Abbeville

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=90 BGCOLOR="#006699" TEXT="#080000" background="045085a3.jpg"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#FFFFFF" FACE="Arial" ><B>Golf Mike Bravo going around...</B></FONT><B>    </B><B> |     </B><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Golf Mike Bravo going around..."><U><B>home</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Golf Mike Bravo going around..."><U><B><IMG SRC="03b0e0e0.png" border=0 width="14" height="14" ALT="up" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></U></A><B>   </B><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="14" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" WIDTH="14"><B>     </B><A HREF="id161.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Getting used to the 10"><U><B><IMG SRC="02f0e0e0.png" border=0 width="14" height="14" ALT="previous" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></U></A><B>  </B><A HREF="id163.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Duxford"><U><B><IMG SRC="0300e0e0.png" border=0 width="14" height="14" ALT="next" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></U></A></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=210 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000" background="046d2e83.jpg"> <div> <IMG SRC="765a0780.jpg" border=0 width="160" height="120" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id116.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Bembridge"><U>Bembridge</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id117.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Isle of Man"><U>Isle of Man</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id139.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Check outs and Bimbles"><U>Check outs and Bimbles</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id150.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Shobdon"><U>Shobdon</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id151.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="First Passenger"><U>First Passenger</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id154.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Back in the 40"><U>Back in the '40</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id152.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Flyer Magazine Bash"><U>Flyer Magazine Bash</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id153.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Kemble"><U>Kemble</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id155.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Shotteswell and Goodwood"><U>Shotteswell and Goodwood</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id156.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Night Training 1"><U>Night Training - 1</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id157.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Night Training 2"><U>Night Training - 2</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id158.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="A Touch of HEVN"><U>A Touch of HEVN</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id159.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Night Training 3"><U>Night Training - 3</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id160.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="On to the 10"><U>On to the '10'</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id161.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Getting used to the 10"><U>Getting used to the '10'</U></A></div> <div> <B>Abbeville</B></div> <div> <A HREF="id163.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Duxford"><U>Duxford</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id164.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Hazy Sunday Afternoon"><U>Hazy Sunday Afternoon</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id165.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Avranches"><U>Avranches</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id166.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="A little Jodeling"><U>A little Jodel-ing</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id203.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Sywell"><U>Sywell</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id204.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Compton Abbas"><U>Compton Abbas</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id205.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Back to Bembridge"><U>Back to Bembridge</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id206.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Rochester"><U>Rochester</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id207.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Sleap"><U>Sleap</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id208.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="A look at Leicester, more Jodelling and "><U>A look at Leicester, more Jodelling and back to Sleap!</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id210.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="A Bonus Bimble"><U>A Bonus Bimble</U></A></div> </td> <td valign="top" height=390 BGCOLOR="#CCCCE4" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <I>Abbeville</I></div> <div> Thursday 11th May, 2006</div> <bR> <div> Link: <A HREF="http://aeroclubdelasomme.free.fr/" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://aeroclubdelasomme.free.fr/"><U>http://aeroclubdelasomme.free.fr/</U></A></div> <bR> <div> In a bit over a weeks time I'm off on a week's flying trip to Latina in Italy. The intention is to take the TB10 for what amounts to about 20 hours flying split over 8 days. The trip has been organised by the Flyer magazine forum, and there are around 30 of us going. My copilot for the trip is Neil Gascoigne, but more on this later.</div> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="784c2bc0.jpg" border=0 width="450" height="444" ALIGN="LEFT" HSPACE="10" VSPACE="0">Today I wanted to get in some practice in advance of the trip, (a) flying to France, (b) getting used to the TB's systems on a long journey, and (c) building confidence. I'm taking an instructor - Shona - with me, and Ian Melville in the back seat as a passenger.</div> <bR> <div> The weather forecast was for hazy sunshine with very little wind.</div> <bR> <div> Arriving at the airfield, I discover a snag: The TB10 has gone 'tech' with a broken vacuum pump. A hazy day like today is definitely not the time to go flying without an artificial horizon! So instead we'll be taking the TB200 - back in HEVN!</div> <bR> <div> The route I've had planned literally for months, and is simply VOR-hopping: Enstone -> CPT -> MID -> SFD -> ABB -> Abbeville. The main things to watch out for are the prohibited area around Harwell, and the base of the London TMA, which drops down to 3500ft, and 2500 ft between MID and SFD. This is class A airspace, and we must stay out of it.</div> <bR> <div> With the plane now A-checked, we have to go through some paperwork. A flight plan and a customs General Aviation Report ("GenDec") must be filed. The flight plan is a standard ICAO form, listing aircraft type, origin and destination, persons and equipment on board. We need to fill in one for the outward journey and another for the return trip. This then has to be faxed to the ******** in Manchester, at least an hour before the scheduled departure time. We'll take the return flight plan with us, and fax it from Abbeville. The GenDec form is for customs & immigration, detailing everyone on the plane, nationalities, addresses etc, and points of entry and departure. Again this need to be faxed off.