On Friday I turned 24. For around the past decade, I’ve wanted to learn to fly. Recently there have been a couple of changes in my life that have allowed me to peruse my wish of learning to fly; firstly, at the end of March I moved in with my girlfriend in Andover, Hampshire whilst following my job down here and secondly, I managed to secure a promotion in that job, meaning I have a small amount of extra cash each month that I can put towards learning.
I won’t bore you with all the details (do grab me on Twitter if you want them…) but with the new EASA LAPL working out significantly cheaper than a full PPL, I have elected to do that. The choice between doing it in an Ikarus C42 and a Piper PA-28 was a no-brainer, so a quick phonecall to Western Air at Thruxton booked my first hour in.
So, yesterday I arrived at Thruxton to perfect clear skies, excellent visibility and…wind. A lot of wind. Wind at low altitude means turbulence, not great for a first attempt at flying, but not much I could do about that! After checking in at reception at Western Air I was allocated an instructor for the hour, John Turner. John and I sat down and had a quick chat about flying experience, to which I replied “none in a real aircraft” – cue lots of magic carpets and flying cars jokes! Having explained about flying with Microsoft Flight Simulator X (FSX) and on IVAO, John was happy that I understood the basic principles of flight and we therefore set about planning a flight around the local area.
The plan was to leave Thruxton, head west and around the Salisbury Plain danger area. This involved heading north towards Marlborough, turning around Pewsey, before turning east to Devizes, remaining north of Keevil and then down to Longleat Safari park, before turning to head east towards Salisbury, Middle Wallop and finally up and over Andover to get photos of the house from the air before returning to Thruxton.
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The route taken, more or less
The aircraft in which I would be doing this lesson was G-BTKT, a 1982 Piper PA-28-161 Cherokee Warrior II, registered to Biggin Hill Flying Club Ltd but loaned to Western Air (Thruxton) Ltd for their use. As excitement got the better of me and I forgot to take any photos of the aircraft myself, G-BTKT can be seen below departing from Sywell in August last year having visited the LAA Rally. Photograph by Stephen Powney.
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G-BTKT, Piper PA-28-161 Cherokee Warrior II
Following a full walk around of the aircraft in which John explained the various pre-flight checks required before going flying; checking control surfaces, engine and propeller, fuel levels and quality, landing gear and tyres we boarded the aircraft with me in the pilots’ seat on the left side of the aircraft.
My first thoughts having sat down were “wow, this is tiny!”, flying even high quality representations of the PA-28 in FSX you really don’t get a sense of scale that you do whilst in the aircraft. John again took me through the pre-flight checks, this time those for the inside of the aircraft, including ensuring you’re correctly fastened in, fuel and electrics correct and that all the instruments were working. We then worked through the before-start, starting and after-start checklists and John called Thruxton Radio to get the airfield information – runway 07 left hand with QNH1026.
With that, we taixed to the runway, completed power checks and the before-takeoff checklist and John got us airborne, all the time explaining his actions to further my understanding of flying. After turning northbound I spotted our first bit of traffic, a glider operating over the Rivar Hill gliding site, which we avoided by moving on to a more north-westerly track. Once we were clear of traffic and flying straight and level at 2000ft, John suggested I take the controls and experience it for myself. Following a transfer of control, and only 5 minutes in to the flight, I was flying. At the time it didn’t feel that special but now, as I look back at write this, it was probably one of the most exciting things I’ve ever done – akin to passing my driving test at least!
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A green and pleasant land.
Sadly, only a few minutes later, John took control again to turn us west towards Devizes and the Caen Hill Locks. I honestly thought that was the last of my flying experience for this flight, but once we’d rolled out, John again asked if I wanted to take control – of course I did! So, a bit more flying straight and level as we headed towards Devizes, John then suggested we climb to 3000ft in an attempt to get out of the turbulence that we had been experiencing since departure (really glad I wasn’t in an Ikarus at this point by the way!) – John controlled the power and I had the stick (well, control column) and we climbed up to 3000ft where the air was somewhat smoother. Not perfect, but a lot easier for me who was very much aware that I was actually flying!
We passed abeam Caen Hill Locks to the north, allowing me to take some photos – obviously handing control back to John first! For obvious reasons, I hadn’t taken my DSLR up with me, so it was up to my iPhone to capture the moment. It’ll do, I guess…
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Locks at Devizes
After Devizes we flew past Keevil, which was very quiet – a couple of hours later and Exercise Joint Warrior kicked off with Apaches, Chinooks, Merlins, Apaches and Hercules all in the area, drat! – and onwards towards Longleat Safari Park, where we could see a few cars driving around but sadly no animals. Seems tigers aren’t particularly obvious from 3000ft. From there we continued to skirt EGD123, 125, 126 and 128, the danger areas that make up the Salisbury Plain Training Area (SPTA). As we made a left turn to head east again (I’m doing the turns as well now by the way, only releasing control for John to show me something or to take a couple of pictures) it’s time for something really rare…a photo of me!
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Serious concentration!
We then completed a couple of rate one left turns, first with John showing me how it’s done, then me trying one myself. I did rather well I believe! We then continued on just south of Salisbury, where the cathedral was clearly visible, towering above the landscape. Continuing on, we passed Old Sarum, Boscombe Down – its dark grey main runway (05/23) clearly visible against the green landscape that surrounds it -and on to Middle Wallop, where we routed just south of their ATZ and started a cruise-descent from 3000ft to 2000ft, though we initially leveled off at 2500 to allow us to remain close to the ATZ heading towards Andover.
Luckily, our house is quite prominent, it is very close to the junction of the A303 and A343, meaning you can pick out the general position from just a couple of roads, and then from there you’re looking for a series of red-roofed houses. On a day like this that was very easy to pick out. John took control whilst I grabbed the phone and started taking photos. John flew from here on in.
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Looking towards Andover, Bury Hill Iron Age hillfort in the foreground
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The estate we live on, a mix of red brick and black slate roofed houses
From there, a downwind join to runway 07 with no traffic to affect, John provided a commentary of flying the circuit – keeping the airfield just off the wing and turning when it is 30° aft of the wing. We descended to 1000ft on the Thruxton QFE of 1014 and joined the circuit. By this point, there was one Piper PA-28 just turning final to land. Not an issue for us at all.
We turned final, were instructed to land at our discretion – there is no air traffic control at Thruxton, only an aerodrome flight information service (AFIS) – and advised that we could backtrack the runway if we wished. We did so precisely 59 minutes after we took off.
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Thruxton airfield whilst left downwind to land
After landing John and I ran through the after-landing, before-shutdown and after-shutdown checklists, secured the aircraft and returned back to the tower to drop my headset off and pay my fee – £168 for an hour’s flying, of which I estimate I did around 40 minutes. Best of all, that hour counts towards the 30 I need for the LAPL!
Having been presented with a certificate as proof of my flight, I wished everyone farewell and headed home, safe in the knowledge that I will be doing my LAPL at Thruxton.
