There won’t be any flying for me on the above dates, but some family reunion instead.
Just returned from a flight from my base to Yverdon LSGY, and return.
3 other airplanes (1x Pulsar, 1x RV-14, 1x RV-8) joined in for a delicious lunch.
Of course, both sectors were flown not in a straight line, but with a little detour to fly above, and thru the Alps, in interesting and somewhat challenging conditions 
Flew IFR to Nancy for a couple of instrument approaches. There was actually some cloud and rain there, which added a bit of realism.
Needless to say, Nancy is always worth a visit, and always worth an entrecote.
We did a local around the Isle of Wight this morning. I recently bought two child headsets and this was the first time trying them out (we just had ear defenders before). The children were really excited they could hear us and talk to each other, so I was pleased.
The end …(of this year’s summer vacation)
Returned from Ile d’Oleron with an overnight stop in Nuits Sait Georges.
900m well maintained grass runway and parking area. A/A only, no one there on arrival and departure.
The Chateau de Berchere is <10min walk (in the aproach of 29, effectively. Under new, very friendly, management – they also pick you up, if you call them.
The village/town has a classic renovated center and good restaurants; but a 6km distance is more fun with the bikes/kwiggles.
Today the weather drive us home… light rain, cloudy and (initially) 20kn of tailwind at FL90.
Landed in sunshine at home, though.
Nuits Sait Georges.
Nice. I was there in December.
I briefly flew to Dubrovnik LDDU. On a way back to LDVA I once more confirmed myself how late turning TKS on makes deicing tough task. Just after departure I hit stratus layer which looked thin, pretty fluffy and not particularly icy, so I thought TKS is not needed. However, just a minute later I realized my mistake, picking up 1 cm of ice in 30 seconds.
Even max TKS wasn’t able to remove the ice from leading edges, making just portions of it clean, causing unnecessary waste of fluid through clean spots while not being able to clean the rest of the wing. Topping up clouds helped but it took 20 min to get rid of the ice.
1cm in 30 secs is severe icing. Good thing you could quickly top that cloud.
Even if expensive and time-consuming, at least you guys have a tool to remove ice! A lot of us simply have to avoid it or turn back upon the encounter.
It only happened to me once upon entering a certain cloud, it took me all of 10 seconds to initiate a 180, and another 60 to get out of cloud. I only told ATC once I was on a safe path….first things first…
We flew to Murcia LEMI for a family reunion and some business. Had to dodge some bad wx enroute and do an ILS approach to the wrong runway with a circle to land to avoid a long approach at risk of delaying our arrival right into the storm. ATC found our request weird but they managed it, thanks!
Shortly after our 1730Z arrival the storm hit hard… I hope the airplane is OK…I will find out when I get back to the airport tomorrow.
SP 15/09/2023 18:35→SPECI LEMI 151835Z 05005KT 5000 TSRA SCT020 BKN035CB BKN050 19/17 Q1012=
SA 15/09/2023 18:30→
METAR LEMI 151830Z 31008KT 280V340 9999 -TSRA SCT020 BKN035CB BKN050 18/16 Q1013=
SP 15/09/2023 18:18→
SPECI LEMI 151818Z 35019G29KT 1500 +TSRA SCT020 BKN035CB BKN050 18/16 Q1012=
SP 15/09/2023 18:15→
SPECI LEMI 151815Z 35019G29KT 4000 +TSRA SCT020 BKN035CB BKN050 19/16 Q1012=
SA 15/09/2023 18:00→
METAR LEMI 151800Z 34022G34KT 310V010 9000 TSRA SCT020 BKN035CB BKN050 20/16 Q1011=
SP 15/09/2023 17:51→
SPECI LEMI 151751Z 33021G34KT 300V360 4000 VCTS SHRA SCT020 BKN035CB BKN050 21/15 Q1011=
SP 15/09/2023 17:48→
SPECI LEMI 151748Z 33020G33KT 300V360 7000 VCTS SHRA SCT020 SCT035CB BKN050 21/15 Q1011=
SP 15/09/2023 17:37→
SPECI LEMI 151737Z 33014G27KT 280V360 9999 VCTS SCT020 SCT035CB BKN050 22/15 Q1012=
SA 15/09/2023 17:30→
METAR LEMI 151730Z 08009KT 050V110 9999 VCTS FEW020 FEW040CB SCT050 25/21 Q1011=
This is the approach we would have flown as per ATC original request (coming from the NE then via PALOS and SANSI) vs the green path we followed after our request was granted, at least 50 NM shorter…good thing we saved those 20 mins and beat the storm to the airport!
(note: disregard wx display as not current)
