“Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes!!!” had been my characteristic, enthusiastic, yet default, response when James casually enquired “Do you fancy a fly out tomorrow mate?” I love my job flying at Attitude Airsports, but it is nice to fly somewhere different occasionally, instead of constantly going round and round in circles! Today, Kaz was to fly the Nynja, on the impromptu Attitude Airsports fly out to Welshpool, and Dave was the pilot in the other aircraft, alongside James.
Shortly before take-off we’d decided that Kaz and I would lead out and James would follow, I knew this wouldn’t last though. Kaz likes to fly a fair bit slower than James, and sure enough before we’d even crossed the M6 he was alongside us before gradually pulling away as we progressed south.
Squinting out of the canopy I could just make out James’ EuroFox in the distance, now way out in front of us. He was definitely going to beat us to Welshpool, and so with a shrug, I gave up on winning that particular race and switched my focus back to look out.
As our route was going to take us through the Manchester Low Level Corridor (LLC) I’d started thinking about a few things I always do to try and minimise risk, in what can be a crowded bit of airspace. There are several factors to consider both before and during the flight, and I’ll be writing a follow up article that explores these in more detail, so watch out for that soon!
It was a fairly thermic day and as we descended toward the LLC things started to get a little more ‘lively’. Kaz was flying and I was handling lookout and radios to help share the workload. Overflying Kenyon Hall Farm, home of Lancashire Aero Club, we caught sight of some of the model planes being flown there as we made our turn to the south.
As an aside, it’s great to note the CAA is doing a consultation on the future of this piece of airspace with the aim of removing some complexity and making it safer, details can be found here.
Progressing south at around 1000 ft something big caught my eye in the 2 o’clock position.
After the initial burst of adrenaline that one gets in the LLC when spotting anything moving in the vicinity of your aircraft, further inspection revealed this to be a Ryanair Boeing 737 flying, what felt like, just off our right wing. However, in reality the jet was about 1500 feet above us and at least half a mile away. Unfortunately the photo I took, doesn’t really do it justice.
Climbing out of the LLC and the relative safety of higher altitudes we continued on our way towards Welshpool and were treated to great views of Oulton Park where the British Superbikes were racing and also Beeston Castle. The rest of the flight was fairly uneventful apart from the pure bliss of Kaz and I being able to spend time flying and sharing our mutual hobby together.
Welshpool’s circuit is at 1500 ft and as this is an unfamiliar circuit height it’s easy to end up too high, which we duly did. So, after our, ahem, “sporty” approach, Kaz does love to sideslip, James was ready with a gentle ribbing about our tardiness but also an excellent spot on the café balcony. The four of us enjoyed a lovely hour or so in the sunshine with a fabulous lunch served by the onsite café.
Whilst working on our tan, we got chatting with another pilot who had flown in from Shifnal in a C42 and then also a friendly photographer called Brian Hull. In fact, many of the photographs in this piece are his work – so a big shout out to Brian for some excellent photographs of Attitude Airsports fleet!
Welshpool really is a treat to visit and it’s one of the many reasons a trip down the LLC is well worth it if you are based to the North of Manchester. Why not give them a visit?
Main photograph, the EuroFox landing at Welshpool (Photo Credit: Brian Hull)
Dan Roach Flying Author 