

Nick was happy as Larry once I handed him the map as he traced our route by reference to ground features (while I of course struggled by with the GPS!). I did show him the ‘secrets’ of the GPS, what was what and what it was telling me. He listened intently then went happily back to the 1-500,000 map! You could tell he was ‘old school’ as he always went for either major lakes or rivers or reliable linear features, like train lines.

I turned at DTY on track to Peterborough Sibson airfield, deliberately making a slight southerly dog-leg to avoid various NOTAM’d events. Then I turned direct to East Kirkby and started a leisurely cruise descent with 30 miles to run. I changed to East Kirkby to listen in and get the latest airfield information. QHN 1018, 06 right hand circuits and a ‘fair easterly wind’, so a slight crosswind. I got close and down to 2700’ and started to hear other aircraft behind me and spot some others in front, this could be a bit of a scrum! I tried hard and spotted what I thought was East Kirkby, indeed it was, but it was the disused runways not now part of the sight. I had an aerial photo of the temporary runway, but couldn’t spot it. I had made the schoolboy error of flying straight there so it was initially obscured by the nose, then of course we were precisely overhead.

Small part of the line up of the 80-90 aircraft that made it


I didn’t want to hang around in the overhead, so a steep turn and I spotted the runway and oriented myself. I descended deadside and slotted in visually with three in front and one behind me onto the right downwind. The spacing with the guy immediately in front was as good as I was going to get and I called downwind and then final. I was following the guy in front and judged him far enough in front to continue. On very short final, he was about to turn off, so that would do me, I didn’t fancy another try in this crowded circuit. I was abit fast, but this bled off and we made a good landing on the grass runway and rolled to a stop. It wasn’t ‘billiard-table smooth’, but to be fair it wasn’t at all bad. I was marshalled in, parked up, closed down and popped the canopy as quickly as I could as we were already starting to bake!

Getting 'my' veteran signed in


We both went off to the main hangar which housed the Lancaster and the finds of the aviation archaeology society where tables and lunch had been set up. We registered with the organisers. Nick wanted to go off for a comfort break and I asked if he wanted me to wait, he seemed happy to find his chums. You have to find out if the veterans know anyone else as some of them don’t and wind up being quite lonely if you don’t stay and keep them company and prise their stories out of them. However, Nick seemed fine, so I went off for a look around and a chat with other pilots, some of which I knew from Flyer Forum.

A Lancaster they hope to get flyable again


The weather had attracted a full turnout and rumour has it that there were some 86 aircraft in the end, I can well believe it looking at the aircraft parking. East Kirkby was a really great little place, a proper museum, not just for aircraft, but the buildings are converted into exhibits and there was an excellent souvenir store and restaurant. I really didn’t know this place was here at all.

Lovely sight, a C47 with a drip tray - yes it's a flyer!


I listened to a talk by a Battle of Britain veteran who flew Hurricanes initially, then he was shipped out to Darwin and flew Spitfires against the Japanese. He was selling his book, so of course I had to have a signed copy didn’t I. Then of course I had to have one of the East Kirkby souvenir golf-shirts – my wife would kill me ‘Oh goody, another golf-shirt to go with your 25 other golf-shirts!’ (no – I don’t play golf!).

Not too tough to find then!


They had arranged for a BBMF Spitfire to do a few low passes of the airfield at 15:30. I was out by my plane early at 15:15 and heard that distinctive sound that could only be a Rolls Royce Merlin engine as the Spitfire arrived early and duly beat the airfield up. It was all to brief, but I managed a decent zoomed video clip, somewhat marred by my own excited voice encouraging the pilot! I met up with Nick and he asked when I wanted to go. I said I was perfectly fine to stay as long as he wanted and I had already set the day aside for this. He had seen and done all he wanted, so we agreed to leave once the Spitfire departed. Well, quite a few other had the same idea and we formed an orderly queue at the hold for 06. I did my power checks and departed with a slight crosswind take-off following the line of earlier departures to the south. It is amazing how quickly so many aircraft can disperse as I climbed to 3500’ in weather that we murkier than where we arrived, but still fine, just no real horizon.

