It's not very often that I get to fly completely by myself. I remember when I was topping up my required solo-time towards the end of my PPL, when I couldn't wait to take willing volunteers up and around the skies of sunny Gloucestershire, but nowadays it can feel like a bit of a treat to be completely on my own. I've spent a lot of time over the last few months giving local joy-rides to my family and friends, but this weekend I found myself without a flying companion, the aeroplane booked for an entire afternoon and, for once, a decent weather forecast.
The first task was deciding where to go. There are so many places I want to visit, and after my trip to Gamston with Rich (see last post), my confidence has taken a bit of a bounce, so suddenly they all seem within reach again. Funds, however, are not as easily gained as enthusiasm, so realistically I was limited to a 1-hour flight from Gloucester, including any messing around for take-off and landing. Barring unusual winds, this ruled out the more ambitious destinations of Caernarfon and the Isle of Wight, which I'd been considering whilst sat in my usual bored stupor at work. In the end, I settled on Compton Abbas, but also had a backup plan of Sywell if the forecasts were lying, and the weather was looking better to the north.
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| Blue Skies Ahead |
The morning broke fine and sunny, with with Gloucester reporting FEW025 (few clouds at 2500ft) and 10km visibility, so Compton it was to be. I'd wanted to travel down in this direction for a while, not just because of the destination, but due to being hemmed in by the Bristol and Lyneham CTR's it had been rare for me to fly any further south than the bridges. I planned to route via the Bath gap, remaining outside controlled airspace, but obtaining a traffic service from either Bristol or Lyneham, as I knew it would be busy, with the best weekend flying weather for months.
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| The 'Big Bends' on the way home - Near Pefect Weather |
This was confirmed before I'd even left Gloucester, when a long queue at the hold meant a lengthy wait. ATC were providing their usual excellent service, but when there are 6 aircraft in the circuit, having to wait is just one of those things you have to get used to. Luckily the CC group charges take-off to landing plus 10 minutes, so this doesn't cost me anything extra, but it would be something to think about if you were on a Hobbs meter or brakes to brakes payment scheme. The only slightly disconcerting moment was about 30 seconds of hailstones from a rogue cumulonimbus cloud which had wandered in overhead! I took the time to grab my camera out of my bag, turn it on, take the lens cap off and put it on the passenger seat (strapped in) in case there were any opportune photo moments en-route. I never look through the view finder if I'm flying, I just hold the camera up and click in the vague direction of what I'm looking at anyway, so that I maintain my lookout and awareness, then just delete the useless photos when I get home, in the hope that some will be worth keeping. The beauty of digital cameras!
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| Bath - Sorry about the reflections |
Once we were in the air I was handed over to approach and given a basic service until I wanted to call Lyneham. South of Stonehouse, I overtook a microlight which was about 100ft below my level and heading in the same direction, waved as I went past and waggled my wings to let him know that I'd seen him, then called Lyneham for a traffic service. During the distraction of the RT exchange, a 2-seater aircraft (I think a Grob Tutor, or similar) crossed my path perpendicularly, at quite a similar altitude. It passed above me, and I saw it in enough time that I would've been able to take avoiding action if our levels had coincided, so no real risk of collision was present, but it was a timely reminder to keep a good lookout at all times! Lyneham helpfully informed me of the traffic about 10 seconds after it had gone over my head...
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| The flight line at Compton Abbas |
I got handed to Bristol due to them having incoming traffic, and travelled through the Bath gap without incident - it was very pleasant to see Bath and Longleat from the air. Near The Park gliding strip, I transferred to Compton Abbas, who were having some trouble with interference on their radio gear, reported by other pilots on frequency, so I orbited a couple of times north of the field to make sure that I was sure that I called while it was working correctly. Following a Eurostar in an overhead join, I slowed as much as possible on downwind to give him plenty of space, and made a decent landing on Runway 08. Time for lunch!
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| DH Dove at Compton Abbas - CofA expired in 2006. Shame |
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Over a bacon baguette, I got chatting to the crew of the Eurostar which I had followed in. They were from Kemble and keen flyers, intending to route back via the Severn Estuary and up past the Bridges, rather than the direct but more mundane route I had planned. A couple of showers came in, so we got chatting about the various benefits of computer simulators, fuel prices, Lycoming vs. Rotax, Class-A vs. Microlight etc. while we were waiting for them to pass by. I had a wander around, watching the Stearman that was doing experience flights and having a look at the older, interesting aircraft. Before long it was time to head home.
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| The Severn Estuary on the way back |
After the showers, the weather for the trip back was just about perfect. I said my thankyou's to Compton Abbas and switched back to Bristol for a traffic service, and routed back towards the gap. The views of Bath, and the Somerset/Dorset countryside were fantastic, even seeing Colerne from the air (from outside the ATZ) was a bit of a treat, having hooned around there several times in my car. As I approached Bath I heard the Eurostar call up as well - it sounded like they were just approaching the Severn and continuing as planned.
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| Citation Resting in the sun at Gloucester |
I called up Gloucester as the sun was starting to sink in the sky, with great views out over the Severn Estuary and Forest of Dean. Strangely, they knew where I was without me telling them, and gave me a standard overhead join for runway 22 into a much quieter circuit than when I had left. I flared a little high on the landing, but it was within tolerance, and taxi'd in, shut down and secured the aircraft in the hangar. It was about 45 minutes until sunset and some of the club aircraft and instructors were taxiing out to squeeze one last flight of the day...and the conditions were so good that I wished I was going with them. Instead I had a wander around and took some pictures of the aircraft resting on the aprons. It was nice to get back out and flying on my own again...now I'm saving for a couple of weeks to go a little further afield.
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| Cessna Citation X at Gloucester in the twilight |
PS. Bristol ATC Visit
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| The view from the tower at Bristol |
Through Cotswold Aero Club, I had the opportunity to visit the tower at Bristol last week. It was a great experience, being able to see what happens 'on the other side of the mic', and confidence inspiring to remember that the people who are talking to you are actually real, and not just a voice in your headset. We were given a handy talk about the various ATC functions, and shown around the facilities, watching the ATCO's doing their work, including seeing them bringing an Easyjet A320 in from the tower (a great view).
I was so taken by the experience that I've actually put in a prospective application to NATS, to see if they'll have me as a trainee ATCO. I'd thought about it before, immediately after leaving university, but engineering roles were easy to come by and give you the added advantage of choosing where you live and work. It'd be a career change, but Engineering is not my passion and it could potentially provide an operational role in the industry that has gotten thoroughly under my skin in the last couple of years. We'll see what comes of it.
