Tommorrow Andy Moore and I will all being well depart Kemble with the Fly-Uk group. This is an annual evet in which a bunch of intrepid microlighters attempt to circumnavigate the UK visiting both the Scilly Isles and John-o-Groats all in the same week and finish on the Isle Of Wight for a party. Some even make it across into Northern Ireland en route.

There are two routes, one for faster aircraft and one for slow.

For details and to follow the groups progress visit http://www.fly-uk.org

*** update Friday evening. Departure may be delayed, our prop was found to be damaged today, Andy has dashed about and got a reconditioned one from Manton but its not going to get fitted until the morning.

Š

On Saturday 5th May Andy Moore and I set off early from Kemble to the annual microlight fly-in and fair at Popham. It was a misty cool morning with low cloud base when we left which meant staying at or below 1000ft most of the way down there.

We tuned into Popham a fair way out and initially heard 1 or 2 other aircraft calling, as we got nearer it got busier and busier until we reached the overhead and joined the circuit traffic. I kid you not from the moment we arrived through to an maybe 90 mins after we’d landed there was almost always 3 or 4 joining overhead, 5 on the downwind and 3 to 6 aircraft on finals ! Quite a hairy thing to watch, especially with go-arounds from time to time !

We had a great time and came back via Redlands airfield where we sat in the sun and watched parachuting taking place for a while.

More comments later maybe - lots of photos in the gallery.

Š

Bank holiday Monday 9th April

Beautiful sunny day, blue skies, much warmer than Annas last flight in November ! The wind was around 250 degrees at 5 knots and forecast not to go above 8 knots. I had two options planned, either south to Isle of Wight or north to Halfpenny Green. The former seemed a shade too far for time and besides “The Loop” newspaper had given a good report of Ha’penny Green in the previous edition.

We departed Kemble and had planned a little sight seeing loop out to the Severn Estuary over the Severn bridges before turning right over the forest and passing Newent where Annas grandad had been tipped off to look out for two waving nutters in a yellow sinclair C5 hanging from a bit of cloth and scaffolding ! Unfortunatly we ran late and he’d wisely gone back in the warm hee hee!

As we crossed the M50 I spoke to Gloucester Radar and obtained the Barnsley QNH, the first time I’ve crossed a regional boundary in flight, and soon we were tracking the Severn river as it wound its way up past the Malvern hills and through Worcester.

Anna had been enjoying the first 40 mins or so, especially when we flew over Drybrook and a house she lived in as a child. However she started getting quiet soon after we passed the Malvern hills, but said she was ok.

Soon we passed “Pound Green” microlight field (met two guys from there once on the ground at Hereford) and right on the nose was Chelmarsh Reservoir, an excellent landmark by which to locate the field. I called up Halfpenny Green Information who were very professional, friendly and helpfull.

 As we joined overhead I looked back at Anna and realised she was not at all happy, head down, shoulders up, looking straight into my back. I reassured her we would be down on the ground in no time and after a nice landing on 28 and a short taxi I killed the engine and climbed out. Bless her she was in tears. I felt awful. It turned out she’d suddenly got scared and lost her nerve, but nothing in particular had triggered it.

We secured BYFF and set off towards the tower I was amused to notice several aircraft spotters taking pics of us. We went into the tower’s CafeOK (pronounced CAVOK - pilots will get it!) and enjoyed a very tasty lasagne, chips and filter coffee refuel. I popped up to the tower to settle the £7.50 landing fee and was greeted by two friendly FISO’s, one of whom flies flexwings himself. Always a good thing !

I offerred to fly back and return in the car to fetch Anna, but she insisted she felt ok now and would fly back. We agreed we could land at Croft Farm (Defford) within 20 minutes if she was not happy and I’d get her from there. I think she was extremely brave getting back in.

On the way back Anna was chatty again, some brave face I feel but certainly not sufferring. We both found amusement at the long traffic jams crawling around the windy loop insde West Midlands Safari Park ! Soon after that we were abeam Croft Farm and Anna said it was ok we could carry on. I took the quick route home and tracked the M5 direct, working Gloucester Radar as we overflew Gloucestershire Airport and headed off towards Kemble.

Overall a nice day out, 2 hrs outbound leg, 1hr25 back. Short local bimbles for Anna in future if any flying at all maybe, I guess we are not all propellorheads eh?

No photos for this trip, but many others in the gallery.

Between Mid December and early March I never seemed to have any luck. When I had other committments on weekends it was nice weather, when I was free to fly it was blowing a gale at 90 degrees to the runway without fail

The club has a sensible rule for syndicate members that if one has not flown in 30 days then you have a check flight with an instructor. This is a simple procedure, 3 circuits displaying competence in control, airmanship and procedures with a possible practice forced landing or engine failure thrown in somewhere to keep you on your toes. Cue Mike with his “so what would you do if your engine failed now?”……………..click go the mag switches !

