Flying From France To Sheffield

Flying Hours Today 1:35, Total 40:05

P1 Flying Hours Today 0:00, Total 4:20

On the Sunday morning we awoke to overcast skies. There was no rush to get going as we would want to wait for some of this weather to break up. After breakfast we went for a walk around Cherbourg harbour before our pre-arranged taxi came at 1030 to take us to the airport.

We arrived at the airport to find it closed. Or rather, locked. There was obviously some activity as we had seen a light aircraft depart, and we could see the fireman's truck ready for use. But access to the tower and to the general airport was definitely closed.

At the far end of the airport was a flying club, we headed there and thankfully found two very friendly French pilots who allowed us access to the apron and gave us a phone to call the tower. The controller duly obliged to our request to get airside and shortly we were reunited with our aircraft.

Flight plans were filed and the kindly fireman brought all our luggage to the aircraft before returning to refuel the DA40s with Jet A1 while we had to make do with self service for the PA28 - filling to tabs to keep the weight down.

It was by now 1150 local time and the fireman went off duty from 1200 to 1400 so it was fortunate that we got everything done in time. To his credit the fireman stayed around and completed the refuelling of a couple of Cessnas from Exeter that had also decided to fly to Cherbourg for the weekend.

There had been a change of plan. We would be flying back via Kemble (EGBP - now renamed to Cotswold Airport) as it was more a more appropriate inbound airfield and Special Branch, if they so wished, would find it easier to intercept us there.

At 1223 local time we started up and made for R28. Wind was 270/10 gusting to 16, QNH 1012, QFE 996 millibars. We backtracked a short distance on R28 then turned and took off. Waggling the wings to say au revoir to those still on the ground.

A right turn out was approved and we were climbing for FL040 our cruising altitude. The flight was uneventful as we switched to Deauville and then to London Information at the FIR boundary.

We made a call to check if Danger Area DA036 was active as we were looking to fly across it. Unfortunately it was so we had to maintain the heading north to the Isle of Wight.

Southampton DME came on-line some 45nm out. We were indicating 104kts ground speed, 90kts IAS. This showed we had a great tailwind to fly us back north today. We tuned to the NDB at Bournemouth 339. By 1206 UK time the Isle of Wight was in sight.

We left London Information for Solent Radar. Descending to 2000ft and flying over the Isle of Wight just to the east of the Needles. From here we routed north to Salisbury at 2000ft.

One of the other DA40s come on the radio - they were flying quite close to us as we headed over Stoney Cross VRP with Salisbury Cathedral in sight.

We were below the clouds which had a base of around 2300ft when I saw another aircraft, G-BHSE, fly right to left in front of us, perhaps a few hundred feet ahead of us and only 100ft or so above. It was easily close enough to see the registration details very clearly.

We had heard nothing on the FIS from Solent about this. It really made me think about always maintaining a good look out and not flying too close to the cloud base. There had been 4 of us on board and non of us saw this aircraft approaching. It may have come out of the clouds, or been flying below them and not showing up well due to contrast.

It was now time to call Boscombe, but there was no reply so we called Lynham on 123.4. Danger area D123 was active up to 3000ft and D125 was active higher. We didn't want to climb due to the worsening weather and the low cloud base so we had to route around Warminster.

We heard that the DA40 was climbing to fly directly over the danger zone for Kemble. Making use of Southampton DME to confirm position we were looking for 35nm range to get us to Warminster. We followed the road from Salisbury along the edge of Salisbury plain and the associated firing ranges.

Up ahead big dark clouds were forming and they looked very ominous. We also had to remain clear of gliders at Keevil. It was a tense race to get to Warminster as the clouds approached ahead of us. We came to within a few miles of the clouds and the pouring rain before turning at Warminster and heading north towards Kemble.

We transited Lynham and kept a good lookout for a Hercules transporter as it took off abeam of us, climbed and then turned and entered the clouds above us as we passed Chippenham.

Kemble was soon on the radio and were were given R26 with a left hand circuit - paying special attention not to overfly the surrounding villages which would make for an interesting short cut from base to final.

As we made visual contact with the field we saw the DA40 on finals and then landing. Their flight over the top of the danger area had saved them time and they beat us to the rendezvous by a couple of minutes as we touched down at 1315.

Following Sunday lunch at the excellent AV8 Bistro & Restaurant at Kemble it was my turn to fly the return leg to Sheffield. We had refuelled and were ready to go. Taxi to A1 for R28 where I completed the power checks, lined up then took off at 1445 with a climbing right hand turn to 2500ft as we headed north east.

Soon I switched from Kemble to Brize as we set our course. I had never used an altimeter pressure setting calibrated in inches, so had to make intense use of a look up table stuck on the dash to convert between millibars and inHg.

