Wilbur Wright

In the end, we needed to stop off in the Isle of Man to see my parents, so the planning became quite “simple”

In the end we went EGLD HEN DCT OX DCT WBA DCT HAW DCT IOM EGNS

Then EGNS MIKEL BLACA TRN TABIT VFR DCT Broadford (EG18?)

The flight there was pretty uneventful

The return trip was a little more fun … we hit some unexpected icing, which thanks to the TKS anti ice protection with the Cirrus SR22, and an expedited climb to FL095 meant that we were soon on top of the cloud and enjoying the glorious sunshine.

Considering the forecast was CAVOK and 9999 I was initially a little concerned that the cloud seemed so prevalent, and so low (FL040 through to FL075 was thick, and there was still some cloud up to FL090) however quite amazingly, as we crossed the FIR from “Scottish” into “London” the sky cleared, and visibility was awesome!

SUV vs Cherokee … All Survive

Well, then Cliff said “fancy coming to Spain on Thursday” … yes sure, we can go through a bunch of things we needed to talk over and plan, and get some work done – and I can top up my tan.

So Thursday lunch time, we depart North Weald in N666EX (me in right seat) .. and fly down to Spain. We did the trip in 2 legs with a fuel stop in France.

The whole trip took about 7 hours .. and yes, Cliff was actually flying / doing the landings .. but I can at least say I’ve been in the front and “experienced” an SEP/IR approach into Malaga slotting in between big jets going at almost twice our speed!

So the next step .. is to do it myself, as PIC … but that will be a while I suspect

We have a bunch of pictures, which I’ll upload in a few days time once they’ve been downloaded and reviewed.

So rather than just giving up, I decided to take Vera to Duxford to see the Concorde prototype which is in the museum there.

A quick call to Duxford to PPR and try to get some circuits in is met with “you can’t train here unless you have an instructor, so you can only do a straight in approach and land” .. Shame but c’est la vie.

I tell Vera we’re going to go flying, and ask her if she would like to see Concorde .. this seems to go down quite well

Off we go for what should be a 30 minute flight (going the long way round, via Cranfield’s overhead at 3,000 feet).  We get to Duxford to find a fairly quiet circuit, and we’re given #1 to land.

As we line up on right base I spy a Cessna coming straight in, and he is now also given #1 to land – after a little confusion on the radio we decide it is safer to go around as even in an 80 knot glide we’re going to overtake these guys.  We then go around only to find another aircraft joining the circuit, and then we go around as they’ve lined up a pleasure flight to depart and we’re going to conflict with them .. so 20 minutes in the circuit and 3 go-arounds, we finally get to land!

The walk round the museum is as awe enspiring and amazing as I remember from my pre-PPL days when my instructor (Ches) first took me there to get a “day away” from circuits.

I take Vera onto Concorde and we look at the TSR21 and a decide we definitely need to come back and spend a whole day here in the not too distant future!

IMC – Instrument Meteorological Conditions … basically, the ability to fly in the UK as it enables you to go near cloud as opposed to being grounded / unable to go anywhere because there are too many white fluffy things in the sky.

Also – and this is the real reason – should lead to additional safety and better honed skills.

I’m going back to the school which helped me complete my PPL last year – The Great Circle – www.thegreatcircle.co.uk … despite being great friends with the guys at FlyTeam they weren’t able to offer the structured and condensed ground school / theory / training that I need to help me through this.

With so many distractions of work and life, i find a quick “get away” the only way of really being able to switch off from work and focus on learning … and this stuff is important, so here I am!

I’ve come back to Pocklington, a quiet little village not too far from the airfield at Full Sutton (EGNU) – why Pocklington – well because it IS quiet. Everyone says “go to York, you’ll have a great time” .. yes – and I won’t be in any fit state to learn each day afterwards

I hope to post more in the way of followups through the week as I start to learn how to really fly a plane!

Jon

Initially work just went manic, and then I got side tracked into re-validating my pilots license and then converting onto the Cirrus SR20 and SR22.

