We had the aeroplane (Maule MXT-7-180 G-BVIK) booked for four days and had been planning to get to the Scilly Islands. However, as Friday 20th September approached, the winds forecast for the south-west were too strong, so on Thursday I started to re-plan for Scotland for where the forecast was good. We also had a long-standing desire to fly over the Lake District, previously frustrated by weather, so I decided to route that way. Looking at SkyDemon, I thought that Charterhall, between Kelso and Berwick, might be a nice place to stop and contacted them. Their first response was that they could not find anywhere for us to stay nor to get from their strip (600m of lovey new tarmac on the remains of a WWII aerodrome) so I also contacted Kirkbride, which we had tried to visit a few years ago but was closed for motor racing. Anyway, on Friday morning I found an email from Charterhall saying that they had found a nearby B&B that had a room, knew where to find the runway and was willing to drive us from and to, so Charterhall it was. After our usual slow start, wrangling cats into the basket for delivery to the cattery and so-on, we arrived at the strip (Graveley, near Luton EGGW) around midday. Aeroplane loaded and fuelled to the brim (about six and a half hours worth of 100LL), we were airborne just after 1300. Over Henlow EGWE then the CIT beacon. Cranfield EGTC Approach (non-radar) were most helpful (as always, Cranfield is an idiotically run airfield that somehow manages to attract a good ATC team) helping with traffic awareness. Over Sywell EGBK where we could see the WWI display team lining up to take-off for a practice display then onto the frequency for East Midlands EGNX. The direct route for Graveley to the Lake District is via an area busy with parachuting, gliding and the military so I planned an EMA class D transit as the safest route. I had planned to route overhead at 4000 feet. They sent me up the eastern edge of the zone, overhead Nottingham EGBN which was fine then they expected me to leave the zone. However, I wanted to be further west and my request to turn for DIPSO was instantly granted. It was then pretty much a straight line from DIPSO to the Lake District town of Kendal, passing between the Manchester and Leeds zones. I used the listening squawk for Leeds EGNM and briefly descended to 3000 to avoid some class A (I have an IR(R) not a full IR so no class A for me). The landscape becomes very scenic from DIPSO north, the Derbyshire and Yorkshire Peak District. A place of day trips when I was growing up in Yorkshire and more famously where the 617 squadron practiced for the dams mission. We turned west at Kendal, looped around Windermere headed north along Coniston then out of the Lakes via Cockermouth. I listened but did not feel the need to speak to Carlisle throughout. Turning to the north-east, I tuned Scottish Information but they had lots on frequency so I didn’t talk to them. A pass over Charterhall then land and call the B&B while we unloaded. The runway is a lovely 600m of nearly new tarmac; there is nothing else there. The aeroplane was outside and unprotected for two days. It is insured was all I can say. Apparently, the runway is used by the local schools for driver training so the locals all know that it is there and it is also used by the Royal Air Force for practicing with Chinooks and Hercules, the latter must be a sight to see! We were soon collected by Pippa, the most hospitable Australian who runs the B&B (which also does a fine dinner). En-route from airfield to hotel, Pippa paused to show us the memorial to Richard Hilary, his crewman and the many other RAF personnel who were killed locally.
https://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/greenlaw/memorial/index.html
The accommodation was a delight, http://mansefield-greenlaw.co.uk/
Nothing was too much trouble for Pippa and her family, including the runs from and to the airfield and some very large drinks in the garden before the excellent dinner. Not a cheap place to stay but most certainly very good value for money. Greenlaw is a very small town. Its attractions include a cinema complete with organ where there are monthly showings of silent films complete with live music. Sadly we did not happen to be there as they appear to be a great night.
http://www.nptohc.co.uk/
We had no idea how long we were going to stay. However, in conversation with the other guests we found that the following day there was a sculpture symposium at a nearby stately home. This sounded right up out street so we booked that and hence decided to stay for two nights. The event was here:
https://marchmonthouse.com/
We had a great time doing that and another night at Manesfield.