The return trip was a great opportunity to do some basic radio navigation. We tuned to the Daventry VOR and adjusted the heading until the bar was centred. This gave a heading reading of 055. Set the heading bug on the HSI to 055 and there we have our heading to fly to get us to Daventry.

Leaving Brize I switched to Coventry Approach, or so I thought, I was given another frequency and made the switch to the right Coventry Approach. It was now time to fly north and intercept the Daventry 360 radial.

This is the opposite to doing the track. We set the radial to 360 and the bar indicates which direction to head in. As we knew we would be intercepting the 360 radial eventually we headed 030 until the bar began to creep to the centre and then it was simply a case of turning north and maintaining the bar centred.

Next I tuned the DME to EME at East Midlands as we had done on the out bound leg yesterday. We requested a zone transit and kept heading north. Other traffic were informed of an air display that would last for 7 minutes or so and so they had to hold, this didn't affect us as we would be approaching after the display. However one of the DA40s couldn't wait and so descended below 1500ft and cut under the zone and ahead of us.

As we approached Nottingham we were given permission and we crossed the zone and continued north to Sheffield. For some reason whenever I was passing messages to ATC I was forgetting where we had come from. I had Cherbourg or Popham in my head and had to request from the others on-board a reminder of where we had departed - Kemble of course.

Passing East Midlands overhead the EME beacon we switched to the Sheffield DME and I was shown how to intercept, say, a 330 approach that might be necessary to navigate around terrain.

Ten miles out I called Sheffield with my inbound message. Over the M1/M18 VRP it was time to turn in for a direct approach on R28 from 2000ft. Two stages of flaps, then call for final at 2nm and 3rd stage. Carb heat on for the whole approach. A pretty good landing considering it was my first time at Sheffield and that I'd never flown a fully loaded PA28 before.

I was also very aware that my landing skills would be judged by the three other pilots on board. A short back track and taxi before parking up after a 1hr 35min flight that literally flew by.

This weekend was extremely useful and I would recommend something like this to other PPLs and students. I sat in the aircraft for 6hrs 30mins and spent the time watching and learning but also taking time out to enjoy the trip. The great thing was that I only had to pay for the 1hr 35mins that I actually flew as pilot in command.

An Unexpected Flight To France

Flying Hours Today 0:00, Total 38:30

P1 Flying Hours Today 0:00, Total 4:20

As Leeds Flying School was winding down its weekend private pilot training programme I was soon the last remaining PPL student. It was time to look elsewhere to complete my flight training. Sheffield City Flying School is a similar distance from home so I gave them a call.

Unfortunately there were no flying lesson slots available this weekend due to the school flying out to Cherbourg in France. I replaced the phone and wondered just when and where I would be able to continue my flying. Then I thought, why not ask if I can join the venture to France?

I called the flight school back and before I knew it I was giving passport details over the phone and I was ready to fly to France at the weekend. Fantastic, this is what General Aviation flying is all about.

This diary entry is slightly different to the others, it is more a direct log of what happened en-route as I was a passenger for our outbound and part of the inbound journey legs. This gave me a great opportunity to watch and learn as the other pilots took turns to fly the aircraft.

We started early at the flight school on the Saturday morning at Sheffield City Airport (EGSY - now closed). Completing the plans and pre-flight checks as I was introduced to the other 3 pilots that I would share the journey with.

We were to fly in G-BFYM, a PA28. Engine start at 0935 with a plan to refuel at Bembridge Airport (EGHJ) on the Isle of Wight.

The weather was calm on R28 for left hand climb out and straight away things were different to what I've been accustomed to. We had to turn as we climbed and follow a military style circuit due to Sheffield vaguaries. Airborne at 0940. Tune in to the Daventry VOR to track the 180 radial due south, additionally tune the DME and ADF to East Midlands DME coded as EME.

We left Sheffield Radio and changed to East Midlands (EGNX) to request zone transit and Flight Information Service.

This was my first proper introduction to using the radio navigation instruments for a planned flight route. In G-BFYM the ADF is the fat yellow arrow on the nav instrument, the VOR is the light green needle representing VOR2. So the top instrument is showing the ADF direction with the VOR needle tuned to Daventry. In this particular aircraft VOR1 was unserviceable for this trip.

The VOR is tuned in using the NAV radios, DME is tuned using the DME avionics which also provide further information such as distance, ground speed, time to run.

We were overhead EME at 1010, abeam with the East Midlands runway as the EME beacon is aligned with the centre line. Being aware of such an alignment is good thing to use to fix where you are when temporarily unsure of position.

Continuing south and twelve minutes later we were passing Bruntingthorpe Aerodrome. A lone 747 sat on the airfield which is also the home of the Vulcan To The Sky project.

