Our two days rest were already over and Sue, Steve and I were back at the Aéroclub preparing our 2nd trip back to England. Unlike the previous time, it was a beautiful morning, the sun was shining, slightly cold, but not a cloud in the sky.
We were not taking the DA40 this time but the Robin DR400-180 F-GMKT. Steve and I prepared the plane and our route and then we were ready, so once again we were off.
Steve was in the left hand seat for the first leg of the journey to Couché Verac a 1047m grass strip North West of Limoges and we arrived there after 50 minutes and Steve performed his first landing on a grass strip.
Andrew was already there, so he put his bags in the back, and we had just enough time for a few photos in front of the Aéro-Club and then we were off again, this time with Andrew in the left hand seat. Obviously now with 4 pilots and all our baggage, nearly full fuel, the plane was a little heavy, and we were just about to take off from a grass strip, however the Robin bombed down the grass and lifted up easily with loads of the strip left.
We were now on our way to our next stopping point ‘Le Touquet’, where we planned to refuel before crossing the channel. However as we flew north the weather and the visibility kept getting worse, we spent nearly an hour above the clouds which unfortunately were getting higher so we decided that we were going to have to find a gap to descend and assess the situation then. After descending, the visibility was poor and it was raining so Sue decided that we would have to divert to Rouen and hope that the weather improved later on.
Andrew landed at Rouen, we paid the landing fees and thought it might be a good idea to go and have something to eat while waiting for the weather to clear. After lunch the weather had improved a little, it had stopped raining and visibility had improved. We checked the plane over while Sue went to get a weather update.
I was now in the left hand seat for the short sector over to Le Touquet. The flight went quite well, the cloud was low but not too low, it was still raining, visibility was not great but you could see quite well, until we got to about ten minutes south of Le Touquet and then the weather started to deteriorate rather rapidly, however now talking to Le Touquet Approach the Controller assured us that we could get in under Special VFR Condition without any problem. The weather although poor, I could still see the coast line, I turned inland to find the runway, which was flooded, there was a sigh of relief as we touched down, Steve and Andrew assured us that they were not worried at all, it was amusing watching the two pilots in the front being stressed and working hard to get the plane on the ground while they sat back and did nothing.
Just after we landed the clouds really came down and heavy fog and rain came with it, we dashed inside to have a look and the weather, it was not looking good, there was now no way we were going to be able to get out that day, we were all very surprised, we had carefully studied various weather forecasts before leaving and they all said it was going to be a beautiful day all over France with no rain anywhere. Anyway Sue booked us all a room at a hotel in the centre of Le Touquet and called a Taxi to come and pick us up.
The hotel was pleasant and we all decided to meet up in two hours and have something to eat. I think most of us slept for the two hours except Andrew who was more adventurous and went for a walk around the town. Two hours later Sue, Andrew and myself found ourselves in the hotel bar waiting for Steve who had overslept but after a call from Andrew was soon awake and down in the bar. We had a very nice meal in the town and then went back to the hotel for a much needed good night’s sleep.
The following day the weather looked worse, however we all met at 8 o’clock for a traditional French breakfast followed by a quick walk around the local market, we then called for a taxi to get us back to the airport. We spent most of the morning on the computer looking at the weather with everyone trying to find just one website with some hope. After all our research there looked like there was going to be a gap across the channel at about 4 o’clock. Lunch time came so we popped into the restaurant next door to the airport for a bite to eat. 3 o’ clock came and the weather was not looking ANY better, and we all thought that there was no way it was going to clear up in just 1 hour. There was now us and 5 other aircraft waiting for this ‘Gap’. 3 of the other aircraft happened to be old war time planes including a Spitfire on their way to the ‘Duxford Air show’. The Spitfire, which our Robin was parked next to was absolutely beautiful, it looked almost new and Sue spoke to the pilot who then let me sit in the cockpit, it was so small and cramped however the actual plane compared to the Robin was really quite big, it was fantastic.
4 o’clock was now here and the fog just disappeared in a matter of minutes and the clouds started to lift, after having had a cloud base of about 200ft for a day, and there were now patches of blue sky. There was a sudden rush of activity at the airport, everyone rushing around packing and checking their planes, and the first one was off, and we were now back in our Robin, Steve was back in the left hand seat and we took off, there was still a lot of cloud but it was much higher, we flew about 5 minutes away from Le Touquet and there was no more cloud just sun and blue sky. We were soon across the channel and on our way to Stapelford. The weather was not as nice in England as it was across the channel but we could certainly fly in it. We soon landed at Stapelford on a half tarmac half grass runway, this was the end of the flight for Steve and I. After dropping us off and a cup of coffee, Sue and Andrew were back up in the air heading to Nottingham where Sue was going to drop off Andrew and then fly to her home airfield of Gloucester. We could now all have a couple of days rest before returning to France, however the Robin was not so lucky as Les King was picking it up to fly it back to Le Touquet the very next day.
My four days whizzed pass and I found myself back at Stapelford very early on a beautiful sunny Sunday morning where Les King was going to fly the plane back to Gloucester.
It was my first time in the right hand seat of an aircraft and after checking the plane and a quick briefing from Les we were off. It was a really great flight, shortly after take off we could see the city of London a truly amazing sight. It was a really good flight and Les showed me all around the places we flew over. After a good landing by Les and touching down dead on time I went to fill the Robin up, and I was back in the Cotswold Aero Club, where once again Phil Mathews the CFI made us feel very welcome.
I was now back in the left hand seat for our next stop at Exeter where we picked up Andrew, had a bacon and sausage bap and filled in the flight plan. Andrew was now flying again, we crossed the channel flying over Guernsey and Jersey and we soon landed in Dinard, where we were greeted by an Air Traffic Controller who is a member of the Aéroclub de Limoges and who had flown F-GMKT just two weeks before. After a quick drink I then flew to Ancenis a small airfield outside of Nantes Andrew then flew his last leg of the journey back to Choucé Verac.
I for the last time of this England trip was back in the left hand seat for the final leg back home to Limoges. And after 50 minutes, we where there for a nice sunset landing. I unloaded the Robin while Sue sorted out the paper work and I put the Robin back in the hanger for some much needed and deserved rest.
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