Miami Adventure

With a business trip of a few days in Miami, I thought I’d try to see if I could squeeze in some training and familiarisation with the differences of PPL flying in the US. I already had a valid and legal FAA private pilot certificate (based on my UK licence) from last year’s trip to Florida, where I gained a seaplane rating. However, I hadn’t flown above 500 feet, used the radio or read a sectional chart in the US. I wanted to be closer to a position to be able (and comfortable) about renting a plane in the country in the future. I’d also seen the comparatively low prices to rent a glass cockpit aircraft, equipped with a Garmin G1000, and wanted to see what that was like too.

A simple appeal for information on one of the bulletin boards suggested Wayman Aviation in Opa-Locka airport, on the north side of Miami. One phone call secured my booking, and I turned up to find a professional flight training establishment with a range of aircraft, a large pilot supply shop and several instructors. This is a Part 141 school and it conducts professional flight training on sub-contract to Pan Am as well as catering for private pilots such as myself. After discussing my requirements with Amit, my instructor for the day, we first spent some time on groundschool. He ran through the differences of airspace, radio call, flight service/ATC and other procedures.

I was given a student account which included a website login, allowing me to reserve planes and instructors, see what I’d bought and paid for and track my activities with the school/club. This was already looking better than many schools/clubs in the UK.

After discussing my requirements, Amit proposed we start with an hour of groundschool, then “fly” the G1000 simulator. We’d then take a flight in a C172 fitted with the G1000 to include a landaway and some sightseeing, so I could familiarise myself with the procedures, see what the G1000 could do and enjoy the views.

I noted several specific differences between UK and US, and list a few below:

Free extensive pilot briefing services

Any pilot can call 1-800-WXBRIEF anywhere in the US for a personal consultation about any private flight. Your briefer will run through the likely weather conditions and determine where they will be VFR or IFR, and explain the NOTAMs and other airspace restrictions (such as for presidential flights) on the phone. They’ll answer any specific questions and have all the information about your route at their fingertips. This service is completely free of charge.

Once you’ve captured this information and worked out your PLOG, you can then call back to file a VFR flight plan by dictating it on the phone. It is available to use immediately, but will be cancelled if not activated within an hour. They remember the details from previous flight on that aircraft, so you don’t have to dictate your phone number etc. every time unless they change. Once filed, you then have 60 minutes to activate it.

VFR flight plans are activated by ATC on a different frequency

Flight plans aren’t activated by the tower of the airfield you depart, or even the ATC giving you radar control (flight information service). Instead you must change to a different frequency to request flight plan activation or closure. While flight plans aren’t required for shorter or general handling flights, they are recommended for longer landaways. It’s very important to close them within 30 minutes of landing.

I’m not sure if this (activating on a different frequency) also applies to IFR flight plans.

Airspace

We have lots of Class G uncontrolled airspace in the UK. In the US, Class E begins typically either 700 or 1200 feet above the ground almost everywhere. You don’t need to be on the radio in Class E, but it’s recommended. For Class C and D airspace, you don’t need formal permission to enter (the “Cleared to Enter Controlled Airspace” phrase is essential for Class A and B). Instead, you must be in two way contact with the controller. What happens is that if you call up and they aren’t ready for you they will say “aircraft calling…. standby” rather than use your callsign. Once you’ve received a message with your callsign, you can then legally enter the controlled C or D class airspace. Class A only exists above 18,000 feet – something that we’d all like to see in the UK.

There are restricted areas for military use. Some are permanently out of bounds, others can be crossed at certain times subject to checking with the authority stated on the chart. Some have numbers while others seem to be known by names.

Radio Calls

These were remarkably similar to those I had used at Lyneham. After departure, the tower will just say “frequency change approved” and you need to know to change to Miami Approach (or whatever) and announce you are “with them at XXX feet”. With Mode S transponders commonplace here, air traffic probably already know who you are and where you are going.

I was given a crib sheet with the standard calls for a VFR departure, and we also walked through the return sequence.

Approach patterns

I had to remember to say “traffic pattern” rather than “circuit”. They don’t have overhead joins here, instead joining 45 degrees into the downwind leg. This would be at traffic pattern height, i.e. 1000 feet above airfield elevation. If you were joining from the other side of the pattern, you would fly over the centre of the runway at 1500 feet, descending in a turn opposite to traffic pattern and rejoining downwind midway at 45 degrees. You’d report midfield rather than saying downwind. You could expect to be cleared to land before turning base in many cases.

In a non-towered airport, you give traffic calls on the CTAF (Common Traffic Advisory Frequency) prefixed with the name of the airfield, your aircraft type but no tail number. For example, “Daytona Beach, Cessna 172 downwind for 09L, Daytona Beach”.

At towered airports (with radar), it’s common to be vectored directly onto final.

G1000 Simulator

We then moved to the G1000 simulator. I’d read the manual beforehand, but it was nice to see the unit and be able to familiarise myself with the unit and press the buttons before going up into the air. The instructor ran through the various capabilities, from COM and NAV frequency selection, NAVAID (GPS, VOR etc.) setup, GPS (and approach) setup through to transponder and the engine management readouts.

We then quickly simulated a short flight including an ILS approach. I found it difficult to fly at first, perhaps not quite sure if I was in VFR or IFR mode. The instructor quickly changed the cloudbase to simulator IFR conditions and we continued, but I still found it awkward and wasn’t keeping height particularly well – and also making very rough control inputs. He selected the ILS approach for the return and we talked through what the radio calls would be. The approach was pretty shaky – I busted the platform height and was far too rough with course corrections on final. But we did land (twice).

I found the lag between control inputs and visual changes disconcerting. This is also why I haven’t got on with flight simulators since I started flying properly, but I may have to give this another go.

Now for real

The aircraft we be used for the real flying was a Cessna 172 with the Garmin G1000 glass cockpit. Although I had started off learning to fly in the smaller Cessna 152, I’ve never been in a 172 before. They are high wing aircraft, which means they suffer much less from ground effect than a PA28 which can float further down the runway on landing.

The various critical speeds are slower than the PA28, for example a stall speed as low as 35 knots with full flaps. Cruising speed is around 90-95 knots.

Before heading off to the aircraft, Amit had ensured he had a written flight plan (plog) and was especially vigilant about having a specific weight and balance calculation he could show for this flight. He also had the various certificates, insurance papers etc. – it seems that ramp checks do happen here and there are consequences if you don’t have everything with you.

Pre-flight was pretty straightforward. I had forgotten about the 13 point fuel drain check required on these aircraft. Five on each wing plus three underneath the aircraft. Amit filled the test bottle with a sample from each one, and then poured it back into the tank. We had full fuel, enough for 6 hours endurance.

Running through the startup sequence, there is a 2 hour standby battery for the G1000 in case of electrical failure. There are also three “steam powered” instruments in case of major failures. If one of the screens isn’t working, there is a fallback mode which displays most of the information on either one. Annunciators would quickly tell you of any problem in case you missed it.

Garmin G1000

The engine start sequence was slightly unusual perhaps – more akin to the (fuel injected) Arrow. Fuel pump on, watch the fuel pressure indicator needle move, then off. Mixture off, but push in when the engine fires and at the same time pull out the throttle to idle around 1000 rpm. It’s a fuel injected engine, so no carb heat to worry about.

Departure

After start, taxi to “spot one” – a known airport location – where you call up the tower and report your location, ATIS information and request taxi. It’s a long taxi down to the hold at the other end of the airport, and when we do runup checks (what we call power checks), the right mag reading is a bit low. The plugs are probably fouled from that long slow taxi – should have used a weaker mixture perhaps. After running at 2000 rpm for a minute, it’s cleared and reads correctly. We move into position and report ready for departure.

The tower at Opa-Locka is being rebuilt, so they are using a temporary building for now – it should be done in a few weeks.

Temporary control tower at Opa Locka

There were separate frequencies for ground and tower. At this point, we were given a squawk code and cleared for takeoff. Once airborne, we are told “frequency change approved” and switch to Miami approach (we were given the frequency on the ground with our clearance) saying “1403 Romeo with you at 800 feet” as we commence our turn to the left. We had taken off on 9L and wanted to fly west to the edge of Miami before turning north on our route. After a short delay, they came back and confirmed we were identified and under radar control (this is Class D airspace).

The G1000 provided clear indication of our route. The unusual bit was the turn co-ordinator/ball, which appears as an arrow at the top of the direction indicator. The ball is shown as a block directly underneath the triangular arrow and moves out to either side if you are not co-ordinated. It took a little getting used to. The 180 hp engine meant I needed a bootful of right rudder to compensate as we climbed out.

Edge of Miami

Scattered clouds at 1000 feet

From the western edge of Miami, we routed north up a clearly defined road with swamps on both sides. If you have to make a forced landing, its recommended to come down on the road or tracks nearby the swamp areas – otherwise you risk being eaten by alligators after that perfect glide landing. We followed the road fairly closely up towards Lake Okichobee, where we planned to land at an untowered airfield called Pahokee (KPHK). We switched to Palm Beach approach (keeping the same squawk) as we neared the area, and they then advised us to switch to the CTAF (Common Traffic Advisory Frequency) as we neared the airfield – telling us they saw no traffic to affect. There were scattered clouds at around 1000 feet, so we maneouvered around them to remain VFR.

