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News, information, articles, sources and resources for the UK microlighting community
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News, information, articles, sources and resources for the UK microlighting community
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 (click any small picture to enlarge - more pix coming later)
DAY 1 (for me) INSCH TO PERTH Started out ominously on Friday the 13th July, the weather wasn't great and I had to delay my departure until 5pm, and after leaving Insch it was soon apparent that the direct Cairn 'O' Mount route was not possible due to a low cloud base. So I re-routed low level around Banchory, once clear of the Grampian hills the weather brightened up and so it stayed until 8 miles from Perth, when the heavens opened up and gave my trusty Quasar and myself the biggest airbourne soaking I've ever encountered. On calling up Perth Radio for landing instructions, they took pity on me and I was offered whatever approach / circuit I wanted, the landing, I was informed afterwards was spectacular for the amount of spray throw up as there were copious amount of casual water laying on the tarmac runway. Once on the ground I was ushered into the hanger by the resident instructor Marcus Dalgetty, where the other six intrepid flyers were busy making final preparations for the departure the following morning. |
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DAY 2: PERTH TO SHOBDEN The weather was even worse than the previous day which delayed our 9am planned departure until after lunch, the local press turned out and took photographs of the group. The group consisted of:-
This was fairly uneventful leg, again flown in less than perfect conditions. On arriving we took on fuel and were relieved of £12 for the landing fee!! Leg 2 Cumbernauld to Carlisle The weather was by now improving slightly and we were beginning to enjoy ourselves, on arrival at Carlisle airfield we took on fuel and had a meal 'Mars bar & Coke'. A wander around the hanger revealed 19 Gyrocopters and several flexwing and 3-axis microlights.
Leg 4 Barton to Shobden (overnighter) We arrived at a near deserted Shobdon at 9pm and managed to get the machines in one of the hangers for the night. We then tried to get a B&B for the night, and with the help of the local bar staff, we eventually got picked up in a car by one of the local flyers who's wife does B&B. When we were almost at the B&B the driver said 'did my wife explain the sleeping arrangements ??. Only double beds !!, now I've know Roy for a long time and I still don't find him attractive !!, after a hard days flying neither of us was for volunteering to sleep on the floor, so we promised not to tell a soul that we had slept together (a promise which Roy was later to break . . .) |
DAY 3 SHOBDEN TO ABBEVILLE Leg 5 Shobden to Popham Roy was given the front seat of my beloved Quasar for the first time, the weather was superb and the flying easy and enjoyable. Our 'arrival' was interesting at Popham, as between Roy and myself we managed to cock up the interesting doglegged final approach that is required to avoid the petrol station at the threshold of this famous grass strip. Anyway we didn't charge them for cutting their 3-ft high grass that borders the runway and they politely forgot to mention our 'arrival'. Leg 6 Shobden to Headcorn (Lashendon) The conditions were again superb with what little wind there was in our favour, we arrived at Headcorn which is one of those remarkable fields where just about everything that can bet airbourne does and mixes remarkable well, from modern GA stuff to vintage classics to ballooning, parachuting and microlighting. Everybody is welcomed with the same enthusiasm. We filed our flight plan for the Channel crossing, by now it was 5pm, so with the relevant lines on the charts we donned lifejackets and off we went. Again Roy was in the front seat and with only about 25 hrs since his GFT he was about to fly the Channel ( is this some sort of a record??). We passed over Folkstone and viewed the maze of railway lines where they converge before the entrance to the 'Tunnel'. All too soon we had left the English coast and we were comforted to be able to see Cape Gri Nez on the horizon.
We get away around lunch time after replacing a bent hang bolt on one of the Quantums, a result of leaving the hang bolt in the hang bracket and attempting to lay the wing flat (take note for future reference). The lovely Joanne isn't a morning type person and requires gentle encouragement to get her backside in the Quantum much before noon. The original plan was to fly to a Chateau in Dijion with it's own airstrip and spend the night there, however things didn't go quite to plan!!!
An enjoyable and uneventful leg, but we landed at Soissons only to find the fuel bowser locked up with no key holder in site, so we quickly remount and head for pastures new.
With superb flying conditions and still a tail wind of 5 to 10mph we made good progress. Chateaux Thierry is a lovely well kept grass strip, we were made very welcome and relieved them of lots of Avgas, the 582s continuing to make a large dent in the world's oil reserves.
