Fly-in 24th April at North Weald, UK

[tonge]

** SPOKE WITH THE SQUADRON AND CHANGED THE DATE TO THE SATURDAY **

Hello everyone,

I've had this idea for a while of trying to arrange a "Helicopter" Fly-in, I'm not sure if its because there is less of us, but apart from the safety evenings we never seem to get together in groups. The "Plank Boys" appear to organise these do's on a regular basis, and they look to be quite popular (the do's that is not the "planks" :p).

So here goes, how about North Weald (EGSX), on Saturday 24th April from about midday. If you're flying around, or wanting a reason to go for a fly, why not pop in and join me for a tea.

It's a big enough place if quite a few turn up, there is usually something interesting stuff to look at and the "Squadron" does some nice grub!!

Hope to see you there, obviously depending on the lovely UK weather ;)

North Weald Airfield Users Group (http://www.northwealdairfield.org/info.htm)

[heliboy999]

I guess you'll be wanting the 300 on the 25th then Tonge?:}

[Rallye Driver]

Glad to be of assistance. I hope you have a good at at NW.

[tonge]

Following the post from Rallye Driver, I went to North Weald today and spoke to the "Squadron", they are more than happy to except us for a fly-in. therefore I've changed the date to SATURDAY 24TH APRIL, from midday onwards.

The food looked good and they have got fuel (Avgas and JetA1).

Let me know if you are coming along,

Tonge

[Pilot.Pete]

You can put me down for that.

Peter

[longbox]

Count me in, I will bring something good along, maybe the 222 if she is ready:ok:

[wallism]

I'm up for that so it's in the diary. The R44 knows its way there on its own by now.

[Lord Mount]

I don't hve an aircraft at the moment but I wouldn't mind flying the old
Fiat to the Squadron for a chinwag & bite to eat.

LM:ok:

[tonge]

I'm glad people are keen on the idea!

Lord Mount, I emailed the school's at Redhill, if someone from there is planning to fly in perhaps you could catch a lift?

Simon

[parasite drag]

If you're good boys I'll bring my Rotorway for you to sneer at :p

[John R81]

Might be.... might be...

[Clitheroe Kid]

Sound like fun. We'll be there in our Enstrom 480

[s1lverback]

John R81, sent you a PM.
Have booked FEDA. Will have a couple of lightweights with me too:}, so let me know for w&b.

[JTobias]

Its in my diary. I'll be there

Joel :ok:

[John R81]

Looks like I may be going with S1lverback

PM replied

john

[s1lverback]

and you are most welcome sir....now how much do you weigh?...cos I am heavy :ok:

[John R81]

210 llbs including wallet :)






209.9999999 without wallet :(

[s1lverback]

Ketchup on you then.:ok:

[tonge]

Anyone else fancy flying in for some "chopper talk" bacon sarnie's and copious amounts of tea?? :ok:

tonge

[R44-pilot]

Wish I had some blades to turn....:(

[tonge]

R44-Pilot, Could always catch a lift with someone else?? Or worst case, drive in :E

[R44-pilot]

Sadly Tonge I'm out in good ole Lincolnshire and there's not to much activity round these parts...:(

It may be a drive down... Would like to see this Bell 222 if it comes!

EDIT: Bugger just realised I'm not even in the country o April 24th! :ugh:

[Pandalet]

I'll be making an effort to get there, although it depends on availibilty, etc. Another R44 :ok:

[s1lverback]

Do we need to PPR for this?

I often use EGSX (as PA32 I use is based there), so wouldn't normally PPR unless it were a large scheduled event.

Also, I believe you need to squawk 7010 approaching North Weald (below 1500 MSL) and departing until you are clear of Stansted airspace.

[tonge]

S1lverback,
I spoke with the Op's department at North weald and they wanted people flying in to PPR. It was just so they knew how how many to expect, I told them I was trying to organise this get together, but I couldn't give them an exact number of aircraft that would be arriving.
I guess-timated between 6 and 7 but at this rate there could be double figures :ok:

Tonge

[s1lverback]

Hi,

Popped in to EGSX yesterday to speak to maintenance on another matter (fixed wing based there) and spoke with Lee at the Squadron (Alan isn't working the 24th April)

Lee was not aware :} (he is now :ok: and is covering that weekend), but guess we aren't an official (i.e. local authority registered) fly-in as that requires a license.

EGSX is PPR anyhow...so see will you then.

Note: Sqwalk 7010 when on EGSX Frequency 123.52, so Essex (Stansted) know your EGSX traffic.

[tonge]

Silverback, thanks for the info!

I may have a spare seat, going from EGMC, if anyone wants to PM me.

Tonge

[John R81]

Bumping thread without apology - the more the merrier!

Waiting for CAA to send back my license - days drag slowly by!!!

