I have found out what the best weather is to annoy a pilot 
, blue skies, light fluffy clouds and …. wind blowing force 3 and 4 and forecast to go up to force 5 with gusts of 25 knots due within a few hours! We had planned to visit Old Buckingham for their American taildraggers fly-in. Oh well such is a pilot’s life.
Went flying today. I had hoped to pop into Stow Maries, but no-one answered the phone to give PPR. 
Instead I headed off for Andrewsfield for lunch. The weather was 15 gusting 21 mph, but straight down the strip, so takeoff was very quick, I just had time to lift the tail before the wheels left the ground! Boy was it bumpy up there! I tried several heights, but they were all the same, so after 15 minutes, I turned around and headed back. I know I love flying, but corkscrewing around the sky is not fun. Weather does not look good for Saturday, so I will just have to wait for better weather.
A video blog of the trip.
The plan for this weekend was a flying visit to Sandy for their beach party on Saturday, or a trip to White Waltham for Sunday Lunch. Neither happened. Sandy was a washout for us, there was low cloud and forecast heavy showers, so we were going for Sunday Lunch. Once in the air Sunday we realised how bumpy it was so went off the idea and flew around Essex instead. Rosemary flew for a short while while I was resetting the GPS etc in far from nice conditions. Her training seems to have been worth while she was a lot more confident and controlled HotelSierra well in bumpy conditions. I was very proud of her!
The approach back to Stoke was interesting, the wind was varying about 60 degrees from a tailwind to a headwind on both runways, so you took your chance. I elected for runway 06 as the wind was favouring that runway when I was overhead. By the time I was on final it had swung around and I had a tailwind and a crosswind! It was a fast and very long landing. This was my first tailwind landing in HotelSierra!
Listening to the video afterwards, on final, I was huffing and puffing like a pregnant woman giving birth! It certainly was something which took a lot of concentration.
For the first time for over two years, I have this pain, called love… of flying. I used to really crave the weekends when I could escape into the air. While building Hotel Sierra this did not occur, while learning to fly a taildragger, this did not occur. This week the FEELING IS BACK!
I am finally happy that I am now ‘in control’ again when flying and that I can handle most situations by instinct once again. The long lay-off due to the build and then the conversion to taildraggers took this instinct away, but now it is back, and I am so pleased. Life is goood!
Here is a short video showing the new cockpit cam. It needs adjusting as the horizon is not level, and I am not sure if the propeller distracts from the video or not.
Yesterday we had the great privilege of landing at Muswell Manor, on the Isle of Sheppey, the airfield where the first British pilot flew a British Aircraft. It was also the home of the Short Brothers and the Wright Brothers are known to have visited there as well. It was such a great feeling to have landed on an airfield where they had been.
Muswell Manor plaque
Muswell Manor was holding a fun day to celebrate the centenary of Charles Roll’s flight from England to France and back and the Kent Microlight Club had arranged for some microlights to fly in. Kent Microlight Club kindly offered Medway Airsports had 5 places at the fly-in. In the end 4 aircraft from Medway went.
We were going to stay all day as we would not be able to fly out until 5pm as there would be flying displays going on in the afternoon. However, when we arrived I was advised that the 5pm could not be guaranteed due to the Vampire coming down from Scotland. As we had a dinner date in Essex at 7pm we opted to fly out during a gap at about midday when Chris and Karen were going back to Stoke. All in all a great day out, only 45 minutes flying but what place to fly to.
Hotel Sierra at Muswell Manor
I also set up the cockpit camera in a different place and took a video of the flight back. I have not had a chance to look at it properly yet but it will be interesting to see if it gives a better video than where I had it at the back of the cabin.
Today we fitted the new extension pieces to the seats. This brings them up to a far more comfortable position. I can see why the seats were designed to be reclining as if you raise them too much, you hit your head on the safety cage. I started with 1 1/4″ extensions but these were too long. The best length for us was 3/4″ extensions.
