Campbeltown and Breighton
CAMPBELTOWN
I chose to take the week commencing April 18th as a holiday from work. Usually my holidays turn out to be bad weather days where I can't fly or enjoy a little outdoor life. However, this week has been an exception, with day after day of warm temperatures, clear skies and gentle winds. A week off would not be complete without a flight though, and I had chosen Tuesday April 19th as the day. I had booked a Cirrus SR20 a couple of weeks previously, and my friend Steve was to join me in a flight out to .... somewhere!
But as things are in aviation, events conspired to put an obstruction in the way, in that the plane we were to fly was about to run out of hours. All was not lost though as the Twinstar was available and so I booked that for the day as a substitute. Steve was coming to the end of his Cirrus conversion course, which requires a total of 10 hours with an instructor before he could fly as pilot in command. But he still needed another twenty minutes. Luckily an instructor was available and he completed the required time before we set off for Scotland. This means we can now share Cirrus trips as we are both qualified on this type. Why one should need ten hours on it to be signed off is a mystery to me. It's pretty straightforward to fly if you have a bit of experience. But that's insurance companies for you.
I had planned that we would fly up to Campbeltown for our little outing, utilising the twin engine safety of the DA42 on the over water legs, which I no longer relish in a single engine aircraft. As you get older you tend to get less bold!
After Steve had completed the paperwork for his Cirrus sign off, we hopped aboard our aircraft and taxied over to the fueling area to pick up some Jet A1. The friendly tanker driver soon had us topped up to 50 US gallons and we were ready to go. Runway 10 was in use and we were directed to holding point A3 where I went through the various engine and systems checks. I also reviewed the flight plan Steve had entered into the navigation part of our Garmin G1000 which routed us via SUBUK, NGY (an NDB) then direct Campbeltown. All looked well and minutes later the undercarriage tucked away and we began a left turn on track SUBUK climbing to FL65. The visibility was fair but not good, and there were scattered clouds around with more substantial cumulus ahead on track. The visibilty gradually deteriorated as we made our way North but, as we were conducting the flight under instrument flight rules, I was not too concerned.
The DA42's autopilot had been malfunctioning intermittently over my last few flights and so I wondered if it would work today. I cautiously switched it on, watching to see what it did. It engaged in a wing leveller mode as it should when switched on. So far, so good. Next I pressed the heading selector which aligns the heading indicator with the aircraft's actual heading. Then I pressed the HDG button on the autopilot and just as it should, it held the heading we were on. Next, I turned the heading selector 10 degrees to Port and sure enough, round she went onto the new heading. Then I pressed the ALT button which engages altitude hold and, yes, that works too. Finally pressing NAV meant the autopilot would track the course required and take us all the way to our destination if required. I was watching closely to ensure all remained well as it was clear we would enter some cloud on our route.
One of the pleasures of flying to Scotland is the great service you get from Scottish ATC. I had again asked for a transit of the Class D airspace and was granted this, IFR, at 6000 feet on their QNH setting. We entered some cumulus clouds but there was was little turbulence and, although we could see nothing, the flight was progressing well. We were in the clouds for the next 40 miles or so and even when we cleared the coast South of the Turnberry VOR, the very poor visibility meant there was no horizon. I asked Scottish Control for descent and we dropped down to 4000 feet for the over water leg. I was not going any lower until we had visual contact with the land and this was not until we were pretty close in when it appeared out of the haze.
Scottish released us to call Campbeltown and we positioned for a straight in approach to runway 29. With the late descent we were rather high but with nearly 3000 metres of runway we still stopped in under a third of the length after a steep final approach. After back tracking we parked on the deserted apron and entered the terminal building which was also deserted! Lots of peace and quiet here then!
The friendly Ops 1 man called a taxi for us and within a few minutes we were on the way to Campbeltown for a spot of lunch. We ate at the White Hart Hotel and then walked down to the harbour for a look around and a sit in the afternoon sunshine. There were roadworks down near the harbour so even here there was no escape from that. However, the boats looked nice on the water and the views over to the hills were good too.
