The large number of windmills should be a strong indicator that Holland is a country with plenty of wind. In the aftermath of storm Abigail, I flew to the Netherlands from Gloucester for a few days trip. As with many airways IFR GA flights, 90% of the flight was in glorious sunshine with a brief but intensive departure and arrival. The flight achieved two new records for me – the lowest airport elevation
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My first FAA Instrument Proficiency Check
My FAA airman certificate is based on my European EASA PPL/IR and medical, which both have to be current. In addition, for the FAA certificate to be valid I need to have had a VFR Flight Review within the previous 24 months and be IFR current. The US system to maintain IFR currency is quite different to the European one. EASA mandates an annual proficiency test with an examiner, and
Continue readingFrance for Lunch: Deauville
Excited Passengers A second daytrip to Deauville in France (first was in February) but this time in glorious weather, taking a couple of friends who I’d been promising a flight to for some time. My original destination was Lannion, which I’d not flown to before, but at the last minute I found out they were closed for painting the runway. I had got as far as filing a flight plan the day
Continue readingFamily holiday in Guernsey
Being able to book our shared aircraft for the best part of two weeks makes it possible to use it for a summer holiday. We had done this in previous years, and again took the opportunity to do so with the consent of my co-owners – this time basing ourselves in Guernsey in the Channel Islands. The relatively short distance from home (just one hour flight time) meant that I
Continue readingDaytrip Guernsey to Dinard
We made a daytrip from Guernsey to Dinard during our two week holiday. I’d been to Dinard a couple of times before – once as a landaway with another pilot, and again when diverted due to bad weather on return from our holiday the previous year. In both cases, I’d not made it outside the airport. Apart from some early fog around Guernsey (the fog horn woke me up early!),
Continue readingDaytrip to Jersey
From our holiday base in Guernsey, we made a day trip across to Jersey to visit some of my wife’s relatives. It’s only a short distance (23 miles) but technically a different jurisdiction – both are UK Crown Dependencies and each have their own Bailiwick. A full flight plan had to be filed but no GAR forms (there is a special mini-flight plan for inter-island flights between Guernsey and Alderney
Continue readingA week’s VFR flying holiday in North East USA – Part 5 of 5 – Nantucket, Marthas Vineyard, Block Island
Friday 15 May – New Bedford, Nantucket, Martha’s Vineyard, Block Island, Plymouth For our last day of flying, we were down to four pilots because Paul had booked to return a day earlier than us. I shared an aircraft with Phil and we packed in three flights each, visiting the islands but starting with New Bedford (KEWB) where he knew the assistant manager. This can be a very busy airfield with many
Continue readingA week’s VFR flying holiday in North East USA – Part 4 of 5 – Portsmouth, Hyannis
Thurs May 14 – Portsmouth and Hyannis A great start to the day with breakfast of blueberry pancakes at Two Cats in Bar Harbor. David flew us direct from Bar Harbor (KBHB) to Portsmouth (KPSM), a very large military base hosting an airborne tanker fleet but shared for civilian use. I’m sure it’s the longest runway I’ve used at 10,000 feet (over 3,000 metres). The FBO served us quickly with six
Continue readingA week’s VFR flying holiday in North East USA – Part 3 of 5 – New York Skyline, Bar Harbor
Tuesday May 12 – Washout We’d planned to fly the New York Skyline route the following day, and had been watching the weather forecast which varied with every update. We made a late start and had a very enjoyable breakfast at Gilchrist’s on the old harbour front before checking out and heading off to the airport. We prepared to go, planning and preflighting, calling the phone briefer and packing everything
Continue readingA week’s VFR flying holiday in North East USA – Part 2 of 5 – Sky Acres, Sky Manor, Atlantic City
Monday 11 May 2015 – Sky Acres, Sky Manor and Atlantic City I don’t think any of us had great expectations for the day, but in the morning the weather forecast changed and wasn’t nearly as pessimistic. With some clever analysis, it was thought feasible to head west and skirt around the west side of New York down to Atlantic City or Ocean City. This we did in three stages,
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