After such a successful Circus fly-out to the Scilly Isles last year it was immediately scheduled into the 2008 calendar with the plan to take more people and more planes this year. As the planned date drew closer the fine late summer weather looked set to remain for our trip. We couldn't believe our luck!

On the morning of Thursday 18th September we all started to gather at North Weald for our mid morning departure. For this trip we had, Bob, Nick, Shane H, Shane M, Steve, Richard and Roddy. Our chariots for this trip were to be:

G-HIRE and GRJCC. Which way guys?.

We all departed North Weald around 10.30am, destination Dunkeswell - for lunch. With all aircraft departing in turn it was inevitable that some would sneak past others on the way - you know who you are! After a fairly uneventful flight we all arrived at Dunkeswell on runway 05, some hour and half later. The only really issues were some patches of low cloud which were easily steered around. With pilots and aircraft re-fueled we basked in the sunshine and watched Shane M and Shane H move the Cougar out of a soft patch of grass they had duly been told to park in! She is a heavy old bird!!

"You know who you are!". The heavy old bird.

Sandy Bay. Onboard GOKAG.

After some seating re-arrangements we all routed south from Dunkeswell to follow the coastline south west, apart from Roddy, I think, in the Europa who went due west to the northern coastline which he then tracked south west. The helpful controllers at Exeter, Plymouth, St Mawgan and Culdrose saw us safely through their regions and before we knew it we were fast approaching the pointy bit at the end! By now weather and visabilty were improving all the time and it was pretty much CAVOK. Perfect. The controller at Lands End asked each aircraft in turn for estimates for St Mary's. AG reported an estimate 5 minutes in front of CC who was at this stage slightly ahead. This seemed to give the controller some concern and us much amusement! AG passed CC a good few miles before the St Mary's. With RE already landed AG tucked in front of CC to join left base for runway 15. For those who have never visited this airfield, the comment in Pooleys Flight Guide sums it up well, 'The aerodrome is severely hump backed'.

The Scillies. Hump backed runway.

Richard beautifully dropped AG onto the 15 numbers for a greaser of a landing. CC followed shortly afterwards and headed for the recently cut grassy parking area on the side of the hill the airfield sits on. After unpacking the aircraft, usual banter ensued as we sat and waited for Roddy to arrive in RK. Roddy elected to use the mainly grass runway 09 and was soon down after a quick tour of the island!

not Roddy. Roddy arrives!.

A short wait for a taxi and we were soon dropped off at our respective hotels. By now we all agreed beer o'clock had long since past and anyway we deserved it today. The late afternoon merged into early evening and a lovely meal was enjoyed by all at the St Mary's Hall Hotel. We ventured back into town and were greeted by singing locals along with a few more beers. Splendid.

Taxi!. Home from home.

At breakfast the next day we checked the weather and were in luck again as we were in for more of the same as yesterday. Roddy was up earlier than the rest of us and decided on a quick cycling tour of the island whilst we settled on the route back to include a fuel stop at Exeter and then run for home apart from RE which was to route, after Exeter, all the way along the south coast to Manston and then back to Rochester where she is based. Engines running and off we go. CC departed runway 33 with relative ease, coming over the brow of the hill/hump and lifting of shortly afterwards. AG seemed to drive straight past the intersection and continue some way past the tower before finally unsticking. The occupants in RE were slightly less at ease now having watched this knowing they were in the heaviest ship by a long way. Nothing to worry about though as she simply flew off of the top of the hill!! We all waved at Roddy who it turns out was catching our departures on film.

Twin hairdryers. Unusal attitude.

A similar routing was taken by all towards to Exeter where what can only be described as a complete kerfuffle ensued!! RE arrived downwind for runway 26 first shortly followed by AG and then CC. After many orbits mainly by RE - we lost count! AG was cleared to land first, then RE and CC in turn. We all had an interesting time paying landing fees, getting some lunch and re-fueling the aircraft. All things I guess we are not used to operating from much smaller airfields. Still, one for the log book!!

Company. The Road to Manston.

