5 - Or not!

<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="id64.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="4 Straight and Level"><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="id67.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="6 Up, down and around"><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="53da0780.jpg" border=0 width="160" height="120" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> <A HREF="id61.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="1 Trial Lesson"><U>1 - Trial Lesson</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id62.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="2 Effects of Controls"><U>2 - Effects of Controls</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id63.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="3 A trip to Henstridge"><U>3 - A trip to Henstridge</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id64.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="4 Straight and Level"><U>4 - Straight and Level</U></A></div> <div> 5 - Or not!</div> <div> <A HREF="id67.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="6 Up, down and around"><U>6 - Up, down and around</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id68.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="7 Stalls and Slow Flight"><U>7 - Stalls and Slow Flight</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id69.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="8 More stalls and PFLs"><U>8 - More stalls and PFLs</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id70.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="9 Into the circuit..."><U>9 - Into the circuit...</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id71.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="10 Golf Mike Bravo Going Around. Again!"><U>10 - Golf Mike Bravo Going Around. Again!</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id72.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="11 Circuits and spice (and Things Not N"><U>11 - Circuits and spice (and Things Not Nice)</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id73.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="12 More circuits (and brain fade)"><U>12  - More circuits (and brain fade)</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id74.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="13 Developing a flair for the flare"><U>13 - Developing a flair for the flare</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id75.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="14 Close But No Cigar!"><U>14 - Close But No Cigar!</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id76.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="15 Still no cigar"><U>15 - Still no cigar</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id77.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="16 Solo"><U>16 - Solo</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id78.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="17 Getting the hang of it again"><U>17 - Getting the hang of it again</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id79.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="18 I Follow Railways"><U>18 - I Follow Railways</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id80.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="19 Head in the Clouds"><U>19 - Head in the Clouds</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id81.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="20 Second Solo"><U>20 - Second Solo</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id82.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="21 Reach for the Pie!"><U>21 - Reach for the Pie!</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id84.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="22 Into the Zone"><U>22 - Into the Zone</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id85.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="23 Back to the Circuit"><U>23 - Back to the Circuit</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id86.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="24 Another Navex"><U>24 - Another Navex</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id87.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="25 First Solo Nav: The going gets tough"><U>25 - First Solo Nav: The going gets tough...</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id88.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="26 Divers Diversions"><U>26 - Divers Diversions</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id108.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="27 Diversions, in a roundabout way"><U>27 - Diversions, in a roundabout way</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id109.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="28 Landaways"><U>28 - Landaways</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id110.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="29 Solo Landaway"><U>29 - Solo Landaway</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id111.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="30 QXC"><U>30 - QXC</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id112.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="31 Where do you want to go today?"><U>31 - Where do you want to go today?</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id113.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="32 Revision"><U>32 - Revision</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id114.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="33 Finals"><U>33 - Finals</U></A></div> </td> <td valign="top" height=390 BGCOLOR="#CCCCE4" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <I>5 - Or not!</I></div> <bR> <div> 18th Apr.</div> <div> Oh dear, another flyout with a lesson attached! In theory, we're going to Duxford. However, when I lefty home I couldn't see the tops of the Didcot cooling towers, which didn't bode well. However the weather at Enstone was noticeably better. But it was not to be. The weather was significantly worse to the West, which ruled out Duxford, so the new plan was to fly South to Compton Abbas, where it was clearer. Also for this trip I was to be reunited with Echo Delta, the TB9 I flew in my trial lesson, since Joe was booked in the Katana.</div> <bR> <div> The intention for this flight was to start looking at climbing and descending, although mostly we'll be going straight and level, since our route was to be due South almost to Southampton, and then West to Compton Abbas. But we'd be able to revise some turns along the way. So off we go. Take off (my first proper take off, yay!), then I climb the plane to 2000 feet. It's a bit of a job keeping enough pressure on the right rudder pedal during the climb to keep the ball centred, but we kind of get there, and we nicely level out at 2000 feet. We get some turning practice in here, dodging between the clouds, which are worryingly low, but we get clearance to transit through Brize, and we can hear Joe's radio calls in Mike Bravo following behind. As we go South, the cloud is getting lower and lower, and we're descending to stay under it. We get to Didcot at about 1000 feet and can't see the tops of the power station chimneys  to the East of us. Knowing that ahead is the Ridgeway, which rises to about 800 feet, we realise there's just no way we're going to make it any further, so we announce on the radio that we're abandoning and turning back. Almost immediately we hear Mike Bravo make the same call, and as we head back to Enstone, we can see him ahead of us. Just like the Fellowship trying to cross the mountain in Lord of the Rings, as soon as we turn back, the weather starts to brighten. I now have my first "abandoned due wx" entry in my log book!</div> </td> </tr></table></body>