We decided to go next to Dundee EGPN with the hope of night flying (weathered off) and to visit the Victoria and Albert Museum off-shoot and the research ship Discovery. The forecast for the next morning had some low cloud and poor visibility in it for Dundee so I telephoned them and booked an RNAV approach. We departed Charterhall at 1025 in CAVOK but en-route, via the SAB VOR, there were patches of low cloud below us and the area around Leuchars EGQL and Dundee. I might have done a VFR arrival but it would have been fraught so I was pleased to have booked the RNAV which I flew and was pleased to see the PAPIs and, just about, the runway lights when I looked up at my MDA at about three miles. Lynda tells me that the landing was better than my usual!
The helpful Tayside Aviation booked us a taxi and recommended the Sleeperze hotel which is across the road from the V&A and Discovery. The taxi was less than ten pounds and the hotel very pleasant, certainly nicer than I expected for the low price. We enjoyed both attractions although as an engineer I do find it frustrating that the V&A rather gives the impression that products even hugely complex ones like cars go from the stylist’s sketches to a finished product by some sort of magic rather than the scientific efforts of thousands of engineers.
Refuelling at Dundee is a slight inconvenience as one must wait for a staff member to be available to operate the pump then you do the fuelling yourself while they watch. I took sixty litres at £2.23 a litre.
I had decided that we would break the flight home on Monday with Newcastle EGNT transit and a stop at Teeside EGNV so that I could use their ILS. The tales of those parts of the flight are told in two other threads. I also had some learning on departure from Dundee. The controller gave me a clearance of left turn out (BTW, Dundee has only an ATZ, no CAS, similarly the adjacent Leuchars has only a MATZ) and contact Scottish Information. “Strange” I thought when he knows that I am routing over Leuchars, “they are probably closed” (there are no based aircraft at Leuchars AFAIK). I should have said something. After take-off, I turned 180 left to climb over the river (there was some low cloud) before heading to Leuchars. The (non-radar) controller watching me was not happy, he had wanted me to turn left but only 45 degrees and away from Leuchars because there was traffic inbound to Dundee from that direction. There was a stressful few minutes while we sorted things on the radio then I was en-route for the Leuchars overhead and climbing for 4000 feet. I spoke to the controller later by telephone and we worked out what we should both have done differently.
After an hour enjoying the compulsory hospitality of the handler Consort, we set-off and were planning to go all the way to Graveley. Departing the Teeside zone, I turned east to run down the coast from Whitby to the Humber, scenes of very many happy memories from my childhood. Talking to Humberside EGNJ from about Flamborough, they were flat-out busy looking after RAF traffic. Quite what the Cranwell, Coningsby and Waddington controllers were doing all afternoon while the local civilian airport did this I don’t know. Anyway, somewhere around the Humber and having had 25 knots of headwind all day I decided that I had not bought enough fuel at Dundee and diverted to Wickenby EGNW which I know well of old. Fuel at Wickenby is self-service and with a credit card reader on the pump so very quick and easy. I took another 25.5 litres there at £1.96 a litre. The reason for such an odd amount is that the pump offered £50 and I was too lazy to change it!
Airborne again and it is essentially a straight line to Graveley. I spoke to Coningsby EGXC and Wittering EGXT en-route including getting the Luton weather. We flew through a couple of rain showers and as I already knew from previous rain flying, the Maule leaks!
About thirty miles out, I tuned Luton, to which we normally only listen, setting a particular squawk for zone entry to the strip. However, the controller was talking to a police helicopter operating in the zone close to our strip so I announced myself so that he could coordinate us. He also helpfully gave me a wind check as I was on late final. As we taxied back along the strip to the hangar, the heavens opened.
So that was job done, seven hours fifty minutes time logged and 7.8 on the engine timer. A very excellent weekend in the air and on the ground.
A very nice trip – thank you for posting it. Do you have any pics? They can be simply dropped into the forum thread.
Charterhall
Dundee, looking in the direction from which we had just arrived
Flamborough Head, Grandma had a caravan on that site for about twenty years. Many happy memories.
Wickenby, I worked on the airfield for a couple of years with Game Composites. We did some of the early flying of the GameBird here. The first flights were at Bentwaters.
Some of the sculpture
This one somehow captures how I feel before every flight:
His “sister”:
I rather loved this as well, note also the Gormley figure on the roof in the second one.
The UK has so many nice places and a lot of spectacular scenery. The “north” also gets much better in terms of controlled airspace, which is highly relevant in the light of today’s CAA pilot busting policy.
