Wings Around Britain Certificate.
Traffic down the M25 was a nightmare to get to Fairoaks yesterday morning. When we got to the Hanger cafe, i was mistakenly told that Polly had been and then left…Oh no, i thought, i swiftly took myself to the training centre and was given permission to use their computer to look for ways to contact Wings Around Britain mission control – no luck. I do not give up easily, I asked the instructor to phone the tower and double check if they had landed Polly’s PA28- Dakota. To my releife at that same time, she had just touched down and was taxiing to the apron. They relayed to her that i was could be found at the club house.
I met Chris who had flown with her from Lasham. Lasham I am very familier with as i have spent so much time there recently. After Polly finished her admin we said our farewell to Chris and his friends and we walked towards her Dakota in the last of the falling rain.
I have been wanting to meet with Polly for a long time and i wasn’t really sure what i wanted to ask her. We discussed the Flying Scholarship for the Disabled which this event was mostly about and i told Polly about my 3 attempts to be selected for the scholarship. Her advice was to apply again and do not give up – thus with her support, i shall be contacting the FSD to ask for my application form…..
We boarded the aeroplane (i was in the right seat), closed the hatch, put on our harness’s and i watched Polly with great excitment do all the pre-engine starte checks and then “Clear Prop”, then the sputter and then the noise of the triple bladed prop turning….time to put the headset’s on.
I was completely relaxed and i just love sitting in aeroplanes whether as a student or in this case as a pax. Either way, i love learning about flying. I scanned the cockpit and noticed that she has some interesting GPS and other Navigation instruments which i was not familier with. Polly has flown across the Atlantic in the same aeroplane, something that i hope to do one day…I liked that her Dakota had finger controls for trim functions as well the standard wheel function inbetween the seats..
I was particulary interested and focused on listening to the radio and watching how Polly Navigated. Once radio check and taxi clearance was given we taxiied along B1 to Runway 24. On route to Redhill, we had to stay away from Heathrow TMA and Gatwick Airspace. Take off was brilliant and very smooth, at about 300 ft it was windy and i like bumpy rides. we turned left and headed towards Redhill via vey VRP..post departure Polly made her radio call to let Redhill know that we were inbound and to check joining instructings to land. Once i saw the M25, i noticed that along the clockwise direction they had shut the motorway and a huge tail back was developing. MMM i thought as i knew i would be driving back along it and did not to get stuck again. I later found out that there had been a fatel accident which caused the traffic jam.
Enroute, QHN was selected and i watched everything that was being done as well as chatting away to Polly when she wasn’t busy doing something. We cruised at just over 1,100 ft at abotu 135MPH. At about the half way point, we saw a aeroplane similiar to a learjet climbing and they were perhaps only 1500 ft above us and we flew right under them.
Cloud base was pretty low and i kept my eyes out for a particular tower which would help us to find Redhill. Visibility was not great and when we turned south to finals for Redhill, i noticed a commercial jet on the horizon on finals to land at Gatwick, Wow i thought, Redhill is close to Gatwick. We made visual with Runway 18 and landing was as smooth and briliant as take off. Taxiied to Apron and once all checks were done, the journey was over. Total airtime just over 12mins.
First time in a control tower for me when we arrived at Redhill. I hope to visit a tower again and controllers to help me in my RT theory.
At Redhill, i met the next person who was going to fly with Polly, they headed for Farnborough. He is in the picture above. Flying with Polly lifted my spirits. Words fail me when i try to describe how much i love aviation and why. I am becoming a passionate obsessive. As a person who wants to achieve great things, i got inspiration Polly. To take part in Wings Around Britain was terrific. This has been very interesting, thank you Polly for giving me the opportunity.
I asked Polly if she would consent to giving Freedom in the Air an interview for Questions in the air section – i am happy to report that she did and expect to read her interview towards the end of August/ September when she finishes this event. Details of her full event can be found at World Wings
Keep it in the Green.
