Carlisle - Isle of Man - Blackpool

Saturday 25th July 2009

Myself and co-pilot Geoff had planned to fly to Sligo in Ireland for the weekend with the touring club but the weather sadly didn't reach our personal minimums for the outbound trip. On the Saturday, the one good day in three, we settled for a whistle stop tour of northern Britain instead.

As I set about my flight planning the evening before a text message arrived from Geoff: "don't forget your passport and life jacket!"

Although the weather forecast was very good I decided to plan two routes to Carlisle. One up the eastern edge of the Pennines to Hexham VRP and then down the valley to Carlisle; the second, the scenic route, across the Pennines to Penrith VRP and up to Carlisle.

On arrival at the club I discussed the Carlisle routes with Nigel, one of the instructors. He warned me there was cumulus cloud over the Pennines which could result in a very precarious ride sandwiched between the two so I opted for the low level route.

Then I discovered I had a choice of two planes: one with a faulty COM1 or one with a broken Direction Indicator slave. I recognised the COM1 fault from a previous flight in Oscar Hotel. It wasn't insurmountable just mildly annoying. I didn't however relish having to reset the DI every ten minutes or so and run the risk of inadvertently going off track so rejected Oscar Echo.

I met up with Geoff and we discussed the overall route:

The NOTAMS indicated the Red Arrows would be in the Newcastle area around 13:00 but we would be well clear by then and the Spadeadam danger area (tactical strike and electronic warfare training) to the north of the South Tyne river was inactive.

As I started up the engine and set the radio I noticed Nigel was sending a student on his first solo. Happily these were still common place events despite the recession. During the power checks I noted the student was on the downwind leg so would (if no go-around) be on the ground before we were ready to take off.

Carlisle

Finally I lined up for departure on 29 tarmac and set the throttle to full power. On taking off the air seemed calm and I flew to the west side of the motorway just outside the MATZ boundary before turning onto my heading for Hexham at 10.45

Geoff said goodbye to Sherburn and hello to Church Fenton. As I flew past Ripon I noticed the soft undulating Pennine hills to the west of us. Geoff contacted Durham Tees Valley (DTV) (as Leeming was closed) who asked us to squawk 7034.

At Derwent Water DTV seamlessly handed us over to Newcastle who asked us to squawk 3754. On reaching the vast reservoir I noticed I was slightly east of track and changed my heading accordingly to make sure I stayed outside of Newcastle's CTA at 1,500 feet.

As I tracked to the Hexham VRP I fondly recalled my days at Newcastle University and a field trip based in Hexham in my first year. If someone had told me I'd be piloting a plane over the town several decades later I would not have believed it!

At 11.35 I turned onto my heading for the last leg and Newcastle handed us over to Carlisle who asked us to squawk 4677. Half way down the valley Geoff identified the Charlie Leema NDB which indicated the airfield was just off to our right. At six miles from the airfield we were cleared to join on final.

"This will be interesting", I thought to myself having never joined a circuit on final before. The fact that PAPI lights were available gave me some comfort.

On approaching the airfield Geoff reported our join on final for 25 and we were cleared to land. The wind was 270°/10 so a slight crosswind.

By this time I was fixated by the PAPI lights making sure I stayed on the glide path (3.25° on 25). So fixated in fact I completely forgot the flaps and ended up floating down the runway pondering why the wheels were reluctant to make contact with the ground. The kink in the runway compounded the problem making it seem shorter than it was. For a brief moment I considered a go around, but then Oscar Hotel touched down with plenty of runway still ahead of us.

"What happened to your flaps?" asked Geoff after I'd vacated the runway. "I must admit I didn't say anything as you were managing just fine without them!"

In the cafe we ordered some refreshing teas, but there was little time to drink them. As we would now be arriving on the Isle of Man in Oscar Hotel not Oscar Echo Geoff went to the flight desk to alter our Flight Plan (filed 24 hours in advance because we were routing via Carlisle). Then I suddenly realised I'd left the keys in the ignition of the plane so went back to retrieve them.

