Marc and Adrian had talked about going somewhere completely different a number of times early this year but never quite getting their act together. With the fair weather flying season coming to an end, shorter days and with LB flying so well, the pair decided on a flight to Wales as neither Adrian nor Marc had been there before. They research possible landing places and decided on EGFA West Wales/Aberporth. The airfield is a just over a 1 mile to coastal village of Aberporth. So perfect. Direct to EGFA from Little Gransden at 3000 avoids all controlled airspace so should be easy. Plan made called Aberporth for PPR. Unfortunately Adrian was told that EGFA is closed at weekends. 🙁

With their thinking hats back on again Marc suggested Cromer as he had not been there before.  Also Neil mentioned Cromer in his WhatApp report the day before.  As Adrian had been to Cromer before he wanted to also look at visiting other airfields in Norfolk and Suffolk. Adrian made another plan Little Gransden -> Shiphdam -> Cromer -> Beccles -> Great Oakley -> Little Gransden. Neither Marc or Adrian had been to Beccles or Great Oakley.  With PPR for Cromer, Beccles and Great Oakley we set off.

With new plan made, Marc and Adrian arranged to meet at Little Gransden airfield. Unfortunately as both of them had other tasks to do, it was late morning before they arrived. Adrian was there first so completed the walk round check and headed to the pumps to fill up. So many planes at Little Gransden these days so careful manoeuvring was required.

Marc arrive shortly after and with quick brief the pair agreed that Marc would fly the first leg. Departing LG at 12:50 local Marc climbed out of the circuit and headed north east to the first way point just north of the Mildenhall MATZ. This leg was surprisingly turbulent with considerable up drafts in places. A careful eye out for gliders was required. Tried calling Shiphdam but with no reply decided to give it a miss and head north towards the coast. LB broke over coast just west of Brakeney and headed east past Weybourne airfield, Sheringham and towards Cromer.

A call from a motorised glider joining was heard ahead of Marc’s call. With airfield information Marc descended dead-side to join downwind for 22 left-hand. After Marc entered the circuit the motorised glider decided to delay entering the circuit.

After an hour with welcome cuppa Adrian and Marc departed for the second leg. Adrian at the controls. After climbing out of the circuit they headed east over the coast then turned south past Great Yarmouth. Listening to Beccles Adrian requested straight in approach to 27

There was no parachute activity and the very helpful person on the radio gave Adrian clear instructions where to park. Talking to the radio operator Adrian found that much had been done to Beccles in the last year such that we wouldn’t have recognise it from previous year. Adrian was also told that if we come again in a year we won’t recognise it again. I guess they have big plans for Beccles. Great that some people/companies are investing in general aviation again.

Another cup of coffee in the cafe which had been recently done up and staff were extremely friendly. Both Marc and Adrian agreed that everybody they met a Beccles were very helpful and friendly. Well worth a visit.

The pair were soon on their way again for departing from 27.

Once airborne climbed and again headed to the coast. Adrian needs to get some practice in with shooting videos.

Heading south past Sizewell nuclear power station keeping just outside (above) the restricted area.

The pair continued south past Felixstowe and Harwich before heading west for an approach to 27. There are noise abatement areas so well advised to check Great Oakley airfield website and in particular https://www.greatoakleyairfield.co.uk/Images/Map_marked-up.pdf. Adrian had received a briefing and was told about a line of weeds across the runway which could look like a ditch on approach but that there was nothing to worry about. Marc landed and could have been stopped well short of the weeds and headed up the taxiway beside 22. Long taxi to parking area. As Adrian had paid landing fee online at Beccles there was only the sign in and sign out to do. There is a big modern hanger with an assortment of aircraft including a Harvard.

It wasn’t very busy put talking to a helpful lady Adrian found out that it was a short distance to the village of Great Oakley where there is a pub, cafe and shop. The lady said that visiting pilots can camp on the airfield. They charge £10 for overnight. Adrian would be flying the last leg and after a long taxi to 27 threshold we were soon accelerating and into the air before the line of weeds.