Well thats all done now and work has quietened down somewhat, which hopefully means more time to play; and some time to write!

Coming up will be brief reports from various destinations as I build my hours and look towards IMC and Night ratings for my PPL(A)
Over the coming months I’ll be taking myself, friends and clients on trips around the British Isles as company on those long trips

September 14th

Well, finally got to do the Qualifying Cross Country today. Initially had to do some familiarisation with Elstree’s patterns as it turns I’ve only ever landed there once, and that was under instruction. The Elstree circuits are “interesting” to say the least, so it was thought a good idea to do a bit of familiarisation with the local area before sending me off on a jolly jaunt

So off I started .. headed off towards Cranfield via Princes Risborough. Made a slight miscalculation thinking I was off track when I saw Dunstable Downs out of the corner of my eye, but realised before breaching the Luton control zone (just) and headed up to Woburn where I should have been.

Landed at Cranfield and decided a cuppa was in order to calm down after my near faux pas. Quick cuppa, dropped off a box of chocs to the tower from the flying school and got them to sign my certificate, then off I popped to Southend (via Bury St Edmonds).

On my way out, I bumped into one of the other controllers at Cranfield who’d nipped out for a fab break. He mentioned that there was a new radio code which had come into effect that morning, where by you make your first call with the “Student” prefix. He explained it was to help the tower know you were “new” and that they would adjust their instructions accordingly. Sounds like a good idea .. and only required on initial contact, or if you think they’ve forgotten.

Great I thought, I’ll remember that … and got ready to head off for Southend via the Cafe and a cup of warm Brownian motion

Radio was interesting. The lady at LFIS sounded very flustered and didn’t understand the “Student” prefix at all. Couldn’t understand the call sign “FlyTeam” nor why I had 2 (FlyTeam 55 – G-BNTD, a PA28 ….) say again “FlyTeam 28??” … so that was fun …. and I ended up trying to move to somewhat Wattesham ahead of schedule, which was pretty useless as they were asleep / had gone home .. so I called up Earls Colne, transited overhead and then on to Southend.

Marvellously on track, all the way down … could see the runway from miles out, so called in, got a join Base, nice and simple .. heading in, and then some muppet in a Mooney (or similar) decides he wants to perform various aerobatics just ahead of me. He breaks left, then right, then heads straight for me before he actually sees me, I now break right as I know which way he’s going (straight at me) … he sees me and also breaks right, so we don’t conflict.

Ok, so where’s the **** runway … start looking round .. it should be to my left somewhere .. I’m heading away from it … where is it … “FlyTeam 55 report your position?” “erm .. over the crouch, had to take avoiding action and lost sight of the runway, just looking for it again” .. “QDM 140 join left base for 24”

“140 .. aha runway in sight, joining left base, Flyteam 55”

And that was it .. landed quite nicely – possibly one of my best landings yet, parked, wandered in, signed in and then off for my second McDonalds in 5 years (and second that week sadly) as it was now 4pm and the Airport Cafe closes at 4 .. darn“. Quick burger, wander back, meander around the plane making sure the wings are still intact, check fuel, check oil, tyres, etc, I’d said I’d be departing at 17:00 … ended up being 16:50 but they didn’t seem to mind.

Back to Elstree overhead Stapleford … the radio at Stapleford sounds bizarre .. almost as though its on the end of the bar and anyone who’s passing makes a quick call. So I reported I would be passing overhead and keeping a listening watch, then overhead and buggering off to Elstree as quickly as possible” to hear the guy in the bar report to someone on final “there’s a bit of a tail wind, but that’s how we do it here … land at your discretion” … “I’m sure I heard the guy on final report ”gulp“ wilco”

Landed at Elstree .. and boy what a smooth and effortless landing .. all my nerves and worries were unnecessary … back, parked, and engine off at 17:25

So now just a couple of written exams to do, the RT Practical and the skill test … then .. so fingers crossed!