Category: Trip Log

Took a trip to Calais on Thursday with Andrew and Oscar. Like last time we encountered quite a lot of low cloud over the channel and coast so a bit of ‘grubbing around’ was the order of the day. What a saviour GPS is in these situations. It would be nice if the Calais weather was more accessible. Had a nice lunch, trip to the supermarket and a bit more interest from Calais customs this time.

Prior to our trip to Priory Farm we had taken G-EJBI to Weybourne on the North Norfolk coast, It is a very pretty spot but can be a bit of a challenge depending on the wind direction. We landed on the short runway to take advantage of the clear approach, 10 to 12 knot headwind and nice up slope. We used about 250 of the 350 metres available. For departure it was the longer runway with a bit of a tailwind. You do the calculations but it still sometimes feels like an act of faith!

Weybourne pic.

We took G-EJBI to Calais. The main motivation was to claim the fuel duty, which works out at about £70 for full tanks in the Bölkow. The airport restaurant has now reopened and we enjoyed a very good meal before heading down the road to the supermarket for a few bottles of wine. €10 landing fee and although the weather wasn’t great we were the only aircraft there. They deserve more business and we will definitely be returning soon.

I phoned the day before to enquire about flying in to their season opener display. Yes we could come they had one slot left at 9.00 am. What a great day we had. No landing fee but the £30 each entry fee was payable and was well worth it. The setting, the sounds, the sights, the picnic we took were all delightful.

We had visited a couple of months before and enjoyed the village pub. A lot of effort has been put into the airfield facilities and so it seemed a good idea to try the cafe for some tea and cake, all very nice, Cromer is a very pretty airfield, not overly long and with an upslope if landing toward the west, £7 landing fee which is well deserved.

Andrew managed to blag a free landing for a trip to Stapleford and their training seminar. We were quite impressed with the presentation, CFI told it straight and the student who showed us around was very helpful. We had to leave around 5 to get back to Tibenham and found it pretty busy,  eventually it was our turn to depart, finding a gap in the circuit traffic and some lovely weather for the journey home.

Fresh from our trip to Le Touquet we decided to give Calais a visit. Everything was so quiet, No ATC no marshalling, not another aircraft on the apron. We find our way in to the terminal and meet a very pleasant man to whom we pay the 10 Euro landing fee. He phones the restaurant in the village and off we walk the 10 or so minutes. Mrs Moore is with us today for her first Bölkow trip and the restaurant and trip to the supermache prove a great hit. When back at the field there are a few more arrivals and a bit of a breeze that reminds me of Lydd, will definately do this trip again.

Finally have our transponder fixed so off to Le Touquet. A nice easy trip which is early enough to make the airport restaurant. Sky Demon makes the flight plan and GAR requirements an absolute breeze. Could not connect to the internet for some reason at Le Touquet so the return flight plan was a phone call to the tower who were most helpfull. 30 Euro for the landing fee is a tad steep but lunch was pretty reasonable and very good. Now the Bölkow 207 does not seem to have a demonstrated crosswind limit, I can say that gusts to 18 knots from the left is way too much, Andrew did a great job but braking on the take off role is not too good, will be setting some lower limits in future.

Popped across to Seething for a number of good reasons. Firstly there is a reciprocal landing fee arrangement with Tibenham so no fee and there are a number of interesting aeroplanes in their equally interesting (they are on turntables) hangar. Bumped into Dan Gay (who used to teach Andrew the drums) who has a long ez at the field and is now authorised to display it.