John

[206 jock]

If there's sufficient interest and people willing to make a donation, I might be able to arrange a static view of the Herts Air Ambulance (MD902, G-HAAT), based at North Weald. It's only operational on weekdays, so will be in the hangar.

For those requiring JET A1, be aware that there are two suppliers of fuel at NW....

[G-ANPK]

tonge

The Huey and MD900 will both probably be outside on Saturday anyway as we will be setting up for "The Gathering of Warbirds and Veterans" taking place on the Sunday.
There will be marshallers working on the Saturday,as one of those`s i will try and come and say hello ,i will see what i can do about a visit if i get the time.
hth
Rgds
G-ANPK

[tonge]

G-ANPK,
That would be great if you could arrange a visit, I don't mind making a donation!!

Well depending on the great "Ash Crisis" I hope to see everyone there on Saturday lunchtime!!

Tonge

[ChippyChop]

Crikey is that for real 206 jock that Herts Air Ambulance only flies through the week, what happens to the poor bastards who need them on the weekend. Must remember not to take my son to any motocross track near there on the weekend

[206 jock]

Yep, weekdays only. Coverage at weekends is provided by the Essex aircraft (one charity, two aircraft).

If you and your mates gave a donation of a few hundred thousand, I'm sure the charity would gladly fly 7 days a week with both. What.....you don't fancy that idea?

Kind of summarises the problem, really.

[Senior Pilot]

I think a reasonable "overpayment" for the coffee they provide is well worth the investment :ok:

Friendly people at Herts AA, even if they are operating from Essex :p

[206 jock]

even if they are operating from Essex

I think we prefer the term 'Hertfordshire borders', but your logic is irrefutable:)

[s1lverback]

John R81, you have a PM :ok:

[DMW2007]

Hi All
mercilesssly bumping the thread one more time... Just booked some R44 time so will be calling in tomorrow. Hope it's a good turn out.

[John R81]

Unfortunately a backlog of work & meetings as a result of ash-based disruption to air travel means I must now go to NL to meet Finnish clients this weekend. Have a great meet!

With regret

John

[md 600 driver]

What a nice day for A trip is it still on?
anyone got any times ? what's the landong fees ?

[tonge]

Have to agree, it is a nice day! Well we are still going, lets just hope the machine is ok.

Aiming to get there for midday, can't remember what the landing fee is, seem to remember I made a donation to the "Squadron"

[heliboy999]

300 is primed and ready to launch. See you there!

[md 600 driver]

Just rearming the gazelle eta 1300 any one have ppr number

[wallism]

I just got back through the murk and it was great to meet up and chat. There aren't usually that many helicopter pilots in one place. I still missed the gazelle crew and R44 G-M**Z I think.

[tonge]

Just a quick thank you for everyone that turned up!! I thought it was a really good turn out, was it 9 or 10 helicopters in the end??

I'm sorry if I didn't get to say hello to everyone, especially the Gazelle crew who were rather enthusiatically setting down just as we were leaving, that was a great entrance!! :ok:

Also thanks to the guys from North Weald (Keith/Kevin, I'm terrible with names!) for doing the marshalling and showing us around the Huey and the Air Ambulance.

If anyone got some pictures, can you post them somewhere, I never got round to taking any pictures.

Finally, it was actually quite easy to sort this out, a forum post here and there and a few emails to the local schools, so if anyone wants to organise another fly-in, then go for it! :D
Tonge

[Lord Mount]

I really enjoyed the day and meeting everyone. I wish I'd flown in rather than drive. I got caught up in the market traffic. Nonetheless, great weather, nice aircraft, great chats and awesome bacon & egg sandwich.
Lets do it again soon.

LM

[G-ANPK]

tonge and all the rest, great to see you all at North Weald today it looked an impressive sight to see that many all parked up at once,i would like to thank you all for the donations recieved for the Air Ambulance, every penny counts ,it was my pleasure to show you around,hope to see you all back at some time,the June fly-in looks good !!!
safe flights
Rgds
G-ANPK (Nigel)

[Hoopmeister]

Firstly big thanks to Simon for taking the time to organise the event and letting me jump in the back to the R44 when I couldn't get a SFH helicopter today, secondly thanks to Nigel and the marshals for making us feel very welcome, and lastly to all of you who made the effort to come down. Here are some of the pictures of today, great one of you Kev giving me the 'V's, cheers for that buddy. Also a great one of Tony and Mike by G-HUEY, and happy with the 300 in formation. Not flying gives you a chance to really take it all in. Nice to meet a lot of new faces, and some old ones as well. Look forward to flying with you soon. Now here are the photos for the North Weald fly-in 2010 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/32767257@N03/)

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4056/4548452621_6356b68634.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4071/4548447309_f13116a178.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4018/4548455345_0096bd8bf4.jpg

[heliboy999]

Thanks to Tonge for getting the idea and carrying it through, the weather gods for such a lovely day, A big thankyou to the Guys at North weald for your enthusiasm (The airfield has such a buzz that seems to have been lost at some other places) Thanks to all that turned up in the assortment of machines.