With the sun now getting low in the sky the visibility for the last leg wasn’t as good as the other legs. Adrian needs to add click “Go Flying” to his check list. As it was getting late in the day the early thermal activity had dropped so the flight was somewhat smoother. Near Cambridge Adrian called LG to find out if 28 was still being used. He had hoped if there wasn’t any circuit activity and with the light winds he could use 10 so as not to be landing into the sun. Unfortunately, they were still using 28 but Adrian reported that it wasn’t that bad and he had experienced worse. The pair landed around 18:10 local.

With the LB parked up and the paperwork complete Adrian and Marc headed for the pub. Marc and Adrian both agreed that it was a great afternoon flying with the highlight being Beccles. Definitely worth a visit.

At the end of August, LB group member Neil, along with his son, Kian, took a trip down to Cornwall. Originally, the plan was to fly up to Scotland, to the famed grass strip of Glenforsa on the Island of Mull but the incessant rain up there during that time put pay to that idea. One for the future – watch this space!

The weather looked fine for the back up plan of Newquay airport so the route was planned stopping off at another well known grass strip of Compton Abbas.

Again, using the great tool that is Sky Demon, we set off. It was immediately apparent that it was a lovely day with excellent visibility and fair weather cumulus building. Using the Luton listening squawk, we skirted around their airspace cruising at 2500ft on their QNH, turning at Wing. Approaching the Benson MATZ, a call for MATZ penetration was made. Being Sunday, there was no reply but with another aircraft and a glider in the MATZ, the frequency turned into an informal ‘traffic information’ guide with us all passing position reports.

Tracking towards Stockbridge kept us clear of the bulk of the Boscombe Down / Middle Wallop airspace. Again, a call to Middle Wallop resulted in no reply but we communicated with a microlight, which passed 500ft below us as we turned at Stockbridge. From there, it was a direct track to an overhead join at Compton Abbas. It did look spectacular with the rolling hills and with a wind of 300/15, there was a good crosswind from the right with some turbulence on approach  Below 100ft though, it all went smooth.

Parking at the east end of a long line of visiting aircraft meant a decent walk to work up an appetite for lunch. I can highly recommend the food here, I had an enormous baguette. It was warm enough to sit outside amongst a variety of visitors to the cafe, including whole families and a group of motorcyclists, just watching the aeroplanes on a nice day.

I had planned about a couple of hours on the ground at Compton Abbas, but after an hour, Kian was especially eager to get going. We picked a busy time to depart, being number 5 taxiing out! At this point the highlight of the day for Kian was spotting a PA28R taxiing beside us with a registration of G-KIAN. He’ll have to own that one day!

After departure, the navigation was more straightforward now with much less airspace to worry about. Tracking towards Princetown before a very small right turn to Newquay kept us clear of the danger areas on Dartmoor. Exeter gave us a Basic Service up to the turn then handed us over to Newquay radar, who gave us a new squawk. This part was very scenic over the southern part of Dartmoor National Park, passing Dartmoor Prison with Plymouth and the Tamar bridge visible on the left.

After the turn it was a straight run past Bodmin and we were given a right base join for runway 30. The enormous concrete runway looked ridiculous and after touchdown, I had to apply power to get to the right turnoff for the GA park – about a third of the way up the runway!

What a great welcome! We were told where to park then as we shutdown, a fuel bowser rolled up and filled the tanks. He was looking for some Avgas 100LL stickers by the filler caps as ‘some refuellers won’t refuel without them!’ Personally, he was OK about the lack of labels though – this has since been rectified on LB!

There were concrete block and ropes lying around in the parking area – ‘feel free to use them’ said the refueller. One was tied to the rear tiedown point. After donning the mandatory hi-viz vests, a short walk took us to the Fly NQY office where all that was required at this stage was a signature. Our taxi into Newquay was there waiting, even though we had arrived an hour early. An excellent service.

We had a couple of pleasant days in Newquay including a surf lesson at Fistral beach. We stayed at the Esplanade hotel and got a great, short notice deal for two nights by phoning them direct – much cheaper than I ever saw on the website.