Despite the French equivalent of Pooleys stating that Microlights were welcome, when calling up Troyes we were told firmly but politely to Naff Off, so we set course for an alternative field. Leg 11 Troyes to St Florentine St Florentine is a grass strip used be microlights and some heavier stuff, but unfortunately again no fuel available (bowser again locked up). So a quick blag and one of the local ULM pilots is enlisted to run us to the local petrol station for 35 litres of unleaded. We arrive back at the airstrip and share out the 35 litres between the four machines, which we wrongly thought would be 'just enough' to reach the Chateau. Leg 12 St Florentine to Semur This leg was only about 70 miles, should have been a 'breeze' , but unfortunately we had a headwind for the first time during the trip. With still approximately 30miles to go, it became obvious that the 582s were burning up the fuel faster than the miles and as a result we all decided to divert to Semur with the excception of John in his 912, who decided to press on alone to the original destination, the Chateaux. The three 582s arrived at Semur running on fumes, again the fuel bowser was locked and with no one around, we derigged and made our way into the centre of the lovely historic town of Semur. Accommodation was limited and the six of us were split up in various hotels around the town.
The wind was blowing a hooly so we enjoyed the day exploring Semur and trying to find some decent food to eat!! More of the same
More of the same - getting bored now!! DAY 8 SEMUR More of the same – getting really bored now and can't wait to get flying again. DAY 9 SEMUR TO BLOIS Leg 13 Semur to Cosne It was great to be flying again after our 4 days in Semur. We arrived at Cosne with a strong 90 degree crosswind but everyone made in down safely with only one machine having to go round for a second bite. Again another superb airfield but no fuel, so Dickie and myself started walking to the local Supermarket to get food and water, whilst the rest of the crew lazed around waiting for the fuel man to arrive. When we had taken fuel and water onboard we said our farewells to Cosne and set off for Aubigny. Leg 14 Cosne to Aubigny This was an uneventful leg, so uneventful I can't even remember the airfield, by now with so many airfields visited they were all becoming a bit of a blur (should have kept a diary).
Leg 16 Blois to Le Mans This leg was approximately 100miles, which by now we realised was about as far as we dare venture before having to feed the Rotax 582s more Avgas. We reckoned we were getting between 15 to 17 litres an hour, but we were flying fully loaded and between 60 to 65mph most of the time. Le Mans is directly behind the motor racing circuit grandstand, there was a motorcycle meeting in progress when we arrived. A quick refuel and away again. Leg 17 Le Mans to Berney Berney is a pretty grass strip, but we were not made to feel too welcome. Again no fuel was available until 10am the following morning. The hunt for accommodation was unsuccessful, so it was a night under canvas for most except Simon who for some unknown reason didn't want to share his tent with me so he slept under the stars. (He must have spoken to Roy!) I awoke the next morning at 5am and the visibility was about 20ft, I couldn't sleep so I rigged the machine in readiness for the coming day's adventure. DAY 10 Berney to Abbeville (Leg 18) (eventually) This leg was to have been about 100miles, but it didn't quite work out that way….. We headed straight for the northern coast, where we had a great flight following the coastline all the way to Dieppe, then we headed for Abbeville. When we called up Abbeville we were told in no uncertain terms to go away; we hadn't rung up earlier and were not aware of an active NOTAM - there was an air race ongoing and we weren't allowed to land until 2pm. By now we were getting low on fuel, so we decided to head back to Dieppe ( got to save up and get me a 4 stroke), but a quick check on the fuel status showed it would be touch and go, so we landed in a farm field to lick our wounds – lesson learnt, always call ahead. There was no civilisation in sight, with all 3 machine desperately low on fuel we decided to syphon fuel from two of the machines to feed one greedy 582. Marcus, being the only French-speaking pilot amongst us, was press-ganged into flying back to Abbeville after the 2pm deadline to bring back more fuel and to face the wrath of ATC. He returned an hour later with a 30litre plastic drum of fuel, which was shared out, we then took off and all returned to Abbeville together where we derigged and again stayed the night in the adjoining hotel. Leg 19 Abbeville to Le Touquet
Leg 20 Le Touquet to Le Touquet !!!! We were eventually were given permission to take off, but when two of the machines had just taken off we were called back to update our flight plan, which has to be done from the last point of departure. Leg 21 Le Touquet to Headcorn After we had sheepishly filed our second flight plan, we were allowed to take off AGAIN. The coast appeared all too soon and we were mid channel at 4,000ft in no time. This had to be the highlight of the days flying for me, the conditions were superb. The machine was flying perfectly, so smooth were the conditions I hardly touched the bar all the way across the channel. The wing was set up just right, so much so that I could change direction by just turning the nosewheel !!! All too soon we had landed at Headcorn and fed the 582s yet again and ourselves. Leg 22 Headcorn to Sywell The flight to