Fri May 11, 2018 11:03 am
#1611209
I would not normally write-up a short trip but this one was so excellent, I feel the need to share it.
We wanted to make an early start on Wednesday as the weather was forecast to deteriorate in the afternoon. We got into Turweston before 0800 but by 0815 there was no sign of the airfield team so we decided to get fuel at Gloucester (over which I intended to fly en route anyway). A quick telephone call to Gloucester to give them my credit card number and we were away. With westerly winds, it was a straight ahead departure from Turweston and a straight in approach at Gloucester, very convenient. We were stationary at Gloucester for no more than 20 minutes.
The direct line from Turweston to Perranporth crosses Bristol at what is probably an inconvenient angle to get a transit so instead I planned overhead Gloucester and Cardiff as that involved crossing Cardiff at a more convenient angle for a transit. Contacting Cardiff as soon as I was away from Gloucester, the answer was to transit at 5000 or remain outside. As I normally cruise in the range 3000-4000 and didn't fancy being in the middle of the Bristol channel below 1500 feet, it was no decision at all to climb to 5000 for the transit. All I was asked to do was hold altitude and heading through Cardiff airspace. That was all good fun and very scenic. Exiting controlled airspace at Minehead (where I spotted a steam train running along the coast, very nice), down to about 2300 feet to keep VMC (this was a sight-seeing trip from here on and very lovely the sights are down there) and a slightly meandering path to Perranporth. I spoke to Newquay as they provide the local LARS / FIS. Newquay would have been the destination if it had been dark or bad weather. We landed on 27 at Perranporth with somewhat of a crosswind, 23 would have been much better. As we parked, we discovered why 23 was not available, a couple of dozen very classic cars including 1960s Ferrari, Aston, Bristol, Jaguar and Healey. Marvellous. After a big breakfast, we watched the cars being driven around a little sprint circuit set-up on 23. All very entertaining. I realised too late to accost him that one of the more spirited drivers was an ex-boss of mine for whom I ran an Aston Martin DB7 race conversion project in 1995. I could not decide whether the Ferrari was being driven by Nick Mason, it might have been him.
Perranporth is extremely reasonably priced, £15 to land and £7.50 a night parking.
Back to the plot. We had booked the nearby St George Hotel and the owners came to collect us within a few minutes of me calling. The hotel is very nice, very reasonable priced and very convenient for the airfield and the village. We had the attic room, number 6, from which one can see the windsock on the airfield. The roads are not suitable for walking along (narrow with high sides) so you do need either to be collected or to find your way on foot around the perimeter track. The hotel web site is
https://www.stgeorgescountryhousehotel.com
We had a short walk along the cliff tops into the village then wandered around the shops, beach and museum before an early mussels and chips here:
http://www.tywarnhayleinn.co.uk/index
By then it was raining hard so a taxi to the hotel and an evening of Netflix (it's a very well equipped hotel!).
The flight home the next day we took a different route: St Ives, The Lizard, Falmouth, St Austell, Plymouth, Torquay, Sidmouth. All absolutely lovely. England really is a very beautiful place. Talking to Culdrose, Newquay and Plymouth military was important as there was a "Thursday War" in progress, so more than usual activity.After that, direct to Turweston over Yeovil and Brize Norton (where we were nicely coordinated with a departing A400 which gave us an excellent view of it climbing below us). Time for the flight, two and a half hours.
All-in-all, an excellent trip in all respects. Highly recommended.
We wanted to make an early start on Wednesday as the weather was forecast to deteriorate in the afternoon. We got into Turweston before 0800 but by 0815 there was no sign of the airfield team so we decided to get fuel at Gloucester (over which I intended to fly en route anyway). A quick telephone call to Gloucester to give them my credit card number and we were away. With westerly winds, it was a straight ahead departure from Turweston and a straight in approach at Gloucester, very convenient. We were stationary at Gloucester for no more than 20 minutes.
The direct line from Turweston to Perranporth crosses Bristol at what is probably an inconvenient angle to get a transit so instead I planned overhead Gloucester and Cardiff as that involved crossing Cardiff at a more convenient angle for a transit. Contacting Cardiff as soon as I was away from Gloucester, the answer was to transit at 5000 or remain outside. As I normally cruise in the range 3000-4000 and didn't fancy being in the middle of the Bristol channel below 1500 feet, it was no decision at all to climb to 5000 for the transit. All I was asked to do was hold altitude and heading through Cardiff airspace. That was all good fun and very scenic. Exiting controlled airspace at Minehead (where I spotted a steam train running along the coast, very nice), down to about 2300 feet to keep VMC (this was a sight-seeing trip from here on and very lovely the sights are down there) and a slightly meandering path to Perranporth. I spoke to Newquay as they provide the local LARS / FIS. Newquay would have been the destination if it had been dark or bad weather. We landed on 27 at Perranporth with somewhat of a crosswind, 23 would have been much better. As we parked, we discovered why 23 was not available, a couple of dozen very classic cars including 1960s Ferrari, Aston, Bristol, Jaguar and Healey. Marvellous. After a big breakfast, we watched the cars being driven around a little sprint circuit set-up on 23. All very entertaining. I realised too late to accost him that one of the more spirited drivers was an ex-boss of mine for whom I ran an Aston Martin DB7 race conversion project in 1995. I could not decide whether the Ferrari was being driven by Nick Mason, it might have been him.
Perranporth is extremely reasonably priced, £15 to land and £7.50 a night parking.
Back to the plot. We had booked the nearby St George Hotel and the owners came to collect us within a few minutes of me calling. The hotel is very nice, very reasonable priced and very convenient for the airfield and the village. We had the attic room, number 6, from which one can see the windsock on the airfield. The roads are not suitable for walking along (narrow with high sides) so you do need either to be collected or to find your way on foot around the perimeter track. The hotel web site is
https://www.stgeorgescountryhousehotel.com
We had a short walk along the cliff tops into the village then wandered around the shops, beach and museum before an early mussels and chips here:
http://www.tywarnhayleinn.co.uk/index
By then it was raining hard so a taxi to the hotel and an evening of Netflix (it's a very well equipped hotel!).
The flight home the next day we took a different route: St Ives, The Lizard, Falmouth, St Austell, Plymouth, Torquay, Sidmouth. All absolutely lovely. England really is a very beautiful place. Talking to Culdrose, Newquay and Plymouth military was important as there was a "Thursday War" in progress, so more than usual activity.After that, direct to Turweston over Yeovil and Brize Norton (where we were nicely coordinated with a departing A400 which gave us an excellent view of it climbing below us). Time for the flight, two and a half hours.
All-in-all, an excellent trip in all respects. Highly recommended.
Last edited by joe-fbs on Fri May 11, 2018 12:42 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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