"Visual with the unknown"....Allan Hanbury to Cardiff Radar. 

Saturday 4th January

Trip Planned : Cardiff - Newport

Passenger : Tiffany Hanbury

Departure Atis : 060/04 VRB 330/070 Vis 20km Few 018 
Arrival Atis : As Departure

Duration : 40 minutes

SUMMARY
Today's flight was to be (another) short local flight so my little niece to see her house and Newport from the air. Very little wind and the visibility towards the North East was fairly good. 
Tiffany didn't stop talking all the time we were airborne even though I told her a number of times not to speak while I was talking on the radio, she enjoyed the view of Newport and her house and so we headed back to Cardiff into the sun. Tiffany was still talking my head off and when she was not talking she decided it would be a good time to start singing. I did the only decent thing and unplugged her headphones.
Cleared Cardiff Docks Arrival and final number 3. I had trouble spotting number 2 due to the sun in my eyes and the fact that he decided to turn his circuit into a mini cross-country. Asked ATC to clarify his position and I spotted him heading towards St Hilary for an approach that a 747 would have been proud of. Followed him in and made a very good approach and landing.   
Brakes Off 14:25 - Brakes On 15:05.   

Saturday 25th January

Trip Planned : Cardiff - Newport

Passenger : Chris Barber

Departure Atis : 270/12 Vis 20km Few 020 
Arrival Atis : As Departure

Duration : 20 minutes

SUMMARYI did not have a passenger lined up for todays trip but I needed to fly to retain currency and planned on a few circuits to practice my landings some more. There was a guy stood watching the planes take off and he said he was waiting for his brother who was on a trial lesson so I asked him if he fancied doing a few circuits with me. I explained what a circuit was and he jumped at the chance. So off we went and I did 2 routine circuits with 2 pretty impressive landings. 
Brakes Off 12:55 - Brakes On 13:15.   

Monday 10th February

Trip Planned : Cardiff - Newport

Passenger : Mathew Pitman

Departure Atis : 160/10 Vis 12km Few 020 -SHRA
Arrival Atis : As Departure

Duration : 15 minutes

SUMMARY
My intentions to have a flight around South Wales finest sceneryMy passenger was quite nervous so I tried to keep it as smooth as possible. I completed a circuit and I intended to do a few more but my passenger got a little frightened and the wind speed seemed a lot more that the 10 knots that were given. As we were on the approach I asked him if he wanted to continue and do a few more circuits but he declined so we landed after 1.  
Brakes Off 15:25 - Brakes On 15:40.   

Wednesday 19th March

Trip Planned : Club Checkout

Instructor : Christine Draycott

Departure Atis : 110/04 Vis 6km SKC 
Arrival Atis : As Departure

Duration : 50 minutes

SUMMARY
I have not flown for over 5 weeks due to a combination of bad weather and work. It seemed that everytime I had a day off work to go flying the weather had other ideas, so I needed a club checkflight with an instructor to see if I still knew how to fly.
It was quite a painless procedure and involved 5 circuits. I began with a practice engine failure after takeoff which I performed well followed by two normal circuits which were ok except I landed a little flat on the first one, then I did two flapless approaches in which I was a little high on both but corrected OK. I then finished off with a glide approach which went well. So not a bad bit of flying after a 5 week grounding and I had a 'satisfactory' remark from the instructor. 
I hope to do a lot more flying this year and INTEND to do a landaway once a month to make up for all the local and circuit flying I have been doing for the past 18 months. 
Brakes Off 13:50 - Brakes On 14:40.   

Saturday 12th April

Trip Planned : Cardiff - Newport

Passenger : David Morgan

Departure Atis : 110/12 Vis 8km  
Arrival Atis : As Departure

Duration : 35 minutes

SUMMARY
The weather was quite hazy today, so once again my planned trip to Swansea turned into a local trip to Newport and back. Another very routine flight, apart from the haze, although even routine flights are enjoyable and my passenger loved the experience. Cleared Cardiff Docks arrival and final number one. I turned onto final a little later than I wanted and found myself correcting all the way to touchdown. Finished with a pretty good landing.
Brakes Off 14:05 - Brakes On 14:40.   