Seat as supplied by Rans
New 3/4" extension fitted
Seats before (in the background) and after (in the foreground) of fitting the seat's extension pieces
After fitting, I went up for a test flight to see how they were in flight and was very pleased with them. The flight however was very bumpy and it was a real fight to keep her straight on the final approach with my hands moving the stick like mad and my feet doing a tap dance on the pedals. I still have to find out why when I take off the wind is straight down the runway, but within a few minutes in the air it has turned to a blustery crosswind.
New lightweight cover by Cover Systems
The final thing today was we tried out our new lightweight cover from Cover Systems. It is designed for a Skyranger and is about 3″ too short to be perfect, but it does the job I want it to do.
These weathermen need shooting, I blame them for me not flying today and them stealing my fuel.
Let me explain. Today was supposed to be 8-9 mph winds and 22°-24°. What was it 16-24 mph winds and 30°! Not only that, because of the hot weather I am loosing about 1.5 litres of fuel a week due to evaporation from the wing tanks! I have now drained the tanks so that there is only a few litres in there to keep the fuel lines wet.
On the lighter side we did get a lot of small jobs done today. I have been making some extension pieces for the seat backs to bring the seats more upright. I started off with 1.25″ but this is too upright and I hit my head on the steel cockpit cage. I then tried 1″ which was better, but I still can’t get my ‘large’ stomach back far enough to get full back movement of the control stick, so 3/4″ seems to be about the right amount. Not too laid back that it is uncomfortable and not too upright to push me forward in the seat. I just need to make the second pair of stops for the other seat and then try them out on a reasonable flight to see if they are comfortable. The beauty of these stops is that they can be removed easily if I am not happy with them.
We also tried a canopy cover designed for the skyranger by Cover Systems with the help of Andy at Stoke. They are really lightweight covers that will keep the sun out of the cockpit on very hot days, and well made too. I was really impressed with them.
Last of all we tidied up the hangar a bit until it became too hot to work in there.
No flying but a useful day instead, oh did I mention we also had a Roast Beef dinner at the airfield as well.
We were really looking forward to visiting Rayne Airfield today for their Hog-Roast. However the weather has not played ball, too hot! This probably sounds a bit weird, but I have never loved the hot weather and Rosemary cannot tolerate it so much now, much to her annoyance. It is forecast 30°C in the shade today.
The forecast is for a few degrees cooler tomorrow with more cloud cover, so hopefully we can get a flight in tomorrow.
I have had great fun today, a new piece of software to play with. The Aware+ GPS is great at what it does, but putting in a route has always been it’s weakpoint. Airbox have just released a piece of software that allows you do all your planning on the PC and export it to the Aware+ called FastPlan. This has just made a great product even better. I ordered it yesterday with the Notams and Weather subscription.
I received my FastPlan software today and I am impressed. I am still playing with it and I am sure there are features I have not found yet.
A couple of features I do like is:-
- showing the notams on the planning map, and being able to turn off notams that don’t apply.
- very easy method of plotting the route on the map
- easily entering user waypoints
- once the aware is synchronised it shows all your previous trips with take off and landing times – useful for filling out logbooks!
A couple of things I don’t like (though there are plans to solve both these items in the near future):-
- The notams are not transferred to the aware
- the start/end/waypoint names are not transferred to the Aware only their positions
Overall quite pleased, and if the development of the software goes with the same speed as the early development of the Aware, this will be a capable and easy to use planning tool.
A great day at Waddington yesterday for their airshow. We drove in, not flew in, but still enjoyed it. The highlights for me were the WW1 aircraft, the Vulcan, The Battle of Britain tribute and the Spitfire & Typhoon flying together. Here are some photos of the day.
We have been trying for years to fly into Rougham, we did it finally today! I am very tired but very happy, it was a good day out. We flew there with Roger and Leslie from Stoke and had a nice easy flight there with no problems. We could see the airfield for miles, there were loads of aircraft, vehicles and a funfair there. On landing we covered everything in the cockpit with a sheet to keep them cool and went off to sign-in. As we started to wall up the flight line, Ginge and Brian landed in DF.
