Flying Cabbage

I want to work my way up to Weybourne on the Norfolk coast step by step, so today (6/5/2012) I thought I would fly part of the initial route and do some sight seeing. I noticed RAF Cardington was shown on the CAA chart as a Danger area (balloon launching), I remember going to see these large Airship hangars in my early twenties with my dad on a rainy Sunday in my new Suzuki Jeep.

I had managed a good plog, working out ETA for the legs until I passed the Cardington waypoint and en-route to Henlow (Glider site),  I was  facing a wall of dark clouds and spitting rain.  I was taken upwards by a sudden updraft like an express elevator, I pushed the stick to dive the nose down and removed the power as I approached 100kts on the ASI (permitted VNE 112kts @ 3,100 rpm), but I was still climbing. I did feel slightly panic-ed at this point but eventually I stabilised the speed and height was back in control. My real fear was busting any vertical airspace and in all this excitment I had overflown Mappershall (grass air strip) that was my turning point. I did feel disorientated but I was determined to sort myself out in quick order.

I was able to log my ETA / ATA for Wing but had missed Mappershall timings, it amazing that when you are working on your Plog  and doing simple maths the ability to fly straight on a bearing is difficult. With better weather outlook flying back toward the West it was a joy to fly back to Oakley, everywhere looked very green and slightly flooded from the recent rains.

I returned to a active airfield, the other pilots had been to Popham and on training flights, with the weather being so good most of us had not flown for weeks, later in the evening I went for another 1 hr bimble down the River Thames from Henley to Newbury way.

 

 

Today (5th May 2012), I had planned a NAVEX to Wolverhampton but it was not to be. Small hassles were building up pre-flight and then within the first 5 minutes of the flight,  the Radio played up along with Oxford changing their Approach (APP) frequency, which I was not aware of.

I planned the flight and checked the weather, a fair amount of cloud today but with a reasonably high ceiling of 2,500+ ft and probability of rain in the afternoon. I had trouble getting the plane out of the hangar and refueling was a pain, my syphon (jiggle tube) did not want to work (felt hassled).  Additionally I saw two people picnicking on part of the main runway as I did my power checks. My friend Mike saw the couple and went to supervise them, this allowed me to take off.

As I climbed in the overhead, the Radio produced high frequency feedback and cut out whilst listening to the Oxford ATIS. I called Oxford APP when I was abeam Beckley Mast (6 Nm from the Oxford overhead) but the radio continued to play silly buggers, with Oxford cutting in and out. I power cycled the Radio whilst orbiting and tried again, Oxford ATC then informed me I was on the wrong frequency, but did not offer me the correct frequency and signed off  (later I found out that the frequency changed from 125.325 to 127.750 earlier in the week). So much for my flight planning software using upto date databases and I did not spot the change in the NOTAMS.

At this point I decided to return to Oakley, not knowing the frequency to tranist Oxford and a suspect radio on my hands, I did not want to start ad libbing the flight plan with new waypoints to aviod radio contact.

Today, I did a different overhead join to try the new extended circuit that the club is planning to use for a Fly-in later this month. The event is called “Oakley Aerodrome 70th Anniversary Fly-in & Classic Car rally”. For the event we have increased the height of the Standard Overhead join upto  1,500ft  with circuits at 1,000ft  and extended the downwind leg to achieve a 1 Nm final approach. This circuit should assist the Vintage GA aircraft that may fly-in on the day.

Click on the image below to see my Overhead Join and Landing for Rwy 02. If you view the video clip on YouTube, you can incease the HD quality to 720dpi to get a crisper image on full screen.

Using google Maps for post flight analysis, I checked my flight performance against the Airfiled plate for the event.

I was happy to be on the ground and spent time chatting to the other pilots, the weather became overcast and the temperature dropped, better to fly tomorrow.

I have been made redundant from my work so I am now at home on Garden Leave,  this has given me the opportunity to fly on four consecutive days.  We are currently experiencing good weather (today 27/2/2012) and with the start of BST, sunset it now around 19:30hrs.

Flying South is completely unmanageable with both the haze and bright sunlight today. I had my Navigation Lights, Strobes and Landing lights on, to make sure I am seen I and was scanning the sky.  From no where a plane appeared on my port side, it had approached me from the rear and was executing a climbing turn  away from me. I have to wonder is he had seen me at all ane why he had been so low in the first place.

As the Sun starts to set, the landscape has a lovely glow you are able to fly in comfort without straining, visibility to the east was excellent and I could see as far as Canary Wharf in London Docklands. I bimbled as far as High Wycombe where I lived as a boy and then returned back to my local flying area between Aylesbury and Bicester.  I followed features such as railway lines and looked at country houses and slowed my speed down to 60kts to take in the view. I also did a reconnaissance on Pear Tree Farm airstrip, which I visited by Car on winters day in January and I plan to fly-in to shortly.

I kept an eye on the time  19:15 hrs and matched that with the height of the Sun in the sky, yep time to return I was 8 minutes away from landing back at Oakley.

 

Once the Sun goes down it gets cold, I had shorts and a polo shirt and no jumper stupid !. I am now able to put Cabbage away in a neat 20 minute routine, then off home for tea with a grin on my face.