I retraced my route up. I handed Nick the controls and while it was clear that he wasn’t a pilot, he did pretty well, especially as the RV is so responsive, it is very easy to get a 500 fpm climb going on without immediately realising it! We spotted a glider tug with glider in tow and avoided him, but I generally work on the principle that ‘if you can see them, we are already too close’. So I decided to get out of that area quickly as where there is one glider, there are generally several. We didn’t spot any others as I headed into Gloucester and picked up the ATIS. Gloucester have an ATCO shortage and there was only one guy on a combined Tower and Approach frequency. I was given a direct approach into runway 22 with minimal wind. The approach was good and the landing was smooth. We were down at about 16:50. I taxied in and we gratefully popped the canopy.

Nick was keen to have a cuppa and a chat and I was directing him to the aeroclub as I had to clean the plane and put it away, but he insisted on helping. We got the plane sorted out and had a cuppa in the Cotswold Aero Club and a chat. He really enjoyed himself and was keenly looking forward to next year. I confirmed that I would again be volunteering and perhaps we would get paired up again.

This was the best weather and consequently the best attended Project Propellor I have been on. But these guys aren’t getting any younger and I wonder how many more they can hold that are still attended by WW2 veterans.


PS: I later heard on Flyer Forum that one intrepid pilot landed at RAF Coningsby by mistake instead of East Kirkby. If this is true, I despair! I know East Kirkby is close to RAF Coningsby, but that is the sole similarity! The organisers sent us all out an aerial photo of East Kirkby that clearly showed a short ‘composite’ and somewhat ad-hoc runway of 500m of grass and 300m of concrete. How anyone can mistake this for a fast-jet (Typhoons and the BBMF actually) runway of 2700m of pristine tarmac for East Kirkby beggars belief!

Raduno 2010: Reprise

Well that was my big trip for 2010. The facts and figures were:

Facts and figures:
- Estimated distance flown: 2105 nautical miles
- Flying hours logged: 21.1
- Fuel burned: 464 litres
- Number of legs flown: 9
- Longest leg: 3.4 hours (Troyes to Avignon in headwind)
- Shortest leg: 1.4 hours (Vichy to Troyes)
- Cost: No, I am not going there!

Highlights:
- Troyes town centre, very picturesque
- Landing safely at Avignon in horrible winds
- Avignon town centre, ditto
- The wonderful VFR low-level coastal route around the French Mediterranean
- Making it to the toilet on landing in Tuscany!
- Great countryside and weather in Tuscany
- Wonderful meal at the agro-tourismo in Tuscany
- Vineyard tour and lunch at Carpintero vineyard in Tuscany
- Cannes airport – it is just so plush and classy!
- A forced divert inland and making my route up on the fly
- Vichy town centre

Lowlights:
- Getting stuck in Troyes for two days and missing out on Cannes
- Spending a fortune in taxis in Troyes
- Learning that another forumites had made it through Troyes on the day I cancelled
- Battling high winds in the Rhone valley
- The reported and actual winds on landing at Avignon
- Getting hot and bothered in the plane then throwing up and stomach cramps
- The airstrip at the agro-tourismo not being 200m longer
- Grosseto Approach, a radio service run by the Marx Brothers!
- Intensive gliding at Lasham – bloody sky rats!
- Cleaning the plane at the end of the trip
- Getting a puncture at Gloucester

What did I learn:
- The plane and I can handle crosswinds better than I thought
- The RV can be used for touring, but it really isn’t ideal for it
- My wife would sooner be driving with me than flying!
- Maybe all towns in France are really nice to visit
- Many French speak no English at all and maybe my French isn’t as bad as I thought!

I will be doing other day trips of course and maybe even an overnighter to near France later in the summer, but that is the big one.

Now, what’s the plan for the 2011 big trip. I think Iceland may be out if the rule regarding an instrument rating is true. If so, maybe Denmark and Sweden?

