Recently flew to the UK, yes it was a first time for me as my routing is mostly east or south bound :-).
Duxford is a great destination and really enjoyed the visit, very friendly airfield and affordable landing fees…The GAR formalities, well no comments it adds up to the complications and additional costs as I mention below :-)
Intention was IFR, finding a routing was difficult. Used autorouter found this acceptably routing:
EBKT N0160F060 MAK1A MAK L607 KOK DCT KONAN DCT MOKBU/N0160F080 DCT KOPUL DCT BRAIN DCT ADMIS VFR EGSU
Validation: NO ERRORS
Submitted to the Belgian ARO as such but it was rejected by eurocontrol, called back and half an hour later got this (tour de Belgique and North of France to get me on the B3 Route, I wanted to avoid IFR to north over COA DCT over the water, as this stretch is much longer over the water):
EBKT N0160F080 DCT FERDI Y50 CIV M617 CMB B3 RINTI/N0160F090 L10 LAM VFR EGSU
Initial flight was EBST to EBKT to meet the customs outbound. We were a bit late in the air so we couldn’t meet the EOBT @EBKT unfortunately we were unable through the FIC to delay the FLPLN so, only possible through briefing, so after landing we called the ARO and they changed it. Continentals are difficult to start hot, after several attempts and last battery power we fired up the engine to request our departure clearance (lessons learned here to buy a hand held radio). Call back from TWR slot delay of one hour …. Only possibility to stop the engine, refile the flight plan and just go VFR which we did……Luckily we got the engine started with really the last starter power available…..
VFR went rather smooth, but honestly the UK VFR ATC system system seems over complicated (the number of different squawk codes is just a major distraction and prawn for to much attention loss to look outside and stay clear of all traffic) and there seems to be no coordination between sectors. We were requested to switch to Farnborough but nobody replied and had to go back to London info which was unaware with a comment aaaah we will check…..eughmmm…
Conclusion. Over complicated VFR airspace structure with a basic radar service with a lot of distracting position reports…,plenty of frequency changes and twenty different squawk codes. It seems its more like a policing role to assure you stay clear of CA
And after watching the video of the American guys which made a good laugh about pass the message call from ATC, indeed its just that you pass a message :-).
Flying trough CA IFR close to London seems to get you in unpredictable situation if you can fly or not :-) with a an almost sure slot restriction.
All in all its a pity that it all is very complicated for just hopping some miles of seawater….
Will I do it more often? No, don’t think so, but there are really very nice places to visit, with friendly people….so we will see….I learned a lot of what no to do anymore….
And again Duxford five * destination!!!
As tip we went just before the flying legend show next week and had no problems with the PPR and a lot of birds were flying in preparation of the show 
Vref wrote:
Continentals are difficult to start hot, after several attempts and last battery power we fired up the engine
Which engine in which Mooney model? I see in your profile that you are flying Mooneys so maybe this article may be of interest to you. It’s for the E model but the engine is identical to the 201’s engine. Or this video:
Other than that, not a very encouraging trip report but thanks for posting nonetheless. Of course it will remain to see if the GAR requirement (which in itself is a great thing and much preferrable to the usual “no customs so go elsewhere” or individual solutions airport by airport) survives Bexit or if post Brexit something else will come to life…
I’ve always wanted to once do the South Coast VFR as it is very scenic and some of it are my old stumping grounds from my youth… also would have loved to once see the Scillys. Ah well. Should still be feasible one way or the othe.
Sorry my profile is outdated I fly a BE35. Used to fly/own a 201 never had problems with the lycoming hot starts… Flying along the cliffs around Manston low level above the sea is a great experience, they loose you on the radar though :-). The thing with the UK is the extra hassle, but I think my routing was neither the most easy flying part in UK :-). I believe in the north its much more easy going, but again the differences in radar services is a bit awkward for a continental bloke :-). It can be done IFR from Belgium but you will need to cross the channel more to north or way more to the south avoiding the CA close to London. I know this will trigger some comments but four XPDR changes in 15 minutes every time you change frequency…? It can be done more simpler I think …not mentioning Germany which has a much more harmonised approach and were Langen info/radar has added value….Also I believe SERA emphases ATC to request squawk 2000 after VFR positive radar contact. This has been implemented in the Belgian FIR recently.
Good report Vref.
The main point is that there is no way to fly Eurocontrol IFR around the London airports. There just isn’t room, and the (mainly) NATS system is not set up to handle GA which has slow climb rates etc. The best way to get to Duxford is at 2400ft in Class G, in IMC if necessary
To hot start a TCM with injection, let the fuel pump run for two minutes with the mixture CLOSED. This will cool down the fuel spider and lines on top of the engine by recirculating fuel from the tanks. Then start normally.
Vref wrote:
It can be done more simpler I think
Yes, my idea of a VFR cross country involves no radio contact with the ground en route, and perhaps none with the airports at each end! I haven’t switched my transponder code from VFR for several years.
dirkdj wrote:
To hot start a TCM with injection, let the fuel pump run for two minutes with the mixture CLOSED. This will cool down the fuel spider and lines on top of the engine by recirculating fuel from the tanks. Then start normally.
It does not get as far as the spider. But other than that, yes.
The other thing is to get the correct air/fuel mixture. The way to get that is to find the sweet spot for the throttle. Work the throttle a little back and forth during cranking, and find the exact spot where the engine fires.
Can someone explain what the primary objective of LARS is? I notice in the AIP ENR 1.6 that LARS may not be able to offer a traffic or deconfliction service due to them being too busy with their primary function.
Most units providing LARS are not all dedicated LARS units, but the approach units of their airport, and have to control that traffic. Although in practice, that on its own does not really give high “controller workload” in most cases.
Farnborough LARS around London is a bit special in that they have dedicated LARS seats.
To hot start a TCM with injection, let the fuel pump run for two minutes with the mixture CLOSED. This will cool down the fuel spider and lines on top of the engine by recirculating fuel from the tanks. Then start normally.
That’s my second procedure, usually it works but it takes a lot from the pump and starter also…My mechanic told me that full forward everything just a small boost for a split half second.. This works sometimes but requires to be vigilant and retard the throttle quickly. I am think of installing an auto start system that is available STC’s for big bore continentals. It fuel metering is computer assisted. Will post the link when I find it…
Okay here it is:
iStart
