Tue Jun 06, 2017 6:25 pm
#1539500
I happily volunteered to take the DA40D from Stapleford to Bournemouth on a ferry flight for it's annual maintenance. Me and my passenger Andrew both took the Central line before taking an UBER to Stapleford, we discussed this was the best course of action as we was required to get a train home.
We arrived 1hr before our scheduled departure and managed to get a few lovely pictures of the aircraft despite the poor lighting.
The routing would take us east of London, abeam Sevenoaks, then over Tunbridge Wells before making a slight right turn direct Seaford VOR. The initial plan was to climb 3400ft once clear of Gatwick Airspace, then up to 4400ft once clear of the LTMA itself. Once out over the sea we would probably climb to 5000ft.
I decided against this because during the early morning planning I noticed a 0°c warning for 2000ft-5000ft across the zone in which we was situated on the MET Charts. It was 5°c at 2100ft so I never risked climbing into 'known' icing conditions. Not only that but it was extremely bumpy at the base of cloud, so who know's what it was like inside cloud? [The aircraft is certified for IFR but not icing conditions]
So we departed Stapleford and climbed initially to 2,100ft (Cloud base was 2300-2400ft) and we couldn't see anything. Here's a few pictures showing how poor the visibility was.
As we routed over the South Downs, I decided to put the aircraft in control using the autopilot. Bad mistake as the turbulence we experienced was pretty bad and I didn't really like the feeling of 'not being in control' - something I need to get used to if I am going to do the full IR.
A bit of IMC tasting for my passenger, before making the right town at SFD as we pass Newhaven. North London to the south coast took approximately 28 minutes. A journey that by car would take just over 2 hours. I guess at 170mph we are literally flying?
We then routed along the south coast on track towards the Isle of Wight (Cowes) and in doing so we encountered a lot of traffic coming into Shoreham, so I climbed up to 3,000ft before having to descend for the zone transit of the SOLENT CTA.
We passed Hayling Island and Portsmouth and the weather improved quite drastically, as you can see by Andrew's pictures.
Here's Part 1 of the vLOG showing the pre-flight departure brief, the take-off and climb and the flight as far as Brighton. Feedback and suggestions for the video(s) much welcome, as I use them to better my flight experience.
Part 2 of the vLOG show's the zone transit and landing into Bournemouth.
We arrived 1hr before our scheduled departure and managed to get a few lovely pictures of the aircraft despite the poor lighting.
The routing would take us east of London, abeam Sevenoaks, then over Tunbridge Wells before making a slight right turn direct Seaford VOR. The initial plan was to climb 3400ft once clear of Gatwick Airspace, then up to 4400ft once clear of the LTMA itself. Once out over the sea we would probably climb to 5000ft.
I decided against this because during the early morning planning I noticed a 0°c warning for 2000ft-5000ft across the zone in which we was situated on the MET Charts. It was 5°c at 2100ft so I never risked climbing into 'known' icing conditions. Not only that but it was extremely bumpy at the base of cloud, so who know's what it was like inside cloud? [The aircraft is certified for IFR but not icing conditions]
So we departed Stapleford and climbed initially to 2,100ft (Cloud base was 2300-2400ft) and we couldn't see anything. Here's a few pictures showing how poor the visibility was.
As we routed over the South Downs, I decided to put the aircraft in control using the autopilot. Bad mistake as the turbulence we experienced was pretty bad and I didn't really like the feeling of 'not being in control' - something I need to get used to if I am going to do the full IR.
A bit of IMC tasting for my passenger, before making the right town at SFD as we pass Newhaven. North London to the south coast took approximately 28 minutes. A journey that by car would take just over 2 hours. I guess at 170mph we are literally flying?
We then routed along the south coast on track towards the Isle of Wight (Cowes) and in doing so we encountered a lot of traffic coming into Shoreham, so I climbed up to 3,000ft before having to descend for the zone transit of the SOLENT CTA.
We passed Hayling Island and Portsmouth and the weather improved quite drastically, as you can see by Andrew's pictures.
Here's Part 1 of the vLOG showing the pre-flight departure brief, the take-off and climb and the flight as far as Brighton. Feedback and suggestions for the video(s) much welcome, as I use them to better my flight experience.
Part 2 of the vLOG show's the zone transit and landing into Bournemouth.
Regards,
Robbie
Qualified Private Pilot
PPL(A), SEP (land), IR-SP-SE w/PBN, IRR & Night.
- Check out my YouTube channel!
Visit The Flying VLOG website for more...
Robbie
Qualified Private Pilot
PPL(A), SEP (land), IR-SP-SE w/PBN, IRR & Night.
- Check out my YouTube channel!
Visit The Flying VLOG website for more...