Pahokee

G1000 navigation view approaching Pahokee

In due course, the airfield came into view and we announced ourselves – “Pahokee traffic, Cessna 172 approaching from the South West, any traffic in the area please report, Pahokee traffic”. You don’t give your callsign, just your aircraft type. There was nothing else around, so we made a downwind join for 17 (the calm wind meant that either runway could have been in use), then a standard traffic pattern for a full stop landing. Strangely there were several huts directly under the flight path, while a few yards away there was only empty fields. They must like hearing aircraft direclty overhead!

The 172 seems to fly slower than the PA28 I am used to – approach speed was 65, stall speed on full flaps of 35. I rounded out a bit high but it was a fairly gentle landing. A hard runway with separate hard taxiway, plenty of parking (hard standing with tie-downs) and fuel pump. It seemed very strange that such a well equipped facility had no tower or air/ground service. Although we didn’t go inside, there was a cafe (and courtesy car – free if you buy fuel) and possibly some basic maintenance facilities.

Circuits

We then did a couple of circuits, making the appropriate radio calls and getting used to the approach configuration. I’m not used to a high wing aircraft, and so as we turned onto base and final, it was strange not to be able to see the runway because the wing dipped into the line of sight.

On one circuit, another aircraft announced they were planning to arrive on a VOR course (practicing the instrument approach) and then take the missed approach procedure. We caught sight of them when they were on 1 mile final and we were still on base. This self-announcing radio process worked surprisingly well without a radio controller on the ground – at least for the minimal amount of traffic around that day.

It did seem strange not to have to book in or pay to land or practice circuits at such a well equipped airfield.

Return leg back to Opa-Locka

After departure, we retraced our route back down the highway to Opa-Locka. We played with the G1000 a little, entering the different airport destinations and seeing how easy it was to pull up the appropriate information. We didn’t have a VFR flight plan for this return leg, and also didn’t even bother with Flight Following Service – we simply squawked 1200 and followed our route. As we approached Opa-Locka, Amit called them up and made our request to fly through their zone and then on down to Miami beach area. We were first asked to squawk ident, so the controller could be sure which aircraft we were. This surprised me, since I had thought the Mode S transponder would show up our tail number on their screen. It seems that not all controllers have equipment that shows this information yet.

Sightseeing over Miami beach

After a short delay, we were given a unique squawk code and told to proceed. Since he had already answered our initial call, we were already authorised to enter the Class D airspace. We were then handed over the Miami approach, who granted our request and told us where to report next. With the autopilot on, it was a simple case of just turning the course knob to fly down the central channel between Miami downtown and the beach strip taking plenty of pictures. It wasn’t a particularly sunny day – it had been raining earlier – but the views were spectacular. I could see the hotel we had stayed at and the whole area.

Miami

Miami beach golf course

Maimi Beach

South Miami Beach

After turning south of Biscaye lighthouse, we returned northbound just offshore the main beach area. It was a surprise to see so many golf courses on what is just a sand bar. The whole area is very built up.

Entrance to Maimi harbour from the west

Miami Beach from the west

Once parallel with Opa-Locka, we flew inbound and switched back to the tower. We listened first to the ATIS to ensure we had the right pressure setting and runway information, then reported this in our initial call.

Return to Opa-Locka

We were cleared to join downwind for 09L. What surprised me was to be cleared to land number 2, when another aircraft on final had also been given landing clearance. I spotted the aircraft which was well ahead. We also saw a helicopter depart to the west just south of us.

Landing again was a little high on the roundout, but fairly smooth and we taxied off one of the many exit points before conducting the after landing checks. Taxied back to the FBO and shutdown, tied down – no need for covers here.

Amit and the G1000 C172 we flew together

After a short debriefing and a little paperwork, I was done. I had a look round the pilot shop and was remarkably restrained – only buying a magazine – before hopping in a taxi for my flight home.

Summary

All in all, a great experience. Perhaps I tried to pack too much into the time and should have concentrated on a simpler aircraft checkout and BFR. But it was great to see what the G1000 was like and get a feel for it, plus the sight seeing was very enjoyable. There will be another time to pickup the qualifications, and I don’t feel ready for a solo flight in the US quite yet.

Some useful US sites for navigation worth looking at include SkyVector and AirNav. These have onscreen charts for the whole of the US and are great for route planning. Another interesting site is LiveATC where you can listen to live air traffic radio services from many US locations.

Time this flight: 2:45
Total Time: 198:00

Club Flyout to Duxford

This is the third club flyout of 2012 which I’ve organised. I’m learning to expect the crew list to change during the week beforehand, and the value of getting early commitment from a few “core” pilots to ensure the event will run regardless. As a minimum, I had two pilots (myself and one other) who both agreed to fly both ways. The day before, another pilot regained currency and was able to fly one leg. There were plenty of passengers (we only ask them to share the landing fees and buy lunch) including a student pilot and club members who were out of currency and looking to get back into it during the year.

Duxford were hosting a “Bonus Day”, this time for Vans RV homebuilt aircraft. There is a reduced landing fee and guided tour of the exhibition. I telephoned a week ahead and booked a slot for both aircraft to arrive at 11am.

Early start, almost cancelled

Aiming to arrive at Kemble before 9am, I left the house before 8 and picked up Ray on the way there. My wife phoned about 8:30 to say her car wouldn’t start and I headed back home to see if I could fix it. Fortunately one of our neighbours helped out. Although the car wouldn’t start, he lent her his car for the day (an extremely generous gesture), and I was able to turn around and head back to Kemble. Everyone turned up on time, and helped pre-flight the aircraft.

VICC has just had a new engine fitted and so required to be flown at full power for several hours – no circuit training. SNUZ, which I would be flying, was all in order. Each would be flying with 3 people, so I had asked in advance for them to be left on tabs fuel. We decided that both aircraft needed fuel and if I had thought ahead, I would have suggested calling for the fuel bowser to be driven round. Instead, in turn we both taxied around to the fuel pumps and refuelled before departure.

Routing around congested airspace

Since the direct route involved a lot of controlled airspace and the alternative was only a few minutes longer, we routed north east, over Moreton-in-the-Marsh, Banbury, Towcester and then through a gap south east to Royston where we reported inbound.

Airfield or car park east of Towcester on the way to Duxford

Duxford from the south west, approaching from Royston

I had to make the initial radio call several times – they only want your callsign and position – before getting a response. It was quite busy with several aircraft approaching from different angles. With runway 09 in use, I had to fly east and turn back onto the downwind leg – they don’t do overhead joins at Duxford. We elected to use the hard runway rather than the grass. It’s quite long and (unlike the grass runway) you can only exit at the end, so you need to ensure plenty of spacing from the aircraft ahead. We heard VICC on the radio ahead of us as they joined downwind and we followed a couple of aircraft later. After landing, we held on the taxiway while more aircraft landed on the grass and were then expertly guided by marshallers to our parking spot.

A positive welcome

Strangely, we didn’t have to book in or out on a written log – I guess this is done beforehand by calling for prior permission and a landing slot and/or by the marshallers. We were given tea/coffee and biscuits then joined a guided tour by a very knowledgable volunteer around various hangars. Later, we walked around the US hangar where we could see an astonishing range of famous aircraft including a B52 bomber (the story of the emergency landing due to an engine failure was quite amusing –  the dreaded “7 engine” landing!). The SR41 blackbird, flying fortress and many other iconic aircraft were all in pristine condition and very accessible.

American Hangar at Duxford

Lunch

Lunch was a bit of a letdown (food wise). Due to a separate function which needed several of the ovens, the kitchen ran out of hot food shortly before we reached the front of the queue. The menu was pretty minimal anyway and we were left with beans/chips or pasta – all charged at pretty eyewatering prices. Definitely one of the less attractive aspects of the museum. However, we were able to sit outside in the sunshine and have a good chat.

Lunch at Duxford

To much to see

After some further walking around – there is so much to see here, you could easily spend several days viewing the exibits – we all assembled for departure. After checking with the marshalls about the procedure, we started up and simply called for taxi instructions. Power checks were completed at the hold, and we flew a half circuit departing on the downwind leg back towards Royston. I flew the same route back as before, catching up with VICC overhead Banbury. We followed in loose formation, a mile or so behind and to the right – they didn’t see us during the flight.

After talking to Farnborough North for the first part of our route, they suggested we contact Coventry for a service through to Banbury, where we switched to Brize. It was a pretty routine flight, but I was grateful for the added reassurance of the handheld GPS when we were closer to Duxford. There were several landmarks which one of my passengers mistook and misplaced our position.

Refuelling, but then a starter problem

On return, we again headed for the fuel pumps. I had planned to do this, but understood that VICC wasn’t going to. Another opportunity to have the fuel bowser come across to our parking spot (for free) missed. Everything was going to plan until the engine starter failed to engage when starting up for the last time to return to parking.