By good fortune out on the apron I met the (ex RAF) pilot of the Jet Provost I'd parked up beside. He explained the plane was privately owned by an aerobatics display team based at Carlisle.

"The Provost at one time was the standard plane used by the RAF for 160 hours basic training", he advised. I also discovered it could fly as fast as the Embraer 145s (400 knots) I flew up to Scotland in courtesy of BMI!

It wasn't long before Geoff and I were back in Oscar Hotel and waiting for a clearance to depart. The minutes ticked by and we seemed to be waiting for every man and his dog to be at least three miles clear of the airfield.

I learned later that we were most likely under procedural control (as opposed to radar) where departures and arrivals are subject to strict separation minimums.

As we overflew the edge of Carlisle the Solway Firth came into view. I advised ATC we were routing Delta Charlie Sierra (VOR) and Ronaldsway (Isle of Man) to land and asked if we could remain on the Carlisle frequency. "Not indefinately!" was the bemused response. "Report passing Delta Charlie Sierra."

The sky and the sea ahead of us were a beautiful deep blue colour and for added intrigue Derwentwater in the lake district came into view to the south of us.

Isle of Man

Just before coasting out at Workington Carlisle asked me to Freecall Scottish Information on 123.775. I passed my message and was advised to squawk 7401, the Belfast Regional QNH was 1012, the Holyhead QNH was 1016 and asked to confirm our flight level and ETA for Ronaldsway.

I read back the figures and added "Flight Level four zero" and "30 minutes". Geoff politely pointed out I should have responded with the actual time of ETA. "Never mind,they understood you, that's what counts".

By now the Isle of Man was coming into view and it was time to check the ATIS. Information Charlie revealed there was a light south westerly wind (220°/08), the QNH was 1021 and the runway in use was 26. It also advised that aircraft type and information should be passed on the first call to Ronaldsway.

Eventually Scottish Information asked me to Freecall Ronaldsway Approach on 120.85.

"Ronaldsway Approach, Golf Bravo November Oscar Hotel, PA28 with Information Charlie, request Basic Service". "Golf Oscar Hotel, pass your message".

"Golf Oscar Hotel, PA28 with Information Charlie out of Carlisle routing Ronaldsway to land; 20 miles north east of the airfield at 4,000 feet, request Basic Service".

"Squawk 4550, Basic Service, cleared to enter VFR, runway 26, QNH 1021, QFE 1019".

Soon after I'd read back the instructions ATC identified Oscar Hotel on their radar and asked us to track north of the airfield to avoid a jet on approach. Were we visual with the traffic? "Negative", I responded.

A few moments later Geoff clocked eyes on it to his left and as soon as the jet was on final approach we were cleared to land.

After landing we were directed to the aero club in the south eastern corner of the airfield which resulted in a rather protracted circular taxi (and crossing of the live runway) in order to reach the club's apron.

Following the shutdown checks Geoff and I got out of the plane. One of the aero club's instructors, Ollie, greeted us and helped us manoeuvre Oscar Hotel into the tight parking area. We decided to have some lunch before settling the landing fee and filing a Flight Plan to Blackpool.

As we walked over to the club house restaurant I noticed the sea was a dazzling azure colour. The overpowering smell of the salty sea air and sound of sea gulls reminded me of Wembury, a place I lived as a child on the south west coast of England.

We both lamented the fact that we could only spend a couple of hours on the island. Inside the club house we ordered a hearty lunch and ice cool drinks.

I quickly wrote up some notes and considered my very simple one leg flight plan to Blackpool. The estimated elapsed time excluding taxiing etc. was just 34 minutes.

However this leg was going to be my very first flight across the sea as pilot in command so I was extremely excited. "Good practice for a channel crossing one day", I reflected.

After lunch we went for a stroll outside and I noticed a Flybe plane coming into land. It looked like a Dash 8, a plane I flew on quite regularly now to Bristol with South Western Airways. I'd worked out that sitting near the back of the plane gave the best view and the least noise from the engines.