DF arriving at Rougham
DF Taxiing
Signing in was a surprise, on paying our landing fees, we were presented with a doughnut and a bottle of water each. Both were highly appreciated, but the water was definitely going to be needed. We had brought a bottle with us, but that soon went in the 31 degree sunshine! The event was really well run and was a great day out. The flying show was due to start at 14:30 and finish about 17:00, but we were getting too hot by 14:00 so decided to leave, leaving Roger & Leslie and Ginge & Brian there to watch the show. A very bumpy trip home and we have found a ‘quirk’ with Hotel Sierra. If taking off with full power on hot days, be ready for the engine to miss a few beats when you level out and throttle back. This was the same as Le Touquet, but we had put in 50/50 4star this time so the fuel pressure and flow did not misbehave. Once it had settled down, we had no more problems again. Carb ice?
Forgot to mention, on the way back a Spitfire flew past us fairly close and at the same hieght on the opposite direction, a lovely sight!
Some other photos form the day out.
Hotel Sierra at Rougham
Part of the 'Steam' part of the event
Are you sure you don't want any help with that pasty?
To help prevent vapour-lock in the hot weather, Joan has advised that I mix 50/50 unleaded and 4 star petrol on the hot days and 100% 4 star on very hot days. At that price I will not be flying on very hot days!
Still I bought 40 litres of 4 star, which at 50/50 and 10 litres an hour will last me a month or so. I reckon I might need one more batch before the cooler days arrive.
Hoping to go to Rougham Wings, Wheels & Steam fly-in this weekend.
What a great day this turned out to be. It started out with very unpromising weather. The TAFs and METARs all seemed to promise a ‘reasonable day of 13 mph max crosswind getting better during the day, but the actual weather outside my window was cold blustery and miserable. We decided to go down to the airfield to see what it was like, on arrival it was cold, blustery and ‘nearly’ miserable which was a slight improvement. :-)
I fuelled Hotel Sierra up and got her ready and decided it was less than the 13mph forecast, just, most of the time, so we would go for it. The flight to North Weald was uneventful except for a few showers and a 30mph head wind. On arrival we did one of our FAST landings as the runway was long and the wind was a crosswind. (Oh all right! I could not slow her down enough and we landed fast, all right!) she stayed nice and straight and I was pleased with the landing.
We were marshaled passed the crowd line where we seemed to have lots of photos taken.
I later heard we were described as ‘constructed from a large metal tube with a fabric covering that is pulled over it and laced up at the bottom’ and ‘Wasp like colours’. Well I can’t complain about either of those statements as they are both very true
As soon as we parked up the plane spotters started to come around and photograph Hotel Sierra. I am sure she enjoyed it as she knows she is pretty and seems to strike up her ‘look at me’ pose.
Hotel Sierra 'posing' at Air Britain
Walking to sign in we were stopped by someone and asked’ were we the ones in the Rans?’ after I admitted that we were, he went on to say how he used to own a Rans and what did I think of her, so we had a conversation about Rans.
The day was really good looking around the many aircraft that had arrived, meeting people we knew and having a good chats. We even had a play on Saxon Microlight’s Thruster simulator. Joan and Ginge have really improved this and I did enjoy it, even if I did crash it on the first attempt.
The flight back was a lot bumpier as the thermals had set in, but it was still a good flight, and I did a GREASER of a landing!! (though as usual with great landings no-one was there to see it!). All in all a really pleasant day with a lot of crosswind practice, an hour and 15 minutes of flying for 10 litres of fuel, now that is what I call cheap fun.
Well done to Air Britain for organising a great day.. as usual!
As we crossed the channel, and back,a couple of weeks ago, we were eligible for the LAA’s certificate to commemorate Charles Rolls, first return channel crossing on 2 June 2010.
