It’s not often you can beat the GA on all counts, that is:
Sometimes you can beat two (speed and convenience), usually you can beat one (convenience), but it’s very rare to beat all three, especially in a vintage aircraft.
But a couple of Saturdays ago, I did it! Plans I had for the day had gone out the window, so I was left thinking what to do. I checked the weather, it looked nice. I knew that Play Expo (a computer gaming event) was on at Events City next to the Trafford Centre, and I thought… I wonder – how far is that from Barton? Not very far at all, and right on a direct bus route. So at 5.40pm the day before, I booked my Play Expo ticket and quickly planned out a flight to Manchester Barton.
So I was up bright and early the next day. A quick weather check showed any ceilings at least 4000’ (although there was the odd scattered or few layer over the Irish Sea).
Fortunately, my in-flight catering department was open (aka Andreas Stores) was open when I went by at 7.45am, so I could get my in-flight meal sorted out…
As I coasted in near St Bee’s Head and went down the Cumbrian coast, I was rewarded with a beautiful morning, hardly any wind, and nothing more than a high overcast at least 5000 feet up.
Since I was arriving fairly early, I expected no one else to be flying at Barton, but I was quite surprised. There were already two student pilots doing circuits, a couple of people departing north and south, a couple of helicopters on their way and some transient traffic. The AFIS was quite busy with them all. I ended up following the two students around the circuit for runway 08L. The FISO welcomed me on landing, and gave me direction to the fuel pumps – I thought I best be fuelled up right at the start since I would need to be off promptly at my planned departure time to get back home before sunset, and didn’t want to court trouble by turning up later on and finding six planes queuing for the pumps or something. It kind of reminded me of being back at Houston Gulf where I learned to fly a bit – the guys doing the fuelling and running the front desk were both keen GA people, either PPLs or learning – and were pretty eager to keep the customer satisfied. It was the feel we had there, too. I really like an airfield like that.
It’s been a long time since I last flew at Barton – in fact, it had been 18 years almost to the day since the last time I was there. Going there brought back some memories as I saw a Cessna I had long forgotten about – a C172 registered G-BOIL which I had taken my mother flying in on that day, almost exactly 18 years ago. She sadly died only months later, never even reaching 50 years old. I was happy to see that C172 still going, and looking in nice shape at least from 30 feet away.
A general look around the airfield:
Just before I left, this (I presume Barton based) Luscombe arrived, she’s a real beauty:
The Auster always looks properly at home on a grass airfield:
On the way back, having sorted fuel out right at the start, I could get going with no delay. The airfield hadn’t got any quieter, and it was good to see families out at the café with kids eagerly watching the planes and helicopters coming and going. There was also some kind of sightseeing helicopter flights going, which looked pretty popular (although I bet it cost a fortune – they were using a Bell 206, and IIRC they cost about £800/hr to run).
It wasn’t long after taking off I was passing Blackburn, Lancashire. Apparently, in a newspaper John Lennon was reading, 4000 holes were found there (although they may have been rather small). When John Lennon and Paul McCartney were singing about Blackburn, Lancashire, my Auster was a young aircraft, only 22 years old and had just been purchased by the Wasp Flying Group in Hertfordshire.
The evening rewarded me with a stunning view of the Cumbrian fells, most shaded by cloud but one of the larger ones dramatically lit by the sun. Unfortunately, it was impossible to get a good photo, but I did try!
All in all, a grand day out. I’ll have to get to Barton more than once every 18 years – it’s a really useful airfield with enthusiastic staff – and with decent opening hours! – and perfect for the Auster.
alioth brilliant report might we get some vital statistics – how long were the two legs enroute times? Isn’t the Auster reasonably long legged hence wondering the need to top up? The Garmin electronic attitude indicator looked very modern.
I think yours has a -320, so cruise around 95 KTAS?
Brilliant bit of aerial kit the Auster.
Great trip, Alioth, and goes to show the GA can indeed be useful in Europe!
Super report – thank you for posting it.
GA really comes into its own when there is a water crossing involved.
RobertL18C wrote:
Isn’t the Auster reasonably long legged hence wondering the need to top up?
I like to have as much fuel as I can when returning to the Isle of Man, it gives me options in case Manannan’s Cloak should descend, unforecast. I also had about an hour off full tanks when I left.
from Andreas, Barton is about 1 hr 20 engine start to engine shutdown, more or less. It’s a little bit shorter if the danger areas aren’t active and you can go direct, but I prefer to go via St Bees Head if I can as it shortens the overwater leg.
We’ve got an aux tank (the standard tank is only 15 imp gallons) which gives us 4 hours range.
Excellent report, thanks. Plus extra Beatle points!
Thanks for sharing – really enjoyed your trip Report. It’s always nice when plans work like this – especially VFR.
Thanks for sharing your great report. Barton definitely looks worth adding to the list of “Places to Visit”!
