I will shortly be embarking on a trip from Denham to the Isle of Skye for a Round Table Charter dinner.
It is my intention to use a Cirrus SR22 for the trip, with an economy cruise of 155knots and using 12 – 14 US Gallons of AVGas per hour, the flight should last for approximately 2.5 hours and consume roughly 30 Gallons (113 litres) of fuel, costing about GBP 120. (Aircraft rental adds another GBP 300 however).
Compare that to driving (which a number of the guys are doing) and they are planning on leaving Wednesday to arrive Friday, and then driving home again Sunday morning to arrive in London some time Monday afternoon.
Just the lost productivity alone would cost me (or rather my business) in the region of £2,000 of billable time were I to take 3 days off, let alone needing to hire someone to provide additional emergency / out of hours cover. As a result, not only does this plan to be a “fun” trip – it also promises to be a handy cost saving exercise!
Having just gained the IMC rating, I know I have a lot still to learn, however I am looking forwards to the additional freedom which this rating is going to provide – and I am already working towards attaining the FAA/IR which will then mean I can fly under “instrument rules” outside of the UK, and in Class A/B/C airspace within the UK.
Being IMC rated means you can fly under instrument rules within the UK, but only within Class D/E/F/G airspace. This means no airways, and you’re still limited to a ceiling around the London area which in places is only 2,500 feet high!
So, having decided I’m going to fly myself, I now need to plan the route there. I’ve already decided to stop off in the Isle of Man on the Saturday in order to attend Rushen Round Table’s Charter – something which would have been almost impossible if I was driving or going by commercial routes (and would have cost more than flying direct too!)
There is a lot of class A airspace between Denham and Scotland. Once in Scotland it becomes somewhat easier, but trying to decide how to get there, and specifically to navigate from London North through and past Manchester isn’t an easy decision.
The added complication is a number of military low flying areas which you need to avoid (unless you want to end up being a hood ornament on an F16)
So that’s the thought process and “fear factor” out of the way … now how exactly do I route there?
The planning involves 3 charts, Southern, Northern AND Scotland! (These are the CAA 1:500,000 navigation charts).
Being in the SR22 I have the benefit of being able to use GPS navigation rather than being limited to just VOR/NDB tracking; this will reduce the total distance somewhat and mean there should be less conflicts to worry about with traffic all using the same “road”.
There seems to be some advice on the forums, such as
Denham -> Harrogate -> Pennines -> Carlisle -> West of Glasgow -> and on up through the Highlands
or
DCS TRN FULMA drct STN
The question is, what would you consider / advise?
