Ferry flight from Alderney

A short ferry trip outside the European Union The concept of ferry pilots brings thoughts of fearless individuals who fly small aircraft across the Atlantic, surrounded by huge extra fuel tanks and the risk of bad weather, sharks and a cold sea. In my case however, it was just a one hour flight back from Alderney after one of the other share-o-plane owners had flown it out there. Alderney is

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German Tour 2013 – Leg 5 – Braunschweig (EDVE) to Le Touquet (LFAT)

Planning the return Our hosts were expecting us to depart on Sunday, although could be flexible if the weather was difficult. Wanting to make this a gentle and enjoyable tour, we decided we’d like to split the journey back, stopping overnight somewhere on the European coast. This would reduce the flight time per day, and potentially allow some more beach time. My initial thought was Le Touquet, which I’d visited

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German Tour 2013 – Leg 4 – Braunschweig (EDVE) to Magdeburg City (EDBM) and back

A few days holiday and a short landaway We spent several days with our friends, visiting Wernigerode Castle in the Harz mountains, taking the train to Hannover and looking around Braunschweig while the thundery weather passed through. I watched the weather forecast closely to plan ahead for our departure. Highlights included an organ recital, which ended along the lines of the Last night of the Proms – it was surreal

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German Tour 2013 – Leg 3 – Wilhelmshaven (EDWI) to Braunswchweig (EDVE)

First – a short local from Wilhelmshaven JadesWeser   On Tuesday, the weather was as forecast beginning to turn for the worse, with a wind of 10-15 knots from the south west. I took our hosts for a short flight around the city and harbour area of Wilhelmshaven, but not as far north as the Friesland islands because of some low dark clouds there. I’d checked with the airport controller

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German tour 2013 – Leg 1 – Gloucester (EGBJ) to Texel (EHTX)

Planning a European mini-tour I had already negotiated the new TB20 share-o-plane for a week’s touring during the initial discussions when buying into a share. The option for touring is one of the main objectives (and benefits) of the group, and something that all members could expect to enjoy during the year. The ability to take a plane away and not worry about it sitting unused at the airport for

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Shooting it up in Texas

Shooting some practice instrument approaches at Dallas Executive Airport, Texas My last flight of this business trip was intended to take full advantage of the wide availability of instrument approaches, including plenty of GPS approved ones. There’s never any charge for making an instrument approach in the US, and rarely any landing fees. So once again, I found myself at Dallas Executive airport in the good hands of Slipstream aviation,

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Dallas downtown backdrop

BFR near DFW

Some private piloting in Texas I had a business trip to Dallas, Texas (airport code DFW = Dallas Fort Worth) for a week and hoped to squeeze in a local flight at some point. Flights to the US are much cheaper if you stay over a Saturday night (to differentiate between business and pleasure), so I saved considerably by flying out a day early. The journey out was fairly uneventful,

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Miami Adventure Cessna 172 G1000

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

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