SUMMARY
I didn't have a passenger for this short flight so when I arrived at the
airport I asked a group of visitors if anyone wanted a free half hour
trip. A lady quickly volunteered her young daughter who was at the
flying club to watch her grandfather on his trial lesson.
Just a short trip over the Millenium Stadium and back towards Cardiff
Docks so I could get my flying fix. The little girl was thoroughly
engrossed and enjoyed it immensely although she didn't say more than two
words from beginning to end.
Cleared Cardiff Docks Arrival and right base number 2 for runway 30,
the aircraft cleared number 3 got a bit close to me as I was on final
and had to break away and go-around and my
landing was extremely good.
Brakes Off 13:45 - Brakes On
14:10.
Wednesday
4th September
Trip Planned :
Cardiff -
Newport
Passenger :
Jennifer Hanbury
Departure Atis :
080/05 Vis 8km Sct 060
Arrival Atis : 080/05 VRB 060/130 Vis 8km Sct 070
Duration
: 45 minutes
SUMMARY
The weather was extremely hazy in the morning and looked like it was going to
continue for the rest of the day, but as I haven't flown for over 2
weeks I decided to drive to the airport and take a chance that it would
brighten up by the time I arrived. The visibility was still only 8km
when I got there but I decided to fly a short local trip.
My wife haven't flown with me for 7 months due to her accident (another
story) and as I was quickly running out of passengers we agreed that she
would be well enough to fly and hope it would be alright.
Took off at 12:35 after I had completed all my checks and headed for
Newport in the haze. Spent 20 minutes just going nowhere fast and then
headed back for Cardiff.
The visibility was a lot worse on the way back.
Cleared Cardiff Docks Arrival and downwind for runway 12, had to be on
the lookout for a Warrior turning crosswind but spotted it fine. Then
told to report before left base due to a Ryanair 737 on the approach,
had to orbit at the end of the downwind leg for spacing. Told to report
final number 2 to the 737 so I orbited once more to let the nasty wake
turbulence disperse and proceeded to do one of the worse approaches I
have ever done. WAAAAAY too high on approach and landed a third of the
way down Cardiff's 2,700 metre runway. The landing wasn't too bad
though.
Brakes Off 12:35 - Brakes On 13:20.
Wednesday
18th September
Trip Planned :
Cardiff -
Newport
Passenger :
Mark Hanbury
Departure Atis :
060/16 Vis 25km Few 030 Sct 045
Arrival Atis : 060/14 Vis 25km Few 030 Sct 045
Duration
: 35 minutes
SUMMARY
I made a bad decision to fly today. My passenger has never flown before
and was VERY nervous, but I assured him that it would be ok and the wind
wasn't too bad. WRONG.
Carried out the pre-flight checks and Mark was reading the checklist
with me to ensure I didn't miss anything, he was also checking every nut
and bolt and did not have a lot of confidence that the plane would get
off the ground. I should have cancelled the flight but I selfishly
carried on because I wanted to fly.
Cleared for take off and during the climb I was being buffeted about a
lot and it got very gusty when I turned crosswind, Mark was very quiet
and I continually asked him if he was ok to continue, he said he was.
Flew towards Newport and I climbed to 2,500 feet were it was a little
calmer, flew around for a while and then headed back to Cardiff, tried
to keep my bank angle at 15% so as not to scare him any more for I could
see he was very frightened.
Cleared Cardiff Docks Arrival and heard that a 737 was on approach so I
knew Ithat I would be told to orbit, which I didn't want to do.
Reported downwind and as expected was told to orbit at the start of the
base leg, so I did 3 orbits while I was being buffeted about, Mark was
now gripping the seat and was clearly crapping himself, I then turned
final and did a fairly good landing considering the crosswind. Parked up
and shut down. Mark said he enjoyed about 2 minutes of the whole
experience but said he would go with me again WHEN IT'S NOT SO WINDY.
Brakes Off 14:15 - Brakes On 14:50.
Thursday
26th September
Trip Planned :
Cardiff -
Newport
Passenger :
Michael Lewis
Departure Atis :
320/11 Vis 18km Few 030 Bkn 045
Arrival Atis : 320/14 Vis 20km Bkn 040
Duration
: 40 minutes
SUMMARY
I took my workmates father flying today in what was a routine flight to
Newport and back. The weather was slightly cloudy and we encountered a
rain shower on the return but apart from that it was very routine and he
enjoyed the flight.
Cleared Cardiff Docks Arrival and right base number 1 for runway 30.
Very good approach and landing.
Brakes Off 13:55 - Brakes On 14:35.
