This month is turning out to be a bit of a wet squid for flying. Earlier it was too thermic, now it is too breezy and the rest of the week a risk of thunderstorms. I spend more time cutting the grass at the strip than flying!
Perhaps the weekend will be better!
Tuesday, 19 July 2011
Sunday, 10 July 2011
Better conditions
I had a nice flight today, still a little bumpy and enough to spill the Pims (if I had one!), but good visibility and not many aircraft in the sky.
The take off was longer than usual due to the hot temprature (air less dense so the wings generate less lift).but we were sill airborne in less than 200m. I throttled back at 300ft to save wear on the engine and make it a little less noisy for those living below the climbout path.
I continued the climb on the western edge of Redditch and then turned on course to Shottewsell when clear. We climbed to 1,500ft and had a good view of Coughton Court as we tracked south west toward Stratford on Avon. I turned south a little more to take us close to Long Marston so we could see what was going on, b ut needn't have bothered. There was one flexwing in the circuit and that was it! I remember when microlights used to swarm around Long Marston like bees in a honeypot, but that was fifteen years ago!
We soon had Shotteswell in our sights, although it usually takes a thorough search to identify it from all the other fields around it. There are some noise sensitive areas around there so you need to make sure that you don't overfly the villages and farms. I came in quite high on the approach, but a nice sideslip soon has us dropping at a rate of knots. I kicked in left rudder to straighten just as we got over the hedge and then rounded out over the runway and held off until about halfway down, as I remembered the first bit being a bit bumpy. We touched down halfway and taxied to the hangar to see who was around, unfortunately, being a Sunday evening, there was no one!
After half an hour of enjoyng the peace and quiet in the sunshine, we made off for our retun journey. This time Lewis was flying and I could enjoy the view. 30 minutes later we landed back in our home strip. Another enjoyable flight!
The take off was longer than usual due to the hot temprature (air less dense so the wings generate less lift).but we were sill airborne in less than 200m. I throttled back at 300ft to save wear on the engine and make it a little less noisy for those living below the climbout path.
I continued the climb on the western edge of Redditch and then turned on course to Shottewsell when clear. We climbed to 1,500ft and had a good view of Coughton Court as we tracked south west toward Stratford on Avon. I turned south a little more to take us close to Long Marston so we could see what was going on, b ut needn't have bothered. There was one flexwing in the circuit and that was it! I remember when microlights used to swarm around Long Marston like bees in a honeypot, but that was fifteen years ago!
We soon had Shotteswell in our sights, although it usually takes a thorough search to identify it from all the other fields around it. There are some noise sensitive areas around there so you need to make sure that you don't overfly the villages and farms. I came in quite high on the approach, but a nice sideslip soon has us dropping at a rate of knots. I kicked in left rudder to straighten just as we got over the hedge and then rounded out over the runway and held off until about halfway down, as I remembered the first bit being a bit bumpy. We touched down halfway and taxied to the hangar to see who was around, unfortunately, being a Sunday evening, there was no one!
After half an hour of enjoyng the peace and quiet in the sunshine, we made off for our retun journey. This time Lewis was flying and I could enjoy the view. 30 minutes later we landed back in our home strip. Another enjoyable flight!
Monday, 4 July 2011
Up here, wishing I was down there!
There are some times when you are flying when you wish you were down on the ground. Well Saturday was one of those times! The forecast was excellent ... a ridge of high pressure building light winds from 0 to 5,000 feet, visibility 30km plus ... just perfect!
Unfortunately, it wasn't. The temperature on the ground was 24C at 11:00am and that should have been a warning sign. Anyway, after the usual thorough pre-flight, I took off from the small grass strip and before I got to 500ft, I was pushed up in the air by a thermal and climbing at over 1,500ft per minute. As I got to 300ft, I started to throttle back, but I was still going up like a rocket. I levelled off at 1,000 ft and that is when it all started to happen.
All of a sudden the starboard wing lifted the aircraft into a roll of 45 degrees: a quick snatch of the aileron brought it back to level, but within a few seconds it did it again, and then without any warning, the microlight dropped 200ft as I was lifted out of my seat and hit my head on the crossbar in the roof of the cockpit. That was it, I'd had enough and wanted to be back on the ground.
I had to endure another five minutes of the invisible hand throwing me around the sky, until I had flown around the circuit into the final approach to land. And then I saw a jogger running along the middle of the runway about half way down its length! I had no choice, but to do a low pass over the strip to get their attention and go around for another landing attempt! Another five minutes riding the Big One!!
I finally made it down on the ground and breathed a long sigh of relief as I shutdown the engine. On the ground it was a beautiful summers day, but in the air in a microlight weighing less than 380 kilograms, I was thrown around like a feather in a thunderstorm!
The culprits? Thermals!
Unfortunately, it wasn't. The temperature on the ground was 24C at 11:00am and that should have been a warning sign. Anyway, after the usual thorough pre-flight, I took off from the small grass strip and before I got to 500ft, I was pushed up in the air by a thermal and climbing at over 1,500ft per minute. As I got to 300ft, I started to throttle back, but I was still going up like a rocket. I levelled off at 1,000 ft and that is when it all started to happen.
All of a sudden the starboard wing lifted the aircraft into a roll of 45 degrees: a quick snatch of the aileron brought it back to level, but within a few seconds it did it again, and then without any warning, the microlight dropped 200ft as I was lifted out of my seat and hit my head on the crossbar in the roof of the cockpit. That was it, I'd had enough and wanted to be back on the ground.
I had to endure another five minutes of the invisible hand throwing me around the sky, until I had flown around the circuit into the final approach to land. And then I saw a jogger running along the middle of the runway about half way down its length! I had no choice, but to do a low pass over the strip to get their attention and go around for another landing attempt! Another five minutes riding the Big One!!
I finally made it down on the ground and breathed a long sigh of relief as I shutdown the engine. On the ground it was a beautiful summers day, but in the air in a microlight weighing less than 380 kilograms, I was thrown around like a feather in a thunderstorm!
The culprits? Thermals!
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