I was under pressure to get home for a family commitment that evening, so wasn’t in the in best of moods. We tried to call the owners to ask what they wanted done. Couldn’t get through, so then asked for assistance from the tower. An engineer came out from one of the maintanence outfits (Vintage Flyers) to have a quick look. He kindly offered to move the aircraft and store it overnight in the hangar free of charge – looking at it in the morning if we wanted him to. This was much appreciated and I thought they were very helpful and responsive to our problem.

In the end, we got through to the owners, and Dave came over to look at it (and fixed the problem) an hour later. It was very helpful that my passenger and one of the other crew were able to stay behind and resolve the issue. I quickly walked back to the office, finished off the paperwork and left them to it. All in all, a good flight – nice to have the club atmosphere with a small party making the trip and socialising at our destination. I think it also encouraged members to get current and make more flights for themselves.

I was also very pleased to have crossed the 100 hours PIC threshold, which means I can now be self-authorising and won’t need to ring round instructors seeking permission for every flight. I hope I can use this privilege sensibly – I still have the option to ask any instructor for advice or opinions if I’m unsure or unfamiliar with the territory or weather outlook.

Time this flight: 2:40
Total PIC: 102:10
Total Time: 195:15

Two aircraft landaway to Compton Abbas

Wet weather all week

The weather has really been playing up the last few weeks. Bank holiday Monday had been my plan for a good day out with the family, but heavy downpours were forecast. Other commitments meant I was late in booking an aircraft for the previous day (Sunday) afternoon instead. With two aircraft out for maintenance, I took the only 2 hour slot available in the afternoon. A quick call to the instructor on the day allowed me to extend it by a further 30 minutes or so.

I’d been in touch with Andy, who had planned a short family landaway to Compton Abbas. I had been concerned about the weather forecast, which was promising rain showers at Kemble during the afternoon. In the end, this was very pessimistic and I didn’t come across any rain.

Andy and his family had arrived at lunch time and had a picnic at the airfield. I’d had a nice Sunday roast at home – not a difficult choice to be honest.

I did the paperwork in the club office, and one of the club’s newest instructors (who I’d known from earlier days at Lyneham) kindly agreed to authorise my flight. I saw the aircraft return, and was ready at the gate after the pilots disembarked. Mike, the instructor, explained that the fuel primer pump wasn’t working, so instead you had to pump the throttle with the fuel pump on. I’d seen this done before, so didn’t think it would be a problem. There weren’t any other defects to worry about, and plenty of fuel onboard. I sorted out my flight bag, GPS and maps etc, ready to set off.

A Spitfire in the way

As we were finishing off pre-flighting and Andy was getting his passengers ready to board, a Spitfire taxied towards us and stopped almost in front, blocking the entire taxiway. The pilot was apologetic, explaining that there was a problem with the tailwheel brake. He and some friends helped us manually push both our aircraft onto the grass and around behind it, ready to go.

Without passengers, I was ready to startup a little earlier than Andyr, and double checked that I had all my nav aids working and information at my fingertips. There wasn’t really a problem starting without a fuel primer pump because the engine was so warm. I followed SNUZ along the taxiways to the North Apron for power checks. Andy seemed to be taking his time, so I called ready for departure just before he did. The tower suggested we both backtrack and line up, after which we took off in turn.

Different routes

My route was through the Bath Gap, from M4 J18 directly south to Frome, just west of Colerne. Andy departed after me and routed to Lyneham, then to Melksham and Frome. There wasn’t much in it, with us both converging on Frome at about the same time.

I managed to get a couple of snaps of the countryside. Visibility was remarkably good, even though some of the clouds looked a bit threatening at times.

Threatening Clouds

Near Bath

South of Bath

With both clearly having each other in sight, Andy ducked behind and below me so that he could follow me in. I was thinking I’d let him go first, but when contacting Compton Radio he said he would follow – perhaps thinking that my local knowledge of the airfield would help show him the way.

Busy bees on arrival

Several aircraft all announced that they were inbound within a few minutes, all seeming to be about the same distance out. It was going to be busy, so with eyes on stalks, I joined the overhead visual with another aircraft also decending deadside. His track seemed pretty unusual to me, and I perhaps foolishly followed it and kept it in sight. Instead, I think I should have taken the standard wider circuit route. I was probably keener to keep him in sight out of safety concerns. He turned late on to final and there was also someone on the runway ahead.

Having done the downwind checks earlier, I realised I was still a little too high and too fast  and lowered full flaps and minimum throttle to get this under control. Rounding out over the numbers, I was still perhaps 10 knots too fast and so floated down the runway somewhat before touching down gently on the centreline. I didn’t need to use the brakes, and turned off the vacate as quickly as I could.

Taxied back to the fuel pumps and refuelled, so that by the time I had finished and parked up, Andy and his family were already settled in the cafe with some large cakes and drinks. The coffee cafe did look tempting, so I went for that too.

View of Shaftesbury from Compton Abbas airfield

The airfield was really busy today, perhaps because of contrast with the recent poor weather, and it was great to see lots of activity. The £10 landing fee is quite reasonable for such a nice place.

The line of aircraft parked at Compton Abbas

Quick turnaround

I felt under a lot of time pressure, because i had already extended the booking by 30 minutes and it started to look like it might be an hour if I didn’t get a move on. At least there would be no delays due to refueling when I returned. I set off ahead of Andy and his family, departing to the north west and back to Frome. Although I remembered to use two stages of flaps for the short field takeoff technique, I didn’t remember to put them away until I was climbing out. I thought the aircraft was behaving a bit strangely and quickly spotted my error.

Calling ahead for information

Bristol Radar gave me a basic service on my return leg, and this time allocated a squawk code. They called traffic when I was near the Park gliding club, and I spotted a single engine plane above me in the opposite direction. Thinking that Kemble would be closed by the time I got there, I asked Bristol to find out the airfield information which they did by phoning Kemble on a landline. It was good to know the QFE and runway in use.

As it happened, I talked to Kemble Tower about five minutes before they closed but they shutdown before I reached the circuit. It was a straightforward overhead arrival and landing with a slight crosswind. Out of hours, it’s recommended you land further down the runway because the road at the threshold is opened at that time. Taxied back to parking and found the instructor and student patiently waiting at the gate to take over. Without needing to put the covers on, it was just a case of finishing off the paperwork and a short chat with Andy and his family before heading home.

Total Time Today : 1:35 (PIC)
Total PIC: 99:30
Total Time: 192:35

France for Lunch: Club Flyout to Le Touquet

A large group

16 people in 5 Aircraft from 3 Airports. This was the second club flyout I’ve organised, and the taste of foreign travel brought out the crowds. With two club aircraft out for annual maintenance, we block booked the other 3 tourers (2 Warriors and the Arrow) based at Kemble. Other members were able to borrow a Cessna 172 from Bristol, and hire a Gumman Cougar twin engine from Thruxton. The bank holiday weekend weather had originally looked promising, but at the start of the week it became clear that Good Friday would be much the better day. I was able to block book the aircraft for both days, releasing them on Wednesday when I made the decision to plump for Friday. Fortunately, that did turn out to be a good choice – the weather was nice and sunny, with a warm front bringing some clag to fly through toward the end of the afternoon as we returned on the last leg.

Plenty of prep

This was not my first solo flight abroad or my first trip to Le Touquet – I’d been to Calais late last year – but my first with passengers. I’m still new enough to foreign flights to have to research it thoroughly. I wrote a 5 page briefing note for the crews, with a checklist of what to take and what to file. Broadly speaking, it’s much the same as any internal flight except:

• Must file a flight plan, which I did using SkyDemon the night before
• Must email a GAR form to HMRC, with a full list of crew and passengers, passport numbers etc
• Must notify customs at Le Touquet at least 2 hours before arrival, by sending a short email with crew/passenger names and passport numbers
• Must take a bunch of documents, including passports, crew licences, medical certificate, aircraft registration, radio licence …. even a copy of the interception procedures
• Must wear lifejackets, take a PLB (personal locator beacon) and optionally take a liferaft
• Some Euros also come in handy, and you really need a camera too.

Meeting up beforehand

Only one of the three other pilots (flying from Kemble) had flown abroad before, so there were a few details to discuss and experience from others to share before the trip. I spoke to the lead pilots by phone a few days before to talk through the differences, and co-ordinate the plan. We also met up at our regular monthly pub meeting the night before.

I had pre-arranged authorisation for my flight the day before, as had the others. We all filed  flight plans, emailed the GAR forms and emailed Le Touquet customs the night before.

Early Start

Haydon kindly picked me up and drove us to the airport. I’d rechecked the NOTAMS, weather and printed out an updated PLOG using SkyDemon before we left. Arriving at Kemble around 8:40am, there was virtually no paperwork to do. It had been a cold night, but the frost on the wings had already melted. Sean, my other passenger, turned up around 9am and we pre-flighted, loaded up with safety gear (life jackets, liferaft and PLB) as well as the extra paperwork in the tech log folder.

One of the other Warriors was also ready to go, and after seeing the third crew arrive, we decided to head off. Our flight plan was scheduled off-blocks time of 9:30, but leaving a few minutes early shouldn’t be a problem. Before we started up, we noticed that G-ELUE had been idling for some time without taxi-ing off. It turned out there was a problem with their flight plan. I call up and requested taxi for my flight plan and was told there was no problem with mine, and I could taxi immediately. It seems the other crew had omitted small details such as the colour of their dingy and contact phone number from the remarks field, requiring a refiling. The tower did this for them, and they joined us for power checks at the hold.