Tuesday 6th May

Trip Planned : Cardiff - Swansea Airport  

Passenger : Solo

Departure Atis : 280/14 Vis 23km Sct 025  
Arrival Atis : 260/18

Duration : 35 minutes

SUMMARY
Was today the day that I finally get to go to another airport???.
The weather looked excellent so I hoped it would be. I got to the airport and the only slight concern was the wind at Swansea which was reported at 260/20. I decided to go and if it was too gusty I could always return to Cardiff's mega-huge runway. Pre-flighted the plane, but forgot to book out so I had to walk back to the club to do that and while I was there I checked the ATIS once more which had not changed.
Took off and headed towards Swansea. As I had not flown there for nearly 2 years I was a little nervous and studied the runway layout. Pretty routine 20 minute flight over the beautiful Gower, although a tad bumpy nothing of concern. Called up Swansea and was given a straight in approach to runway 28 and asked to report 4 mile final. I had no problems finding the airport, and calling 4 mile final was easy thanks to my little friend called GPS. I was then asked to report 2 mile final, which I did, although I called it at 2.1 miles I don't think they noticed in the tower. :-) It was as I began descending that things got a little rough. I was being buffeted about all over the place and as I got below 500ft on the approach things started to get interesting and it was all hands (and feet) to the pump. I crossed the threshold a little fast but managed to do a 'fair' landing. Taxied towards the club and a little voice from the tower piped up 'Turn to the right and park next to the other light aircraft'. My reply of 'Righty O' would not have won me any RT awards. Parked up and shut down. 
I then strolled amongst the heavy machinery which was laying tarmac to pay my £4.50 landing fee. I then bought a can of coke for 80p....HOW MUCH....and sat in the cafe feeling quite pleased with myself for no reason at all other than I can fly a plane........      
Brakes Off 15:50 - Brakes On 16:25.   

Tuesday 6th May

Trip Planned : Swansea Airport - Cardiff 

Passenger : Solo

Departure Atis : 260/18   
Arrival Atis : 260/12 Vis 25km Few 025 

Duration : 30 minutes

SUMMARY
Called for taxy and was instructed to report at holding point Juliet. 
EEK. Couldn't find Juliet on my airport plan so asked tower for directions, they guided me to Juliet and cleared me to backtrack 28 and take off. Full power and off I was back into the blustery air. I climbed to 1000 ft straight out and then began my turn towards Cardiff. 
Reported to Cardiff Approach when I reached Port Talbot and flew a standard arrival via St Hilary. The wind seemed a lot more than the reported 12 knots and as I descended to circuit height of 800ft I was being blown all over the place. Flew a decent circuit and cleared number 1 to land, which was a surprise as I expected it to be busy. My approach was good and I smoothly touched down on the numbers.       
Brakes Off 16:40 - Brakes On 17:10.   

Monday 2nd June

Trip Planned : Circuits 

Passenger : Solo

Departure Atis : 260/14  Cavok 
Arrival Atis : As Departure 

Duration : 25 minutes

SUMMARY
To retain currency I performed 2 routine circuits in clear skies. A bit bumpy but nothing else to report.
Brakes Off 16:40 - Brakes On 16:00.   

Thursday 12th June

Trip Planned : Cardiff - Gloucester Airport

Passenger : Dean Hanbury

Departure Atis : 270/13 Vis 35km Few 020 Sct 030   
Arrival Atis : 230/11 Vis 50km Few 025 Sct 030

Duration : 45 minutes

SUMMARY
The weather looked good enough today for my long awaited trip to Gloucester Airport, courtesy of my free landing voucher from Flyer magazine. We were delayed for about 30 minutes trying to find someone to refuel the plane. Full of fuel we were off and I decided to give my friend the GPS another outing using the direct route to Gloucester. A little bumpy take-off and quite turbulent for a few minutes but it soon became clear after I climbed to 3,000ft. A very pleasant flight with no problems except that I had the wrong frequency for Gloucester and called Bristol by mistake, who quickly pointed out to me that Gloucester had now changed to there old frequency. Ooops. 
Asked by Gloucester to report field in sight and given joining instructions of right hand for runway 22. Flew a pretty good circuit and finished off with a spectacular landing that even my passenger congratulated me on. 
Got a little confused with the parking spot and asked the tower to give my directions which they duly did. A very nice flight in excellent weather which is what flying is all about.    
Brakes Off 13:15 - Brakes On 14:00.   