It wasn't long before CC and AG departed to the north east as soon as they could with RE left holding for some time. The final leg saw CC heading home to North Weald and AG heading also for North Weald to drop a passenger off before heading home to Stapleford. RE continued east along the south coast to Manston sneaking through the gap in the airspace between Bournemouth and Southampton's CTR. It wasn't long before we were joining right base for runway 10. A quick turn around had us soon taxiing out for a departure to Rochester. Now, heading west, the into sun visabilty was very poor indeed. Passing overhead the 'bank manager' at Maypole we continued towards Rochester and were soon final to land on 02. Safely down RE was parked in front of the hanger 5 minutes before the airfield closed. What a trip, west to east in an afternoon.

All home safe and well. An excellent trip made better by the fantastic weather and splendid company. Cheers guys.

[Text: Nick]

It has been a while since Europa G-IKRK joined a circus flyout, so time to re-acquaint myself.

All looking good weatherwise, so down to Andrewsfield on the Thursday morning, full fuel from the unleaded Jerrycans (Rotax 4 strokes don’t much like Avgas, I don’t much like the price of Avgas), and away for the first flight of the day down to North Weald.

Wheelbarrow. Ready to rock!.

Followed the others off, and with a modest tailwind, went for an ‘economy cruise’ flight down to Dunkeswell. Filling up at Dunkeswell required 22 litres, so about 10 litres an hour at 4000 rpm, 90 knots.

Took the scenic route to the Scillies – west till I saw the Atlantic and then followed the coast down to Lands End. One minor equipment failure – iPod refused to work. Luckily had some music on my phone as a backup. Wouldn’t just want to hear all that ‘wilco roger’ stuff from those excitable ‘Mawgan’ controllers, would you?.

Grassy Knoll. Terminal 1.

Scillies into view. Offered 05, bit steep on approach and it looked a bit challenging. Also the disadvantage or arriving last is that everyone is watching for those messy Europa ‘arrivals’ (you try and land a wheelbarrow…). So went for a quick tour round the islands and came in for a second attempt. Not too bad (managed to walk away). Kindly offered a parking spot down a steep hill covered in long grass, next to the rest of the flight.

The view. The Hotel.

Taxi into town and found my comfortable hotel. Great view of the harbour from my room. Pubs / restaurant / hearty singing from locals all experienced. After a bit of wandering found my hotel, seemingly deserted by door unlocked and room keys available for anyone to take. I suppose if someone breaks in they really can’t get very far…

Garrison Walls. Shoot first, ask questions later.

I was up early as ever, and as we had agreed to meet at the airfield sometime later, I went for a wander. A bus pulled up outside the hotel heading for the airport – would have been rude not to have take it. I got a flavour of the island from the driver who seemed unconcerned how much fare I gave him – not exactly like London…

St. Mary's. Mermaid.

Weather checked out good (perfect actually) for the return flight, couple of hours to kill, so I got my bike out of the plane and did a quick tour of the island. Slight misunderstanding with Bob who thought I was going to do a quick tour of the island by plane (which would have taken about 5 minutes). Lots of ‘views’…

St. Michael's Mount. Wells.

Others arrived a bit early and decided to go so I took my time, arriving back at the airfield for a leisurely departure about 2.00 for a direct flight back.

Back to Andrewsfield in just over 3 hours. Total fuel burn for the 7 hours flying – 80 litres = about 40 mpg. A bit better than my car…

Thoroughly enjoyable couple of days, real bonus flying at the end of the summer. I’ll be back…

[Text: Roddy]

How did this happen? I wrote in the diary, on the calendar, the back of my hand: "Scillies, 18th September". Yet here I am in Chicago O'Hare Airport queuing up to board a Boring Boeing - 8 hours of tedium in a toothpaste tube, about as far from flying as it gets.

Time to turn the mobile phone off, but it starts buzzing as I fish it out my pocket. Is it work (please no! not now!)? One of the kids reporting a major disaster? No it's Bob. "Having a great time here in Scilly, wish you were here".

Not half as much as I do... next time.

[Text: Rob]