I had to wait a few minutes for the engine to warm up properly before the run up, so double checked the GPS was working, ADF and radios were tuned in, and my plog listed all the appropriate frequencies. We took off around 9:30 with G-ELUE following close behind.

South into the haze

RAF Lyneham

My route took us south to Lyneham, then overhead Popham. We spoke briefly to Brize, then Farnborough West who asked us to call Solent because we were so close to their airspace. I had the VOR tracking Goodwood from quite a distance (sadly the DME wasn’t working), and this was a useful double check that I kept to the east side of Solent airspace. We were 3500 feet up and keen to avoid the haze, but visibility wasn’t that good until we reached the coast. I tried the auto-pilot on VOR tracking mode as an experiment. There are three levels of sensitivity, the highest meant for an ILS localiser approach, and I can confirm it was very responsive at that setting, turning quickly to get back on track! With the aircraft trimmed, and RPM/MP set at 2400/24 respectively, the controls needed little adjustment. I preferred just flying manually and switched off the autopilot.

General layer of murk at about 3000 feet

Portsmouth and Chichester harbour, just East of Goodwood

It was helpful to have someone in the right hand seat who was able to change the squawk codes and setup the radio/VOR frequencies. I tried to anticipate these well in advance, but inevitably there are always a few “surprises”, such as the change to Solent.

Keeping clear of Goodwood and Shoreham, we spoke to London Information who weren’t that busy (surprisingly for such a nice sunny day). I asked them for the latest weather at Le Touquet, which they reported back a few minutes later. On first contact, they had asked me for my next reporting point and time. I hadn’t written that up on the Plog at that point – we had just turned overhead Goodwood – so had to do a quick bit of mental arithmetic.

Brighton Marina

We reported coasting out at Seaford, heading directly for Le Touquet via the Aleso waypoint. About mid-channel, we were able to pick up the Le Touquet ATIS (which alternates between French and English). It confirmed the same conditions we had received by phone before departure and more recently via London Info. As we approached Aleso, London told us to Squawk 7000 and contact Lille.

Lille were busy, acknowledging our call by telling us to standby, but came back to us and gave us a discrete squawk code, asking us to let them know when we had the airfield in sight.

Cloud as we approached Le Touquet

As we crossed the channel, we could see a layer of cloud ahead, masking out the horizon and land ahead. I didn’t want to find myself above an overcast in France – and not just because it’s illegal – so descended slowly down to 2500 feet under radar control. We knew this would only be a small cloud bank because we already had the better weather report from our destination. The clouds did disperse after a few minutes. As we closed the coast, Lille asked me if I could see the airfield yet – I replied I could see the town, but not yet the airfield. He passed me across to Le Touquet tower, who then assigned me a new squawk and asked me to report downwind for 32 left hand. This would be a very straightforward approach since we were already pretty much on an extended downwind track and I just had to continue my descent to circuit height.

Le Touquet town in sight, but not yet the airfield clearly in view

As we crossed the coast, I continued to slow down and drop the gear at 120mph, adding two stages of flaps for a nice and slow approach. After running through the downwind checks, I was about to make the “downwind” call when the tower told me to report final.

Crossing the coast at Le Touquet

Late downwind, Le Touquet

Base leg for 32LH at Le Touquet

Turning final for 32LH at Le Touquet

As I turned final, I was cleared to land and given surface wind of about 360/10 knots. After landing, I made the intersection turn off half way down the runway and was told to park on the apron. It wasn’t that busy and there was plenty of space to choose from. I understand that on very busy days, there is a “follow me” cyclist who directs you to parking.

Happy passengers - maybe next time they will be the pilots

Le Touquet airport terminal building

We walked into the terminal and ordered refuelling, then went for a coffee in the adjacent restaurant whilst waiting for the others to arrive. The other four aircraft came through over the next half hour or so, and several of the crews joined us for a coffee before heading into town. A refueller drives the bowser truck around the apron to each aircraft and fills up on request, saving taxiing/queuing time and cost.

Walking into town

While some hired bikes, we elected to walk the 30 minutes into town through the pleasant tree lined avenues. The beach was attractive but the north wind meant it was quite cold. We found a restaurant in a side street that was in the sun, but sheltered from the wind. Rather than everybody sharing the same restaurant, we had split up into several groups.

Moules Frite - Yummy!

With a warm front coming down through England during the day, some of the pilots were keen to make a slightly earlier return than originally planned. I’d filed for 5pm local time departure, which would get us back to the UK before 6pm local time. One of the other crew called for a taxi to take them back to the airport, but we found them waiting at the taxi rank as we walked back ourselves more than 20 minutes later. In the end, they left around the same time as ourselves.

After some quick shopping for those left at home, we walked back and prepared to saddle up for the return leg. The sun continued to shine and the forecasts from the UK were good (free Wi-Fi in the airport made it easy to check using PilotWizz on the iPhone).

Paid the landing fee (30 Euros including a surcharge of 5 Euros) and fuel (2.25 Euros/litre), then walked out and pre-flighted. We listened to the ATIS and then called for start and departure clearance. They had our flight plan and so there was little to say apart from taxi to the hold and report ready. We followed several aircraft as they trundled towards the end of the runway, and completed our power checks close to the holding point. After calling ready, we were told to line up as soon as the previous aircraft took off.

Lifting off, it was a straight ahead departure with good views of the town and beach. As we left, I was ready to change to Lille and requested the switch but was told to remain on his frequency. Shortly after, we changed to Lille and then very quickly were told to freecall London information as we left French airspace. We had heard earlier that London Info was closed until 4pm BST, so were not surprised to hear others calling on that frequency get no response. With only 5 minutes to go, I decided to wait rather than talking to someone else. As soon as they announced they were open again, I was straight in and got the first call.

Climb out departing Le Touquet 32

Coasting in just south of Eastbourne

The flight back across the water was pretty uneventful and we were soon coasting in and tracking just south of Brighton, Shoreham before reaching Goodwood. This time I did speak to Shoreham, who advised of 4 aircraft heading towards us – we spotted one below us – and got clear views of the airfield.

Goodwood racecourse

Tracking the VOR towards Goodwood, we turned north west just beforehand and contacted Farnborough West who stayed with us until Popham. Switched to Bristol a few minutes before 5pm, and asked them if they could get airport information for Kemble who would be just about to close. This was very helpful to have, confirming the runway in use and QFE. With some dark clouds ahead, it was good to know that the cloudbase or visibility wasn’t poor and we wouldn’t have to divert.

Popham airfield from about 2500 feet

dark clouds and general clag as we returned northbound

Once through some “clag”, visibility did improve and we got a clear view of RAF Lyneham. Bristol then asked me to confirm that I was just north of that airfield, and clarified that when out of hours we make traffic calls on the Kemble frequency. With the large aircraft on the airfield in sight, I left Bristol and self-announced as inbound. Another aircraft at the field gave me an unofficial QFE and runway, which matched what I’d got earlier.

Kemble descending dead side

Making a standard overhead join, we could see the wind was about 10 knots from the North. My approach was a bit lower than I would have liked, needing a bit more power and I let the crosswind take us a couple of yards to the left of centreline on short final, but the touchdown was fairly gentle. Taxiing back to parking, it was nice to have some help to put everything away.

Before completing the paperwork, I called NATS to close the flightplan (very quick to do) and we were done. We waited for the last aircraft to return about half an hour after us. They also had no problems during their flight back and everyone agreed it had been an excellent day out. My passengers, who both want to embark on commercial pilot careers, were both helpful with the radio/transponder side of things – and took some great photos too. It was good to have them along for the trip.

Only another couple of hours and I will reach the magic 100 hours PIC, which is my next goal. Don’t know if I’ll manage it this month, but can’t be far off now.

Total Time today: 3:25 
Total Time: 191:00 (PIC 97:55)

Solo Arrow landaway to Perranporth

A longer trip

With the weather being much better today than yesterday, I hoped to make the most of it. I was fortunate to be allowed another afternoon away from the family, and with summer time having come into force the previous week, sunset was now almost 8pm. With the 130knot cruising speed of the Arrow, this meant that an afternoon’s flight puts many more destinations within reach.

The plan was to make a flight to Perranporth in Cornwall and back. It’s just to the west of Newquay. This is now the only hard tarmac GA airfield left in the area, although Newquay is said to be much more GA friendly these days. Plymouth airport closed at the end of 2011.

Early authorisation.

Having completed the preflight planning earlier in the morning, I called the airfield for prior permission and learnt there would be some parachute dropping during the day. I was also able to get authorisation beforehand from Mike. This would make the preparations much shorter and predictable when I got to Kemble. After the pre-flight, I chatted to Roger – our club deputy CFI – who had been organising the other aircraft in preparation for next week’s Cotswold Flying Scholarship program which the club are participating in. He had already been flying earlier in the day and warned me that it was busy with poor visibility, recommending I fly as high as possible – say 4000 or 6000 feet. Returning to complete the pre-flight, I made sure I didn’t skip anything – I’ve heard of this affecting experienced pilots who then depart with the towbar attached or similar.