Raduno 2010: Sunday 13th June

Up early in the morning as I was thinking about getting home today. The words of the old French guy at the aero club yesterday were still haunting me, as between his gestures and my poor French I understood him to say that tomorrow, thunderstorms are expected and I had better tie my plane down securely. This didn’t gel with the forecasts I had seen, but it got me worried anyway. The planned route today was for two legs, one shorter hop from Vichy to Troyes to clear customs and refuel and the next straight home from Troyes. So the route for the first leg was:

LFLV DCT MOU DCT LFQB

Indeed, from the hotel window the weather looked bad. Overcast with low-ish cloud and it had obviously been raining. So I went downstairs to pick up the WiFi on my netbook and check the forecasts and TAFs etc. I have to say I was very disappointed with my Skybook subscription as it seemed to only have the TAF’s and METARs for the same overseas airfields as the UK Met Office. So I won’t renew with them, instead I’ll switch to AvBrief as I was far more impressed with the facilities that Derek was showing me on that service in Cannes. But from what I could determine, the weather was going to be fine in Dijon and Troyes and north, just dodgy here. So if I could get out and scud-run the 130 odd miles to Troyes, I should be OK.

We eat breakfast at the Ibis Hotel and got a taxi to the airport. My plane was the only one still out, the others from last night must all be in the hangars. I prepped the plane and eyed the weather. It wasn’t quite as bad as it seemed in town now I had the horizons in sight. Lateral visibility was good and I thought the low stuff was few or scattered and thinnish, so maybe I could get on top. I didn’t refuel here as I didn’t need to, but wouldn’t be able to go too much past Troyes. I started up and called the tower and was not surprised to get no response. So I gave blind calls in French as I carried out power checks at the intersection for runway 01, which is what the windsock indicated. Vichy really was a very nice airfield. Huge runway (2200m) and a huge terminal and a thriving aeroclub, but absolutely nothing happening. If you go there, get AVGAS as soon as you can if you need it and be prepared to speak and understand French. They are very relaxed and happy for you to land. It almost reminds me of those deserted airfields in the US where you self-announce.

I lined up and was away. I levelled off initially at 1500’ (bearing in mind that Vichy was already at 800’ elevation. I quickly came to the conclusion that although I ‘could’ scud run safely enough to the north (but no other direction due to ridges and hills that surround Vichy in a sort of U shape), that I could also easily get on-top, so I climbed to 3500’ where I was clear of the cloud and in sight of the ground. I contacted Clermont Information and got the usual flight information service with no one else apparently on frequency.


VMC on top near Vichy

We trundled along towards the MOU VOR and I could see some big ‘vertical development’ in cloud in the distance over where I would guess Dijon would be – glad I wasn’t near that! I turned slightly at MOU on track for Troyes. With about 40 miles still left to go, the cloud was gradually rising and getting thicker so I would either have to climb a fair bit or dip below. Well, I had to go down in 30 miles or so so I may as well do so now. Well, the visibility below wasn’t good at all and I had to get down to 1200’ before I could see sensibly – oh well! So I scud ran the last 40 miles into Troyes.

I called up Troyes with 10 miles to run and they were their usual relaxed selves and asked me to report field in sight for a downwind join for runway 17. I saw it in the soup at 4 miles and carried out the join. Came in for probably the best landing of the trip and made it for the intersection to turn off. Straight to the pumps and this time I managed to get the self service working with my credit card and filled her up for the long last leg home.

Parked up and out into reception for a drink and the final bit if flight planning. Made A trip to the on airfield Meteo service and he gave me the good news, no problems on the flight back!!


So that's what Troyes looks like in the sunshine!

This was my last leg of the trip back to Gloucester from Troyes. The route was simple enough.

LFQB DCT CTL DCT LFAT DCT ALESO DCT SFD DCT GWC DCT EGBJ

I cleared customs out at Troyes (in reality no one there and probably never is, but there is a sign and desk for where they would sit!). I had already filled up at the automated AVGAS pump (which accepts UK credit cards) for what would be about a three hour leg. There was a minimal crosswind from the left, little more than a breath or air as I called ready for departure on runway 17. He asked me to line up and declare when ready for take-off (which they seem to do in France). I did and was immediately cleared for take-off. The take off and climb out was good as I carried out a climbing turn onto track in a NNW direction to the CTL VOR.

The cloud had thinned and risen a bit since landing but UI stayed under it at 2000’ for a few miles, then realised how scattered and thin it was and climbed to FL4500’ where I sat happy as Larry until the GWC VOR. Contacted the appropriate French ‘Information’ channels on the radio and given the usual squawk and occasional traffic information. This really is a good service and very quiet compared to the frenetic London Information or Farnborough Radar. Having said that, when I transferred to Lille Information, they sounded like they were talking down a drainpipe and were quite hard to pick out. There was another UK aircraft having trouble understanding them as well, but no big deal.