</div> <bR> <div> The big problem with Victor November is weight and balance. It has very limited lifting capacity, and with three of us on board, we could only take half tanks, giving us an endurance of about 2.5 hours. The planned flight time was 1.5 hours, and our diversion airport, Le Touquet, an additional 12 minutes flying time away. Should be just enough, but we'd have to refuel at Abbeville!</div> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="785c2520.jpg" border=0 width="450" height="338" ALIGN="LEFT" HSPACE="10" VSPACE="0">And so to the flight. We departed runway 08, and climbed into the overhead. This put us immediately on course, with no heading correction required. There was nobody operating Enstone Radio, so we quickly changed to Brize Zone for a transit at 2400ft. Once through the zone we changed to Benson for MATZ penetration and FIS, headind slightly East of our track in order not to fly right over the top od Didcot power station. From Benson we freecalled Farnborough. They thoughtfully reminded us to make sure we stayed below the TMA. Once North of Shoreham, we were free from the lowest restriction, and able to climb to 3300ft, giving us a 200ft buffer. Now we were speaking to London Information, who were to give us a Flight Information Service for the channel crossing. We want to be as high as possible over the water, to give us the maximum glide range in case the engine stops. The all-pervasive London TMA starts at FL55 here, so with accurate altitude holding it restricts us to FL 54. (Flight Level 54 is 5400ft, with the altimeter subscale set to 1013)</div> <bR> <div> I wanted to have a good 'play' with the autopilot on this trip, and this seemed a good time to do it. Once I'd got the plane in trim, I activated the autopilot. Pressing the ALT button will capture the current altitude and hold it. HDG will capture and follow the heading set on the DI heading bug. NAV will capture and hold the radial tuned and set on VOR1 or VOR2, or follow a course set in the GPS.</div> <bR> <div> Passing Brighton, we start to climb (disengage ALT mode on the autopilot and press the UP button to achieve the desired rate of climb. The autopilot does NOT control the engine, so speed management is left to the pilot, and care must be taken to set climb power at the start and cruise power at tyhe end.) , and London Info asks us to report coasting out (ie crossing the coast), and also once we're level. We're also asked to give an estimate for the mid point of the channel crossing (this equates to point GURLU on the map, and is also the FIR boundary). We crossed the coastline at Beachy Head, the white cliffs glistening in the sunshine. I have to say that this was not the best time for the 'low fuel' warning light to come on, just as we start a 75 nm sea crossing! We tuned and idented the ABB VOR, and got an indication on the CDI of our radial, but the autopilot was just hunting right and left, and didn't seem to be able to lock onto the signal. So we decided to back track the SFD VOR outwards, and try again with ABB mid channel. As we crossed the haze got worse, and the distant horizon disappeared into shades of grey. As we passed point GURLU, London Info suggested we change to Paris Info. Immediately we were struck by the different accent of the lady on the radio.</div> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="786c2520.jpg" border=0 width="450" height="338" ALIGN="LEFT" HSPACE="10" VSPACE="0">Crossing the coast over the Somme estuary, we followed the river towards Abbeville. Reception with Paris is not very good, and we change frequency again to 123.5 This, we discover, is a common frquency - rather like Unicom or Safetycom - on which you announce your intentions. With no information about the active circuit, we arrive overhead and look to see what we can see. There's traffic calling "finale zero deux", and we can see it landing on runway 2. So we position ourselves to join the circuit for 02. I'm rather high on the approach, and land long as a result. Turns out this was a good thing, since there's some detritus on the runway and we might otherwise have run into it.</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="787c2520.jpg" border=0 width="450" height="338" ALIGN="RIGHT" HSPACE="10" VSPACE="0">We taxi round to the fuel pumps and join the queue behind the German Cessna 172 that we'd seen in the circuit. We can't help but notice in the process a large flock of sheep right in the middle of the airfield, being herded around by a shepherd and two dogs. Makes a change from a bloke on the back of a motoR mower! After fuelling, we pushed the aircraft back to park beside the grass taxiway, and went off to pay and close the flight plan. This highlights another difference between flying in the UK and France. Here they assume you've arrived unless someone calls to tell them otherwise. There, if you don't close the flight plan within 30 minutes of arrival, they automatically start SAR procedures. There's only one chap on duty, dispensing the fuel and taking payments. He only speaks very little English, which is on a par with our French. But between us we make do. He's very helpful, and while we're in the office paying for the fuel, he phones through to Lille and closes our flight plan, and also faxes off the return flight plan for us.</div> <bR> <bR> <div> The major disappointment is that the restaurant is closed until evening, and there's no food to be had. Our helpful Frenchman takes pity and provides us with some bottles of water and plastic cups. That was very nice and welcome water! Once refreshed, we take a good gander round, poking our noses into every nook and cranny,</div> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="789c2520.jpg" border=0 width="450" height="338" ALIGN="LEFT" HSPACE="10" VSPACE="0">Eventually, it's time to leave. Knowing there's debris on the hard runway, we decide to take off from the grass. Leaving the common frequency, we change to Lille Info - hopefully we'll have better reception - and ask them to open our flight plan. They give us flight information as far as the coast, but once we're over the water, ask us to call London Info. The haze is even more pronounced over the channel coming back; there are not even shades of grey, so we have to rely on the artificial horizon. We are just 5 minutes to run before the English coast comes into view. We crossed the channel at FL45, and once back over land need to descent to below 2500ft in order to remain under the TMA.</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="78a51c20.jpg" border=0 width="337" height="450" ALIGN="LEFT" HSPACE="10" VSPACE="0"> The route back is the reverse of the outward route, and we talk to Farnborough and Brize Norton, before eventually joining right base for 08 back at Enstone. </div> <bR> <bR> <div> I'm 'playing' with the autopilot again on the way back, using it to track from VOR to VOR. A useful tip that Shona showed me was that once you get close to the VOR - say within 2nm - the autopilot can overcorrect due to the increased signal sensitivity, resulting in course oscillation, so the thing to do is set the heading bug to the current heading and switch toHDG mode until the VOR has passed below. Then an approximate heading for the outbound course can be set before going back to NAV mode (or tuning and identing the next VOR).</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> Pictures: Ian Melville</div> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>