Thursday 12th June

Trip Planned : Gloucester Airport - Cardiff 

Passenger : Dean Hanbury

Departure Atis : 240/12  Vis 50km Few 020 Sct 027 
Arrival Atis : 290/15 Vis 35km Sct 030 

Duration : 50 minutes

SUMMARY
After a quick can of coke and a packet of crisps we climbed back into the trusty steed for our return journey to Cardiff. Once more I got a little confused finding the hold and asked for instructions and cannot fault the controller who guided me along like a little lost puppy to the holding point. Had to wait for 10 minutes for landing traffic but were soon back up into the air and on track to Cardiff....Courtesy of GPS>GOTO :-)
I let Dean have a go at map crawling and he had our position pinpointed at all times. A nice quite trip back to Cardiff with nothing much to report except perfect weather and the skies to ourselves.
Called Cardiff and was given  Cardiff Docks Arrival and right base number 1 for runway 30. 
I made another perfect landing which my passenger congratulated me on once more.      
Brakes Off 14:25 - Brakes On 15:15.   

Tuesday 8th July

Trip Planned : Cardiff - Circuits 

Passenger : Solo

Departure Atis : 290/11  Vis 9km Few 010 Sct 012 Bkn 020 
Arrival Atis : As Departure 

Duration : 20 minutes

SUMMARY
I went to the airport today to do a quick local flight to keep current but the weather was awful. Given a cloudbase of 600ft which was not even good enough for me to do a few circuits. 
I waited for a hour to see if things would improve and the next ATIS gave a cloudbase of 1,000ft so I decided to do a few circuits. Flew 2 circuits in deteriorating weather so decided to call it a day and land. 
Not the best of flights but all part of the experience. 
Brakes Off 16:00 - Brakes On 16:20.   

Saturday 12th July

Trip Planned : Cardiff - Navigation Exercise 

Passenger : Solo

Departure Atis : 140/05 VAR 110/210  Vis 18km Few 016  
Arrival Atis : Forgot To collect (OOPS) 

Duration : 1 hour 10 minutes

SUMMARY
I decided to try a bit of a navigation exercise to see if I still knew how to do it. 
Planned my trip as if I were a student and decided to fly from CARDIFF - CHEPSTOW - ROSS ON WYE - ABERGAVENNY - CWMBRAN - CARDIFF.
As I was arrived at the airport I was told there would be a twenty minute delay because the Red Arrows were practicing. We were given a stunning display which was very impressive. After they had finished I took off for my little exercise and the first leg to Chepstow was spot on. I tuned into Filton for a FIS and was very surprised that I was the only one on frequency considering the perfect weather and the fact that it was a Saturday. Turned towards Ross-On-Wye and once again it was near prefect. 
Heading towards Abergavenny I decided to tune into 121.5 for a practice pan and was most impressed with how quickly they gave my position, in fact they gave me it before I told the I was 'unsure of my postion'. 
It was now getting quite turbulent near Abergavenny and I was being bounced about a bit so I decided to climb to 3,500ft to see if it was any smoother. Turned towards my final point which was Cwmbran and once more my navigation and ETA's were spot on. I might be able to fly this thing accurately without my GPS after all :-)
Back to Cardiff I went and once more was given the Cardiff Docks Arrival and cleared number 2 for runway 30. I was told to follow a jet (can't remember which type) and given the minimum spacing of 4 miles, as I was a little close for my comfort zone I 'asked' the tower for permission to orbit for spacing which was granted. Turned on final and continued the approach, meanwhile the controller had sneaked another aircraft onto the runway while I orbited for spacing.I was virtually over the threshold before given permission to land due to the departing light aircraft. 
Shut down and walked back to the flying club pretty pleased with my little navigation exercise.
Brakes Off 12:50 - Brakes On 14:00.   

