Duxford VFR trip

Un Week End à Duxford , juillet 2009

Et si on allait à Duxford ?

Incontournable visite, pour tous ceux qui aime "l'avion", le musée de Duxford et ses légendes volantes.

Les Alcyons s'y sont rendus en ce début juillet 2009 sous les conseils d'une femme voyageuse : Solange.

Nous avons aussi vogué (euh pardon, volé) vers l'Angleterre. Deux avions, 7 pilotes et pas d'instructeurs (nous étions livrés à nous même!). Nous avons été accompagnés par les Thierry dans le Gardan et Marc-Olivier nous a rejoint à Biggin Hill avec Franck Hedin en Sirrus.

Guns

Après une escale douane à Calais et essence pour certains, nous sommes arrivés à Duxford pour visiter le musée samedi après-midi puis en fin de journée nous avons rejoint Biggin Hill pour une soirée à Londres.

Dimanche nous sommes passés entre Londres et Gatwick vers l'ouest pour aller survoler l'ïle de Wight et les régates dans le Solent dans une lumière superbe, nous avons croisé les Red Arrows avant de nous poser à Shoreham. Puis escale douane et essence au Touquet, et une panne de démarreur sur KG. Jean-Charles est venu nous dépanner, c'est-à-dire démarrer l'avion à la main, avec du renfort (JCP et Amélie M. sur BD et Louis M. et Jean-Michel sur MC).
Un très beau week-end, avec une météo suffisamment clémente pour qu'on ne se pose pas de question.

Solange

voir toutes les photos...

And... Last but not least, ... Here we go ! All the trip in English version !

Robins over England’s Green and Pleasant land (by Andrew)

07.30 on a bright Saturday morning a group of intrepid aviators find themselves crouching over charts of South-East England and steaming mugs of strong black coffee…The idea is to route via Calais, cross the channel to Duxford (UK’s answer to Le Bourget) North of London. Then, on Sunday take an aerial tour of the Isle of Wight, and return to St Cyr, stopping at Shoreham for Lunch…

The group keeps getting bigger; we started off as two aircraft and seven people, but by Saturday morning the two Thierry’s Gardan Horizon is also being prepared, and then Marc-Olivier said he would follow along in the Cirrus….

We check weight and balance schedule carefully; very carefully…With four people on board KG and full fuel, St Cyr looks quite short. However, all the aircraft get off safely and we turn for Dieppe, then Calais for our first stop.

As we approach Calais, the bright sun slowly fades under a layer of cloud…climbing through a gap we continue VFR ‘on-top’. Looking towards the UK coast, the cloud stretches out as far as we can see; beautiful, but we worry that this could make a premature end to our weekend as it is illegal to fly VFR on top in the UK on a normal PPL…

View of UK from France…No VFR on Top in UK allowed!

Calais is sleepy and peaceful – some of the group deal with flight plans and Michel and I hunt out the local flying club…We find it in a box-room next to the main terminal. The club consists of a white board stuck on one wall, some faded leaflets encouraging various aeronautic activities, and a computer terminal carefully covered with a dusty checkered table cloth…Covers removed; the computer connects us to the UK Met office and we discover that South East England is basking under CAVOK…we just need to find a route across the channel to get there.

JL arrives at Calais Faster than by boat ! Englands green and pleasant land

Using the time honored science of “A bit of chat and another cup of coffee” the weather obediently sorts itself out. It’s life-jackets on for a cross channel to Lydd. The sun sparkling off the waves below, we pass overhead the cross channel ferry, able to pick out the passengers on deck, faces turned skywards, waving and no doubt wondering what it must be like to soar across the water on little white wings like ours.

Mid channel we switch frequency to London information…Now its time to put our English Radio skills to the test. We discover that in the last six months, the UK has changed their lower airspace radar service. Now, there is a choice of 4 services to choose from – The choice is deceptive. Actually, the only useful service seems to be ‘Traffic information service’, which consists of the controller giving a squawk code and then helpfully telling you when he thinks you are at risk of merging with another dot on his radar screen…(this is equivalent to the old Radar Information service).