On returning to Fly NQY, we settled the bill. The £30 landing fee initially seems steep but the associated service, quick fuelling and taxi arranging made this worth the cost. Conversely, the overnight parking fee was a mere £2.40 per night – much cheaper than parking a car! We were booked out, then after preparing the aircraft, called for start. We had more than enough runway from point C – where we had vacated after landing! The clearance was a right turn out, not above 2000ft. The plan was a non-stop flight home with the advantage of at least 20 knots of wind behind us. This should make about two hours. We routed along the coast initially passing Padstow, Tintagel Castle and turned away from the coast at Bude.

Speaking to Exeter radar again, we had to descend from 3000ft to 2500ft to stay clear of some overcast that had appeared. Then heading past Bridgwater, towards the Mendips, the cloud came down a bit more, some showers appeared and it became hard work looking for gaps and bright areas. This wasn’t forecast! I thought we’d have to turn south for an unscheduled stop at Compton Abbas, or even do a 180 and head away from the bad weather. In the end, we found a way through slightly North of track under the Bristol CTA near Cheddar. Careful navigation and MSA monitoring was called for here, passing Keevil, Lyneham (now disused) and over Swindon in the reduced visibility. 

Gradually, the low cloud lifted and dispersed and by Oxford, the sky was clear! We were back in familiar territory now and fairly quickly, we were downwind left hand for 28 at Little Gransden. It was still so early, only 1.30pm. Looking at the statistics for our return flight, the tailwind had been good to us with an average groundspeed of 109kts and a maximum of 127kts. The airborne time, from Cornwall to Cambridgeshire, was exactly two hours – try that in a car!

LB group member Neil had provisionally booked 3 days in late October to fly away somewhere. What are the chances of a decent weekend that late in the year? As it turned out, the weather was fantastic.

Neil and his twelve year old son, Kian, chose to head to Sandown, on the Isle of Wight and stay there for two nights. There is a Premier Inn only a five minute walk from the airfield and this could be booked with a last minute cancellation option – handy if the weather is critical!

The fuel tanks were filled to the top as this would give enough fuel for the whole trip. After some final setting up of the new 8.33kHz radio, the pair set off, turning at Westcott to get around the Luton and Heathrow airspace. The Luton frequency was monitored, using the listening squawk, then after the WCO turn, Farnborough was contacted for a Basic service. Benson MATZ was advised to be ‘inactive, as its the weekend’ but the advice was stay clear of the ATZ.

Farnborough were giving clearances through the Odiham MATZ. Initial cruise was at 3000ft QNH but after Basingstoke, a descent was made to 2500ft to slip under the Solent CTA (base 3000ft) to the East of Southampton. Solent radar were contacted, gave a squawk and were very laid back – ‘Report crossing the coast’. Routing over Portsmouth Harbour was very scenic, then a frequency change was requested to contact Sandown.

There are really no issues crossing the Solent without lifejackets – it is very narrow so there is always the option to easily glide into Lee-on-Solent, or continue across to the Isle.

The circuit at Sandown was busy so an orbit was carried out before slotting in behind a Cessna 152. On final approach as he vacated, it was like approaching Heathrow! There was already someone else, a Chipmunk, turning final just behind. The strip was fine, rougher than Little Gransden but all clearly marked. Vacating between cones, we were marshalled into a parking slot. Paying up in the tower, it was £12 landing fee and £10 per overnight parking. All very relaxed.

That afternoon, after the hotel check-in, a walk down to Sandown beach was in order. T-shirt weather in late October! The next day, it was a visit by taxi to Osborne House, Queen Victoria’s former holiday residence.

For the trip home, LB was now parked all alone, with all the other weekend visitors being long gone. On departure, a trip around the coast and past the Needles had to be done! 1500ft was maintained for this as the Solent CTA comes down to 2000ft near the North West of the Island.