Off to the south west

Departure was fairly straightforward and again I retracted the gear, and sped off to the South West. Bristol provided a Basic Service. I flew through the “Bath Gap” between Colerne and Bristol airspace, with one traffic advisory of an aircraft heading towards me at 12 o’clock. I saw him just as he passed by on my left at a very similar height. Climbing back up to 4000 feet over Radstock, I headed towards the south west. The quadrantal rule  which separates traffic going in different directions doesn’t work in areas of constricted airspace, so you have to keep a sharp lookout. Now that I was free of controlled airspace. being able to fly higher also reduced the risk of meeting other GA traffic.

The Wells mast is a predominant feature, but even at this height it seemed like I might almost touch it. Switching to Exeter, it was clear that Dunkeswell was extremely busy. Gliders were also out in force, taking advantage of the excellent thermal weather conditions. My own route took me well clear of both, passing south of the Chatsworth reservoir and giving me a good view of the M5 and later A30 which make cross referencing the GPS with visual references fairly easy. At Launceston, Exeter suggested I freecall Newquay which I did. All three LARS services had given me a discrete squawk code while under their watch which was good to know.

Visibility was a bit murky, but better at this higher altitude. Surprisingly, the sun wasn’t a major factor because it was higher up in the sky than during winter months. Views of the coastline were excellent, especially as I reached Cornwall.

Approach from the sea

My planned route took me south of Bodmin down to St Mawes on the south Cornish coast. I then turned west to pass just south of Newquay, still at 4000 feet and was told to reporting changing to Perranporth when I had the airfield in sight. It’s a little further to the west than I envisaged, and took a little longer to pick out that I had expected.

When I had phoned earlier, they had recommended a downwind join for 05LH which puts the downwind leg out to sea. No overhead joins are allowed during parachute dropping days for obvious reasons. On initial contact, this was again confirmed. I slowed down and descended gently into the downwind leg, dropping the undercarriage and lowering flaps. With the downwind checks completed, I turned onto base leg with the cliffs directly below me. Remembering the red/green/blue check when turning final and lined up for approach.

With about 10 knots of wind slightly off to the north, some cross control inputs were needed to compensate. I kept to the centreline and left the power on for a reasonable landing. Once again, I didn’t pull back enough on the yoke to hold the nose off as much as I would have liked.

Perranporth control tower and fire vehicles

After asking, air/ground suggested I backtrack and guided me to the grass apron for parking. It had taken 1:30 from startup to shutdown for a trip from Gloucestershire to Cornwall.

A welcome break

There aren’t a huge range of facilities onsite, but the welcome was friendly and the cafe was busy. A mug of tea for 70p was very welcome. After booking in, I asked for fuel and was told to taxi to the pumps. Prompt attention meant I was quickly refuelled and reparked out of the way. Settled up and booked out. The airfield would be open till at least 1730, but I wanted to be on my way, and took off around 1700.

Parachutist landing at Perranporth

Various aircraft - mainly visitors - parked on the grass parking

The Arrow parked at the fuel pump

There were several other aircraft there including motor gliders, parachuting operations and 3-axis microlights.

Return Flight

There’s something about early evening flights in the summer which I really like. The airwaves are quieter, the evening light brings out the best of the views, and the air is typically calm. There was a good view of Newquay airport as I passed well clear to the north.

Newquay airport from the north

Again climbing up to 4000 feet (which should really have been higher for the quadrantial rule), I received a Basic service from Newquay. They warned me of a close contact of unknown height off my 3 o’clock, but I couldn’t see anything. After turning north to follow the coastline, they reported it had left my vicinity.

The Devon Moors

I tracked along the coast, turning north at Bude and overflew Woolacombe where I had spent several weekends camping many years ago. Newquay informed me I had reached the edge of their coverage and suggested I freecall London Information. Instead, I confirmed the frequency for Cardiff Radar and told them I’d use them instead – London cover such a wide area that I’ve found it’s better to use more local LARS stations if at all possible.

A helpful transit

Cardiff were extremely helpful, giving me a squawk code and co-ordinating a transit with Bristol as I approached Minehead. I was able to maintain 4000 feet throughout, flying from Minehead towards Weston, but turning north at Bristol’s request to route just past Flatholm island and then up towards the Severn bridges. There were great views of Avonmouth and Filton. Once clear of Bristol airspace, they asked me to report when leaving the frequency.

After hours arrival

Once Kemble was in sight, I did so and self-announced my arrival. With no-one else on frequency, I elected to make a full overhead join and planned to land on 08RH. It would have been possible to make a straight in approach, but I thought I’d play it safe. The windsock showed the wind very much from the North, and it slightly favoured 08. After descending into the circuit, I wasn’t entirely sure if the wind direction had changed to favour 26 so I made an extra circuit (self annoucing my intentions) to be completely sure.

After landing, another aircraft self-announced their approach and I was able to confirm the favoured runway and QFE for them. Taxiing back to parking, I called runway vacated and parked up. It was a very pleasant evening to be putting the aircraft away. The box for the cover had been moved much closer, which made life easier.

Another successful trip

Checks complete, paperwork done, it was time to head home. The cruising speed of the Arrow really puts a much wider range of places in reach than with the Warrior, and the aircraft really flys well. The new engine purrs sweetly, and despite my doubts about some of the avionics for IFR purposes, it’s an excellent VFR machine and a great privilege to be allowed to use it.

Total Time today: 3:15 
Total Time: 187:35 (PIC 94:30)

Diversion to Gloucester in the Arrow

Should I or Shouldn’t I

The forecast wasn’t looking great today, but I had the full day available for a flight and wanted to make the most of it. In retrospect, it would have been better to have rescheduled for a different day but it did give me more exposure to what it’s like when the cloudbase drops and you have to make a diversion. If this happens with passengers onboard, I would be better prepared for it.

With excellent weather throughout the week, it was disappointing to see the relatively poor forecast for Saturday. Cloud dominated, with a base of 1500 to 2000 feet, forecast to improve. I decided to plan a relatively short flight up to Sleap, which would take less than an hour, and try out the Arrow for my first solo flight. The owner had serviced the aircraft the previous day and the oil was so clean it was difficult to check the level.

I checked the NOTAMS, kept a close eye on the weather reports and forecast, and called Sleap for PPR.

You can always just come back

I met our club CFI, Graham, who was taking his own Flight Instructor revalidation test with an external CAA examiner. Even the most experienced pilots have to go through the same process, and this reinforced how there are no exceptions. He authorised my flight, suggesting that the worst that could happen if I found the weather wasn’t suitable would be to turn around and come back. As it turned out, this proved to be good advice.

I wasn’t in any hurry, so ran through the pre-flight checks slowly and familiarised myself with the different avionics onboard the Arrow. This was my first flight in it since I took the differences training the previous weekend. I had to run the power cable for my portable GPS across to the other side of the cockpit and needed a bit of extra ingenuity to ensure it wasn’t going to get caught in any of the controls.

Off up North

After running through the power checks, which still seem strange without a carb heat check, I departed with a left hand turnout to the North. With one on board, the 180bhp engine lifts off more enthusiastically than a Warrior. I remembered to dab the brakes before retracting the undercarriage and was again pleasantly surprised with the acceleration. The cloudbase was initially around 2000 feet and I headed off northwest.

After crossing the ridge, I was hoping the cloudbase might lift. But as I followed the M5 I became more aware how much closer the cars were getting. I was down below 1500 feet at times to keep out of the cloud and wouldn’t want to be much lower. It seemed that it might be a little better further north, but after passing Worcester, I decided that enough was enough and I should call it a day. I could have climbed into IMC but this would require me to make a full instrument approach. The DME didn’t seem to be working properly which ruled out an NDB/DME into Gloucester  - I would need to get a full SRA instead.

Diversion to Gloucester

Rather than return direct to Kemble, I decided to land at Gloucester and see if conditions improved. With it being lower, it often gets better weather and so should be easier for landing. Although I had the instrument approach plates to hand (which did have the frequencies), I didn’t have the full VFR approach plate with noise abatement in my kneeboard. It was in my case in the back, but I didn’t look this out.

Gloucester informed me it was runway 05LH in use and asked me to make an overhead join. I wasn’t sure I could do that given the low cloudbase of around 1500 feet, but did manage that. Keeping things as simple as possible, I slowed down to 120MPH before reaching the overhead and lowered the gear. The extra drag quickly takes effect and makes the aircraft easier to handle at the slower speed. Downwind checks included adding 2 stages of flap to get the speed down further, and on base I double checked the reds (mixture), greens (undercarriage) and blues (prop control).

The landing itself was fairly straightforward because there was virtually no wind or crosswind, and the mains touched down gently. I didn’t hold back enough on the yoke so the nose came down a little harder than I would have liked, but nothing serious.

Taxied off to parking and adjourned for a bacon bap and well deserved cup of tea. It was also nice to have the chance of a thorough browse through the Transair pilot shop onsite. The manager is very friendly and helpful there, and I was able to help suggest where another customer could find some reading material on variable props – having just read it myself only a week earlier.