Tuesday 15th July

Trip Planned : Club Checkout & Bi-ennial Flight Review 

Instructor : Richard Davies

Departure Atis : 120/08  Cavok 
Arrival Atis : As Departure 

Duration : 1 hour

SUMMARY
I needed to complete my 1 hour instructional flight as part of my bi-ennial flight review so I decided to incorporate it with a club checkout on the Warrior.
It was baking hot today with temperatures of 31 degrees so I was not looking forward to the flight. 
Met my instructor for the first time and he gave me some idea of what to expect on the flight which was some stalls, a few steep turns a PFL and a couple of circuits to finish.
I checked the warrior out while he re-fuelled. The warrior has a slightly different layout to the Tomahawk and it took me a few minutes to find out where everything was. We took off and headed to the practice area. I was amazed at how smooth the plane handled and was very impressed with it. It trimmed really well and takes all the effort out of the controls. 
We reached 4,000ft and the practice area and then Richard demonstrated a stall to me. I did the HASSELL checks and tried a stall which I performed adequately. Next came steep turns which went OK except I kept losing a bit of height, nothing alarming though and the instructor seemed happy enough. 
I then did a practice forced landing and as the Warrior was a dream to trim I was able to make small adjustments to the forced landing circuit and got lined up with my chosen field quite easily, although I was a little high I managed to slip it in without too much trouble so the instructor said he was happy and to head back to the airport for a few circuits. 
The first circuit was flown normally and you really need to pull back in the flare, this caught me out a bit and I made a bumpy landing so it was off around again for a flapless approach. I got the speed nailed and flew a pretty good approach and rounded it off with a superb landing which had my instructor patting me on the back. The final circuit was to be a glide approach to land. I cut power on base and trimmed the aircraft for 70 knots, became a little high so entered two stages of flap, I was still high so entered the final stage and slipped it in to a fairly good landing. The instructor was happy with my flying and so we taxyed back to the flying club where he signed my logbook. He then warned me about the importance of weight and balance in a four seater aircraft and the c of g. I was quite pleased with my flying and enjoyed the hour and the chance to fly a bigger and more stable aircraft. The only downside of the day was the fact that I could not find an examiner to sign my licence and must ensure I get it sorted out before my anniversary which is on the 28th July. 
P.S. Went down the airport on Sunday 20th July and got my licence signed by Peter Mathews. 
Brakes Off 16:40 - Brakes On 16:00.   

Monday 28th July

Trip Planned : Cardiff - Circuits 

Passengers : Jennifer Hanbury - Hayley Hanbury - Tim Jennings

Departure Atis : 210/12  Vis 15km Few 015 Sct 020  
Arrival Atis : As Departure 

Duration : 15 minutes

SUMMARY
Todays flight was to be a jolly for my wife, daughter and her friend to experience a four seater aircraft.
The weather did not look too promising but we drove to the airport and hoped for the best. When we got there the winds and clouds concerned me a little. It was a 12 knots crosswind, but I decided it would be fine for a few circuits and so we all climbed into the comfortable 4 seater.
I taxyed to the holding point and performed my power checks and we were ready for the off. I took off and immediately felt the effects of the wind which seemed a LOT stronger than the 12 knots given. I decided to just do the single circuit because I wasn't too happy and didn't want to scare my passengers :-). I had to orbit while a 737 took off and we then encountered a rain shower. Called final and ATC warned me that the winds were now gusting to 21 knots straight across the runway. I kept my speed up and was prepared for the go-around at the first sign of anything untoward. We came over the threshold and my approach looked good so I continued on down, finally touched down but had a struggle to keep it straight on the runway. It turned out fine and I taxied back to the flying club with a little more experience under my belt. 
Brakes Off 16:20 - Brakes On 16:35.   

