Good morning !
I’m looking out the window from the office and the sky is grey grey, rainy rainy. So to give me courage I think of when I was looking out the window of the trusty C172 flying over the Isle of Wight on Saturday… Ah, that was good 🙂
However on the way there, it was madly busy in the sky and our two pairs of eyes were hardly enough to spot all the conflicting traffic. Two aircrafts came a little too close for safety and I can’t help but feeling uneasy about it. One zoomed passed us 30ft below from the side and another one on a reciprocate heading, to our left, below. I mean I was, we were, watching out as best as we could but we still didn’t see these until too close…
Also the very busy controller at Solent first thought that we were at 3,200ft instead of 2,300ft. Before I could correct it, he had advised another aircraft that we were on a reciprocate heading but higher than him so he should not be affected by us at 2,300ft… You hear that and you think “Damn, same reciprocate heading, same height, now where is it??” and that’s when you see the plane zooming past a few feet below.
Scary stuff.
Fortunately it was quieter crossing the coast to the IOW and the light was brilliant on the sea. Bembridge was also quite busy. We happened to arrive in the circuit with 5 other microlights, whose pilots were eager to get down asap before the pub stopped doing lunches, a tug plane and another aircraft. I did try to slot in but had to go around… Just an opportunity to admire the coast a little more 😀 (on top of safety)
While preparing the flight I browsed some web sites to see what people thought of Bembridge and fell on a post by a Steve Young in 2003, saying it was friendly and all. Was that you Steve? It was indeed very friendly and relaxing. We also managed to spot a brand new Cirrus SR22 parked there, with the full LCD cockpit display and the side-stick. Quite a thing. Has anybody flown one before? Do you guys like this unusual cockpit?
On the way back Sandown, the coast, the needles, Lymington, Beaulieu, Romsey, Andover and Thruxton. What a delightful flight! Less stress than on the way there. I’ll have a few pics later in the week.
Anyway, to hammer it again, keep good look out and not just in front or at the sides but also below!
Cheers,
Steph
By: Deano - 26th August 2004 at 15:08
wot he said ^ tbh
By: Arabella-Cox - 26th August 2004 at 08:47
You want one of those collision systems they now sell from Transair. About a grand I think.
Hmm, undoubtedly a whizzy piece of kit, but IMHO it’ll never take the place of the mark one eyeball, looking out for the use of. And besides, I’d much rather do stuff the old fashioned way and spend my grand on hiring the aeroplane for a few hours… 😉
The aviation world, or if I’m more specific, the General Aviation world, seems to be becoming more and more dependent on gizmo’s; GPS, VOR’s, NDB’s, Collision avoidance kit… yet the PPL syllabus still (and correctly IMHO) teaches conventional nav and airmanship as the norm. Let’s not forget our roots guys, eh? Let’s also not let the hard earned skills that we gained through our training fall by the wayside as we become gizmo’d up.
The day will undoubtedly come when your fabulous whizzy bit of kit no longer does what it says on the box, at which point basic skills kick in. But what if we don’t remember them….?
Steve
By: Arabella-Cox - 26th August 2004 at 08:41
While preparing the flight I browsed some web sites to see what people thought of Bembridge and fell on a post by a Steve Young in 2003, saying it was friendly and all. Was that you Steve?
Nope, not me. There’s another one. Can the world cope with TWO Steve Young’s??? 😮
By: skycruiser - 26th August 2004 at 05:24
Well im up Friday so let’s hope the weather is good for us all.
.
Robert, I am flying Hong Kong to London on Friday, will I be safe???????
I feel a trip swap coming on.
By: ageorge - 25th August 2004 at 18:07
Amen to that.
First reports being rumoured of a Microlight v Mirage air-to-air in France.
If true, I doubt they would ever have seen each other 😮
Hope it is just a rumour.
Moggy
Not a rumour , confirmed now – 2 killed in the Micro .
RIP
By: Moggy C - 23rd August 2004 at 15:23
Amen to that.
First reports being rumoured of a Microlight v Mirage air-to-air in France.
If true, I doubt they would ever have seen each other 😮
Hope it is just a rumour.
Moggy
By: Deano - 23rd August 2004 at 15:14
yes good advice Steph, you can never tell people to keep a good lookout too much, I took my ma flying and we were flying down the river severn south of Gloucestershire heading south and receiving a FIS from Filton, the 2 Severn bridges in view, i looked at my ma, looked back in front of me and WHAM, another plane was at the same level and coming straight for me but luckily passed to the right, the converging speed was frightening, now if the other pilot did what I did and took his eyes into the cockpit for a split second who knows what could have happened.
So there you go people, remember, keep your head outside the cockpit 😉
D.
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August 23, 2004 at 9:44 am