 

The weather is improving and getting warmer by the day, sunset is now around 18:20 hrs and BST starts at the end of the week. I have been preparing for the new season gradually by  going through my checklists and planning new destinations. I have managed to remain current during Winter 2011, it was mainly cold and dry; rather than the high winds, rain and snow of previous years.

Preparation tasks:-

• GPS Obstacle database update from Jeppeson for my Bendix/King AV8TOR/Ace
• Updates for my Airbox Aware (updates by the CAA every 28 days)
• Order new CAA Charts and AFE Airfield directory
• Pilot orientation nicked named as “rust removal”, circuits, take-off and landings fly in the local area
• Navigation and Planning, fly a Navex get used to the GPS systems again, practice my Radio work
• Set some stretch objectives to increase experience and skill levels, look to fly with friends
• Check number of hours flying before next 50 hr service

Today (21/3/2012) I went for a late afternoon Navex around the Benson MATZ to do some radio work, being a week day the MATZ was active. Benson had a film crew on their main runway, so they routed all transit traffic  from the East/West  via their southern stub and all North/South traffic to their West, 3NM from the airfield (parallel to didcot). I radioed for MATZ transit and recieved a squawk 4602, the Sun was so bright I could not see the Transponder display so I had to orbit to face north and dial-in the squawk. I kept the approved altitude of 2,000 ft for the transit and stayed away from Chalgrove and Benson as requested. My Wapoints were, Drayton St. Leonard, Greenham Common, Pangborne, Whitlles and Lewknor. I stayed with Benon all the way around the MATZ and gave position reports as requested. I was asked to stay out of the MATZ and go wide as I went north towards the M40 mortorway, so I changed Lewknor to Stokenchurch Mast. I signed off Benson at Long Crendon and headed to Oakley.

 

 

I was pleased with the flight, but the evening was not pleasant. Flying South into the Sun and haze, flying north was no better with no horizon and dark grey skies almost a white out. Good experience with the Radio and having to give position reports all the way around.

 

 

 

 

Today (11/2/2012), is a very cold bright Sunny day (-3 degrees, feels like -6 with wind chill) . Only heard one plane flying over the village today,  so I guest most pilots thought the ground conditions were not right with snow and ice still visible on roads and fields. Overnight in Oxford it was -9 degrees and tonight is just as cold.

I had been house bound for a couple of days and wanted to do something aviation related.   I convinced the wife to go for a drive to see a small farm strip located on the edge of the road near Marsh Gibbon, Oxon.  I had noticed this strip whilst surfing Google Maps after reviewing a previous flight route, so we set off with a flask of coffee and some nibbles to enjoy on arrival.

 

We parked just out side of the field by the gate and drank our coffee when a man stood alongside the drivers door. He asked us if we were plane spotters. I told him I was a pilot and owned my own plane, I jumped out the car for a good chat. He was the field owner Frank Parker, at veteran pilot of 40 years and 1,000+ hours. He keeps a Cessna 150 in the hangar (see picture above).  We discussed flying destinations and Frank  for years flew his family every weekend to Bembridge on the Isle of Wight  to enjoy the beach.

Frank told me that his farm strip is in LOCKYEARS guide (see page 262 in edition 5). He asked about Cabbage take-off and landing performance to make sure it was within the 460 metre runway length, he also gave me permission to fly in at anytime .

 

Frank said goodbye and I took some pictures and we then set off as the sun was setting, I was pleased I now have somewhere close to fly into during the summer months. Hopefully the weather is warmer in March and I can start the new flying season.

 

Today (4/12/2011) was overcast and mild, 16 degrees centigrade  in the cockpit @2,000 ft which was just about okay since I hate the cold and I have no heater. This was the first time I had flown Cabbage in December, in previous years winter had already set in with high winds and rain in November and ice in December. I decided to fly  EAST today, the last time I flew East between Luton and the London TMA was during my pilot training with an instructor. This corridor of airspace is notorious for airspace infringements, with Pilots clipping the Luton zone and not flying below 2,500 ft because of the TMA.

I have been hesitant to fly through this busy flight corridor and reach my goal of  Clacton-on-Sea to have fish and chips on the peer.  So as usual,  I have broken up the journey into sections.

Today, I went as far as Amersham/Chesham then set a course to Bovingdon airfield , turned early so I don’t meet up with other aircraft tracking the DME (Bees to honey at 2,000ft).  All the while I had listened to Farnborough Radar interaction with aircraft transiting the corridor or flying in and out of Denham. The Aware and the Bendix/King were chirping away with airspace warnings as I changed direction along the route, well worth having even though they add slightly to workload.

As I bimbled back to my local area, the Sun was bright from the South and it was hard to see anything, wind was reasonably strong coming from the South West and I need to use rudder continuously to keep the slip ball centred. The weather was not looking good, dark rain clouds approaching Aylesbury  so I cut the flight short. I did a rejoin at Long Crendon to land on RW 29 with good control.

Next Flight I will extend my route to Hatfield and engage with Farnborough Radar for a basic service for my Navex, once I master the landscape and feel a bit more at ease I will visit Panshangar.

When I taxied to the hangar Tony was waiting for me to chat about the flight, he said both my departure and landing looked good. Total flight time 50 minutes, I cant wait for next week to fly

 

WordPress is the software that creates and displays my blog,  I found this plug-in that allows a video or a photo album to be included simply and quickly into the blog. It absolutely magic and will feature a great deal in future blog entries.