Tue May 22, 2007 11:44 pm
#445128
A big thank you to the guys who arranged the Military and Civil Aviation Safety Day at Wattisham. It was great. And they did us proud on the weather as well.
I was picked up from Andrewsfield by G-AYAC with Peter S to guide it to its destination. We were just looking at the routing given when we were given the all clear for straight in, so aim for 05 whilst a microlight kindly orbited rather than having an Arrow go through it. A majestic line up of GA aircraft of a range of shapes, sizes and structures. However we were a bit concerned that the marshallers were not completely covered in yellow but only had yellow arm bands. Consequently we were not sure that we could see them! After all being in white they could have blended in with the buses that were to ferry us. We stopped and were pushed back into the space they wanted us in.
We were then ferried over to the education building to grab a cuppa and then start the day. There was a selection of presentations on aviation topics. The Introduction was by Capt Evans on Defence Aviation Safety Centre. Lt Pimm gave us a run down of Wattisham's history leading up to the present and looking into the future. Russ Walker as DSATCO gave an overview of LARS in the Wattisham area. Peter Hunt of UKAB worked on Airproxes with the emphasis of 'If you tell us we won't shout at you' (Well that is my wording of it) Our own forum Moli took us through D&D, again with the emphasis on Tell us, Talk to us. Anyone would think they were lonely with nothing to do!! So Moli, when are we going to get a practice frequency like the Military have? Then a buffet lunch and a chance to chat with other participants and find that I already knew quite a few people there and someone else's comment that it tended to be the same faces that turned up at Safety events, were they preaching to the converted? After lunch Johnnie L of Northolt told us about the Airspaces Issues around the LTMA again with the emphasis on talk to us, then we know who you are, and if you are doing something wrong - inadvertently of course - then we can put you right. If you don't talk to us we will check you out anyway! There was a colourful description of a GA pilot who managed to hold Heathrow up for 43 minutes because he had not talked to anyone, did not have the radio on and had bimbled round the area. He was tracked and questioned on landing! Finally David Drake of the CAA gave examples of airspace infringement figures. Again, talk to people so they can help you. Capt Evans brought the presentations to a close. I personally found them interesting and learnt quite a few new bits and pieces. I reckon other people were the same going from the number of questions asked. However everyone shut up with questions when it was pointed out that after grabbing a cuppa we would be having a look at their aircraft.
There was only one available for us to see and it is that brand that will be the main force in Wattisham in the years to come. We thought it would be no photos and definitely hands off. But no, not at all. A very pleasant female pilot of the Apache ran us through its paces, answered our questions very competently and encouraged us to get into it and see how it felt - but not to pull/push/turn anything - and to take lots of pix. She talked about flying it in Afghanistan. She was very well experienced saying that she felt that her previous training and overseas work with the Lynx gave her an advantage over those just coming straight onto the Apache.
Over to get the weather for the return journey and we were very impressed that there was a folder for each aircraft with details of weather and airfield information. An excellent finale to an excellent day.
Ferry back to our aircraft and we gradually get them taxiing to hold, lining up and taking off. I treated the spotters to a regal wave. In the Arrow we felt that it would not be a good idea to take off too quickly after Cub! So we let him turn out before we took off for a direct journey back to Andrewsfield.
Once back and after a cuppa, goodbye to G-AYAC and then a quick circuit to keep myself in check in the Warrior.
What a brilliant day. Thank you to everybody involved, including the weather.
(No pictures as I thought we would not be able to and so left the camera in the car. Hopefully some of the others who were there will supply some pix)
I was picked up from Andrewsfield by G-AYAC with Peter S to guide it to its destination. We were just looking at the routing given when we were given the all clear for straight in, so aim for 05 whilst a microlight kindly orbited rather than having an Arrow go through it. A majestic line up of GA aircraft of a range of shapes, sizes and structures. However we were a bit concerned that the marshallers were not completely covered in yellow but only had yellow arm bands. Consequently we were not sure that we could see them! After all being in white they could have blended in with the buses that were to ferry us. We stopped and were pushed back into the space they wanted us in.
We were then ferried over to the education building to grab a cuppa and then start the day. There was a selection of presentations on aviation topics. The Introduction was by Capt Evans on Defence Aviation Safety Centre. Lt Pimm gave us a run down of Wattisham's history leading up to the present and looking into the future. Russ Walker as DSATCO gave an overview of LARS in the Wattisham area. Peter Hunt of UKAB worked on Airproxes with the emphasis of 'If you tell us we won't shout at you' (Well that is my wording of it) Our own forum Moli took us through D&D, again with the emphasis on Tell us, Talk to us. Anyone would think they were lonely with nothing to do!! So Moli, when are we going to get a practice frequency like the Military have? Then a buffet lunch and a chance to chat with other participants and find that I already knew quite a few people there and someone else's comment that it tended to be the same faces that turned up at Safety events, were they preaching to the converted? After lunch Johnnie L of Northolt told us about the Airspaces Issues around the LTMA again with the emphasis on talk to us, then we know who you are, and if you are doing something wrong - inadvertently of course - then we can put you right. If you don't talk to us we will check you out anyway! There was a colourful description of a GA pilot who managed to hold Heathrow up for 43 minutes because he had not talked to anyone, did not have the radio on and had bimbled round the area. He was tracked and questioned on landing! Finally David Drake of the CAA gave examples of airspace infringement figures. Again, talk to people so they can help you. Capt Evans brought the presentations to a close. I personally found them interesting and learnt quite a few new bits and pieces. I reckon other people were the same going from the number of questions asked. However everyone shut up with questions when it was pointed out that after grabbing a cuppa we would be having a look at their aircraft.
There was only one available for us to see and it is that brand that will be the main force in Wattisham in the years to come. We thought it would be no photos and definitely hands off. But no, not at all. A very pleasant female pilot of the Apache ran us through its paces, answered our questions very competently and encouraged us to get into it and see how it felt - but not to pull/push/turn anything - and to take lots of pix. She talked about flying it in Afghanistan. She was very well experienced saying that she felt that her previous training and overseas work with the Lynx gave her an advantage over those just coming straight onto the Apache.
Over to get the weather for the return journey and we were very impressed that there was a folder for each aircraft with details of weather and airfield information. An excellent finale to an excellent day.
Ferry back to our aircraft and we gradually get them taxiing to hold, lining up and taking off. I treated the spotters to a regal wave. In the Arrow we felt that it would not be a good idea to take off too quickly after Cub! So we let him turn out before we took off for a direct journey back to Andrewsfield.
Once back and after a cuppa, goodbye to G-AYAC and then a quick circuit to keep myself in check in the Warrior.
What a brilliant day. Thank you to everybody involved, including the weather.
(No pictures as I thought we would not be able to and so left the camera in the car. Hopefully some of the others who were there will supply some pix)