Eventually we made our way to the aero club office. We asked for the plane to be re-fuelled and filed a Flight Plan for Blackpool. Being a designated Customs & Special Branch airfield no notice period was required. On PPR to Blackpool we were provided with a slot reference 2509FW.

After paying for the fuel and landing fee (the latter a whopping £52 in total!) we said our farewells and went back to Oscar Hotel.

Blackpool

To share the workload our agreed mode of operation was for the pilot in command to undertake the radio on the ground, on take-off and on landing. En route the co-pilot would handle the radio. And this worked very well.

Before engine start up I checked the ATIS. It was information Golf at 14:20 (zulu), wind 210°/08, visibility 10km+, temperature 16°C, dewpoint 10°C and QNH 1021.

After the internal and start up checks I requested taxi instructions for the power checks. "Taxi to hold Delta One, runway 26, QNH 1021, VFR departure, squawk 4563".

I undertook the taxi checks and stopped close to Delta One facing as far into wind as I could without hindering my return to the hold. After the power checks I announced all checks were completed and tower advised I was cleared to line up on 26 and take off.

As I reached 1,000 feet and turned onto the downwind leg I said my farewells to Ronaldsway and handed over the radio to Geoff. At 16.00 we departed the circuit to the south east for Blackpool.

I peered into the distance. Blackpool was some 60 nautical miles across the Irish Sea and it was slightly disconcerting at first not being able to clearly see the coast. However I could at least detect a blue-grey horizon which enabled me to keep the plane straight and level.

Once settled down I began to enjoy the sensation of flying over the relatively featureless water. A few boats meandered back and forth and half way across the Morcambe Gas Field came into view validating the fact I was on track.

As we approached the coast Geoff was advised by Blackpool Approach we could join on the downwind leg for 28 right hand. I was quite stunned how close the airfield was to the town and my first instinct was to stay at 1,500 ft over the built up area but of course I had to descend to circuit height at 1,000 feet. I quickly completed the pre-landing checks and began to feel the affect of the afternoon's thermals on the plane.

Until now the air had been relatively calm, infact like cutting ice especially across the water. On reaching land however I found uneven thermals (caused by the built up area below) bouncing the plane from all directions making it a battle of wills getting Oscar Hotel turned onto base.

On base I slowed down, lowered two stages of flap before turning onto final. "Golf Oscar Hotel on final for 28", I announced. "Golf Oscar Hotel, cleared to land". At 400 feet the air had calmed somewhat and I lowered the drag flap for a very uneventful landing save the stall warning just before we touched down.

As we taxied to the apron I completed the after landing checks feeling somewhat elated having achieved my first flight across water. Following the shutdown checks it was such a relief to get out of the plane and remove our life jackets!

Home Strait

As we headed for the checkpoint it was close to 17:00 so we decided not to hang about. We paid the landing fee; cleared Customs and Special Branch. Then Geoff quickly drew up his flight plan: back to Sherburn via POL VOR and Dewsbury VRP and we were off.

Close to Blackburn VRP I requested a radio frequency change to Leeds which was granted. "Leeds Approach, Golf Bravo November Oscar Hotel. Request Basic Service."

"Golf Oscar Hotel, pass your message".

"Golf Oscar Hotel, PA28 out of Blackpool, routing POL, Dewsbury VRP, and Sherburn to land. Currently 15 miles west of POL at 3,000 feet. Request Basic Service and zone transit."

"Golf Oscar Hotel, QNH 1020, cleared to enter the zone not above 3,000 feet VFR".

After I'd read back the message Geoff excitedly pointed at the DME. With a westerly tailwind we had a ground speed of 118 knots!

A few moments later Leeds Approach very kindly asked me if I'd like to route direct to Sherburn (i.e. transit the LBA inner sanctum as opposed to skirting around it). The correct response, "Affirm", somehow came out as "Yes please!". We were now on the home strait.