The certificate arrived today! I now have a certificate to say I flew on on the anniversary of the first flight of the Wright Brothers and this one as well. The only one I missed out on was the Bleriot crossing, but it was too windy that day!
LAA Charles Rolls Certificate
What a great day! Lots to record, so a long blog entry. It was arranged that 12 aircraft would fly from Stoke to Le Touquet (L2K).
Aircraft lined up at Stoke ready for their 'adventure.
I sorted out our flight plans for us on Friday so that they were all done ready. This morning the forecast was for good weather but not too good visibility. We took off before the others as they were getting themselves all tied up in warming up etc and headed off on our own. The vis was not bad and we could see at least 12 miles in front of us.We headed out and left the coast at Folkestone at 5000′. The vis was worse and the sky and the sea were both the same colour, off white in the distance. This can be very dangerous as without an horizon you can get disoriented and end up spiralling into the sea. Luckily we could see 4 boats at varying distances in front of us, so I was happy to continue. About 5 miles out, the vis started to clear and we could see the French coast. France HERE WE COME!!!!
On leaving London Information we were advised to call L2K direct. This is where it got interesting. All was OK as we poodled along down the coast at 65-70mph. At Boulogne we were advised to report base ready for turning final, great a straight in approach. However, L2k then started to put faster aircraft on downwind assuming we would be out of the way by the time they wanted to land. This was a little bit worrying so the last 10 miles were done at 90-100mph so that we did not get an aircraft coming into our side when our paths crossed.
All was going well, I was on final following another aircraft, still at 80-90 mph (I land at 40mph) and then I heard another aircraft following us in, a twin engined, bloody fast aircraft! I kept the 80 mph speed right up to almost touching down and then tried to lose as much speed as possible before the wheels touched. It almost worked, the wheels first touched at 70! they then touched again at 65 and that time we stayed down. By the time I turned off the runway the twin was down and about 40 yards behind and catching up fast. Interesting!
Hotel Sierra at Le Touquet
We met Steve and Jason there from Damyns, They had landed earlier and were watching the fun. The others of our party turned up over the next 30 minutes.
We were going into L2K town for lunch, but there was only 1 taxi and 12 of us (the rest had hired bikes) so Rosemary and I decided to try the new restaurant at the airport, It was great! Very good food and we had a 3 course meal each with wine and cokes for under £50. We then sat out under the trees letting it all go down while we people and aircraft watched. A really relaxing afternoon.
The others turned up back at the airport about 15:30 and started to file their flight plans. We had already filed the return flight plan yesterday so three of us left right away for the trip home.
Leaving Le Touquet for home
The weather was very hot and it took almost 15 miles to reach 3,500′ at which point it got interesting. We throttled back to cruise speed and started to turn towards England. The engine went very rough at this point so after trying different engine speeds we found one where the engine was reasonably happy. Unfortunately, this meant crossing the channel at 3,500′ and only 65mph. We radioed the other two aircraft to let them know we were having ‘problems’ but were still going to try to do the crossing.
Half way across we tried to contact London Information to let them know we were coming home, they could not hear me very well and only got about 20% of the transmission, Rosemary tried calling them and they could hear her 100%. We got across OK although the fuel flow meter was showing that we were using 18-19 litres an hour instead of the normal 12-14 lph. At that rate we would be VERY tight on fuel for landing. However the engine just purred along at the reduced revs and halfway along Kent, the fuel flow started to read the more normal 13lph. We made it back without any problems and when we landed we found that we had only used 13 litres during the whole 1 hour 20 minute trip, so had plenty of fuel. The consensus at the moment is either carb ice, which would not explain the flow meter error or fuel vapourisation which would explain the rough engine and the flow meter…. maybe.
However, having said all of the above, we both really enjoyed the trip and it was Hotel Sierra’s first trip abroad.