Return to Kemble

With cloudbase measured at 1300-1500 feet, the trip back to Kemble would be very much on the limit. Again I took the view that I could always return back to Gloucester if conditions weren’t good enough. Departing with a right turnout from 05 meant I was pretty much on track for the short hop across the ridge to Kemble. There was another aircraft ahead of me making the same journey, so it was helpful to hear he had no problems. I was able to stay VFR all the way, and clearly saw Aston Down on the right as I got nearer. With no other traffic to affect, I was able to make a crosswind join for 08RH and land, taking the first exit.

After reporting that I didn’t need any fuel – I hadn’t used much and didn’t think it worth topping up to full tanks again – the tower asked me if I’d like to backtrack down the runway rather than on the grass taxiway, which I did. With a warm engine, it had taken less than 25 minutes from startup to shutdown – less than 15 minutes flight time.

The speed of the Arrow is easily appreciated – much shorter take off, faster airspeed and smoother cruise. Operating the flaps doesn’t cause such a change in pitch as found with the Warrior. The newly conditioned fuel injected engine doesn’t need regular carb heat checks in flight, and once in the cruise it is really much more comfortable.

Packing up and putting everything away on my own reminded me how much more quicker it would be with a helpful passenger. But I also felt more confident about my decision making ability to turn around/divert and call a stop if things are getting worse. It also reinforced how much confidence you need to have in the avionics before committing to fly in IMC.

Total Time today: 1:15 
Total Time: 184:20 (PIC 91:15)

Piper Arrow II differences training

A faster aircraft

The club fleet includes a Piper Arrow II – a step up from the Warriors I learnt on and normally fly. This has a more powerful engine (180bhp instead of 160), retractable undercarriage (much less drag, so goes faster) and a variable prop (more efficient, so also goes faster). These features enable a cruising speed of around 150mph (approx 130 knots) with similar fuel consumption.  It also has an autopilot, which can follow a VOR track or simply a heading and is IFR equipped. I’d been a passenger in it a few months back, when Andy flew it on a short local flight to Gloucester and back.

This is more of a “going places” aircraft than for practicing circuits, and so isn’t used for general training. The additional features means that differences training is required before you can fly it solo. This isn’t just a club requirement, these so-called “complex” features are found on other cruising aircraft and require a one-off instructor validation in your logbook. While I believe there’s no legal requirement to keep current on complex aircraft, club rules require a checkout if you haven’t flown it within the last 42 days (60 for those with more than 100 hours PIC). So this means I would have to ensure I fly it at least that often no matter how much I flew the Warriors.

I had put off taking the differences training until after I had completed my 100 PIC hours, but recently changed my mind. One of the Warriors will be out for some weeks for major maintenance work, and with growing demand for those remaining, the Arrow would be a better choice. It’s IFR equipped too, although some of the avionics are a bit on the older side. Although it costs a little more per hour to hire, the 50% increase in cruising speed means that longer trips are cheaper overall.

Last minute hiccups

With the weather having been unusually good all week – a high pressure system was sat over the UK all the time – the forecast was for that to continue through the weekend. Fog and haze were expected, with visibility improving throughout the day. My instructor, Mike, texted me the previous evening to warn me that he might not be well enough to fly the following day – he had come down with a cold. I was also fighting one off, with several colleagues off work that week. Fortunately, things came together on the day and we were on.

In retrospect, I wouldn’t have enjoyed flying anywhere in the murky haze that we found ourselves in. This was a much better use of the time instead.

Groundschool

Mike had sent me some material to read up beforehand, which explained the theory and engineering of variable propeller designs. He ran through a comprehensive set of slides in the club office, answering the few questions I had, and tailoring the discussion to the aircraft in question. Both retractable gear and variable prop were covered, including all the emergency procedures. There were clear photos of the few extra controls involved, including the emergency gear down lever which I hope never to have to use.

I had preflighted the aircraft before Mike arrived, finding only that the navigation beacon wasn’t operating. This proved to be a popped out circuit breaker, which was quickly resolved. Mike showed me the undercarriage, pointing out the locking mechanism that ensures it stays down when it’s meant to.

Starting up

The starting procedure is slightly different to the Warrior. Being fuel injected, there’s no need to manually prime by pumping it and there’s no Carb Heat to turn on and off. However, there is an “Alternate Air” control. Starting with the mixture control fully off, the mixture is advanced as soon as the engine catches. It idles at around 1400rpm, faster than the 1000 of a Warrior.

Departure

After the usual power checks, we departed on 08 with virtually no wind. The Airspeed Indicator is marked in MPH, and we gently lifted off at rotation speed. The more powerful 180bhp engine meant that I needed to use more right rudder to compensate for the stronger P factor. As we passed the end of the runway, I dabbed the footbrakes and pulled the gear up lever. The aircraft seems to shoot forward at this point, speeding up because it’s not got the drag of the wheels. Rather than speeding up too much, we climbed up at 85mph – the climb rate seemed a bit quicker than the Warrior. There was haze all around and long range visibility wasn’t good, although we could see the ground directly below us.

As we climbed, it was clear to see that the manifold pressure (effectively the throttle setting) dropped by 1 inch every 1000 feet – just as the book said it would.

Heading across to Gloucester, we switched to their frequency and received a basic service. We did some general handling to the North West, around Ledbury – keeping pretty high up most of the time, between 4000 and 6000 feet. Mike showed me how to adjust the prop lever and set cruise speed, then we practiced a circuit procedure including gear and flaps down. Unlike other complex aircraft, the Arrow will fly with the gear down at up to 150 MPH, but it’s recommended to slow down to 120 before deploying it.

We ran through some of the emergency procedures, including catching me out by turning on the panel lights. A “feature” of the Arrow is that this dims the 3 green gear down lights, which can easily catch out the unwary. It’s the first thing to check on the emergency gear not down checklist. Mike advised me that if I should find myself unable to lower the gear when in the circuit, concentrate on flying the airplane and going somewhere safe to sort it out (e.g. climb above the overhead if clear).

We also practiced stalls and a PFL from height, which would have got me into a field. Although there were plenty of fields around, they all seemed to be ploughed up with deep furrows at this time of year. With calm wind, the orientation of the field wasn’t really a factor. After selecting one, I made a right hand turn to lose height and position myself for it – losing sight of it briefly (which Mike warned me I might do) – but regaining the view just as I was turning final.

Circuits

As we passed Gloucester and returned to Kemble, it was difficult to make out the airfield in the murk. We were still speeding along at some 150MPH, so Mike encouraged me to slow down before getting into the circuit itself. When moving the prop lever forward, the engine makes a strange noise as the system adjusts to the new setting, then sorts itself out.

Kemble offered me an overhead join for 08RH, but since we were approaching from the north I arranged for a crosswind join instead. Having slowed down to 120MPH by now, I deployed the gear down which slowed us further. I didn’t respond quickly enough and we lost height to about 800 feet. With another aircraft taking off, Mike was keen for me to get back up to circuit height before we crossed the threshold on the crosswind leg.

I made three approaches in all. One was low and I had to drag it in, the last I cut the power a little too early as we crossed the numbers and the landing was a little heavier. With little or no wind, these were ideal conditions to learn the different handling. Mike advised me to keep the power on until the round out – unlike a Warrior, the Arrow will simply stop flying and dump you on the runway if you slow down too early. It’s also important to keep the nosewheel up, to reduce the impact. With a comparatively smaller tailplane and heavier engine up front, it’s important to pull back hard on the yoke during this final stage of landing.

We refuelled, taxied back and debriefed. Mike signed my logbook, and I’m now qualified to fly the Arrow solo. This being my first flight with an instructor during my second year as a PPL holder, it also completed the requirement for 1 instructor flight hour (the European equivalent of a US BFR, Bi-annual Flight Review). I’ve therefore also completed the requirements to revalidate my PPL licence for another 2 years until almost the end of 2014 – it just needs a bit of paperwork signed off towards the end of the year.

All in all a successful day and best use of what was pretty murky visibility all round. I think it will be a bit daunting to fly the Arrow solo straight off, so perhaps I’ll ensure there’s another pilot along for that next ride.

Total Time today: 2:00 (Dual)
Total Time: 183:05 (PIC 90:00)

Local landaway at Enstone and Membury

Weather limiting range

It was one of those days where the weather was due to be adequate, but troughs were coming through that would bring heavy localised rain showers. I had been looking ahead at the weather forecast and almost written off any flights today, but the latest forecast looked more promising. I had discussed sharing a flight with Andy, but he was taken ill and unable to fly. All the club Warriors were taken for much of the day, so I had booked the smaller (and cheaper) Robin which is used less often. Andy had booked the Arrow, but I haven’t taken the differences training and so can’t fly that myself yet.

With that background, I planned to fly to two or three airfields not too far away, so that I could return quickly to base if the weather took a turn for the worse. I’ve never been to Enstone and I also fancied landing at Membury – better known as a Motorway service station on the busy M4, but which has had the hard runways restored in recent years.

I rang Enstone for PPR, and they were very welcoming and straightforward. The notes in the VFR guidebook actually say “PPR by phone or radio”, so I guess you could just call them up on the radio as you approach. However, if the radio isn’t manned (as was the case today), then technically you couldn’t land. I also called Membury for PPR, and a helpful chap who was on his carphone quickly granted this. Payment of the fees is via their website using Paypal, making it very straightforward for both parties concerned. Their website also has clear instructions and information for visiting pilots.

