Primarily for general aviation discussion, but other aviation topics are also welcome.
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#1694388
Qalupalik wrote:Josh, re https://forums.flyer.co.uk/viewtopic.php?p=1692163#p1692163 thanks for that picture of west Greenland. It reminds me of the many sunrises I've watched over the mountains by Itilleq when living in Sisimiut. Here is an annotated version.

Amerloq Fjord was visited during an expedition to re-establish contact with early Norse settlers by the English explorer James Hall or Jakob Hall as known to the Danes who financed him. He took some natives captive on a visit in 1605 and during a subsequent visit in July 1612, accompanied by William Baffin on an expedition to find the Northwest Passage, he was murdered by relatives of the kidnapped. There's now a rather unexciting rock named in Hall's honour just outside Sisimiut harbour. A few miles into that fjord is the abandoned cod fishing settlement of Assaqutaq. Some photos I took of it are here.

Some photographs looking towards your vantage point from Sisimiut are 1, 2, 3, and 4.


Thank you so much! Some magical photos of a place I’d love to visit from sea level.

Flying over Greenland in the clear is one of the great privileges of long haul flying, and to be connected with someone who can provide some local perspective is one of the joys of the internet :thumleft:
Miscellaneous liked this
#1694919
Day 7

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The Faeroe Islands are renowned for bad weather, but today they were making an exception, just for us. Conditions along the route were ideal for flying. After yet another hotel breakfast, our taxi driver from the previous day turned up right on time and delivered us straight back to the airplane. Our top-notch handler was there again, and after very trustingly signing on the yet-to-be-finalised blank invoice, I taxied the aircraft over to meet him at the fuel pumps. There wasn’t a ladder, so to fill the tip tanks we used an over-turned picnic table. It seemed to be rush hour, as not moments after we’d shut down to fuel, 3 flying school Diamond aircraft turned up and queued behind us. It took a while as we were loading 76 gallons (at $10.60 a gallon, I miss US fuel prices terribly!)

Saying goodbye to our handler.
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Departure from Keflavik
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Geothermal plant and Blue Lagoon
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Fueling complete, and chats with the flying school members finished, we started up and taxied for departure. We took off to the west, with a left turn over the geothermal power plant before continuing along the southern coast of Iceland. To our left, the dramatic mountains and glacier of Vatnajökull National Park rose above us. To the right, along the shore, steam rose from large expanses of black sand. The volcanic heritage of the area was impossible to miss. The Icelandic shores slowly drew away to the north as we set track directly to the Faeroe Islands.

Views over Iceland:
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The next couple of hours passed quickly, the winds veering around to push us along at ground speeds of over 150kts, and no cloud to affect us. We stayed in touch with Reykjavik ATC until nearing the Faeroes, when they handed us off to Vagar Information. An Airbus A320 from the Faeroes national airline was landing ahead of us, as we set up to fly the famous waterfall arrival to runway 30. Mike had been watching multiple videos online of this routing, and used the experience he’d gleaned to smoothly direct me around for landing. The tower directed us to parking where we were welcomed by customs (who just seemed to want to say hello), and the lady from the handling agents who also helpfully turned out to run the car rental company. She led us smoothly through the airport, rented us the most expensive one-day car rental I’ve even seen, and we set off for a bit of exploring.

First views of the Faeroes:
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The waterfall arrival:
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Safe arrival!
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The scenery continued the theme of the last few days, in that it was once again stunning. We first drove out along a scenic route west of the airport, stopping every now and then to take in the views, before turning back and taking a long tunnel and then a winding mountain road to the capital city where we’d booked a night in the Hotel Hafnia. A surly lady gave us the key to our room which turned out to look out onto the somewhat noisy and aromatic extraction fan from the kitchen, to Mike’s displeasure. He returned to do battle with the receptionist and, having won her over, we were relocated to an all-round much nicer room. The only downside was that I wouldn’t be able to visit the restaurant and ask to have “whatever I smelled from the extraction fan 10 minutes ago”, which I had been rather looking forward to.

Sightseeing:
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We had dinner at a nearby hotel (nothing is very far away in the city center of Torshavn), and then drinks and dessert down by the harbour before heading back to the room. I worked on the write-ups and flight planning while Mike went out for a walk, ending up drinking with a group of locals who taught him some of the local language and then drove him home!

Out around Thorshavn:
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Miscellaneous, Lockhaven, kanga and 3 others liked this
#1694923
Thanks fro the update, Ross. What's the ongoing plan? Is that the RtW flying finished until your next 28 day off period?

Your comment;
To our left, the dramatic mountains and glacier of Vatnajökull National Park rose above us. To the right, along the shore, steam rose from large expanses of black sand.

reminded me of sitting in a hotel bedroom in Vik, Iceland, looking out the window and wondering what the next 'landfall' to the south was. Turns out there was nothing between the shore I was looking at and Antartica. :shock: There's a lot of water to the south and very inhospitable, although beautiful, terrain to the north. In an SEP it can only have been magical in those conditions. :thumleft:

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Iceman liked this
#1694936
Miscellaneous wrote:Thanks fro the update, Ross. What's the ongoing plan? Is that the RtW flying finished until your next 28 day off period?


