It was suggested some months ago by Paul Bazire of the North Weald Flying Group that we join them on a trip through France into Spain. After finalizing the dates, some members of the HFC would join them as far as Cherbourg where they were to clear customs here before proceeding to La Rochelle for an overnight stop. The HFC members would then hop to one of the Channel Islands before returning to North Weald later in the day.

The departure date was to be 14th May. The weather preceding this day had been glorious and we were all looking forward to the trip. The weather gods decided the night before that we weren't destined for Cherbourg on that day and arranged a build up of horrible conditions along the north French coast for us.

Barford St. John. Train set.

Upon arrival at North Weald it was decided that as we only had one day to play with, we would try our luck elsewhere. So, the maps
came out and were unfolded across the tables. For this trip we had two aircraft: G-RJCC with Bob, Nick and Shane M; G-BXXK with Paul and Shane H. The XK gents had already planned an alternate trip to Caernarfon, north west Wales. Non of us had been there before and as the weather in the channel really wasn't very nice at all the decision was made for us. Caernarfon was to be our location for lunch today! Whilst quickly planning we spoke with Kieran Hardiman and Alan Vick from the NWFG - they also only had one day to play with and were quickly convinced that they too would be better off aiming for lunch in Caernarfon!

Mega-golf. Aviation hazard.

A little while later, three aircraft departed North Weald to the west for a planned routing to take us direct to the VOR at Bovingdon, then HEN, Welshpool and then over Snowdonia dropping into Caernarfon. CC was off first followed shortly after by XK and a little while later G-RARB.

Long Mynd Gliders. Long Mynd Hills.

CC had a fairly uneventful flight to the Welsh borders. We had to descend a few times to avoid some thicker bits of low cloud to the north west of Oxford, but were soon able to climb back up to 3,000ft. Whilst listening to London Information we could hear transmissions from our friends in the NWFG as they crossed the Channel and tried various methods to get to France but to no avail, as we later found out.

Extreme Golf Club. Chirk traffic.

As we approached the high ground around Welshpool we decided to turn to the north and track around the north Wales coastline as there was a layer of cloud that appeared to be sitting right on top of the higher ground ahead of us. We continued along towards Wrexham, then Prestatyn and Llandudno along the coast. To the left of us we had the spectacular views of Snowdonia and to the right the Irish Sea.

Fintshire Bridge. Llandudno Pier.

We dropped down as we approached Bangor to stay below the required height of 1,500ft on the QNH to transit the Menai Straits. Soon after Caerarfon was sighted on the nose. A few moments before we called Caernarfon for joining instructions the XK crew called up for joining instructions reporting that they were descending over the mountains for a right base join. Sure enough we could see a small dot coming over the edge of the mountains descending rapidly to circuit height!

Llanfairfechan. l'hse.

Bangor pier. Menai Bridge.

We joined overhead and were soon following XK to the fuel pumps. After re-fueling we headed to the cafe for some well deserved lunch. We hadn't been there long when Kieran and Alan walked in to join us - they too had come over the mountains enjoying some spectacular views along the way. Caernarfon was bathed in glorious sunshine - not a cloud in the sky. There was however a stiff wind that fortunately was blowing almost straight down the runway.

Church Island. Caenarfon Castle.

Is that Xray-Kilo, I see?. Charlie-Charlie final.

After we were all re-fueled with the usual bacon or sausage sandwiches (apart from Paul who always seems to order a plateful wherever we go!), we saddled up for the return trip. We were to route around the coast again in CC whilst XK had decided to route back over the mountains down to the VOR at Brecon before turning East. RB had chosen to return as the had arrived, back via Welshpool.

l'hse (again) & Puffin Island. A Welsh hole.

We were all soon up and away. thanking Caernarfon for their hospitality. As we made our way back we heard XK report overhead BCN as we were near Droitwich. We had to decent a short while later to again avoid some lower bits of cloud that were now dropping some light rain. We soon cleared these and were again in glorious sunshine as we called North Weald for joining instructions.

Microlights at Long Marston. Boer war memorial at Coombe Hill.

They were still using runway 02 so we joined downwind and were soon back on the ground awaiting the return of the others. Whilst waiting for XK and RB we encountered a number of the NWFG back at North Weald after a trip across the Channel with some of them eventually diverting to the Isle of Wight and others to Goodwood. Needless to say our talk of glorious sunshine with not a cloud in the sky at Caernarfon left them with a bitter taste in their mouths. XK and RB were also soon on the ground joining us at the Squadron for a late afternoon drink.

Thanks guys, another great trip with some fantastic views along the way. I hope this is a taste of the trips to come later in the summer.