Update Since August 2008

It’s been quite a while since I updated my blog! So here goes.

The week after I got my multi engine IMC endorsement in August 2008 I took the Twinstar over to Caernarfon for a few hours on the coast with Janet. This sort of trip is good as it’s fairly close to Blackpool and is by the seaside too. An ice cream and walk on the beach with a little paddle was nice.

Feeling more and more confident in the Diamond I called up my occasional flying buddy Dave and suggested a trip over to the Isle of Man for mid September.

September 13th came and we were greeted with poor visibility and low cloud. Perfect! I wanted this to be an IFR flight and poor weather suited me just fine. I filed a flight plan to route to Vanin a fictional point out over the ocean at flight level 45. This we did and following radar vectors to the ILS we landed on runway 26. Dave and I had some lunch before returning to Blackpool VFR at flight level 55. Vectors to Blackpool’s runway 28 rounded off the flight for another ILS logged.

Steve and I took the Arrow to Shobden, Halfpenny Green and Sleap the following week before my first night flight in the Twinstar in early October. Martin, my instructor, was on board to show me the ropes and we spent an hour going round the hold at Blackpool in poor weather and completing a few NDB approaches. Great experience for me! I didn’t know it at the time but that was to be my last flight in the Twinstar until late February 2009.

Problems with a propeller and various other issues meant the Diamond was off line. To keep occupied I flew our Arrow single engine plane on a few sorties but to be honest I was missing the Twinstar a lot.

We finally got it back and on February 22nd I did a checkout on it to get my currency back. This was a good day to do it as the wind at Mona on Anglesey was 15kts gusting 20kts across the runway. To my surprise I found that I handled the plane well and did not have any difficulty making consistently good landings in the strong wind. A real confidence booster, I now felt ready to go again.

In March I did my bi-annual flight with an instructor in our Arrow and got my single engine rating extended for another two years. The same week I renewed my multi engine rating and my IMC rating for another two years. Only the medical to renew now in July 2009.

On March 20th I took the Arrow down to RAF Halton near Aylesbury. Janet’s daughter is living in Northchurch which is only a few miles away. Perfect for summer visits as it was just over an hour in the plane but five hours on the road.

To bring this brief summary of the last seven months up to date, me Mike and Steve had a fantastic day’s flying on a great spring day, Sunday March 29th.

The day started at Barton when Mike and I took his helicopter up to Steve’s house near Clitheroe where he jumped on board and we departed to Blackpool. We then took the Twinstar down to Coventry where I flew the ILS to runway 23 following some dodgy vectoring that took us through the localiser. However, I made a nice landing and we taxied in to have lunch at the aero club.

Twinstar at Coventry

Steve then took the left seat as we departed Coventry to the West climbing eventually to 7000 feet to cross the Welsh mountains directly over Snowden before dropping down to 3000 feet to route back to Blackpool. The helicopter took us back to Steve’s then me and Mike left on the final leg back to Barton and home. A truly memorable day.

7000 ft over Mt Snowden in Wales

Well we are now up to date so watch out for further updates as the summer develops.

Me (right) and Steve with LADZ at Blackpool