FLYER Exhibitions
The filed route from FlightPlanPro was DET DCT LYD M189 NEVIL G27 ANGLO G273 DIKRO at FL80 which is about 117% of GC distance, but getting around the Gatwick zone is always an issue, and the ease of being up above the weather was very
The weather on departure was fairly rubbish - BKN 007 and about 4000m visibility, and the early part of the flight was all in IMC. As is usual around the London TMA, the filed departure routing disappeared fairly rapidly, and a succession of headings and altitude changes eventually ended up with London requesting us to climb up to FL100 to ease co-ordination with inbound and outbound traffic around LYD and SFD. VMC appeared at +1°C at around FL60, and as we moved over the channel, the cloud started to clear above us and we were left in glorious sunshine.
London got rid of this slow-moving SEP as soon as they decently could, and Brest, who were similarly disinterested, immediately gave "Direct DIKRO" and promptly ignored us. A request for descent with about 40 miles to run prompted him to hand us over to Jersey Zone who told us to proceed direct to the "JSY position" as the VOR is currently undergoing some serious maintenance and U/S. The descent took us into some fairly bumpy Stratocumulus at FL50 on the way down
This cleared to scattered nastiness, and as we crossed the Cotentin peninsula inbound to Jersey, the view was glorious
Vectors to the ILS followed, frustratingly sat just above the cloud tops at the platform altitude, but we popped out in glorious VMC at about 1800ft, and from leaving Biggin Hill in rain and mire, landed to sunshine and a fresh breeze. Lunch in St. Brelade's bay with my local friends was followed by a wander on the beach.
Unfortunately, I made the schoolboy error of not looking too closely at the TAFs while I was enjoying my lunch, and the afternoon TAF suggested some really nasty weather back in the London Area - PROB30 TEMPO 2115/2116 27020G30KT +RA BKN004 BECMG 2116/2119 26007KT 9999 NSW SCT025. On that grounds, I delayed leaving by about an hour to ensure the worst was passed before departing. The return route was almost identical - BENIX G27 NEVIL M189 WAFFU, this time with experience of the conditions on the way over filed for FL100.
The clearance on departure was the BENIX 4A SID, which very rapidly became "Direct BENIX, Climb FL100" on contact with Jersey Zone. We broke out into the clear again around FL60, having picked up a tiny amount of wing ice on the way up, but this cleared of its own accord despite the temperature being below 0° within about 10 minutes.
There were a few isolated CBs visible around over the Cotentin Peninsula and the southern part of the channel, but visual avoidance was easy, and Brest were very accommodating, basically allowing me whatever heading I wanted without question.
As we headed over the channel, the sun started to set, and the view above the clouds was absolutely glorious
With a 40kt tailwind, coast in the vicinity of Eastbourne came into view fairly sharpish
We were then given the ALKIN 3F STAR into Biggin, which came up easily enough on the power of iPad
However, a light aircraft at FL100 doing 150kts is once again a nightmare for the LTMA controllers, and a sequence of descents and DCTs fairly rapidly got me out of their hair and on to Thames Radar for the ILS back to Biggin. The unpleasant weather had pretty much disappeared by this point, leaving surface conditions of METAR EGKB 211650Z 27013KT 240V330 9999 -RA BKN010 07/04 Q1010 RERA= to arrive into. Vectors for the approach took us over what looked like a jammed up rush hour M25 looking through the cloud towards the Dartford Crossing
The views of London at night were, as always, absolutely stunning on the way in, but unfortunately I was too busy flying the approach by this point to get any more photographs, and the cloud spoiled the best opportunities. We became visual at just under 3 miles, with a huge drift angle of around 25° with that howling tailwind now a large upper crosswind on the approach.
I am a total Instrument Flying evangelist - an IR allowed me to escape some rubbish weather, get up above it, have a lovely day trip to see some friends and be back without too much hassle. No worrying about ATSOCAS or CAS transits, just an easy ride the whole way. If you want to tour seriously, have a look at the EASA IR when it finally becomes something sensible!
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