Following weeks of planning and map buying - not to mention competition over who has the best lifejacket! the first Circus excursion to Holland was due to take place on Sunday 27th August. Amazingly the low cloud and general crud that had been a feature throughout the month appeared to have cleared for the big event - perhaps the DA42 orbiting over Nick's BBQ the previous day had blown it away - maybe the fierce heat off the BBQ did it!. The original plan to visit Ostend had been changed to the pleasant airfield at Midden Zeeland a bit further up the coast - a change due to the high landing (and take off!) charges at Ostend. Plans to cross the Channel ranged from mild (Dover - Cap Gris Nez), more direct (Manston - Koksy) and plain foolish (Clacton - Direct), still the ASUD crew were continuing to look for some value in the liferaft they have been carting around all summer!

Designing the camel. Richard and Wingco discuss tactics.

Winco was supervising customs forms and flight plans and everyone was getting excited - especially Peter who was crewing in Rod's Europa, even though he had referred to it as a 'Meccano Kit' the day before!

Filling XK. Boarding TL.

I then felt it worth mentioning the METAR and TAF reports for the 'other side' of the water. The bad weather we had experienced the days before had beaten us to France, Belgium and Holland. Cloud base was low and vis almost nonexistent! Since most of us could not afford to get trapped overseas that night a rapid re-plan was in order. It was quickly established that the South West UK were reporting CAVOK and the prevailing wind was from the west so a new destination was found - Compton Abbas.

Delta Hotel in flight. Rod in command.

The fleet for the day consisted of 2 Cherokees (ASUD and TL), 1 Arrow (DH), 1 C172 (XK) and Rod's Europa and we were joined by our esteemed guest Kirsten from Loop. Pilots for the day were Steve R, Rob, Jane, Diarmuid, Richard, Steve M, Shane, Nick and of course Rod with a bit of help from Peter. Occasional Circus flyer Chris was a welcome passenger in the Arrow while Paul observed from the back seat of TL on the outbound but switched to XK for the return - was this due to fear of Jane's reputation or the comfort of sharing the Cessna's back seat with Kirsten?

Brands Hatch. Seaford.

The routing was over the QE2 bridge, Brands Hatch and on towards Seaford then along the coast; over or around Shoreham; across the Solent and inland at Beaulieu; turning over Stony Cross VRP and on to Compton Abbas. At around 165 miles it was quite a run especially with a head wind. The UK weather was glorious but a look out to sea reassured all that we made the right decision in staying this side of the Channel.

Brighton Marina. Palace Pier.

Shoreham ATC was incredibly busy but did a good job in handling the Circus convoy. Solent radar were happy to give FIS but kept very quiet despite aircraft in all parts of the sky. First tough job of the day was locating the airfield at Compton Abbas, thankfully aided by a white strobe beacon. Second tough job was identifying the noise abatement circuit which most of us failed by misinterpreting the scale of the Pooleys diagram and ending up North of Shaftesbury some 3 miles away. Relocating the airfield then became the next concern usually sorted by spotting another aircraft on Final. Third tough job was completing a smooth landing in front of a huge crowd enjoying the atmosphere and the fine food on offer, a job made harder by a severe updraft from the hill the airfield is perched on, I think we all just about got away with it!

Compton Abbas, crosswind. Base leg: don't lose sight of it!.

We enjoyed huge sausage baguettes although Jane was heard to complain that no basic bacon sarnies were available. Kirsten took some pictures and we snooped around some of the aircraft there that day. A Tiger Moth and a Stampe were giving pleasure flights and looked superb in the surroundings. The airfield was extremely busy with arrivals and departures all the time - we even had a low level fly-past by the local Air Ambulance.

Tiger Moth. Dove

Stampe. Reflection.

Piper Apache. Piper Aztec.

Kirsten. Steve demonstrates his GPS skills.

Jaen plots. Shane spots.

Steve, Rob, Peter & Rod. Chris.

A check of fuel levels dictated a refill for the two Cherokees while the remaining three aircraft fired up and took off. Rod took the long way back via Swanage and South of the Isle of White giving Peter a demonstration of the Europa's maneuverability - perhaps as a punishment for the previous days comment!

G-ASUD, a vintage aircraft. Roddy: "Here's one I prepared earlier".

With Wingco at the controls of the Arrow we routed back via Seaford, but the 172 crew were keen to be first back and cut the corner by heading inland at Shoreham. This was to no avail because the sheer power of the Arrow saw us majestically past them before reaching Brands Hatch.

The Needles. Sandown.

Beulieu. Solent.

Safely back at Andrewsfield we were treated to the return of the Messerschmitt 108 which was a fine sight in it's camouflage - it had apparently spent the afternoon dogfighting with Spitfires!

Me108. Time for bed.

So we never got to Holland but had a great day out regardless - Compton Abbas was new to many of us and is a delightful place. Rumour has it that Heelan's Flying Circus may look to join up with other flying groups soon to share experiences and introduce others to the past time of bantering with Jane!

[Text: Richard] [Photos: Wingco, Diarmuid, Pete, Paul, Rob & Steve, click to view full size, click here to see the them all]