Gloster Strut
KORU Van's RV-9 Winner best new RV Aircraft, best new kit built aircraft - LAA Rally 2026. Copyright(c) Steve Smith
Located just outside Folkestone, the Battle of Britain memorial is an excellent attraction should you find yourself in that area with time to spare.
I've written about flying to destinations that allow me to climb hills before. It is probably my favourite way of spending an aviation day. As it happens, not far from Folkestone, there is a hill which I had not climbed so set about forming a plan. Imagine my delight discovering that, not only was there a convenient airfield to add to my collection, the hill was relatively close and with a little effort, once conquered, I could continue to the BoB memorial which would make a fine day out. Double delight when I realised that I would probably need to refuel for the return journey which would require me to visit a second new airfield as there was nothing at the first one.
Loading the bike into the plane, along with a couple of bottles of water and the necessary additional equipment (cycling gloves, crash helmet etc), I filled up with fuel and was soon away. Gloucester to Folkestone by a direct line goes over Brize Norton and Heathrow, neither of which is particularly desirable so my route took me due East to Bicester, then South East for a devious route to avoid the plethora of airspaces around London. It's always interesting and kept me on my toes, especially as one often does, checking for potential landing sites should I have an issue. I concluded that it would be best if I didn't!
Brize Radar, then London Information kept me company with basic services until I passed by Rochester where I changed to SafetyCom. The airfield I had selected was Pent Farm, an unlicensed airfield with no allocated frequency. SafetyCom, for those not in the know is a general frequency (135.480) that can be used for any airfield with no allocated frequency. It is very important to start your transmission with the name of the airfield and the word 'traffic', then end it with the name of the airfield again. In this way, pilots using the same airfield will know where you are, those using another close by airfield will know you are not relevant to their movements. Also, it should not be used until within 10 miles and below 2,000 feet.
A typical transmission would be:
Pent Farm Traffic
Golf Golf Oscar Lima X-Ray
5 miles North West, altitude 1,500 feet, planning to join overhead
Pent Farm
You wouldn't expect a response, but you might get one if there is another aircraft using the airfield.
As you join the circuit, so you update your position at each turn with the complete message, including landing and vacating the runway. This allows other pilots to form a picture of where you are and vice versa.
The runway is 07/25, grass and 1,000m long which, for a farm strip, is huge. There is a hill at the start of 25 which, I had read, made it quite a steep approach but I thought I'd give it a try for experience if nothing else. Over the hill and indeed it is steep and I was pretty sure I had no chance of slowing the plane - Europas are very slippery aircraft! About half way down the runway I was still too quick so took the decision to go around. No problem, power on, nice curve around, slow the plane and approach for 07. This was much easier, helped by the slight runway uphill in this direction, I soon landed and rolled up to the parking area, happy with the landing.
There is a hangar with a sign in book and honesty box for the landing fee. That done, I got my bike out, secured the plane and headed off in the direction of Cheriton Hill, around 20-30 minutes cycling on pleasant lanes. The actual trig point was behind a gate to a water reservoir, so I parked the bike, hopped over the gate and went to the trig point.
That done, I was off to the BoB memorial, another 20 minutes or so of cycling. It is quite undulating in this part of the world so on arrival, my first stop was a recovery cake and coffee!
The BoB itself is a very nice place, featuring a cafe, overlooking a nice lawn. There are plenty of information boards and several replica aircraft to look at. I was there for around an hour which was enough to see everything. It would easily be possible to spend longer but in the back of my mind of course was the ride back to Pent Farm and the hop over to another airfield for a refuel.
Once back at the plane, I stashed my bike, had a quick look at the runway - there is a stony track crossing near the top end of 07 so I decided I would apply full power just after that, giving me plenty of time to climb past the trees and village at the end. I checked the plane over, then climbed in and ran through my start up routine. Like most pilots, I have a guide which I run through. I could probably do it from memory, but it doesn't hurt to check against the definitive list to ensure everything is ready to go and nothing has been forgotten.
I was soon airborne and heading to Headcorn for a refuel. Headcorn is a very busy grass airfield, with parachute jumps and 'wing walkers'. The guy on the radio seemed somewhat stressed with it all but managed to guide both myself and a plane ahead of me with the minimum of fuss and I was soon landed and refuelling.
I'd not had a proper lunch, so went in search of the cafe - easily located, and purchased some food, then sat out in the afternoon sun to watch the parachutes and wing-walkers coming and going. Everyone seemed to have a smile on their faces - I can't imagine why!
Eventually, it was time to leave and I made my way over to the plane. It seemed I'd picked a good time as there was a lull in the jumping and walking so I climbed in, did my pre-flight checks and headed out as quickly as I could and was soon on my way back to Gloucester, more or less retracing my incoming route.
So my day had included three very nice flights, a visit to the BoB memorial, the penultimate 'Marilyn' Hill in the South (I still have one to do on the Isle of Wight - see next month for a report on how that went), two new airfields and a great sense of satisfaction and enjoyment. It's what flying is all about for me.
There were many interesting students, and I remember one in particular who booked the four-seater Cessna to take him and a lady friend for a flight. I was introduced to her, but I got the impression there might be something going on between them. I was informed that the couple would sit in the rear seats while I handled the flying, and I assumed the lady might have been somewhat nervous. We climbed steadily to three thousand feet and levelled off, everything proceeding as expected. A few minutes later, the student leaned forward and requested that I climb to at least five thousand three hundred feet, a rather peculiar request, I thought, though I complied. Once levelled at the new altitude, I noticed from the corner of my eye that the two in the back appeared to be rather preoccupied with each other, accompanied by noticeable movement and commotion. It soon dawned on me that our altitude corresponded to precisely one mile above the ground. So, that was their intention: joining the so-called mile-high club. I chuckled quietly to myself at the thought; at least they could not aspire to the five-mile-high club, since none of our aircraft could manage twenty-six thousand feet.
