Guernsey Air Rally June 2024
Their 50th Anniversary and or first rally. Came 5th in the Sports section – without autopilot.
Spain 2024 – FTWTWIG
Annual Fly to Where the Weather is Good trip organised by Hitesh.
11 Flights 15 Hrs
Private summary video of the trip 10 minutes https://youtu.be/AmufzdB0xUg
Public video of flight across the Pyrennes 2min 37s https://youtu.be/0U4gAGeDEE8
African Flying Adventure 2024
Feb 2024, rented a Sling 4 ZU-OMG from Panorama Flight Academy near Johanessburg. We were a party of 7 with 3 planes. Summary video.
Mon 19 Feb. Panorama to Bloemfontein. Route via Sousme(?) reserve. Where ?? Finnair relayed a message still no clue where it is. Given vector and found it. Great steak at Bossa. Very dodgey taxi missing headlight and a front seat belt.
Tue 20 Feb Bloemfontein to De Aar for comfort break. No facilties. Medical operation in progress. Nice to see another pilot. Quote of the day. Johannesburg South FIR. Your only at FL 85 we don’t control low level flights below FL10. Arrived Beaufort west. Game lodge. Lemonfontain. Hot. Pool. Idyllic terrace.
Wed 21 Feb Tried to file a flight plan by phone. Told that OMG is grounded, must contact CAA !! RJ flap not working. Beautiful flight over the Karoo then the mountains to decend into Stellenbosh. A challenging mountain flight avoiding cloud and severe mountaing wave turbulence near Worcester. Gusty x wind landing at Stellenbosch. Great to be near sea level and have some aircrafty performance! Met up with James. Tour of Duncans hangar. Supper at Stellenbosch Flying Club
Thu 22 Feb V&A Waterfront tour with 360 cam. Below 500 ft across the bay. We elected to spend a second night in Stellenbosch. Le Pommier. Nice but near main road. Dreadful service. Decision day how to get home. East Coast doesn’t look good, so we head west over the Kalahari Desert instead. Duncan reccomends and books Tutwa lodge for us.
Fri 23 Feb Slowest breakfast ever. Terrible service. Left aircraft keys in my room!!!! Stellenbosch to Lamberts Bay. Gravel strip just outside of town. Taxi driver stuck in the sand. Paid Rand 350 for overnight security at the airstrip. Amazing beach house. Great views. Isabella restaurant for dinner. Quote of the day, “don’t walk it can get a bit stabby”. Elisa was great taxiing us around in a fiat Panda.
Sat 24th Flat battery on KRJ. Quote of the day, “we are going to need another generator”. Tutwa lodge. Night safari. Giraffes and sunset with gin and tonic Sundowner.
Sun 25th Feb Day at the lodge by the pool.
Monday 26 Feb Flew alon the Orange river, Nambian border to Dundi Lodge for coffee and fuel. Duni to Kuruman. Quote of the day, “do you want to invest in Kuruman?” Leach Lodge !!! Swimming pool looks uninviting.
Tue 27th Departing Kuruman. “Lookout there are locals in the undergrowth”. Bona Bona Lodge. Nice to have a tarm,ac runway. Excellent facillities and safari drive. Spa.
Wed 28th – Final leg back to Panorama Flight Center. Inital plan to fly over Joberg city changed due poor visibility and my barking cough – I could barely make the radio calls.
2023 Adventure Map
Summary 2023 – Airfields Visited
Norfolk/Suffolk Flying Adventure – Sept 2023
Dad and lad trip 2023 – revisting the Norfolk broads and discovering Beccles. Two bikes in the back of G-PTSI with my newly electrified Brompton.
Route
Popham – Fowlmere – Cromer – Beccles – Little Shelford – Top Farm – Popham
About 350 Nm 3 hrs
French Beach Adventure La Baule-Escoublac – September 2023
The weather was good with high pressure. It seemed like a good idea to catch a few more days of sun before the long winter. La Baule airfield is just a 7 min cycle ride to “the most beautiful beach in Europe.” It’s an amazing beach. There are lots of sea front properties. These properties are easily rent-able now the school holidays are over.
As I was traveling alone French customs at Rennes released me without interview both ways, a first for me. With an OAT reading of 35°C at the hold whilst waiting for military jets to do their thing, the manifold temperature was above 51 C for a while.
Austrian Adventure Rotax- August 2023
Flew to the Rotax 2023 Flyin at Wels Austria and made then extended into the Alps. A nine day trip about 1500 nautical miles and 13 hrs of flying. With folding Brompton bike, visited lots of lakes and beaches in great weather.
Learnt about SVFR departure from a French Class D airport. (600′ and 5km vis).
Rented a hangar when heavy hail and gusting 50 knots was forecast.
Did some single pilot mountain flying. See video of Zell am Zee.
Landed at one of the the most picturesque airfields in the world.
The route
Popham – Albert (Customs) – Wels – Zell am Zee – Konstanz – Speyer – Le Touquet (Customs) – Popham
Lots of great information and contacts made at the Rotax Flyin 2023, over 2 days with free beer . Thanks to Bose for that part.
Wels – Austria
Zell Am Zee – Austria
Another Aircraft inbound to Zell am Zee nice video
Konstanz – Germany
Speyer – Germany
Some bad weather encountered in Speyer, Germany. I had to negotiate some hangar space in a hangar whose rate card starts at 6.5 tons !
Albert – France
French Chateaux Adventure Loire -July 2023
I was invited for lunch in Jersey. I decided to carry on south to Dinard (customs). Then I went back to Amboise for a few days in the Loire. Since the weather was looking very nice :-). With my Brompton folding bike did some cycling along the river cycle paths.
Back via Le Mans for customs – good service. Six officers just for me !!
About 600 nm and 5.5 hrs.
Scandinavian Adventure FTWTWIG June 2023
June 2023 9 days 6 planes (Three Sling TSi’s a PA28-161 two Pipistrels) 12 people over 24 hrs of flying more than 2500 nm. (FTWTWIG 20023 – Fly To Where The Weather Is Good)
The Route
With high pressure over Scandanavia we decided a day or two before departure that the trip would be to Scandanavia.
Route: Popham – North Weald – Calais – Soest- Itzehoe-Höganas- Kjeller – Hamar – Ålesund – Stavanger – Varde – Borkum – Midden Zealand – Stow Maries – Popham.
Actual track log from SkyDemon – Zoomable map
An amazing trip with huge logistics thanks to Hitesh and Dean.
A collection of some of the photographs and videos made by the team.
Overall trip summary video by Ashok –
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Borkum Departure (Private link) https://youtu.be/7GuxKpCIFD8