Sywell was enjoyable and we arrived at about 5pm. I'd never been to Sywell before and I was mightily impressed both with the set up and the welcome, despite me calling Ben Ashman 'Andy Buchan' during a conversation (easy mistake to make). We were all amazed at how our machines were squeezed into the already choc-a-block hanger with amazing skill, many thanks to Ben and Paul Dewhurst. We were treated to some real food that night - a Northants curry - and it went down really well. DAY 12 - SYWELL TO BUTTERMILK FARM (Leg 23) Marcus and Joanne were in their element at Sywell as this was where Marcus had done his AFI training and so they were well known and liked. We departed Sywell for the short journey to Buttermilk, and when we arrived overhead there was a glider in the centre of the runway and a female frantically trying to move the glider clear of the runway. We landed and introduced ourselves to the female pilot who had run out of lift and height and been forced to land. She was very interested in our machines, so me being one never to miss an opportunity offered her a flight, which she jumped at. She had a ball and has promised me a flight in a glider when she comes up to Aboyne. We all had a meal together a local pub before saying our farewells. We returned to Buttermilk farm and derigged the machine for the night and walked to Ben Ashman (alias Andy Buchan)'s house, and from there we were treated to a narrow boat ride on the grand union canal and finished the night off with a meal in a canalside pub. Many thanks to Ben and his girlfriend, friendly folk down that neck of the woods! DAY 13 BUTTERMILK FARM TO PERTH Leg 24 Buttermilk Farm to Sywell The following morning we left Buttermilk farm after a night in a local B&B and headed back to Sywell to refuel and say our farewells. Whilst we were there we were treated to a low pass by the Red Arrows, very spectacular indeed. By now I'd fallen in love with the Air Creation Buggy that Flylight are importing. (Do they do a 4 stroke??) Leg 25 Sywell to Sandtoft We departed Sywell and I think we all promised ourselves a return visit; we had been well looked after and if ever any of them venture up to the frozen north, they can be sure of a warm welcome in return. Amazingly we still had a slight tailwind for the long trek north and in a couple of hours we arrived at Sandtoft in south Yorkshire. This was where we dropped off Roy, who's flying had progressed at an amazing rate and who is looking forward to his next overseas jolly. I was again flying solo for the rest of the journey back to Insch Leg 26 Sandtoft to Full Sutton We had arranged for fuel to be available upon our arrival and after an uneventful but again enjoyable flight, followed by a short wait the man with the key for the fuel bowser arrived. So, fully fuelled up, we said more farewells. Leg 27 Full Sutton to Newcastle This leg would have been quite 'ordinary' but for Newcastle. We were granted a zone transit through Teeside, then passed over to Newcastle Approach who routed us over the Tyne bridges before passing us over to 'Tower', who gave us a base join. We landed on the vast runway on which we could have landed & taken off at least half a dozen times and still had tarmac to spare!! We took on fuel and paid the landing fee, guess they don't get many microlights in cos we attracted a lot of attention. We had to hold at Bravo to allow a 737 to pass before lining up for take off. Leg 26 Newcastle to East Fortune Back on to familiar territory now and a quick blast up to East Fortune; Marcus had phoned a mate and arranged a 'fuel dump' for us. We did a quick re-fuel and off we went as the light was fading. Leg 27 East Fortune to Perth We crossed the Firth of Forth and went flat out at 75mph for Perth, and the light was almost gone by the time we landed at a near-deserted Perth airfield. The machines were pushed into the hanger and we all retreated to the local curry house in Perth for a celebratory Indian. I stayed overnight at Marcus and Joanne's place. Leg 28 Perth to Insch I eventually left Perth around 1pm and pressed on home. About 10miles north of Perth I was treated to a dogfight display by a couple RAF Tornadoes just a couple of thousand feet below me. I crossed the Cairn 'O' Mount at 3,000ft and got trashed as usual, but the rest of the flight to Insch was pleasantly uneventful. After landing at Insch the machine was derigged and pushed into the hanger. It had performed faultlessly and I almost forgave it the fuel consumption .. almost!! I would like to take the opportunity to thank the rest of the team, it really was a great mix of people and we had a ball. A special thanks you Marcus & Mattress woman (only joking Joe) without whom the trip probably would not have happened. This has given me a new surge of enthusiasm for flying, which was beginning to wane. I've now found some keen go places pilots with the same passion for adventure and I think my frequent visits to Perth may become all the more frequent.
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It all started innocently enough with one of my frequent day trips from my home base Insch to Perth airfield. Whilst devouring the complimentary coffee and biscuits in the clubhouse, I spotted a poster on the notice board wall for a proposed Microlight trip to France and promptly added my name to the dozen or so already on the list.
The trip was planned for mid to late July, an informal get together was planned about a month prior to the jolly. From the original list of interested flyers, only 3 machines plus myself could make it.