Re the formation, I would have got a bit closer for the shots but having been trying to chase you down for 7 miles the poor girl was knackered and couldnt keep up let alone stay in tight formation. :}

For the future? Would everyone that came today prefer an airfield like NW or would a nice big open field near a pub be acceptable?

Be nice to keep these things going and get the buzz back into flying.

Great pictures as well, keep em coming.

HB999:ok:

[s1lverback]

Hi all, good day out for us and plenty of movements in FEDA, so all of our party could get rides. Better still cos I brought the wife and kids (first time ever), so they knew where I was! We also brought two fixed wings - C177 and Partenavia P68.

Bonus: A friend of mine has a paddock adjacent to his house (2 mins from home) that I used (and can use) for pick-up/drop-off..:ok:

2.5 hrs on SFH yesterday :eek:, but a lot of fun :ok:

Once the photos come back to me I'll post on our website theflyingmonkey.co.uk (http://www.theflyingmonkey.co.uk)

Didn't catch up with Tonge, but met most of the others.

Pub with field would be great.

[Pandalet]

I just got back through the murk and it was great to meet up and chat. There aren't usually that many helicopter pilots in one place. I still missed the gazelle crew and R44 G-M**Z I think. That would be us - G-MANZ. We had a lovely time, got to see the Spitfire, and lots of other helicopters. Plus the usual excellent bacon roll :ok:. I was flying, but my pax took loads of photos, the better ones of which I'll post in due course. Does anyone know what the border agency staff were there for, out of interest?

Many thanks to the organisers (who I didn't actually manage to track down on the day) - excellent job on the weather!

[parasite drag]

Lovely weather, lovely venue, met some nice people, saw some nice helis

My 'cavalier' award goes to the Gazelle pilot....nice arrival..even better departure...fly safe though buddy :ok:

G-MANZ crew...none of us knew you were fly-in (ers) until you got in the 44 and departed, oops :rolleyes:

My buddy and I arranged a fly-in last year, with similar numbers in attendance...I think 9 or 10 is pretty good

A field with adjacent pub is good for me....or another airfield....I have some contacts at Rochester.....I'm sure they'd appreciate some fuel sales and landing fees....

Let's keep the momentum going !!

Kev

[G-APDK]

Pandalet
The reason the Border Agency staff was present was because of an inbound flight from Germany & Holland which was selected for one of their periodic checks.

Pleased you all enjoyed the day and as was noted I hope that some of you might join us on 19-20 June when we have our next event at NW

G-APDK
NW Ground Crew (and June's event Director)

[DMW2007]

Hi All

Just to add my thanks to all involved in organidsing the fly in sat. Flew G-RALA in from Cambridge. Good venue, friendly people. Wish I could have stayed longer but had to get the aircraft back:(. Would def support / fly in to future events. Agree with Silverback a pub with a field would be good. I may even bag FEDA before he does next time!!

[s1lverback]

DMW2007, We could always fly together :ok:.

I try and book her once a month to keep my hand in..would obviously love to fly her more (or buy my own)... but my lottery win on Friday of £6.80 doesn't cover it :}

[tonge]

S1lverback & Pandalet,
Sorry I never got round to saying hello, after taking some people from work for a quick ride and then having a nose around the Huey and the air ambulance, I simple ran out of time. Didn't help that my "keeper" was constantly texting me threatening divorce! :ugh: Oh and S1lverback, I'd love a ride in a helicopter with a proper engine and not one stolen from a Beetle!!

The thing I should have done, is arranged a specific place we could have all met up, it was only by luck that we bumped into the guys from G-RALA and G-RULE, I'll remember that for the next one.

So has anyone got any suggestions for a suitable location? Interesting airfield or anyone the owner of a large field?? I'm easy with an airfield or field with a pub (although I won't able to drink :eek:) or just a field and perhaps we could bring along a bbq??

How does one of the weekends in June suit people??

Come on, lets see if we can organise another one!! :ok:

Tonge

[s1lverback]

IOW is always good - lunch in the Crab & Lobster
Le Touquet - lots of choice, but have been using Au Bureau (rugby theme pub) for last 7 years as food is consistent and fairly priced

Thought there was a thread on landing sites - will look

If we are stretching legs, then I am up for Scilly Isles overnight or Lundy (nice pub - everything with chips and two real ales)

[Pandalet]

short finals
http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/dd140/alisonlloyd/P1030854.jpghttp://i225.photobucketphotobucket.com/albums/dd140/alisonlloyd/P1030854.jpg

Watching the passing eyecandy
http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/dd140/alisonlloyd/P1030865.jpg

The trusty steed
http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/dd140/alisonlloyd/P1030889.jpg

Helpful chap...
http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/dd140/alisonlloyd/P1030892.jpg