Currently touring the UK a bit, but a few days behind with the website. It takes a bit of time and effort to update! Hoping to meet a few forumites near London Saturday, then off to NL, and from there back to work.

In the Scillies right now!
#1696426
Day 8

Breakfast in the hotel, in Nordic style again, featured a lot of cheese and cured meats. A mountain of Parma-style ham is a great way to start the day! After leading me round almost ever level of the hotel trying to find the door to the car park (“It’s OK, it’s definitely on this floor”) Mike drove us back to the airport, taking the low road this time for a change of scenery. The views were, yet again, stunning.

On the way to the airport.
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Despite the promised clear skies, the weather was drizzly with low overcast skies. The forecast claimed it would clear up right around departure time. From the airport, it was plain to see that the low cloud was hanging purely over the land, and very slowly moving inland; even if we took off right now, by the time we hit the coast just seconds into the flight we’d be in great conditions.

Saying goodbye to Vagar
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The day's planned flights
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We breezed through security very quickly, and fueled up the aircraft. Immigration stopped by to check our passports (the first, and only, time on the Atlantic crossing that they were actually checked), taking them back to their office for about 30 minutes while they did who-knows-what. As we waited, we debated which of us was going to be detained, but in the end he just handed them back to us and wished us a pleasant flight. Departure this morning was off of runway 12, back out over the waterfall.

Departing from Vagar
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Back over the waterfall
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Sun over the Faeroes
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Over the Atlantic
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We set course direct for Wick. Vagar handed us off to Reykjavik ATC, still controlling the oceanic area this far west, and we cruised for an hour or so before getting into range of Scottish Information. The clear, sensible airspace design that we’d flown through all the way from the USA gave way to the typical jumbled mess of the UK.

Lookout, here comes UK airspace design...!
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First views of the UK
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Coasting in over Northern Scotland
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Meeting Bill
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On the apron at Wick
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At Wick we were welcomed by a Flyer Forum member, Bill, and chatted with the very friendly FBO staff before heading south to Fife, Mike’s home base. After a quick lunch at the Tipsy Nipper we went for a couple of quick circuits in Mike’s Czech Sportcruiser. Much lighter on the controls than my C182!

Departing over Wick
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Crossing the Highlands
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With our two rides, at Fife
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Bye, Mike!
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The final flight of the day was up to Aberdeen, prior to a couple of days of R&R. Aberdeen had 3 IFR inbounds, so left me holding outside their airspace. Places like JFK, Newark, and the like have always managed to slot me in without delay – but the UK do always do things rather “differently”…! The controller was friendly and helpful, nonetheless, and soon I was parked up at Signature Flight Support ready for a couple of days rest and relaxation in Aberdeen before setting off southwards across the UK.

RAF Leuchars, on the way to Aberdeen
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Dundee
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The lake, which I orbited for quite some time
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Arriving at Aberdeen
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mick w, MachFlyer, Lockhaven and 2 others liked this
#1697963
I am not going to post here about the two ground-based days touring around the Aberdeen area, but they are on the write-up on my website, at https://katamarino.co.uk/index.php/2019 ... tic-day-8/ (bottom half of the page). Highlight was my being viciously shat upon by what has to have been the Godzilla of seagulls.

My father joined me in Aberdeen and together we set off to fly along the length of the UK to the family home in Kent. Signature Aberdeen kindly waived many of their fees, and before we left we even had the pleasure of meeting another Flyer Forumite who had dropped in. Shockingly I have forgotten his username; please, identify yourself!

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With my father in Aberdeen, before departure
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With the to-be-named forumite!
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Our meandering route first took us west to Oban, where we took a pleasant walk to a nearby hotel for lunch, and then onwards to a beach landing at Barra. Barra ATC was cash only and didn't have change, so we were forced to visit the cafe and have a drink before we could pay for the landing!

The countryside west of Aberdeen
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The top of Loch Ness (I think...other lochs are available)
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Ben Nevis
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Fish farms near Oban
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Approach to Oban
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Leaving Oban
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Passing the isle of Mull
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Parked up in Barra
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The tide was coming in, so we didn't want to hang around. We made a stop in Tiree for flight planning before heading onward. It took a while to book out at Barra because I was mispronouncing Tiree badly enough that the lady in the tower couldn't work out where I wanted to go. Apparently, weather reports from the observation squadron here had been instrumental in delaying D-Day by 24 hours.