Sunday 3rd August

Trip Planned : Cardiff - Severn Bridge 

Passengers : Hayley Hanbury - Jessica Moynihan - Christine McFarlane

Departure Atis : 120/04  Vis 25km Few 030  
Arrival Atis : Calm Cavok 

Duration : 1 Hour

SUMMARY
A trip towards the Severn Bridge for Hayley, Jessice and Christine.
Beautiful weather greeted us today, although it was HOT with temperature of 31*.
We took off an headed towards the North East in glorious sunshine. I was doing my tour guide bit and pointing out the towns and villages and the little landmarks such as the Newport Transporter Bridge and the town centre. I asked Jessica to take a picture of the new bridge that is being built over the River Usk (It didn't come out) We then flew over Bettws and circled there house and school. Then headed for the bridges and circled them a few times so Jessica could get some pictures (They didn't come out). On my return we were cleared Cardiff Docks and told to orbit while a BMIBaby landed. I flew the approach much too high and bounced on landing, my worse landing to date (but the sun was in my eyes).  
Brakes Off 12:50 - Brakes On 13:50.   

Wednesday 20th August

Trip Planned : Brecon Beacons 

Passenger : Jennifer Hanbury

Departure Atis : 060/14  Sct 030 
Arrival Atis : As Departure 

Duration : 40 minutes

SUMMARY
I intended to take my wife flying over the Brecon Beacons today as she has wanted to go over them for ages. The weather did not look promising but I took off and headed North hoping for an improvement. After a few minutes it became obvious that we were not going to fly much further towards the mountains so I headed towards Port Talbot and lower ground. It then got very turbulent and became uncomfortable for Jen so I decided to return via St Hilary. Quite a good landing although a little bumpy.
Brakes Off 15:40 - Brakes On 16:20.   

Tuesday 26th August

Trip Planned : Newport 

Passenger : Thomas Hanbury - Paul Devney - James Devney

Departure Atis : 070/04  Cavok 
Arrival Atis : As Departure 

Duration : 15 minutes

SUMMARY
Thomas decided to go flying with me today for the first time since I have had my licence. I intended to take him and his friends along the coast towards the bridges. I checked out G-BYZM and we were all ready to go but the radio would not work so we had to change planes and take G-GALB. By the time we had finished 'messing about' it was almost 17:30 for a flight which was booked for 16:30. The sky did not look promising and the CAVOK given was laughable. It was getting a bit cloudy but looked ok, so I took off intending to head for Newport, then the heavens deicded to open and it began to pour with rain. I was turning crosswind but decided to call the tower with my intentions to land due to the deteriorating weather. Cleared final number 2 and made an uneventful landing. We were all pretty peeved at returning so I told them we would try again Saturday and see how we get on then.
Brakes Off 17:35 - Brakes On 17:50.   

Saturday 30th August

Trip Planned : Severn Bridge 

Passenger : Thomas Hanbury - Paul Devney - James Devney

Departure Atis : 180/05 VAR 150/220 Vis 40km Sct040  
Arrival Atis : 200/06 VAR 170/240 Vis 40km Sct 040 

Duration : 50 minutes

SUMMARY
The weather looked good for today so we drove to the airport hoping for a good flight. They still couldn't decide whether to fly to Swansea airport or over the Severn Bridge. When we got to the airport they wanted to fly over the bridges. We had G-BYZM booked again for today so I decided to check if the radio was working this time, took my headsets and tried but it was dead. I went a little red-faced when I realised I hadn't switched it on, that was the problem last time when I wrote in big letters RADIO U/S.......DOH!!!!!
I checked out the plane and it was fine so with good weather off we went and headed towards Newport. I let Jamie fly us towards Newport and he did an excellent job keeping us straight and level.
We flew over there house and school and then headed back to the airport when two things happened. Firstly it started to rain and secondly Thomas decided to be sick, luckily he hit the sick bag and not the back of my head.
Cleared initially for runway 12 but then it was changed to runway 30. We were number 3 behind a business jet and as I turned final ATC asked me to orbit so the could get the bucket and spade brigade off to Spain....Grrrrrr.
Made a pretty good landing and taxied to the club. 
  
Brakes Off 12:50 - Brakes On 13:40.