Life goes on

I've been dealing with my brother Kenneth's death, clearing up his caravan and doing the formal administration.
He will be cremated on Wednesday morning at Arundel Crematorium.
There will be a Wake at the Ship & Anchor Pub in Ford on Sunday 30th from 16:30.

I flew with John in the Jodel 105A.

My brother's demise is very much on my mind, so I am extra careful.

I am sometimes busy, but yesterday and today (Monday) I have time so far.

The weather prevented many from flying in for the BBQ.

Flying circuits in the Piper Cub.

I was up early on Saturday morning to fly the Chilton on it's first excursion from Slinfold.
All flights had been local test flights out and back to Slinfold, but now with a Permit to Fly we could take it on cross country flights.
I must admit to being a little nervous as this was going to be the first takeoff to the east from Slinfold into a northeasterly wind, a direction I had not used before since there are few options for an engine failure after takeoff.
The engine would have to run reliably for over an hour enroute to Old Warden... I had already done longer flights, but this would be well away from home base... Locally I had all the safe landing fields in mind should the engine falter... Now I must fly field to field at least until I fully trust the Walter Mikron to not fail.

The aeroplane took off in yards, and I was soon zooming up into the cold air with a turn to the west, staying clear of Gatwick's control zone which is a few yards east of the airstrip.
I settled down to just over 1,000 feet until I was clear of the Gatwick CTR 1,500 feet and above, and then I climbed up to 2,000 feet or so... The aeroplane has an insensitive altimeter, and so the Sky Demon GPS altitude readout is a very useful confirmation.

The aeroplane has no transponder, and hearing the radio over the noise is not easy, I'd crouch and press the earphones against the sides of my head.
Routing was therefore well to the west of Farnborough, east of the Southampton airspace, over Popham (at 2,800 feet), east of Benson, over the Stokenchurch mast, north of Aylesbury, and then to join overhead Old Warden for the right hand circuit to 02.

I was cold!
I flared slightly high, cold + wider runway (my excuses), but the three point landing was gentle enough, and I taxied in.
Steve had already arrived in his Chilton and so we placed them together.
It took me an hour or so to finally warm through!

Enroute I had used 2,200 RPM with the airspeed hovering around 100 KIAS, I had to slow down in places due to turbulence, the Chilton is very light yet very fast for its 'lightness', and so turbulence penetration can be uncomfortable.
Inflight time was 1 hour 14 minutes, and the engine used 16 litres of fuel.

Vintage Aircraft Club Fly-In

Around 65 aircraft attended with a line up the length of the runway.

There could have been four, but obstructive ATC refused to allow another Chilton in because they were too busy!

Years ago I worked on recovering an Auster for Chris Barnes, (G-AOFM); we hadn't seen each other for 50 years.

The Fly-In was a greyt time to see old friends, many who I had not seen for decades.
Lunch was good in the cafe, teas and coffees, and a couple of biscuits.

The air was less bumpy, and warmer for the flight home, simply reversing the route, and it was five minutes quicker.

Monitoring the instruments.

Global Michael.

I was worried.
The ground is rock hard like concrete, the finger operated brakes aren't that good, and if I did not land early on the upslope of 04 I would be going downhill... Oh no!
As it was, there were hot air balloons in the air, and the wind had calmed right down.
The jets were still approaching Gatwick from the west...
I decided I would land up the hill even if there was a slight tailwind, but as it was the air was calm and so an easy three point landing on the upslope was accomplished.

Chris the airstrip owner met me after my landing, and gave me a nice hot cup of tea.
David and Rona (aeroplane builders), and Kevin (Cessna 170 taxi), arrived soon after, and we went to the Red Lion Pub in Slinfold after putting the aeroplanes away.

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