Square Wheel Syndrome

After completing the paperwork, getting flight authorisation and finishing the A-check on the aircraft I was ready to go. It hadn’t been used for about three weeks, so I was pleased to find it started first time. I later learnt that the owner had especially come and started it up to check it would be serviceable for me.

As I taxied down to the D site apron for power checks, I felt that something was wrong. The left hand side seemed to be bumping along. I shutdown and got out to have a look. The tower said that from their viewpoint, it did look like the left hand side was down a bit. After testing the oleos, it seemed to me the left one was low and I decided that I would return back to base. I didn’t know enough to judge if this was safety affecting or not, so wanted to err on the side of caution.

One of the other club warriors departs for a flight - while I investigate the problem

Taxiing back was much better, the wheels felt more normal and I almost talked myself into continuing. I rang the owner, who confirmed that the oleo could be pumped up, but this probably wouldn’t happen today. An instructor turned up, and was happy to spend a few minutes looking at the problem. His view was that while the oleo was a little low, it was perfectly serviceable. He also suggested that the bumpy ride out was probably due to the tires being sat in the same position for weeks, and this would quickly work its way out – so-called “sqare wheel syndrome”.

Satisfied that the problem was manageable, I started up and again made the same radio calls. The taxying seemed much more natural this time, and the aircraft was responsive on the brakes and when turning. With power checks completed, I was ready to go.

North-East to Enstone

Taking off and heading north east, I was under a Basic Service from Brize, who reminded me to keep well clear of RAF Little Rissington. I had this in sight, and was following the Fosse Way, routing up to Stow-on-the-Wold where I planned to turn east directly for Enstone. I had to dip down from my planned 3000 feet altitude to keep clear of the clouds. The flight there was only about 15 minutes or so. As I approached, I expected to be able to see it further out, but it was easy to spot as I got closer.

I called up Enstone Radio but it wasn’t manned. Fortunately, another local pilot responded with the local QFE and announced he would be departing shortly. Futher calls would be self-announcing to “Enstone Traffic”. I joined downwind rather than making an overhead join, and did my best to keep clear of the surrounding villages for noise abatement. Later analysis of the GPS tracks showed that I did.

Skydemon GPS flight log from Kemble to Enstone including circuits

Enstone have a fixed price deal for as many circuits as you like, so I completed 4 or 5 before landing. There was no other circuit traffic during this time, with just one other movement while I was practicing. It can be surprisingly tiring to repeat circuits, so I didn’t want to overdo it. Perhaps I should have practiced a glide approach and/or flapless landing – the runway is more than long enough – but I concentrated on perfecting the standard configuration keeping it on centerline and reasonably short landing roll.

The prepared hard surface was well maintained. I found the Robin to be a bit more of a handful to land at times, its much lighter than the Warriors I’m used to. On short final, I found that I was using larger control inputs that I would have expected in order to respond to gusts – even though the wind wasn’t that strong. It was good practice, but after 5 circuits I was feeling a bit tired and landed to park up.

A friendly small club

Enstone Flying Club

The clubhouse was very cosy. The receptionist quickly dealt with my landing fee, and I even had to point out that I had done so many circuits. The kitchen is a self-service option, but had good variety of tea, coffee, home baked cakes and snacks. I spoke with someone who was probably the CFI – he emphasised that the airfield normally isn’t very busy and their fixed price circuit practice deal is great value. Unfortunately the airfield is under threat from the landowner who wants to redevelop the site and close it down. Planning permission has already been turned down, but I expect we’ll see court action to save the airfield in the future.

Plenty of space for parking at Enstone

The site is also the home to a project to build a fleet of Spitfire replicas. These are 90% size self-build kits made by groups who share the costs and earn the right to fly them. However, this is at the other end of the airfield – I could have walked around there if I’d made time, but perhaps will do so next time.

Flying down to Membury Services

After taking off, I did another 5 circuits (having paid for them, why not use them) including one on the grass. This wasn’t a touch and go because the longer grass of the shorter grass runway meant I took longer to stop. Another taildragger aircraft was practicing touch and goes there too and also had sometimes had to backtrack before taking off again. We were perfectly in sync as we each alternated between being downwind and landing. Its good to see this working well without the need for a radio operator.

After departing Enstone, I headed south east and located Charlebury which is a reporting point just outside the Brize zone. While circling overhead, I called up asking for a zone transit and was asked to call Brize Zone on a different frequency instead. After punching this in and switching, I called up again – only to find I was still talking to Brize Approach. The radio freqeuency toggle button isn’t reliable and hadn’t worked. After talking to the right controller, I was pleased to find he simply immediately approved my transit, VFR only. There was no height restriction or specific routing given.

I don’t think I have every transitted Brize Zone before, despite having flown close to it many times. I almost directly overflew the airfield and got great views of Fairford airport too. I was able to confirm overflying the VRPs (Visual Reporting Points), but didn’t have to say anything to the controller. Squawking a discrete code, they could see exactly where I was and told me when I was entering and departing their zone.

Again heading southwards towards Membury, I though I would be able to pick out the large radio mast there from further away. I couldn’t see it until I was really pretty close – I was more than high enough to avoid it, but had expected it to be a major landmark to steer by. Switching to SafetyCom, the common frequency for airfields without a designated frequency, I was about to self-announce being overhead when I heard another aircraft on frequency. They were about to depart from runway 16 – I thought this was strange because the wind was from the south west. After announcing myself and intentions, they confirmed they had me in sight and took off.

I then announced downwind, making a wide circuit to give me a good view of the airfield. The windsocks were large, clearly visible and and in good condition. Approaching from the north west, short final is directly over the busy motorway and the runway threshold is immediately after a low boundary fence. A line of tall trees is adjacent to runway 23, but with the wind from the south west I thought these should give little windshift.

Landing a little long perhaps, I seemed to float down the runway further that I originally expected, but the touchdown was gentle and I could taxi to the parking along the new hard runways without any other traffic to worry about. The runways, both tarmac and grass, were in excellent condition and the whole place had a feeling of care and attention about it.

I’ve been to Membury Services many times in the past, so it was strange to arrive at such a familiar destination in this unusual mode of transport. Coffee and cake were very welcome as I reviewed the plans for the final leg of the journey.

Parked up at Membury - notice the difference between old and new tarmac.

On departure another aircraft, a 3 axis microlight, was also parked up. He moved his onto the hard taxiway before starting up, and I thought this would be a good idea too – to avoid any loose stones damaging the paintwork. Taking off before him, I headed west with the intention of flying towards Melksham, then over to Bath and north back to Kemble.

Turning back to Kemble once past Chippenham

On the way, I circled overhead Drayton Farm strip – another on my short list to visit sometime. This is aligned 18/36, so is best with either very little wind or with a southerly component. It’s grass and is undulating, but quite long. I didn’t really have time for this today. As I headed further west and reached Chippenham, I could see the heavy weather and dark clouds approaching quickly. I decided to quite while I was ahead, and flew north directly back to Kemble. I felt I needed to make a decision before I reached Colerne so that I could keep clear of their zone, and once on track I just needed to avoid Hullavington which I kept to the west.

The aerobatic aircraft from Ultimate High were taking off as I approached. I made a standard overhead join for 26LH with a good final landing, then refuelled and parked up. In retrospect, I wished I’d landed on the grass runway – something I’ve yet to do at Kemble. The grass taxiway back from refuelling wasn’t in use today and I had to wait for the main runway to become clear before being instructed to backtrack and exit on the hard taxiway back to parking, passing one of the other club aircraft just departing. Finished the paperwork, noting the low oleo on the tech log, and we’re done for the day.

Some good general experience, especially familiarising myself with the Robin – a much lighter aircraft than the Warrior – but perhaps making it more responsive and fun to fly in other ways. Perhaps if filled full with fuel and another passenger, it wouldn’t have been bounced around quite so much on short final.

Only another 10 hours PIC to complete before I reach the stage of being self-authorising at the club.

Hours today: 2:50
Total Hours: 181:05 (PIC 90:00)

Sherburn-in-Elmet

A Change of Plan

The first club flyout of the year was planned to visit Perranporth in Cornwall, a very scenic airfield right on the edge of the cliffs just west of Newquay. With 3 pilots and up to 9 people, this would be quite a reasonable group and a good start to the annual program.

Our plans went awry when looking at the forecast. Although there was no wind or rain to worry about, low cloud in the south west meant we would at best be flying quite low, especially over the Mendips.

A phone call to Mike, one of the club instructors, provided some helpful guidance. He suggested I rang Newquay (this was before Perranporth had opened), and when they told me about seafog engulfing the runway down to 600 feet until mid afternoon, the decision was quickly made not to go there. Hastily, we replanned for the alternate of Sherburn-in-Elmet, just north of Doncaster. This popular GA airfield has a hard runway and would require good navigation and radio work to get there. The route I planned took us west of Birmingham and East Midlands, then over the Yorkshire moors on the way there, returning to the east over Scunthorpe , Melton Mowbray and Daventry. With an airborne flight time of around 1:30 each way, we’d be looking at about 4 hours total for the day.