There are times I wondered if I’d ever get to do more than a 20 minute check flight followed by a quick sortie to Windrush and back, before another 30 days passed and I did the same again !

Anyway, spring sprung and more reports will follow soon. Š

Saturday the 16th December.

An early afternoon flight down to Brimpton airfield.

I had decided it was time to start venturing a little further away from Kemble, pushing my comfort zone a little and doing some navigating over unfamiliar territory. Brimpton was by my estimates about 1hr 15 mins flying time and seemed a nice grass runway airfield. The website had lots of information and the weather forecast had been good, so that was my plan.

Satuerday PM came and the weather was good, cloudbase over 3000ft scattered, wind 260 degrees at 8 knots.

I departed the ciruit to the East and flew out over the Cotswolds Water Park, around the back of Swindon to the M4, along the M4 cutting down between Newbury and Thatcham to overfly Newbury racecourse and the old Greenham Common airbase before the short final stretch east to Brimpton. (If you are planning a visit do obtain details of circuit and approach as they are within the Atomic Weapons Establishments Restricted Zone and as such procedures apply.)

The flight was excellent taking about 1hr10 out and 1hr 25 back.

I did however do several detours and loops on the outward leg during which I took a few quick snaps (see the gallery page) in particular of chaos on the M4 motorway with a truck on its side across the carriageway. I felt like the traffic report “eye in the sky” !

Passing Newbury it was nice to see the racecourse and contrast it with the size of the old Greenham Common airbase famed by the CND campaigners that used to camp there in days gone by. The airbase is largely overgrown now and although one can see the runway I wouldnt try and land on it ! The large bomb proof aircraft shelters are still very visible and I suspect still being used for storage today.

Brimpton airfield was easy to find and I was made very welcome. They have a snack/coffee bar in the clubhouse with reasonable prices and friendly local pilots. If I recall correctly the landing fee was £5.

The return leg took a little longer with again a few detours combined with the wind against me and I arrived back at Kemble a little before 4pm after a pleasant afternoons flght.

Total flying time to date of this post: ~25hrs solo

Sunday the 19th of November was a chilly but bright and sunny day with a good breeze blowing. It was also a day I had BYFF booked and had offerred to take my girlfriend Anna flying for the first time. We left Gloucester and headed over to Kemble for about 10am. BYFF was booked from 10am to 1pm so we had plenty of time.

Having pulled BYFF out from the new hangar I set about doing my normal checks and explaining all to Anna to help put her at ease.

Next we found a spare flying suit, helmet and balaclava (it was nippy!) and soon Anna was standing alongside BYFF wrapped up warm in several layers, a jacket and a suite looking like a female Michelin man !  Still it was barely over zero on the ground so it was worth it !Next came boarding BYFF and I was glad my instructor Mike and examiner David had made me treat them like rooky passengers a few times during training, ensuring I could give a proper safety brief to future passengers. I already had in mind what to tell Anna with regard to what to touch, what not to, not to grab my arms etc etc, and how to try and put her at ease. Not forgetting of course to wait until she was strapped in on her own and leaning over and saying Mike Oakley’s favourite line “would you like me to come with you the first time?” Hee hee hee.

At 11am we taxied with me translating the towers “radio-ese” into English for Anna. In no time we had done final checks and were cleared to “take off at our discretion”….

Ian: “Ok, ready?”

Anna: “Yes”

Ian:”Ok, the engine will get louder now, then we’ll accellerate quite quickly and before you know it we’ll be flying…”

Anna:”Ok”

I opened the throttle and watched the airspeed rise…

Ian:”Ok, here we go…..and any second now…..yep……we are flying”

Anna:”whooohooo !”

More mixed sounds and chuckles followed as we climbed out at around 1200ft per minute into a clear blue sky. I explained we would fly around in a circuit and come in to land again just to see how she felt about it all, then if she felt happy then we could take off again and go for a short flight. One ciruit and a “touch-n-go” later and we were departing the circuit for a little flight out to Windrush and back.

We landed at Windrush and had a little wander about and shaking of limbs to warm up. We’d only been up 1500 to 2000ft but it was a cold morning. A short flight later and we were back at Kemble. Two hot chocalates in AV8 later and we left Kemble to find an excellent Sunday lunch at the “Thames Head” pub nearby

I think overall Anna enjoyed it, although she said it would be “better in summer” !!

I found an excellent post on this website… http://www.airstoreone.co.uk/fly/forum.htm which explains how to use the AIS website to get useful NOTAM’s and information before your flight. I expect some readers are going “yawn, I always browse the pile of sheets on the notice board and find nothing useful so I’ve given in bothering”. It does seem to be a chore and the AIS website can be a bit bewildering for newcomers like me. Have a read of the article on the link above or even better view this site http://www.flyers.org.uk/AIS/NarrowRouteBrief.htm which is an animated demonstration of using the AIS site, sit back and watch as it fills in the boxes and explaains everything for you ! Well done to whoever made that and thanks.

