A Short Local Flight

Sunday April 15^th looked to be developing into a good flying day. At 8am the visibility was superb with a scattering of clouds above 3000 feet and a northerly wind that was forecast to reach a speed around 10 kts as the morning progressed.

I arrived at Barton a little after 9am with a plan to nip off for a short local flight before meeting up with some friends in the Airport Lodge. The Cessna was parked in its usual position next to a Yak and I unlocked the door, climbed in, and looked at the technical log from the previous flights. After deciding to add 40 litres of fuel, I undid the tie downs securing the wings, removed the pitot cover, and set about the pre-flight checks.

Although the day was very nice, there was not much activity, with only two or three other people preparing for flight. Pre-start checks revealed the stand-by battery was only just within acceptable limits. The procedure involves holding a switch down and checking that a light stays on for twenty seconds. In past checks, the light would stay on well over that time, but today it faded out exactly on twenty seconds. With the engine running, I called Barton Information on 120.25 mhz for taxi approval to pick up the fuel needed.

The wind for take off was reported as 350/11kts and I lined up on runway 27 Left. This was as good as a full crosswind departure, so I applied full right aileron to prevent the wing from rising during the take off roll. I think there was an element of tail wind in the mix as the Cessna lifted off and I accelerated to 60 kts to climb away. Shortly after I heard another aircraft asking about the wind ATC were reporting, as it looked different on one of the windsocks.

As I levelled at 1800 feet and turned to track to the POL VOR, ATC changed the runway in use to 02. The visibility was almost endless but the air was quite turbulent, from the high ground ahead, no doubt. I climbed to 3000 feet when I had cleared the Manchester lower level TMA and leaned the fuel flow to the usual 8 usg per hour. After POL I headed off to Winter Hill, where the top of the mast there is over 2500 feet above sea level. I descended to 1800 feet north of Bolton FC’s Reebok Stadium and turned towards Barton.

There is a large indoor skiing ramp called the Chill Factor near the airfield and it’s a great landmark on sunny days as the light reflections make it visible for miles. There was very little traffic as I positioned overhead the airfield and turned the aircraft into downwind left hand runway for runway 02. A smooth landing was made before the “Barton Bump” sent me up a few feet in the air, but raising the nose slightly cushioned the final touchdown. I taxied back to the parking position and secured the aircraft about fifty minutes after I had left. Surprisingly, no-one else had the plane booked for the rest of the day and it was only just after 11am.

Later I met some friends for a drink and although invited to head off for lunch in a MD500 helicopter, I had to decline due to an afternoon that held other activities. I’ll close this time with a photo of Steve’s new helicopter, the one that was used in the American TV series “Magnum”. Remember that one? It certainly looks appealing. Once again, it was hinted that I should get a rotary licence and join their group. Once again I was tempted. How long can I keep saying no?