Unfortunately one of the pilots, Andy, dropped out due to illness, leaving Bruce – another relatively new/low hours PPL – and myself each with two passengers. We each had one experienced (but out of currency) PPL and one student PPL passenger, so were fairly equally balanced.

Down to our last 2 GPS units

The crew had A-checked and preflighted both aircraft while both pilots had been deciding on the destination. I had already planned and printed out a PLOG for this alternate route using SkyDemon. Bruce hadn’t, so we waited while he worked out his own plan, sharing the details and waypoints I had used. I marked up the flight path on the chart, using for the first time the Northern chart I had bought earlier in the month. Thinking we were fully prepared, we mounted up and got ready to start the engines.

I pulled out my relatively new 7 inch GPS and powered it up, only to find that I had reconfigured it as a SatNav and not restored it to SkyDemon. If I had remembered, I could have been doing this while waiting in the clubhouse. Fortunately, I still had my older model and plugged that in – it wouldn’t have the route, the electronic charts were a few months out of date, but it should be good enough. Without having been used recently and with a flat battery, it took a long time to lock on to the GPS signal and determine a position – we had departed the airfield before it was fully locked on.

Additionally, we still had the onboard/built-in moving map GPS together with another older handheld Garmin owned by one of my passengers. With those, together with good charts, plenty of lookout and a plog to follow, I thought we would still be covered adequately.

Flying North

Taking off from 26, we turned right and climbed out leaving Aston Down well to port. We routed up overhead Gloucester, who gave us a basic service, then Halfpenny Green, then squawked a listening code of 0011 and tuned into Birmingham Radar. Further north, we switched to East Midlands and then Doncaster. It seemed there was low cloud over the moors, but as we approached we found we could fly at a reasonable level with plenty of visibility. There were some downdraughts though that made it a bit uncomfortable at times.

Just north of Wolverhampton

Bruce had chosen to fly much higher, some 4500 feet or so, and later reported it was much smoother up there. We could hear them saying they planned to switch to a Military LARS service north of Birmingham – this surprised us because we understood they didn’t work weekends, and was later borne out. Doncaster was really busy on the radio and we had trouble getting a word in edgeways, but did confirm a Basic Service. As we got closer to our destination, we changed to Fenton Approach – the military controller from Church Fenton. Sherburn lies just on the edge of their MATZ, and you have to ask for MATZ clearance before talking to Sherburn. We were allocated a discrete squawk, and as we reached some 5 miles out, I asked to change to the airfield frequency. I was given clearance and frequency change was approved.

Sherburn Radio were very helpful and gave clear airfield information. The overhead join was to be at 1500 feet, with the circuit active at 1000, so good height keeping was essential. There seemed to be someone flying in a strange direction at circuit height below me as I reached the overhead, but once descending the other circuit traffic became clearly visible.

We landed just as the aircraft ahead vacated the runway. Shortly afterwards, Bruce also landed and turned immediately off onto the grass to clear the runway and allow the following aircraft to land. I hadn’t realised you could do this, but fortunately there had been no-one immediately behind me.

We taxied into parking, and walked into the clubhouse to pay our fees and enjoy a well deserved lunch – Sausage Sandwich.

The crew for the flyout after arrival in Sherburn-in-Elmet.

Flying South

After refuelling – the price of AVGAS was over 10% cheaper there than at our home base – we took off and departed south to ensure we were clear of the MATZ. There is a slight kink in the flight path for noise abatement on departure, but otherwise straightforward. Turning East, we headed towards Goole and got a bit closer than I would have liked to Doncaster airspace – we were under the 2000 feet lower limit so didn’t infringe. Goole was clearly visible as was the view of the Humber (and the Humber Bridge) ahead. Turning south, we overflew Scunthorpe and routed via Melton Mowbray.

The sun was in our eyes now, and despite using sunglasses, the visibility ahead was more difficult because of it. I was glad of the extra pairs of eyes looking out onboard.

I picked up the Daventry VOR and DME signal quite early, and used these to track inbound and outbound from the Beacon. We talked to Coventry for a basic service, then switched to Brize as we got closer to home. Whether my routing was thought to be a bit close to Little Rissington or not, the controller was very helpful in reminding me they were active – we could see various gyrocopters in the circuit – and I routed a little further north to keep well clear.

Approaching Kemble, the sun was in our eyes and there were a couple of aircraft in the circuit. I elected to make a crosswind join over the runway, slotting in between the circuit traffic. The wind must have been quite variable and gusty – I found it sank during very short final and there was a (small) bounce. Where I had been advised of some 10-12 knots of wind, the next pilot was told the wind was calm.

We taxied back to parking where Bob was waiting ready to fly the aircraft away for its 50 hour maintenance check. Paperwork done, it wasn’t long before we were able to leave for home. A good days flying which had made first use of my new Northern Chart, this was more fun with the larger party of six and added almost 4 hours more PIC time in the log book.

The route on Google Earth (missing the start/finish near Kemble due to GPS issues) is shown below:

Flight track Kemble to/from Sherburn-in-Elmet. Green outbound, red return.

Hours today: 3:50
Total Hours: 178:15 (PIC 87:10)

Solo Navex to beat the snow

Almost snowed off

I’d arranged to fly in one of the club Warriors from Kemble with Andy today, with the intention of practicing some IMC approaches. Looking at the forecast, it didn’t look like we could make a full day of it – snow was expected to arrive after lunchtime – so the best that we thought we could do was a short “local” flight around the area. Andy wasn’t keen to do this, so I decided to take the opportunity and fit in a morning navex (Navigation Exercise).

Having decided to do this, I carefully plotted the route on SkyDemon and checked the weather and NOTAMs before printing it out. The route would be to the south west, overhead Badminton, then intercept the ILS and fly the localiser towards Filton (not under the hood because I didn’t have a safety pilot), then south west across Bath south of Colerne. I’d route back via Lyneham to Kemble, but was particularly keen to spot Wadworth Farm strip from overhead – I’d not been able to pick it out before.

Remarkably rapid departure

It was relatively easy to get things organised when I arrived. A couple of phone calls got me  authorisation from an instructor and there were no calls to landaway airfields to make. After taking the covers off, most of the frost could easily be wiped off with gloved hands, so that after 15 minutes I was ready to go. After completing the A check, I was pleased to find the engine started pretty much first time. Leaving it to warm up, I ensured my GPS was all setup with the flight plan and the radios were all tuned in.

But delayed while the engine warmed up

Although I’d taken several minutes before taxing, I still found I needed to wait several more minutes at the hold for the oil temperature to rise before I could conduct the power checks. There was a helicopter practising at the end of the runway, and after it departed I was the only traffic in the zone.

Flying toward Filton

Departing to the south west, I quickly identified the usual landmarks of Tetbury and the Fosse Way. I had time to clearly identify the runway at Badminton with a view to landing there sometime. Bristol radar gave me a discrete squawk code “for conspicuity purposes only” and I was pleased that there weren’t any problems with the transponder today. Flying south to the M4, I was able to identify the Filton ILS and flew towards it checking that I wasn’t about to bust Bristol airspace. Filton is closed at weekends (apart from emergency  lifts by the air ambulance) and their ILS path is outside controlled airspace anyway, so I wasn’t conflicting with anyone.

Badminton House with airfield on the right hand side

Without any pressure to track the ILS closely under the hood, I was able to keep a good lookout while watching the needles converge. I broke off the approach at the edge of the Filton ATZ – although it isn’t active at weekends, I suspect there is no reason why I couldn’t continue down to a lower level, but I had done enough. The view of that extremely long and wide runway on approach is quite something.

I kept marking up my Plog as I routed back towards Pucklechuch, and kept below 2000 feet to ensure I didn’t enfringe Bristol airspace. Once overhead Bath Racecourse, the limit rises to 3500 feet and bearing in mind the glide clear rule, I climbed a little higher. Bristol reminded me that Colerne was active today and I confirmed my routing would be to the south.

I got a great view of the city of Bath and was able to pick out many of the landmarks.

Bath City Centre, Avon river and railway station

Wadworth Farm Strip is just outside the south edge of Colerne ATZ, a few miles east of Bath, and I managed to pick it out this time as I passed to the south of it.

Wadworth Farm Strip - Just below the lower orange field, left to right with buildings below

The Grob Tutors from Colerne were active today in the airspace around Lyneham, and were getting a traffic service from Bristol. It seemed that we were the only three aircraft in the area and well covered by the radar service. Visibility was starting to reduce now, so I thought it sensible to return to Kemble as planned.

Making a standard overhead join for 26, I underestimated the southerly wind (it was reported at 7-10 knots on the surface) and overshot the turn onto final, but managed to recover and was lined up by short final leading to a reasonable touchdown.

Deadside descent into Kemble from the north

Back to the pumps for refuelling and then to parking. By the time I’d finished the paperwork less than half an hour later, there were snowflakes falling outside the club room. I think I had just about timed it right. With the snow forecast to be heavy in the coming week, Heathrow cancelling 1/3 of all flights the following day, this would likely be the last private flight for a few weeks.

Hours today: 1:05
Total Hours: 174:25 (PIC 83:20)