Finally, I discovered this number for AIS Heathrow, 0500 354802,it’s freephone and you hear a recorded message telling you about restricted areas, Royal flights and other useful things. Whack it in your mobile now and even if you do nothing else as aa minimum have a quick listen before you leave home or open the hangar.

On Sunday 10th Sept it was a nice sunny blue skies day with very light southerly winds and I had “Byff” booked

I decided that I’d go for a local bimble and drop into two local airfields to make a triangular flight route. The plan was for Kemble to Ledbury, then Ledbury to Croft Farm (Defford) then back home. Unfortunatley I couldn’t get an answer on the phone for Ledbury and not wishing to breach PPR I anticipated not landing but to overfly anyway to have a look if nothing else. Having previously visited Croft Farm PPR was not required.

Kemble was busy as it was the annual open day with displays and lots of trial flights etc. So while I was pre flight checking Byff on the Alpha apron opposite our new hangar I was interrupted several times by interested people. This was nice though, especially three young lads, one of whom was asking lots of questions including the cost of buying a 2nd hand flexwing. When I told him he could get a 2nd hand flexwing for around 3K his mate said “blimey you spent that much on that old fiesta!” Hopefully he’ll be back for a flight

I departed Kemble’s 26 hard runway at 1605 making a right turn out passing to the east of the nearby Aston Down gliding site and then turning left to pass Stroud and head out towards the Severn estuary. Climbing to 3000ft on the QNH I found it to be 1 finger on the bar flying conditions, just as Mike our club instructor had reported. Excellent.

Approaching the M5 with the Severn estuary S bends and the Gloucester to Sharpness canal shining in the sunlight I contacted Gloucester Tower and requested a Flight Information Service. It can get busy around here on nice days ! Traffic was light though so I assume all pilots were on BBQ duties !

I took a little meandering detour along the Severn towards Gloucester and back to the big S bend before turning roughly North. Gloucester instructed me to “report overhead Ledbury”. It wasn’t long before I crossed the M50 between Ross-on-Wye and Newent where I adjusted course towards Ledbury.

Ledbury airfield was easy to spot being very close to a large radio mast. The field appeared deserted so with no-one waving as I did a quick circle in the overhead and with no PPR I continued on advising Gloucester “G-FF overhead Ledbury @ 3000ft on QNH tracking M50 towards Croft Farm”. The response “G-FF report approaching Croft Farm”

Now, if I couldnt find Croft Farm then it would be sad ! Very simple- I followed the M50, keeping the Malvern Hills on my left (I must fly up and along that ridge some day), and when it joined the M5 I turned North where I could already see the huge golf ball radar recievers of Defford radar site which is alongside Croft Farm. Another good landmark is the Strensham services. One is also well advised to keep a good look out for Helimed 03 which is based there at a helipad by the services. This helicopter is very busy - I already knew where he was on this occasion as I’d heard it working Gloucester tower on the way from Dursley to Cheltenham A&E.

So I called Gloucester again, “G-FF approaching Croft Farm request frequency change to 119.1 Defford Radio”. Gloucester replied “G-FF approved, good day”. As radio traffic was light I replied with a quick “Thanks for your assistance, G-FF”.

So with altimeter adjusted to read Croft farm QFE I called “Defford Radio” with no response so I advised “Defford Traffic” of my intentions to join for a left hand circuit for runway 27.

As I flew along the downwind leg making my calls I observed a fixed wing microlight taxying towards 27 which then continued onto and along 27 stopping at the end for a 09 departure. Calling again as I turned onto finals I got no repsonse and with the aircraft showing no sign of vacating I decided to “go around”. He then taxied back and vacated allowing me to land on a 2nd approach to 27 with a good landing at 1735.

After parking and signing in I wandered over to say hi to the 2 chaps by the hangar. It turned out the pilot hadn’t been listening and I understand was doing a fast taxi to warm the engine for a test. I guess this shows the importance of vigilance in the ciruit and listening for “traffic” calls.

There followed a pleasant hours chat where I picked up lots of tips especially on buying 2nd hand flexings. I also met Mike who runs the hangarage who said they could probably fit a flexi in should I buy one, which is good news as I like this airfield and it’s fairly close to home.

Around 1830 I decided that with the sun descending I should make a move to allow plenty of time to get back to Kemble or elsewhere should for some unexpected reason I needed to divert. So at 1835 I departed runway 27 and turned left to cross the M5 at Strensham before turning South to track the M5 down to Gloucester. I called up Gloucester tower to request a Flight Information Service again and requested to route through their overhead at 3000ft. I’d only overflown Gloucester in Flight Sim before so it was nice to do a comparison ! Flight Sim is more realistic

Passing overhead Gloucester I had the opportunity to view my previous employers office building which is located adjacent to the airfield perimeter. It was from the window there that for many months I was frustrated by the constant