Turbo Cirrus SR22 to Jersey and Alderney
I had been waiting a long time to fly a Cirrus SR22 and the fact that this is a turbocharged version just added to the anticipation.
Along with a friend, we set off to drive to North Weald airfield, near London, to check into a nearby hotel and prepare for the following day's flight. We have both flown the lower powered SR20 aircraft but this 310HP Cirrus is in a higher league. We were with an instructor and were flying IFR on all three planned legs: North Weald to Jersey, then to Alderney for lunch, and back to North Weald to complete the day. Three legs means one of us gets to fly only once, whilst the other pilot gets two flights in the left seat. I flew us down to Jersey, Kim would fly us back from Alderney and the third leg would be decided later.
There were three firsts on this trip for me: one, flying the SR22, two going IFR on the airways and three landing at Jersey. The documentation was filed and shortly after 10am we were departing from runway 21 at North Weald. We were VFR until contact was established with ATC who cleared us to climb to 4000ft into class A airspace, recleared shortly after to continue climb to FL70. We were given vectors which took us north of our planned track. Our flight plan was EGSX-BNN-NORRY-Q41-ORTAC-EGJJ. We were eventually vectored over Halton and Benson before being given a direct to SAM VOR. At Benson were were cleared up to our cruising level of FL90.
The most notable element of the departure was just how busy the radio was with talk. It was almost non stop and getting a call in required a swift press of the transmit button. The workload in the cruise was much lower and we could relax a little, although constant monitoring and adjustment of the fuel flows occupied our time. I was flying the aircraft and hand flew up into controlled airspace but then used the autopilot to free some brain power.
Crossing the south coast I was vectored before being cleared direct to ORTAC and told the arrival procedure would be Jersey 1Alpha. I had studied all the charts the night before so was familiar with the routing. With about 20 miles to run, Jersey atc gave me vectors and descent and I established on the ILS for runway 27. The autopilot was turned off and I hand flew the final 3 miles or so. We landed having flown 212 nm in 1hr 29mins, with a maximum speed of 195kts and an average of 143kts. There was a significant head wind that slowed us down on this leg.
I landed the aircraft and we taxied to the general avaiation flying club where we were handled very efficiently and given cheap tax free fuel. The very reasonable landing fee was a pleasant surprise and coffee was good too.
Fortified with fuel, drinks and a snack, we were soon off up to Alderney for lunch. As I'd done the flight down, my friend Kim was now at the controls. This flight was also IFR and we were cleared at 2000ft to Alderney. We requested the RNav runway 26 approach and Kim flew us around the hold three or four times at 4000ft before we landed and parked up. Alderney is a wonderful little island and it is easy to walk into "town" to get a bite of lunch. It's very quiet and laid back on the island and the weather was beautiful, even though it was late October.
We had lunch at a lovely restaurant called Bumps Bistro and Bar, where the owner very kindly set us up with some very nice food despite being officially closed. Walking down the main street is an experience on Alderney, one I had missed since coming to the island on honeymoon over three years ago.
I lost the coin flip and it was Kim who also got to fly us back to North Weald. I relaxed in the back as we retraced our outbound route at FL90 again. This leg we briefly donned the oxygen masks to make another first for me and we later dropped out of controlled airspace east of Bovingdon and landed shortly after on runway 21.
A good flying day was had again. Not one flying around in circles near home, but one where new experiences add to the pleasure. Flying with a friend also means you get to fly further at a lower cost.
What more can one ask?
Along with a friend, we set off to drive to North Weald airfield, near London, to check into a nearby hotel and prepare for the following day's flight. We have both flown the lower powered SR20 aircraft but this 310HP Cirrus is in a higher league. We were with an instructor and were flying IFR on all three planned legs: North Weald to Jersey, then to Alderney for lunch, and back to North Weald to complete the day. Three legs means one of us gets to fly only once, whilst the other pilot gets two flights in the left seat. I flew us down to Jersey, Kim would fly us back from Alderney and the third leg would be decided later.
There were three firsts on this trip for me: one, flying the SR22, two going IFR on the airways and three landing at Jersey. The documentation was filed and shortly after 10am we were departing from runway 21 at North Weald. We were VFR until contact was established with ATC who cleared us to climb to 4000ft into class A airspace, recleared shortly after to continue climb to FL70. We were given vectors which took us north of our planned track. Our flight plan was EGSX-BNN-NORRY-Q41-ORTAC-EGJJ. We were eventually vectored over Halton and Benson before being given a direct to SAM VOR. At Benson were were cleared up to our cruising level of FL90.
The most notable element of the departure was just how busy the radio was with talk. It was almost non stop and getting a call in required a swift press of the transmit button. The workload in the cruise was much lower and we could relax a little, although constant monitoring and adjustment of the fuel flows occupied our time. I was flying the aircraft and hand flew up into controlled airspace but then used the autopilot to free some brain power.
Crossing the south coast I was vectored before being cleared direct to ORTAC and told the arrival procedure would be Jersey 1Alpha. I had studied all the charts the night before so was familiar with the routing. With about 20 miles to run, Jersey atc gave me vectors and descent and I established on the ILS for runway 27. The autopilot was turned off and I hand flew the final 3 miles or so. We landed having flown 212 nm in 1hr 29mins, with a maximum speed of 195kts and an average of 143kts. There was a significant head wind that slowed us down on this leg.
I landed the aircraft and we taxied to the general avaiation flying club where we were handled very efficiently and given cheap tax free fuel. The very reasonable landing fee was a pleasant surprise and coffee was good too.
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| The Cirrus SR22 Turbo at North Weald |
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| View from Jersey Aeroclub to the GA parking area |
Fortified with fuel, drinks and a snack, we were soon off up to Alderney for lunch. As I'd done the flight down, my friend Kim was now at the controls. This flight was also IFR and we were cleared at 2000ft to Alderney. We requested the RNav runway 26 approach and Kim flew us around the hold three or four times at 4000ft before we landed and parked up. Alderney is a wonderful little island and it is easy to walk into "town" to get a bite of lunch. It's very quiet and laid back on the island and the weather was beautiful, even though it was late October.
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| Preparing to depart Jersey |
We had lunch at a lovely restaurant called Bumps Bistro and Bar, where the owner very kindly set us up with some very nice food despite being officially closed. Walking down the main street is an experience on Alderney, one I had missed since coming to the island on honeymoon over three years ago.
I lost the coin flip and it was Kim who also got to fly us back to North Weald. I relaxed in the back as we retraced our outbound route at FL90 again. This leg we briefly donned the oxygen masks to make another first for me and we later dropped out of controlled airspace east of Bovingdon and landed shortly after on runway 21.
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| Me, first time with an Oxygen mask |
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| South Coast of England from FL90 |
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| You don't see this every day as a private pilot! IFR is the way to go. |
A good flying day was had again. Not one flying around in circles near home, but one where new experiences add to the pleasure. Flying with a friend also means you get to fly further at a lower cost.
What more can one ask?
posted by David M at 10:35 AM
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