My mother-in-law was asked by a friend if I could scatter the ashes from a plane of her husband, who had died recently. He had been a wartime bomber pilot based at an airfield at Darley Moor in the Peak District. From what I was told, he had enjoyed his time there immensely and had developed a deep affection for the place and his fellow airmen. The urn containing his ashes was entrusted to me for scattering over the airfield. Unfortunately, the weather was atrocious, and there seemed to be little chance of getting airborne in the foreseeable future. So, where to put the urn? I figured that behind the bar alongside the spirits might be a good place. We had a pretty active social side, and parties on the weekends. Usually, in the evening, several of the students and instructors would have a drink or two and offer a “cheers” to the urn containing the well-respected wartime pilot. The weather remained gloomy and damp for several weeks, with low cloud hanging over the airfield, not unusual for mid-winter. Then, a large cold front swept through, bringing heavy snowfall. When it cleared, it left behind crisp, cold air and clear skies, and at last, the day to scatter the ashes had arrived. I found an advanced student who was keen to accompany me and willing to pull the aircraft from the hangar and refuel it while I retrieved the urn from behind the bar. It was really cold but not windy. The sky was clear blue, which meant it was going to be a perfect flying day. We climbed into the high-wing Cessna, fastened our seat belts, and I handed the urn to my colleague before taking off along the snow-covered runway. We headed towards the Peak District, about a thirty-minute flight away, maintaining an altitude of around fifteen hundred feet until we located the wartime airfield. I reduced speed, lowered the flaps to allow for a slower airspeed, and then handed control over to the student. I took the urn and opened my side window; the air at this height was even colder, but here goes, I thought, time to let the wartime pilot go over his beloved airfield. I removed the lid from the urn, held it out of the window, and tilted it upside down. What happened next was a complete shock. Instead of drifting gracefully down towards the airfield below, the entire contents were swept back into the cabin, covering me in a cloud of soot in my eyes, up my nose, and through my hair. The student took one look at me and burst out laughing; apparently I was completely covered in black dust. I gave him the benefit of flying us back to base and landing on the snow-covered runway so he could log some extra time without having to pay for it. My first task was to clean myself up before I became yet another laughing stock. The more I thought about it, I figured the wartime pilot was enjoying his time behind the bar at the aero club so much that he didn’t want to leave, but what a way to try to make a return.
I continued instructing while also taking on occasional jobs flying the twin-engine Piper Aztec, which proved quite interesting. I also flew one of the club owner’s Cessna 310s, a sleek, fast aircraft that handled beautifully. I would often fly with the owner, as I now held the instrument rating he lacked. This allowed us to take direct routes on airways as pilot in command to visit his clients across Europe, usually with a night stop on expenses – a new and rather enjoyable experience.
November 1 1989 – Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS) bans smoking on many flights.
November 2 1947 – With Howard Hughes at the controls, the Hughes H-4 Hercules, also known as the “Spruce Goose, ” makes its first flight, traveling at 135 mph (217 km/hr) for about a mile (1.6 km) at an altitude of 70 feet (21 m) over Long Beach Harbor in California with 32 people on board. Both the largest flying boat and the aircraft with the largest wingspan (319 feet 11 inches; 97.54 m) ever built, it never flies again.
November 3 1947 – English Electric test pilot Johnny W.C. Squier takes off from Salmesbury, Lancs. in English Electric-built de Havilland Vampire F.3, VP732, intended for the RCAF as 17043, experiences engine failure, force lands on a farm, narrowly missing trees. Fighter is wrecked but pilot survives.
November 7 1976 – First flight of the Dassault Falcon 50 F-WAMD
November 9, 1932: Wolfgang von Gronau and his crew finish the first-ever global circumnavigation by a seaplane in a Dornier Wal after a 111-day journey.
November 14 1969 – NASA launches Apollo 12, the second manned mission to the surface of the Moon.
November 17, 1903: Orville and Wilbur Wright make the first controlled, sustained powered heavier-than-air flights at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina (though their famous sustained day was in December, early November marked critical test phases).
November 21 1986 – The first ever RAF air-to-air refuelling of a fully-loaded passenger carrying transport aircraft. It was carried out on a trooper flight to Oman as part of Exercise Saif Sareea. The refuelling took place over Sicily as part of the 4,200 mile, 9 h flight.
November 26, 2003: The Concorde completes its final commercial flight, marking the end of regular supersonic passenger service.
November 29 1929 – Bristol Type 101, a single-bay, biplane two-seat fighter design powered by a 450 hp Bristol Jupiter VI, and later, VIA radial engine, is rejected outright by the Air Ministry due to its all-wooden construction. Continued as a private venture, it first flies at Filton on 8 August 1927, piloted by Cyril Uwins, registered G-EBOW. With the VIA powerplant, Uwins achieves second place in the 1928 King's Cup race at an average speed of 159.9 mph. Subsequently used as a company hack and as a test bed for the 485 hp Bristol Mercury II nine-cylinder radial, it suffers wing centre section failure on this date while being subjected to engine overspeeding tests, the pilot, C. R. I. Shaw, bailing out successfully. This was the last wooden fighter built by the Bristol Aeroplane Company.
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