A visit to Popham was made on the way home. With their frequency of 129.805 successfully used, it proves that the new 8.33kHz spacing radio works a treat! Runway 03 was in use there so no offset approach procedure today. Quite choppy approaching over the trees but it was a nice, smooth grass runway. For the final leg, a strong northerly wind made for a long drag home but, again, beautiful weather and an uneventful arrival back at Little Gransden. LB performed without a hitch and was rewarded with a good wash before being put to bed in Hangar 2.

Tor Khan, one of Sara Whites Blues dance crew, was organising a group of her students to travel to Nepal to help to rebuild a school that was damaged by the earthquake in 2015. Tor was looking for sponsorship/donations to help buy building and/or educational resources/equipment. Adrian offered to take some of the blues dancers flying if they contributed to Tor’s request for donations.  Tor herself had done a long sponsored walk from her home to Buckden village hall on 17 June, arriving at the end of the dance lesson to much applause.  What an achievement and she still had the energy to dance.

So back to the flights on a lovely summer’s evening. Lesley and Dawn arrived looking very relaxed in their summer shorts and appeared to be very excited about the flights ahead of them.  Adrian in contrast arrived in his office work clothes not quite a pilot’s uniform but not far off.  You’ve gotta look professional haven’t you! So we all walked over to the Piper Cherokee aircraft and Adrian took a moment to do the serious stuff a safety briefing.  So having completed that and with external checks done earlier it was agreed that Dawn would be in the back and Lesley would be in the front for the first flight.

Adrian went through the usual pre-start up check list and at the “Clear Prop” he was joined by the now two very excited girls.  I think we could have been heard at the other end of the airfield.  With the engine running we taxied to holding point alpha for the run-up checks.  The wind was favouring the 10 runway but there wasn’t much wind so we could have used 28.  Lining up on 10 Adrian sensed increasing excitement coming from his passengers.  At the point we started rolling, Dawn started to record a video.

As we accelerate to take off speed the video captures Lesley’s enjoyment and surprisingly you could hear them over the engine noise.  These girls aren’t quiet!  Adrian’s focus of course is on a safe departure.  We climb out of the right hand circuit up to 2500 feet.  Once we are safely trimmed out in the cruise Adrian hands control over to Lesley.  Unsurprisingly LB becomes a little quieter.  With Lesley at the controls we head out toward Grafham Water east of St Neots.  Flying over Grafham with Lesley still at the controls we head back south, west of St Neots.  At the Black Cat roundabout we turn east and head back to Little Gransden. For the first time at the controls of a light aircraft Lesley was doing very well. With about 5 miles to run Adrian takes back control allowing Lesley to film the approach to land.

With an airliner, 3 deg style approach we land safely back on terra firma.  Perhaps one of Adrian’s better landings.  We park close to the runway and shut down and exit for a few minutes.  Now it’s Dawn’s chance to be in the front with Lesley in the rear.  Again the girls join me in a loud “Clear Prop” just before starting the engine.  As before, we use runway 10 but this time instead of heading north west we initially head east towards Cambridge.  At our cruising altitude and trimmed out I hand control over to Dawn. We turn to head north to avoid getting too close to Cambridge ATZ and east of Bourn and over Dry Drayton.  If it wasn’t for the engine you probably could hear a pin drop.  Dawn soon gets the hang of it and is doing very well.  After flying over the A14 we turn left to head north-west towards St Ives keeping the A14 out to our left. Close to St Ives we again turn left and head towards St Neots.

Before St Neots we turn left once more to head south before joining left base for runway 10.  Dawn had been intently focused during the whole time she was at the controls.  As we turn on final Adrian takes back control for a second landing at Little Gransden.  With Lesley filming in the rear Adrian makes a slightly steeper approach this time.

The video suggests a bumpy landing but Adrian thinks it was Lesley not holding her phone firm enough.  Anyway, with us all safely back at Little Gransden it is shutdown time and we exit for those all important photos and selfies.

From the smiles on Lesley and Dawn’s faces we can safely assume that they both enjoyed the experience immensely. Both Lesley and Dawn did really well at the controls, perhaps they might think about taking up flying. The LB flying group is looking for new members 🙂