Often the controllers seem busy and will then tell you they are offering a ‘basic service’ instead…Basic, means they give you a squawk and then apparently do nothing…although we did hear one aircraft (not in our group!) be told that they were about to infringe the Stanstead zone, which I assume, even under ‘basic’ service, warranted the controllers attention.

We are passing over England’s gently rolling south eastern landscape – hills and fields, the ancient town of Malden (founded in 992) roll beneath us…Then, the industrial Thames estuary, overflying Southend and onwards up to the Northern fringe of the Stanstead Zone.

Finally, the WWII hangars of Duxford appear on the horizon and we are cleared for a downwind join. Georges pulls off a ‘greaser’ of a landing in front of thousands of onlookers (although they may also have been watching the Dragon Rapide and Tiger Moth on formation take off, as well as our little Robin to be fair!) and we pile out for a well earned lunch (and cigarette for Georges, of course)

Duxford is easily a days visit and, given the price of entry plus the landing fee, you’ll want to stay as long as possible to get your money’s worth! – However, there is a lot to see, including the mighty B52 in the American hanger and the workshops with restoration projects on-going.

Dragran Rapide at Duxford in the Hangar at Duxford Mustang being prepared

That evening, a quick flight to Biggin Hill and soon we’re cleared for a Deadside Join for 21. In the UK, the Deadside join is a common approach, not often used in France. It consists of joining from the opposite side to the circuit (the deadside), at circuit height (often with a call at 2 or 3nm Deadside). You overfly the downwind end of the active runway and join the pattern at the start of “downwind”…

The standard overhead join is one where you join from the ‘live’ side of the circuit, overfly at 500feet above the pattern and then make a descending turn on the deadside to reach circuit height; thereafter continuing as for the deadside join.

Teamwork in action A night out in London

The next day, we arrive at Biggin on a sunny morning following a night out in London’s Docklands. It is my turn to fly KG and we set off, traversing the corridor between London Heathrow and Gatwick Zones, then routing south towards Portsmouth and out over the Solent for a sightseeing tour of the Isle of Wight.

The Isle of Wight is a fantastic stopping place boasting two airfields, Bembridge, or my favorite, Sandown. From Sandown it is a 20minute walk across the fields to the old English town of Shanklin. Walk down Shanklin chine and arrive at the typical English pub, built on the sandy beach…Anyway, no time for landings today unfortunately, but we get some lovely photo’s of the Needles and on the way back pass the Red Arrows (UK Patrouille de France!) in formation going the opposite way.

The Needles, IOW More ‘Great’ British food, Shoreham

We route along the south coast to Shoreham for lunch. Shoreham boasts an original 1930’s terminal building and a small museum dedicated to Beagle aircraft, which was the last UK aircraft manufacturer. Calling it a museum is rather generous as it is really just a room full of aircraft related stuff…but we make our donation and spend 10minutes or so looking around…

Then, all to quickly it seems, it is time to head back…we meander down England’s south coast, passing the rusting remains of the burned Brighton Pier, and the swish Brighton marina…out over the channel once again and then back to France and sleepy Le Touquet, basking under the afternoon sun.

Just one more adventure awaits…the group are all happy, relaxed, knowing that in one hour we’ll be back at St Cyr with good memories to share. Michel even cleans the windshield, Georges turns the key….and…nothing. Second try, rather alarmingly, brings smoke wisping up from the engine bay. We exit rather quickly. After a bit of head-scratching and poking around in the engine bay we call for back-up…

Le Touquet in sight A final clean before the last leg

Michel and Georges stay with the wounded aircraft while the rest of us hitch a lift back in the other planes…For me, I enjoy my first IFR flight in the back of a lovely C.182 including overflying Paris, but that’s another story…

In the end, Jean-Charles flies out and, with his magic touch, KG starts first time…everyone is back at the club by 18.00 for a well earned glass of wine and pizza…

It was my first fly-out, but now I am sure, not my last…with new friends, experience and good memories a plenty these kinds of trips are surely one reason why we work to have and keep our licence current…Thank you to everyone for making it such a memorable and happy trip…

Andrew Cowen