Fri Jul 26, 2013 9:20 am
#1186377
I'd trecked across France from Troyes at FL85 above a few scattered cumulus and coasted out at Calais heading DCT for Harwich.
Mid-Channel I saw some cloud below, which looked fairly solid. Even though I do not hold any instrument qualification, the sensible thing would have been only to drop down to 5,000 (to duck under the airways) and fly VFR on top until I was over Norfolk where nothing had previously suggested it would be anything other than VMC. But I worried about the legalities of being VFR on top and 'elected' to duck under the cloud and cross the water low level. After all it would be 7 minutes from the FIR boundary to abeam Deal, 14 minutes from there to coasting-in at Harwich. This was where it all went wrong. Worrying about the legal niceties of the situation.
The thing was I truly believed that I could actually make out the White Cliffs under and beyond the cloud. I was totally and completely mistaken. I have talked it over with others since and it is not an uncommon illusion.
In the descent I fixated on where I expected the cliffs to appear, and it was only when a pretty big ship popped into my peripheral vision and I glanced at it that I realised the 'pretty big' ship was a small fishing trawler and I was very low indeed.
I then flew, at around 160 knots, into something like 500m forward visibility sea fog.
I heard from someone working Manston that the tops were about 2,500 and then I climbed into the cloud to break out into the sunshine a very short time later. Manston were brilliant They then checked the Norwich met for me, and the actual gave me no reason to be concerned about a descent near Tibenham. Scattered at 2,000 was as bad as it got.
What I take from this
1) Keep on practicing instrument flying as I have always done on my two-yearly instructor hour - Harder now with the RV
2) Sod the legalities. Safe is better then dead. As soon as I entered the sea fog I was flying outside the privileges of my licence anyway so being VFR on top would have been equally illegal, but a whole lot safer.
Rob P
Older and a little bit wiser
Mid-Channel I saw some cloud below, which looked fairly solid. Even though I do not hold any instrument qualification, the sensible thing would have been only to drop down to 5,000 (to duck under the airways) and fly VFR on top until I was over Norfolk where nothing had previously suggested it would be anything other than VMC. But I worried about the legalities of being VFR on top and 'elected' to duck under the cloud and cross the water low level. After all it would be 7 minutes from the FIR boundary to abeam Deal, 14 minutes from there to coasting-in at Harwich. This was where it all went wrong. Worrying about the legal niceties of the situation.
The thing was I truly believed that I could actually make out the White Cliffs under and beyond the cloud. I was totally and completely mistaken. I have talked it over with others since and it is not an uncommon illusion.
In the descent I fixated on where I expected the cliffs to appear, and it was only when a pretty big ship popped into my peripheral vision and I glanced at it that I realised the 'pretty big' ship was a small fishing trawler and I was very low indeed.
I then flew, at around 160 knots, into something like 500m forward visibility sea fog.
I heard from someone working Manston that the tops were about 2,500 and then I climbed into the cloud to break out into the sunshine a very short time later. Manston were brilliant They then checked the Norwich met for me, and the actual gave me no reason to be concerned about a descent near Tibenham. Scattered at 2,000 was as bad as it got.
What I take from this
1) Keep on practicing instrument flying as I have always done on my two-yearly instructor hour - Harder now with the RV
2) Sod the legalities. Safe is better then dead. As soon as I entered the sea fog I was flying outside the privileges of my licence anyway so being VFR on top would have been equally illegal, but a whole lot safer.
Rob P
Older and a little bit wiser
Last edited by Rob P on Fri Jul 26, 2013 12:42 pm, edited 3 times in total.
"We sleep soundly in our beds because rough men stand ready
in the night to visit violence on those who would do us harm."
- George Orwell-
in the night to visit violence on those who would do us harm."
- George Orwell-