I won't tell you what I was flying in, because naming the operator would only cause confusion.

Those two are both pretty straightforward, so I'll chuck the following in as well: there's a bit less to see on the gound!

Thanks to my friends at Karup for the ride, and if you'd like to know more about what I was up to, please visit my blog. You'll find some handy clues if you read carefully!

The above shot is on finals to Kabul, Afghanistan in what can only be described as British-style weather conditions at the end of our sortie; not a good thing when your runway is above 6,000ft and you come out of the cloud at 10,000ft surrounded by mountains some 3,000ft higher. We had departed Kabul over five and a half hours earlier on an ISAF mission which sent us to Meymaneh, Mazar-e-Sharif and Herat, spending no more than 15 minutes on the ground at any location, with the engines running throughout.

Without question, the highlight of the flight was our arrival at Meymaneh, a gravel strip used to support a contingent of Norwegian troops and just about long enough to get a Hercules into. You can just about make the strip out in the below image if you look above and left of the fluffy dice - nice touch, Herc mates! Thankfully we got in and out okay and I didn't need my helmet and body armour, but better safe than sorry!

View the news report here

Now the question is, did the pilots of those flights ever fill in a GAR? My view is that they did not having apparently only stopped off with crew and passengers remaining airside. The aircraft in question could also easily be carrying false registrations or indeed be on the US military aircraft register. Does the latter case exclude them from civil GA flight requirements? The truth is out there...

By the way, I'm currently running and posting this through Knoppix, an adaptation of Debian (Linux) that boots off a CD or DVD and very funky it is too

However up to now has been a super cautious approach.  Spurred on my fellow co-owner, former instructor and now Virgin A340 pilot Steve, I thought I might as well sort myself out properly.  Swallow the butterflies and go do something useful.  As it happens, fellow colleague Phil (see earlier in the blog posts) was available and provided excellent moral support.  Having examined the likely wind direction for the day, a flight from the strip seemed feasible with a landaway at Leicester Aero Club to meet some mates from the FLYER Forum who had also flown in.

So at 11am we met in excellent CAVOK conditions and wheeled the bird out of the hangAr...

A thorough pre-flight ensued.  Here we see yours truly in the P1 position with Phil on the right.

This gives an indication of the panel fit inside the Maule.

The landing at Leicester was a bit of a heart-stopper and my inexperience shone through. Not elegant but any landing you wlak away from... Having had a few cokes and sandwich, we found ourselves at a loss of what to do next with 4 hours of daylight remaining.  Despite assurances from a contact at Bicester, the gliding club wouldn't let us visit.  We did contemplate a tour around Birmingham's airspace, but time was not really on our side. So we decided that Derby and its grass airfield would be a good prospect for the Maule.

Here is a photo of Derby.  Doesn't stand out too well does it?

Derby offers a cheap landing fee and cheaper fuel than anywhere else I know of.  The airfield is also a rather special place housing a rather special aeroplane.  If we go back to 1934, there was an air race from England to Australia in which three identical British aircraft entered, of which two polled first and fourth.  These aircraft were built in 9 months by deHavilland and are considered the precursor design to the WW2 DH Mosquito twin-engined fighter-bomber.  I am of course referring to the DH.88 Comet.  Whilst Old Warden is home to the winner, G-ACSS Grosvenor House, Derby houses Black Magic seen here below at Mildenhall from where the race commenced.  (Photo courtesy of the flightcollection.com)

After the race, G-ACSP Black Magic pioneered the air mail industry from Portugal from where it was rescued in 1980 as a basket case.  There have been some efforts since to restore her, with the current project sadly lacking money, willpower and manpower.  The fuselage is largely complete however there is still much to do.  I would still recommend at least a virtual visit to their website http://www.cometracer.com/

You may have noticed that the shot of Derby showed that the weather was closing in.  Eager to shoot off, we chased the good weather southward, dodging showers and returned safely back to the strip despite another bouncy landing!  All in all, a mini-adventure and a worthwhile day out.  Those conquering-the-Maule-blues have almost gone. :)

and update you on my IMC progress!

Last Saturday saw a better lesson with being able to start the engine this time!  I found I was more able at holding heights and headings.  I still seem to be unconciously holding left aileron when straight and level though and instructor continually wants to know why.  Here are two theories - see what you think.  Firstly the aircraft I normally fly, the Maule, seems to have a large null zone with the ailerons and flies level with a touch of left aileron.  Secondly the Cessna Reims Rocket in which I am learning is an earlier model, a FR172 "G" model, is not fitted with rudder trim.  I believe the later "J" model is?  With about 200hp up-front, this means you have to apply constant right rudder pressure to stay in balance and prevent left-turns.  I think the latter is a more likely suspect!  The subject of continuing in a Cherokee 140 has been broached but operating a more complex, demanding type still appeals.  Anyway the Cessna has a better NAV avionics fit and has more physical room inside.  The dreaded foggles have been employed.  With a whiff of VFR outside, the mind can't resist switching to a mode in which it has originally been taught.  Foggles by the way are like safety google expect with the top section frosted over so you can only see the panel.

The OAT IMC CD has been rather good.  I spent the weekend before last just sitting solid in front the PC.  I reckon there must be at least 20 hours worth of material to listen to.  Given the rate an Oxford ground instructor would charge per hour, the asking price for the CD is attractive.  Be warned though, a contributor to the FLYER Forum warned this week that a staffer at OAT is searching eBay for their CDs being sold second-hand.  The end-user licence agreement (EULA) warns that software cannot be sold on.  Whether not the manner in which the licence would stand up in an English court is entirely another matter!

Anyway Pete, if you are still out there, (I think that my flying may have scared him off!) get in touch.  I am sure that our readers would love to hear some of your stories.

I am waiting for the insults!

Somebody at work has accused me of being an airport spotter!!!  I like to think of myself as an enthusiast!  So if you have any more airport photos, please feel free to e-mail them to me.