As arranged, our taxi duly arrived to take us back to the airport and again our taxi driver was a very pleasent and friendly guy. Ops 1 arrived after a few minutes, I paid our landing fee and looked at the sky which was looking very hazy. It would be an IFR trip home without question. If you are new to the blog, this means we would navigate using our flight instruments only as visual reference would not be there to see landmarks and towns etc on the way home.
The apron was still empty as I started the engines of the Twinstar. After the usual engines and systems checks were complete I lined up on runway 29 ready for departure. The area to the south contained some high ground but we easily outclimbed it, although it was very hazy with no horizon over the sea, towards Turnberry. We were navigating by gps and I put the aircraft on a heading to intercept the track towards the NGY NDB once again, selecting a target altitude of 6000 feet. The autopilot worked fine again and we were soon established on track and receiving a clearance to enter the Scottish class D airspace. We were under radar control and were asked to turn right 20 degrees and report our heading. We did this and were tracking towards an active Danger Area and although I was confident we would remain clear, ATC were worried so we adjusted heading to be extra sure.
As the land came into view I switched off the autopilot and did some manual instrument flying. The only thing visible was the coast directly below and that was very hazy. There was no horizon and no visibility. Still it was good to practise those skills required to fly in these conditions. We progressed down the coast over Seascale and Barrow, descending to 4000 feet before routing to Fleetwood and a visual landing on runway 28 at Blackpool. We were offered an insturment approach but that would have added a lot of track miles to the flight and I could see Blackpool airport clearly enough for a visual.
The last challenge of the day was an approach to either 28 or 31. As there was a 10-12kt crosswind on 28 I took that rather than the more into wind 31. Crosswind landing practise is always useful especially in the Twinstar which can be a bit "twitchy". I pushed the drift off with the rudder and touched down o.k. but the right wing lifted a little. Quick application of aileron solved this and we slowed to taxi speed and followed a Cessna 152, that had landed on 31, to parking at Flight Academy.
Completing the post flight paperwork revealed another two and a half hours multi engine time to add to my logbook. So a good day with Steve, now signed off for the Cirrus, and the prospect of some shared trips to come.
BREIGHTON
The Easter weekend looked like it would hold no flying for me. Great weather, apart from the haze, but no trips planned. However, a Sunday morning text to Steve resulted in an invitation to join him and Mike on a fly out in their Enstrom 480 turbine helicopter to Breighton. Just get to Barton quickly! This I did and we were soon departing over the hills near Rochdale, following the M62, towards the area South of Leeds. Passing Huddersfield, Dewsbury and Castleford en route, we soon spotted Breighton and approached below 500 feet to land and park up on the grass next to the runway.
On exiting the helicopter we were greeted by world war two music and some very interesting aeroplane types. The field was busy with flyers and photographers and all were enjoying the sunshine. We went into the clubhouse and had sausage muffins and a drink before planning where to go next.
Steve had flown the first leg so now it was Mike's turn. It was decided to visit the Devonshire Arms near Skipton for a drink and once again we were soon airbourne and heading to the north west. After a couple of minutes Mike had a problem with trimming the helicopter cyclic to the left, resulting in large and uncomfortable loads. A precautionary landing was made at Sherburn to see if the fault could be rectified. On opening the engine bay, Steve found the electrical contacts that control the trimmer and reseated them and applied some WD40. That did the trick and we were back in business. A quick cup of coffee in the clubhouse and we were off again, retracing our outbound course south of the M62 before heading through the gap in the hills past Rochdale and back into Barton.
This was a great trip as it was unexpected and was "grass roots" aviation, flying into a small aerodrome and reading a quarter mil map, even though we did have two gps devices switched on!
I have a possible trip over to East Anglia on the Royal wedding day and a session in the Cirrus SR20 with Steve and Mike on the Sunday after. Fingers crossed these trips will take place and we keep this good spell of weather we have had for the last ten days or so.
