This was only to be a short trip, but it proved to
be a very busy one, the Mrs, ASUD and RJCC all choose to go the southern
route, via Thurrock, Biggin, and Ockham, to transit Farnborough and into
Blackbushe, whilst Richard and Nick had gone the northern route via
Bovingdon, Wycombe and White Waltham.
Departing North Weald. Onboard with the Charlies.
Hindsight may have proved that the northern route
led to a quieter trip on the radio as the three aircraft on the southern
route were ping ponged between Farnborough LARS and Biggin, with three
reporting points. Steve tried his best to baffle the Biggin controller,
telling him we were routing via Oakley VOR. Strangely the controller advised
Steve he was unfamiliar with Oakley and did he mean Ockham? Oops! Sorry.
Brooklands. Farnborough.
Back to Farnborough then quickly to Farnborough
Approach for a zone transit, then immediately to Blackbushe. We lost count
of the number of different squawks we were given. All this would have been
OK were Steve not having, in his words, the RT day from hell!! This of
course happens to us all at some time, hopefully though not when there is a
write up to be done, sorry mate……
Circus at Blackbushe. Big traffic.
The Mrs was first down. Some big airfields like Lydd, for instance are
notoriously hard to spot!! And apparently some pilots heading for Blackbushe
have mistakenly landed at Farnborough, and vice versa. Shane remarkably
found the right airfield at the first attempt. The Mrs was followed in by
CC, LUNA and shotgun was ASUD. The four aircraft all parked neatly in line,
it was now time for food.
The gang. Inspecting G-LUNA.
The traditional HFC favourite of bacon sandwich was
ordered, although Mike went for the more exotic scrambled egg with smoked
salmon on toast. He must be posh!! Richard also went for egg based food in
the form of an omelette. Shane and Laura had a couple of bowls of chips, as
well as sandwiches, though the chips were shared around.
Food consumed we booked out and went off to have a
quick look at the monster machine that is G-LUNA. It’s long nose houses a
huge Lycoming T10-540 turbo engine. The paintwork however is not it’s most
redeeming feature and I for one would not want to de-ice the T-tail which
must stand 10-12 feet high.
Onboard. That T-tail.
The Mrs as usual was first out of the blocks closely
followed by LUNA and ASUD. Vic finished a phone call and had a rather large
grin on his face. As we clambered into CC he said, "I’ve just had a chat
with a co-operative colleague at London City Tower who has arranged a
transit through the London City CTZ with Thames Radar!! They were
apparently, happy to help as LCY is relatively quiet on a Sunday early
afternoon." Whoopee, what a treat!!
Epsom. Croydon.
So CC, although last to leave would have the
shortest route home, basically a straight line from Biggin to North Weald
via London City and the Isle of Dogs. So after routing to the north west of
Biggin, we found ourselves overhead Croydon City Centre and Crystal Palace.
Thames Radar were incredibly accommodating and after first telling us we
might need to hold south of the river at Greenwich Marshes, they gave us a
direct transit over London City, not above 2000 feet, where we managed to
get some pictures and views that not many people in a single engine airplane
get to see. The aforementioned London City controller then asked if Vic had
his “good camera” with him as there was an inbound 146 descending in our 12
o’clock which would make for a great photo opportunity!!
Isle of Dogs. Thames Barrier.
LCY. RW28.
One minor problem was our inability to spot it,
slightly worrying… but then there she was, Vic duly obliged with the camera;
we thanked the very kind chap in the tower and changed frequency to North
Weald International. (Sorry, got carried away)!!
Once down, parked and packed away, it seemed only
right to phone everyone and inform them of our good fortune as soon as
possible. This done, Nick and Richard joined us at North Weald for a
refreshing pint and to watch the various exotic aircraft coming and going
from the Southend Air show, which for once was benefiting from sunshine and
clear skies.
Great trip, good banter, nice company, here’s to the next trip.
[Text: Bob] [Photos: Vic, Rob & Bob, click here for more]
