Compton Abbas is such a nice airfield to fly to. Located in the heart of the Dorset countryside, it commands tremendous views across towards Shaftesbury. The route from Kemble passes over Bath, Frome and Warminster, taking about 30 minutes. Today’s flight was in G-VICC, a Warrior rented from Freedom Aviation at Kemble, organised at short notice and so a solo. It helped to remove some of the rust from lack
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Hurtling at almost 200 knots towards Halfpenny Green and Sleap
The forecast was for a pretty windy day, 18 gusting 28 from the south, with up to 50 knots at altitude. I’d not been up in the air for quite some while, so it was about time to take at least a short flight but nothing too adventurous. A couple of friends had hired a Robin from Gloucester and were planning a landaway in the afternoon. We looked at various
Continue readingRound trip to Conington and Wycombe Air Park
Grasping the opportunity There was a gap in the weather today, with some pretty horrible stuff forecast for the next few days running up to Christmas. Saturday (when I’d originally planned to fly next) looked particularly grim, and with my workload under control I was able to take the day off and postpone a few things until the weekend. At this short notice, it would be a solo flight and
Continue readingGetting to know Dallas again
Some minor changes since last year I had a really great time flying in Dallas last year and found myself again in the same place on business, so took the opportunity to fly while I was there. Pleased with the outfit I used before, I returned to Slipstream Aviation at Dallas Executive – they have the same aircraft (three Grumman AA5A Cheetahs) – although there’s been a bit of turnover
Continue readingRegaining night currency with a short flight to Oxford
The 90 day passenger rule Pilot regulations require that pilots who carry passengers at night must have made one take-off and landing at night within the previous 90 days. Once out of currency, this must either be done with an instructor or solo. Now that I’m based at an airport with lights, with the winter nights drawing in and the clocks going back, it was time to regain my night
Continue readingEnstone for Circuit and landing practice
I wanted to take some time to practice and refine my landing technique and thought the best way to do that would be in a Warrior from the Lyneham Club at Kemble. Nearby, Enstone offer a £25 “all you can eat” landing deal which is hard to beat. PPR is required, so I called Oxfordshire Sportflying for permission but got no answer. I also tried Enstone Flying Club and after
Continue readingFerry 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
Continue readingSolo direct to Nottingham
First a clean up The weather had been poor over most of the weekend, restricting flying activity. The TB20 share-o-plane group had organised a clean-up the day before, and we had spent several hours cleaning the grime and dirt off the outside (especially underneath), polishing the paintwork and hoovering inside – interspersed with several tea and lunch breaks. I have joining a clean-up working party for the club aircraft once
Continue readingShort shift to Sleap
For quite some time, I’d promised a flight to a boating friend of mine. Our intent had been to fly to Guernsey, where Vernon had also been with his boat, but the weather wasn’t suitable. So instead we made a short flight to Sleap, after first flying down to Filton and circling overhead his house. Jason also came along, a pilot friend who hadn’t flown with me before. In the
Continue readingFirst solo in the TB20 with an RNAV approach thrown in
After completing differences training in the new TB20 share-o-plane at Gloucester, I wanted to make a short solo flight to consolidate what I’d learnt and become more comfortable in the pilot seat. With the aircraft free on Sunday afternoon, I booked a slot. Rich, one of the other part owners, happened to be at Gloucester airport and at short notice agreed to join me for the flight. I had planned
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