I chose to take the week commencing April 18th as a holiday from work. Usually my holidays turn out to be bad weather days where I can't fly or enjoy a little outdoor life. However, this week has been an exception, with day after day of warm temperatures, clear skies and gentle winds. A week off would not be complete without a flight though, and I had chosen Tuesday April 19th as the day. I had booked a Cirrus SR20 a couple of weeks previously, and my friend Steve was to join me in a flight out to .... somewhere!
But as things are in aviation, events conspired to put an obstruction in the way, in that the plane we were to fly was about to run out of hours. All was not lost though as the Twinstar was available and so I booked that for the day as a substitute. Steve was coming to the end of his Cirrus conversion course, which requires a total of 10 hours with an instructor before he could fly as pilot in command. But he still needed another twenty minutes. Luckily an instructor was available and he completed the required time before we set off for Scotland. This means we can now share Cirrus trips as we are both qualified on this type. Why one should need ten hours on it to be signed off is a mystery to me. It's pretty straightforward to fly if you have a bit of experience. But that's insurance companies for you.
I had planned that we would fly up to Campbeltown for our little outing, utilising the twin engine safety of the DA42 on the over water legs, which I no longer relish in a single engine aircraft. As you get older you tend to get less bold!
After Steve had completed the paperwork for his Cirrus sign off, we hopped aboard our aircraft and taxied over to the fueling area to pick up some Jet A1. The friendly tanker driver soon had us topped up to 50 US gallons and we were ready to go. Runway 10 was in use and we were directed to holding point A3 where I went through the various engine and systems checks. I also reviewed the flight plan Steve had entered into the navigation part of our Garmin G1000 which routed us via SUBUK, NGY (an NDB) then direct Campbeltown. All looked well and minutes later the undercarriage tucked away and we began a left turn on track SUBUK climbing to FL65. The visibility was fair but not good, and there were scattered clouds around with more substantial cumulus ahead on track. The visibilty gradually deteriorated as we made our way North but, as we were conducting the flight under instrument flight rules, I was not too concerned.
The DA42's autopilot had been malfunctioning intermittently over my last few flights and so I wondered if it would work today. I cautiously switched it on, watching to see what it did. It engaged in a wing leveller mode as it should when switched on. So far, so good. Next I pressed the heading selector which aligns the heading indicator with the aircraft's actual heading. Then I pressed the HDG button on the autopilot and just as it should, it held the heading we were on. Next, I turned the heading selector 10 degrees to Port and sure enough, round she went onto the new heading. Then I pressed the ALT button which engages altitude hold and, yes, that works too. Finally pressing NAV meant the autopilot would track the course required and take us all the way to our destination if required. I was watching closely to ensure all remained well as it was clear we would enter some cloud on our route.
One of the pleasures of flying to Scotland is the great service you get from Scottish ATC. I had again asked for a transit of the Class D airspace and was granted this, IFR, at 6000 feet on their QNH setting. We entered some cumulus clouds but there was was little turbulence and, although we could see nothing, the flight was progressing well. We were in the clouds for the next 40 miles or so and even when we cleared the coast South of the Turnberry VOR, the very poor visibility meant there was no horizon. I asked Scottish Control for descent and we dropped down to 4000 feet for the over water leg. I was not going any lower until we had visual contact with the land and this was not until we were pretty close in when it appeared out of the haze.
Scottish released us to call Campbeltown and we positioned for a straight in approach to runway 29. With the late descent we were rather high but with nearly 3000 metres of runway we still stopped in under a third of the length after a steep final approach. After back tracking we parked on the deserted apron and entered the terminal building which was also deserted! Lots of peace and quiet here then!
 |
| G-GFDA on the deserted Campbeltown Apron |
The friendly Ops 1 man called a taxi for us and within a few minutes we were on the way to Campbeltown for a spot of lunch. We ate at the White Hart Hotel and then walked down to the harbour for a look around and a sit in the afternoon sunshine. There were roadworks down near the harbour so even here there was no escape from that. However, the boats looked nice on the water and the views over to the hills were good too.
 |
| Campbeltown Harbour |
As arranged, our taxi duly arrived to take us back to the airport and again our taxi driver was a very pleasent and friendly guy. Ops 1 arrived after a few minutes, I paid our landing fee and looked at the sky which was looking very hazy. It would be an IFR trip home without question. If you are new to the blog, this means we would navigate using our flight instruments only as visual reference would not be there to see landmarks and towns etc on the way home.