Heading from Bara to Tiree
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Departing Tiree
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On the way to Carlisle
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Prestwick, maybe?
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Inbound to Carlisle
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We finished our day in Carlisle, where I was happy to see the second Vulcan of the trip!
Dave W, dppintr, Lockhaven liked this
#1698600
Our taxi driver that morning turned out to have a son who was keenly interested in aviation, so we swapped airplane stories on the ride back to the airport. The days plan was fairly leisurely, so we spent a while wandering around the outside exhibits at the air museum on the field, including a Vulcan; my second of the trip after Goose Bay! The museum itself did not open until late morning, so we headed back to the aircraft, and got under way.

Carlisle
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The Vulcan at Carlisle
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Something ugly, at Carlisle
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The Carlisle tower
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The first flight of the day was down to Netherthorpe airfield, south of Sheffield. First, however, we’d be flying due south over the Lake District, one of England’s most beautiful landscapes. The high pressure system sitting over the country would be offering great weather again for the majority of the day, so conditions were perfect for a little sight seeing. We set course initially for Scafell Pike; having flown around Scotland’s highest mountain the day before, it seemed fitting to visit England’s highest peak today! It was relatively early in the day, but already we could see quite a collection of people strung out along the walking path to the summit.

Keswick
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Scafell Pike
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Lake Windemere
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The Lake District, of course, is well known for its lakes, and we enjoyed beautiful views of Derwent Water, Ullswater and Windermere, among others, as we crossed what is by air a fairly small area of the country. The rugged peaks (I hesitate to call them mountains) of the Lake District quickly gave way again to the rolling arable hills of northern England as we made our way south between Manchester and Leeds and, taking care to avoid the newly added controlled airspace around Doncaster, drew near to Netherthorpe.

Transmission towers near Doncaster
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Netherthorpe is a fairly small, grass airfield, that does require a little concentration to operate safely into. The stop here was for two reasons. Firstly, to meet my colleague Alan who was also on his weeks off and lives nearby. Secondly, Netherthorpe was to have been the setting-off point for a round the world flight (also in a C182) that I became involved with almost a decade before. We got quite far into the planning before things were cancelled. All this time later, having managed to acquire my own C182 and make the plans a reality, I thought it would be good to include Netherthorpe as a stop.

With Sheila at Netherthorpe
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Alan arrived moments after we did; he had been racing to get there while watching the tracker and hoping to see us landing but didn’t quite make it! We relaxed over an outside lunch at the aeroclub restaurant, watching training airplanes come and go. As we ate, an old friend Sheila turned up; she and her aircraft had been the other key pieces of the abortive flight around the world. It was good to catch up after so long and hear that she was still regularly flying. Meal completed, we fueled up and set out south for Laddingford airfield, a private grass strip close to my family home in Kent.

There was a band of poor weather hanging between us and Laddingford, and with the UK's IFR system so messed up for light GA, an IFR flight under ATC control was not an option (total distance would have been more than double the straight line distance - this is what happens when ATC is made "for profit" and no longer has interest in the unprofitable traffic!) As it was, we struck out VFR; one interesting feature of the UK is that you can declare yourself IFR when outside controlled airspace and just crack on through the clouds. With no collisions in the clouds since WW2, this clearly works OK!

Solar farm on departure from Netherthorpe
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An old RAF base
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English country village
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Grafham Water
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Poor weather north of the Thames
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Canal boat parking
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The Dartford crossing
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We flew across East Anglia, my old flying grounds while at University, and it was great to see RAF Wyton (which I used to fly out of), and my old sailing grounds at Grafham Water. As we neared the Thames, east of London, the cloud base lowered and we descended with it, flying at about 1,000ft and passing in and out of the cloud bottoms. Approaching the south downs, we reached the back end of the poor weather and had beautiful sunshine for the arrival at Laddingford, after an initial fly-by to check for dog-walkers on the runway!

The south downs
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My mother was present to pick us up, as was the owner of the strip, and also Flyer Forum member Charles who’d flown his Rans tail-dragger in from his strip a little further south to say hello. It’s been a real pleasure to meet so many people from the flying community who’ve been supportive of the trip!

Meeting Charles at Laddingford
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kanga, Lockhaven, Dave W and 1 others liked this
#1698612
Katamarino wrote:.
..

Something ugly, at Carlisle
..


Form follows function! One of the first marriages of two British inventions, jet engines and Radar, to create one of the first jet night fighters. It was quite widely exported, too. :thumright:

We have 2 examples, of different Marks, at Jet Age. Hope you can visit ..

(Could not let the apposition of 'ugly' and a Gloster type go unresponded :) )
Dave W, Rob L liked this
#1698624
kanga wrote:Form follows function! One of the first marriages of two British inventions, jet engines and Radar, to create one of the first jet night fighters. It was quite widely exported, too. :thumright:

We have 2 examples, of different Marks, at Jet Age. Hope you can visit ..

(Could not let the apposition of 'ugly' and a Gloster type go unresponded :) )


I must admit, I had no idea what it was :lol: Thank you for filling me in!
kanga liked this
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