Typical of this weekend, it is wet and windy. Today at the airfield we were watching the gusts go to 25 knots+ across the runway. This is the day to stay on the ground! We tried out our new GA headsets today and they work well and are very light. While we were there we also did the 50 hour/6 month service on Hotel Sierra. Not much to do just check for any loose items and lubricate the hinges etc. The modification to the engine cowl made this a really easy job no more removing the propeller to see all the engine , until the spacers fell out while refitting the cowling after the service. They fell on stony ground and took ages to find. Note to oneself, do something about the hangar floor!
Hoping to fly to Le Touquet sometime next week.
We missed out on flying yesterday due to other commitments, so today was going to be the day. After refuelling Hotel Sierra and a snack we were ready to go. One problem, my headset had failed again… they have to go! So I used Rosemary’s headset and she stayed on the ground with a glass or two of red wine (thanks Chris). I was expecting it to be very bumpy as it was 27 degrees and no wind, but above 2000′ it was as smooth as silk.
Fabulous visibility so I flew up the Thames, around Foulness Island, up to Maldon and back to Stoke. A great and relaxing flight. On arriving back at Stoke, it was a bit thermally on finals, so I did what Martin had showed me last week and powered down through it and pulled off a really nice landing! Just as well as Brian was there videoing it . It was great seeing Brian, Ginge and DF. DF is a Thruster TST and it is her colour scheme that Hotel Sierra was based on, so the two parked together look really cool!
Hotel Sierra and DF, sisters together
All in all a great day with lots of people at the airfield. Chris has shown me the new headsets he has just bought, they are the new ‘pilot’ ones, very light and very comfortable. They use the 2 GA plugs so I am going to get two adaptors for my intercom so that I can try them out. If I like them I can buy them.
The forecast today was for interesting weather and it did as it promised. I decided that the weather was going to be just above what I have tried before with Hotel Sierra and too bad for a long journey, so I was going to do some circuits. The actual weather went from 10 mph to 19.8 mph and 30 degree crosswinds to 60 degree crosswinds, and then back again, and I had FUN!
The first session only lasted 35 minutes and I scared myself a couple of times. By the end of the 35 minutes, I had done 6 take-offs and landings and I was shaking and bathed in sweat and grinning from ear to ear. Let me say here and now not all the take offs and landings were pretty, but they were character building with the gusty conditions.
On the last circuit, the Medway test pilot, Martin, was also flying and asked over the radio if he could come and have a go in Hotel Sierra after he had finished on the new SLA, of course I said yes. After I had finished a cuppa to calm my nerves, I went down to the hangar to get the second headset and he landed the SLA, so we got into Hotel Sierra and I took off and then handed control over to Martin. He did a few turns and a stall and said he liked the handling etc and then we did a few landings. Martin also showed me the best way to bring Hotel Sierra in on very gusty conditions – fast with no flaps! Great fun.
So, only about 50 minutes all told, but an instructional day and I have come home with a very contented feeling and to a nice steak and half a bottle of Red Wine.
Today we visited the Newark Aircraft Museum. This museum has the most microlights we have seen in any aircraft museum. This was a very friendly and informative museums and well worth the visit. I took the camera, but had forgot to put the card in it so after 5 photos it was full
The runway is still just outside the museum, it would be lovely to have a fly-in there, but I don’t think the museum owns the runway, it looks like it is part of the land the Newark race track is now on.
Still as far as I know at the moment that is the last museum for a while.
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This blog is an on-line extension to the occasional diary I have been keeping of my flying for the last 8 years. It is not really written as though it is going to be read by anyone else, but as a reminder to me of the fun my wife and I have with our flying, and building our Rans S6 ES G-RTHS (affectionately known as HotelSierra) in 2008.
If the writing here gives you some idea of the fun that building and flying microlights can be, then it has been worthwhile. This has to be one of the cheapest ways of flying and still have the ability to fly reasonable distances.
I hope you enjoy reading this blog, which can only be described as an ongoing love story.
Photos are included where taken, click on the thumbnail views to see the larger view.
British Microlight Association
Local schools that I have found to be good. (there are other schools in the area, but I have not had personal experience of them)