Monday
21st October
Trip Planned :
Cardiff -
Bridgend
Passenger :
Jamie Owen
Departure Atis :
170/06 Vis 08km -SHRA Few 014 Sct 020 Bkn 035
Arrival Atis : As Departure
Duration
: 30 minutes
SUMMARY
I intended to take young Jamie flying yesterday but the weather was awful so
we re-arranged the flight for today. The weather once again looked very
dodgy in the morning and I thought we would have to cancel again, but it
cleared up lovely by mid-day so I made the journey to the airport hoping
for some lovely flying conditions so Jamie would enjoy the experience.
We got to the airport and the weather took a turn for the worse so I
changed the destination from Bridgend to Newport because the weather
looked better to the North East.
We did the pre-flight checks and taxied to the holding point when the
heavens opened and visibility was down to 6km. Although I knew Jamie
would be bitterly disappointed I thought it would be best to call off
the flight and return another day. I returned to the flying club totally
fed up.
Went back inside and checked the forecast but it seemed unlikely we
would fly today so we went upstairs. I decided to check the weather once
more before calling it a day and it had improved slightly to 8km
visibility which would be good enough for circuits. So once more we
climbed in the plane and I taxied to the runway all the time keeping an
eye on the weather. It was clearing up so off we went and took off into
the circuit. Jamie was the most enthusiastic passenger I have taken
flying and never stopped asking questions about the controls, the
instruments, the length of the runway and everything else about
aviation. I did 3 routine circuits and had 3 pretty good landings when I
decided to finish because once more the weather was going to win. I know he enjoyed the flight
because he couldn't stop grinning as we were walking back to the flying
club. Flying is much more enjoyable when you have a passenger such as
Jamie and lets hope the weather is better next time we fly.
Brakes Off 14:05 - Brakes On 14:35.
Saturday
9th November
Trip Planned :
Cardiff -
Newport
Passenger :
Jason Kelly
Departure Atis :
150/05 Vis 17km Few 015 Bkn 020
Arrival Atis : 160/06 Vis 5km Bkn 010
Duration
: 25 minutes
SUMMARY
Jason, who is a student pilot with 22 hours, and I intended to fly to
the Newport area and as he is used to flying I was going to practice a
forced landing, some steep turns and low flying exercises while he
worked the radio. We took off and headed towards Newport but the weather
got dramatically worse very quickly. The visibility reduced from 17km to
5km in a matter of minutes so I decided to head back to Cardiff and fly
some low level circuits instead. I headed back to the airport under a
worsening drizzle and I could just make out Barry Docks which was my
turning point for the circuit. Cleared Cardiff Docks Arrival, left hand
downwind number 2. As we were in the circuit the visibility was
appalling so I decided not to do circuits and landed.
Brakes Off 12:55 - Brakes On 13:20.
Tuesday
3rd December
Trip Planned :
Circuits
Passenger :
Solo
Departure Atis :
290/09 Vis 18km Few 030 Bkn 050
Arrival Atis : As Departure
Duration
: 25 minutes
SUMMARY
I just performed 3 solo circuits to keep my licence current. I shared
the circuit with a student who was doing some consolidation work so I
ensured I kept my distance from him. Very routine flight and 3 good
circuits and landings.
Brakes Off 14:10 - Brakes On 14:35.
Thursday
19th December
Trip Planned :
Circuits
Passenger :
Solo
Departure Atis :
080/13 CAVOK
Arrival Atis : As Departure
Duration
: 25 minutes
SUMMARY
This flight was once again just going to be solo circuits to keep me
current during the awful Winter weather. I did my pre-flight checks and
the wind seemed to be a lot stronger and gustier than the 13 knots given
by the ATIS. 
Took off and flew a relatively good circuit although my landing was a
bit dodgy due to the crosswind but nothing dangerous. Went back into the
circuit once more and was being buffeted about a little by the wind but
decided to carry on as it was nothing I couldn't cope with and performed
another dodgy landing. Third circuit was flown well and on final the
wind was given as 070/16, about 50 foot from touchdown I experienced the
worse wind-shear I have ever know in my 96 hours of flying. The left
wing dipped and I gained about 100 foot and the speed increased. Very
glad it was an updraft because a downdraft from that height could have
made for an interesting landing to say the least. Managed to gain
control and land safely and warned the aircraft behind me about the
windshear on final. He also experienced it and landed about half way
down the runway.
I shutdown and for the first time ever was glad to be on the ground.
Brakes Off 14:50 - Brakes On
15:15.
Continued On Page 2
