Mutley's Hangar Big VFR Adventure
LEG 13: EGSH-EGSC (Norwich-Cambridge)
As the weather was so nice today I got
straight out of the C206 and jumped straight into the default C172 for a
50 mile cross country trip to Cambridge. Along the way we would pass
Lakenheath and Mildenhall airbases, before lining for a straight in
landing at Cambridge.
As I was taxing to the runway at Norwich I remembered that when I was
younger I was going on holiday down
to Great Yarmouth and as we were passing the end of the runway, although
I didn’t know it was a runway at this point, a plane came in to land and
I thought it was going to take the roof of the car with it’s landing
gear. After take-off I noted that the road is excellently placed in the
scenery right at the end of the runway as I remember it.
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Once clear of the airfield the flight was fairly routine with no bad
weather or any other aircraft to contend with. We cruised along at 4,500 feet and passed the build up urban area of Norwich and quickly moved out into the countryside. It’s amazing how much better than the default scenery this VFR Scenery is. In and around the cities the buildings look 3D, but once out into the countryside all that can be seen for miles are the farmers fields, with the occasional farm building visible. |
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As we passed over Lakenheath and Mildenhall we could see some Air Force planes on the tarmac getting ready for another training mission. After I had flown past Mildenhall a C-130 was given permission to land. After Mildenhall it was only a short hop to Cambridge and it was time to stop admiring this great scenery and prepare to land. As we passed over the fields on our way down to the runway the crispness of the scenery remained all the way down to the runway. I taxied to parking and shut down the C172 and went off to plan the next flight...
LEG 14: EGSC-EGKB (Cambridge-Biggin Hill)
Somewhat later than planned we finally got airborne again to continue this epic VFR adventure. The route today was another simple one; depart Cambridge and head south towards London City airport before intercepting the ILS for runway 21 at Biggin Hill. I elected to cruise slightly higher than normal at 4,500 feet to
take in more of the scenery as the journey progressed, and this altitude didn’t disappoint in the slightest.
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The VFR scenery remained pin sharp at all times, even when cruising at a slightly faster than normal speed.
The green countryside of England slowly disappeared behind us as we approached the capital and the green fields turned into the sprawling urbanisation of London. We could easily pick out the train lines, houses and industrial estates as we moved ever closer to our destination. 20 miles out from Biggin Hill I contacted the tower and requested permission to land on runway 21, which was duly granted. Then I began the descent down to 1,500 feet and watched as the scenery got closer in the windows.
A smooth touchdown and quick exit from the runway allowed a Yak-52 to
depart soon after, which we had a front row seat for the take-off as we
taxied to parking. With only 3 legs left of this challenge, we now begin
to explore the southern coast of England...
LEG 15: EGKB-EGMH (Biggin Hill – Manston)
This next trip would take me down to the South Eastern corner of England to Manston, which is only a stone’s
throw from Dover. The flight would be very touch as we departed and cruised into a 25kt headwind, which turned into a crossing headwind during final approach to Manston.
We lifted off from Biggin Hill a little after 1830 local time and after reaching 1,000 feet turned east and climbed to 2,500 feet whilst watching the spectacular views beneath us from the side windows. The scenery on this leg was a completely different contrast to the last one, gone were the built up areas of London and we welcomed back the green fields. The greens and yellows of the scenery combined with the fading light made for some great photo opportunities as we headed closer to our destination. Despite the challenging conditions there was still plenty of time to admire the scenery and take plenty of photos.
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 Click to enlarge image |
About 20 miles out from Manston I contacted the tower and was given permission to land on runway 10. I dialled in the localiser frequency and made a slight right turn and headed out over more fields until I intercepted the localiser. With this airport being so close to the coast I knew that if I wandered out over the sea I had missed my turn to line up with the runway. Thankfully they clouds were just a little above us so it was easy to pick out the runway lights and position for finals and make a nice smooth landing, despite being a little off centre.
Continued .....