The apron was still empty as I started the engines of the Twinstar. After the usual engines and systems checks were complete I lined up on runway 29 ready for departure. The area to the south contained some high ground but we easily outclimbed it, although it was very hazy with no horizon over the sea, towards Turnberry. We were navigating by gps and I put the aircraft on a heading to intercept the track towards the NGY NDB once again, selecting a target altitude of 6000 feet. The autopilot worked fine again and we were soon established on track and receiving a clearance to enter the Scottish class D airspace. We were under radar control and were asked to turn right 20 degrees and report our heading. We did this and were tracking towards an active Danger Area and although I was confident we would remain clear, ATC were worried so we adjusted heading to be extra sure.
As the land came into view I switched off the autopilot and did some manual instrument flying. The only thing visible was the coast directly below and that was very hazy. There was no horizon and no visibility. Still it was good to practise those skills required to fly in these conditions. We progressed down the coast over Seascale and Barrow, descending to 4000 feet before routing to Fleetwood and a visual landing on runway 28 at Blackpool. We were offered an insturment approach but that would have added a lot of track miles to the flight and I could see Blackpool airport clearly enough for a visual.
The last challenge of the day was an approach to either 28 or 31. As there was a 10-12kt crosswind on 28 I took that rather than the more into wind 31. Crosswind landing practise is always useful especially in the Twinstar which can be a bit "twitchy". I pushed the drift off with the rudder and touched down o.k. but the right wing lifted a little. Quick application of aileron solved this and we slowed to taxi speed and followed a Cessna 152, that had landed on 31, to parking at Flight Academy.
Completing the post flight paperwork revealed another two and a half hours multi engine time to add to my logbook. So a good day with Steve, now signed off for the Cirrus, and the prospect of some shared trips to come.
BREIGHTON
The Easter weekend looked like it would hold no flying for me. Great weather, apart from the haze, but no trips planned. However, a Sunday morning text to Steve resulted in an invitation to join him and Mike on a fly out in their Enstrom 480 turbine helicopter to Breighton. Just get to Barton quickly! This I did and we were soon departing over the hills near Rochdale, following the M62, towards the area South of Leeds. Passing Huddersfield, Dewsbury and Castleford en route, we soon spotted Breighton and approached below 500 feet to land and park up on the grass next to the runway.
On exiting the helicopter we were greeted by world war two music and some very interesting aeroplane types. The field was busy with flyers and photographers and all were enjoying the sunshine. We went into the clubhouse and had sausage muffins and a drink before planning where to go next.
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| Breighton April 24th |
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| Breighton April 24th |
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| Breighton April 24th |
Steve had flown the first leg so now it was Mike's turn. It was decided to visit the Devonshire Arms near Skipton for a drink and once again we were soon airbourne and heading to the north west. After a couple of minutes Mike had a problem with trimming the helicopter cyclic to the left, resulting in large and uncomfortable loads. A precautionary landing was made at Sherburn to see if the fault could be rectified. On opening the engine bay, Steve found the electrical contacts that control the trimmer and reseated them and applied some WD40. That did the trick and we were back in business. A quick cup of coffee in the clubhouse and we were off again, retracing our outbound course south of the M62 before heading through the gap in the hills past Rochdale and back into Barton.
This was a great trip as it was unexpected and was "grass roots" aviation, flying into a small aerodrome and reading a quarter mil map, even though we did have two gps devices switched on!
I have a possible trip over to East Anglia on the Royal wedding day and a session in the Cirrus SR20 with Steve and Mike on the Sunday after. Fingers crossed these trips will take place and we keep this good spell of weather we have had for the last ten days or so.
posted by David M at 5:00 PM
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