Shortly afterwards we were passing the Bitteswell disused aerodrome VRP. I paid special attention as I would be using this as a routing point for my upcoming qualifying cross country. I noted that one of the warehouse / factories had a blue trim around the tops of the walls.

Soon it was time for our first change of flight plan. In order to avoid the aerials and restricted flying area around Coughton we decided to head on to the Compton VOR on 114.35 with some 15nm to route to Bicester.

At Daventry we tuned the NDB to 426 to route us towards the Isle of Wight. Silverstone racing circuit passed by on the left, we could hear one of the DA40s (G-CCFU) behind us, some 40 miles from Daventry.

Overhead Turweston it was time to switch from Coventry (EGBE) ATC to the military controllers at RAF Brize Norton (EGVN). We were given our squawk and told to advise when at Compton, and to avoid RAF Weston-on-the-Green where there was significant gliding activity.

We wanted to avoid the MATZ so changed course 60 degrees right and headed over Oxford and tracked towards the very visible power station at Didcot, intercepting the Compton radial on 180.

It was now 1050 and we were ready to route to Southampton (EGHI). We left the Brize controllers and switched to Farnborough who provided us with a Flight Information Service as we maintained our heading on the 180 FROM radial out of Compton.

Greenham Common passed on our right, Aldermaston AWE to the left at 1107.

Basingstoke was our next visual reference point and here the DA40 overtook us, or so we though. We switched to Solent ATC - which covers the Southampton area - and were visual with the Isle of Wight by the time we were flying overhead New Alresford.

We were on the 168 radial at 40 miles and ready to turn south on the 180 radial, and then visually follow the main dual carriageway between Petersfield and Portsmouth. Preparing for Bembridge by aiming towards the centre of the Isle of Wight. We heard that the DA40 had been held in orbits north of the Solent zone. We were home and dry as winners of the first leg.

Tuning to Bembridge we were expecting R30 right hand circuits. As we switched to Bembridge frequency over the Solent we were given R12 left hand circuits so we started our descent onto the base leg over the Solent, turned final and touched down at 1140.

After tea and coffee at the airfield, a long lunch at the Propellor Inn - two hours for a sandwich order to be completed - and a flight plan filed, we set off for Cherbourg with a new pilot at the controls.

Rolling on R12 at 1415 with one stage of flap, rotating at 60kts, and a right hand turn out once we were clear of any gliders. Flaps up, and climbing, heading for St. Catherine's Point, the southern most tip of the Isle of Wight.

Leaving Bembridge radio we called London Information and passed our message - climbing through 2500ft to FL050. We were climbing to what would become FL052, and so set the altimeter to 29.91 inHg (1013mb) - this particular aircraft had the altimeter set using inches of mercury. The outside air was still above freezing at our cruising altitude. We leaned off, only slightly, and headed along the VFR route but above the clouds.

Using the DME from Southampton to estimate when we would be at the FIR boundary between UK and France. We estimated that the boundary would be 57nm from Southampton. Through the gaps in the clouds we were looking for the shipping lane full of cargo vessels, this would also provide an indication of the FIR boundary.

Although we had the DME it was good airmanship to calculate the estimated time of arrival at the boundary based on our location, heading and speed. This was a good thing to consider as shortly we began to lose the signal from Southampton and we were dead reckoning. At our estimated boundary arrival time we left London Information and switched to Deauville (LFRG) control who promptly asked us to change frequency to Cherbourg (LFRC). At the same time we tuned the ADF for Cherbourg on 373.

The cloud had cleared and we began our descent. Identifying lighthouses along the coast as reference markers. We still had the VOR tuned to Southampton and used the 185 radial for navigational assistance. Cherbourg gave us R28 right hand, QFE 1016 and to report airfield in sight.

We began a cruise descent and changed tanks. At 2000ft we reported visual and returned the mixture to rich. There was some French chatter on the radio interspersed with the occasional English. An uneventful approach and touch down at 1510 UK time. Asked for taxi instructions we were told to continue down R28 for another 1000m or so. The French do like their long runways.

We found the taxiway, turned off the runway and travelled at at walking pace until we reached the GA apron and parked up. One of the DA40s arrived a couple of minutes later.

We unloaded and locked up then headed for the arrivals gate. There were no customs, no Gendarmes, no officialdom whatsoever. So we made for the cafe-cum-wine shop and celebrated with coffee and beers while waiting for everyone else to arrive.

This was a good time to fill in the UK CAA GAR forms (General Aviation Regulations) in preparedness for tomorrow's return. What was needed was passport number, name, address, inside leg measurement etc.

Our intention was to fly into Popham (EGHP) but this may be reconsidered later. The cafe owner booked us a hotel in Cherbourg - one with 10 rooms available for all of us to stay together - and a couple of taxis turned up to take us there. We had an enjoyable evening in Cherbourg, finding bars that had no wine and drinking Irish beer.