Typical French countryside

CTL came up soon enough and I noticed that the airspeed was pretty much the same as the reported groundspeed on the GPS. I also noticed smoke going nearly straight up, so no wind to speak of. I committed this to memory so in case of say engine failure and a forced landing, I wouldn’t have to worry about finding a field into wind, one less thing to worry about. These are the sort of thoughts that go through your head flying single engine aircraft!

Approaching Le Touquet I tried for some higher altitude photos of the airfield just for fun as I coasted out in a straight line to the SFD VOR passing the ALESO reporting point on the way. I said goodbye to Lille (and their drainpipe) and managed to get a word in edgeways to London Information. I trundled along over the channel where the sky was clear, but there was no horizon at all, just the usual thick band of grey. I had to fly partly by instruments as the visual clues were wrong and making me turn. We called coasting in over SFD then went on listening watch to a busy Farnborough Radar as we flew along past Brighton at 4000’.

Just past GWC VOR at 4000’ we started to pick up some scattered cumulus above us. We could maintain this altitude generally apart from a few dodges around some of the lower bits. We called Farnborough Radar and got a basic service. We were warned about intensive gliding around Lasham (as usual). This is a pain as there is a narrow airspace constriction between Lasham to the east and Southampton CTR to the west. Gliders and very hard to spot and are always twisting and turning (which I suppose should make them easier to spot, but it doesn’t seem to as they are such ‘skinny’ sods!). My wife is good at spotting these and got most of them before I did.


It could only be England

Around Membury we switched to Brize Radar who didn’t seem busy and warned us about parachuting at South Cerney (as usual), so I said I would route well clear over Fairford (as usual). We were still at 4000’ as I picked up the Gloucester ATIS. Wind 210 / 06 and runway in use 27 – damn, still not using 04 / 22, I wonder why this is closed. Never mind, hardly a crosswind at all given what we have been through on this trip, but don’t under estimate it either!

We switched to the combined Gloucester frequency and were given a straight in approach to left base for 27. Back in familiar territory now. Final looked good and a nice landing for my last landing of the trip. Asked for and given a backtrack to A2. Trundled in and parked up outside the hangar and shut down – silence – wow! My wife got out and I followed as she started to unload the plane while I hit the hangar for buckets, plane shampoo and sponges. We both gave the plane a quick wash paying particular attention to the fly-splat areas and getting all of this off.

We had just finished the washing when I noticed that the plane just didn’t look right. Then it dawned that it was lower on the right than the left…….. YOU ARE KIDDING! There was a cartoon style pancake flat tyre poking out from under the starboard spat! AAARRRGH! Well, I guess if it had to happen, my home base would be the best place. Manuel did explain how to get the spats off and how to fit the jacking plate, but I didn’t have any suitable tools, so started scuttling around the airfield to find tools to help me. I managed to get all of the spat screws off except two on the underside that I couldn’t get to as they were virtually on the ground. So I had to jack the plane. Out to the car to get my own car jack and some help from Steve Noujam who was in the hangar to show me how to fit the jacking plate (I had forgotten). I jacked it and got the final few screws off (please don’t ask me how many screws hold the spat together, it was too many to count!). OK, now the spat is off, how the hell do I get it into the hangar without damaging the wheel. So I went in and asked Phil Matthews the CFI at Cotswold Aero Club if he had any bright ideas. Between him and Steve Noujam, we used a compressor to re-inflate the tyre while Phil lifted the starboard wing, hoping it would stay inflated long enough for us to wheel it back into the hangar. It did but was flat again within 5 minutes. No obvious tyre damage and now sound or feel of air escaping.

I cleaned the Perspex and tidied the plane up and packed the seat covers that needed a wash after my episode near Pisa. I tried to ring Manuel, our aircraft maintenance member, but no answer on his mobile, so when we got home, I emailed all in the group about the flat tyre and that there was now about 1.6 tacho hours until the 25 hour check was due, hardly surprising as it was a planned 20 hour or so trip anyway.