Caernarfon beach trip with the family

The family were keen to see our new share-o-plane and take a trip in it. With it being very hot and sunny weather, the beach was a top request. Caernarfon seemed like a good choice, with the airport so close to a big shoreline, good cafe and the rugged mountainous terrain to look at on the way there from Gloucester. The forecast was for few clouds at 2,000 to 3,000

Continue reading

First 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

Continue reading

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,

Continue reading
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,

Continue reading

Bath and the Bridges

A full load of passengers ready for check-in I’m still at the stage of taking friends up for a short flight. I have a (short) backlog of potential victims. Perhaps word may have got around that I’m reasonably competent not a complete loony. Belinda had asked me to take her for a flight, and also her daughter and nephew, Ben. She couldn’t have picked a better day, with almost clear sunny

Continue reading

Le Touquet via Blackbushe for lunch

Great day for a multi-leg trip to France John had flown with me last year to Plymouth, when we enjoyed some great sunny weather. He’d promised his partner a flight to France for lunch. Since she lived close by Blackbushe airport, he asked me to pick them both up from there and fly to Le Touquet. Since it didn’t seem too much out of the way, I agreed to that,

Continue reading

LAA Rally at Sywell

My first major rally The Light Aircraft Assocation (formerly the Private Flying Association) is a fairly large and well run organisation catering for the needs of private aviators, especially those who want to build and maintain their own aircraft. They have delegated authority to approve the design and modification of so-called Permit (or Annex 2) aircraft, which covers pretty much anything that isn’t an EASA CofA (although there are exceptions,

Continue reading

Evening landaway to White Waltham – through Atlas Control

War zone AWACS aircraft orbitted overhead, scanning the sky for unusual activity. Banks of radar controllers monitored the frequencies, checking that all known traffic remained on their assigned track. Helicopter gunships and tornado fighter aircraft stood ready to take to the air at a moments notice should any anomoly occur. Banks of surface-to-air missiles were deployed around the city to respond even more quickly. No, not Afghanistan, but London 2012

Continue reading