This is longer than I'd hoped it would be!
A Saturday in October 1997
Had about 450 hours, 150 on type.
Classic compounding of errors.....
Had arranged to meet X and Y at EBGB to look at their Pitts Specials as I'd just started to build one.
Friday's Beeb forecast stated that there would be strong winds. gray, occasional rain showers. Checked the TAFs on Sat am and they confirmed that although not a great day, it would be flyable.
Drove to local farmstrip, where my vintage taildragger used to live, in mid Suffolk. It was deserted. Pushed aeroplane out and gave it a thorough preflight, fuelled with enough fuel to get there and back.
Phoned destination prior to starting to alert them that I was departing and would be inbound at 1130, non-radio. Handswing to start - she fired first time and I THREW THE LIGHT PORTABLE CHOCKS back into the hangar, knowing that a place like Leicester will be chock full of chocks!
Took off and very quickly realised that the wind was not quite as forecast, the strength seemed about right but the direction was almost 180 out. Ho hum, stonking head wind when I was expecting a helpful tailwind component.
The weather deteriorated but it was still flyable and still legal. Landed at Leicester almost 25 minutes later than my initial ground based estimate, landed in quite a nasty shower but was quite pleased that I'd found EGBG with only a map, stopwatch and compass in pretty poor conditions. 1hr 45.
NOT TO WORRY, I THOUGHT HEADWIND ON THE WAY HERE, ERGO - TAILWIND ON THE WAY HOME.
Had a very interesting and informative time and really didn't want to leave as I was learning and meeting other Pitts owners and builders. Really didn't want to leave this very entertaining bunch, just one more cup of tea and then I'll refuel and then I'll go.
REFUELLING - all I'll need is another 30 minutes worth, should be plenty as I was airborne 25 minutes longer than planned and had enough motion lotion to get here and go back. In fact, if I have half the headwind as tailwind (conservative but totally fallacious estimate) I should be back in about an hour and eight minutes. I take 10 litres - I have the ullage for nearly 70 but I take 10, a tad more than half the 4gph, she sips.
Preflight and go to start her but can't find any chocks - ask one of my new chums where I can borrow some chocks from.
"Don't worry about chocks, have you signed out?"
"No - not something I'm used to doing, these days, sorry."
"No worries, you strap in, I'll run across and book you out, then come back and give you a swing."
My new friend then dissapears. Minutes tick by, a quarter of an hour goes by and he is yet to reappear. I begin to get a little concerned about wasting this time which I realise is quite precious. Sh1t, if I don't get going I'll run out of daylight. I unstrap and go and find him, he's being harangued by some older gent and has totally forgotten about swinging me.
We return to my aircraft, he swings and she fires first time, as I taxi out I re-run all the calcs in my head. With my expected tailwind, i'll get back in 68 minutes, if the wind is as it was on my trip here and I get the full benefit of it, I'll be back in 55minutes. Either way it is not officially dark for an hour and a half.
A bit bemused by the change of runway - I line up and depart on the reciprocal of the one I arrived on. I climb out at full power and at 1500', I pull her back to cruise power.
I am abeam Eyebrook reservoir and have been at this level for long enough to do a quick mental g/s calc. It has taken me 12minutes to do 10 nm - that gives me a g/s of 50 kts. WHAT. I do it again - 12mins, 10miles = 5miles in 6 minute, that really doews mean 50kts. I should be doing my still air cruise of 72kts plus that tailwind giving me 88kts. The runway change should have alerted me but in reality my mind was full of covering my biplane's wings, sourcing stainless steel 8-32UNC machine screws and other PFA build project activities.
I increase the power, concentrate on holding an accurate hdg, don't want to waste time wandering all over the sky. I wait another 12 minutes and rerun the calculation again. Phew - at this power setting (allmost full power) I should get to Monewden just as the sun sets. I'll be okay.
It is getting noticeably darker and I'm now down to 1200'agl to remain clear of cloud, it starts to rain but my heading is good, oil pressure is good and cyl hds are in the green. Fuel is ....... not showing as much as I expect. This aeroplane has a coathangar on a cork, type fuelguage. I recalc eet and notice that with my new incresed fuel burn it is just enough to get me home with 30 mins to spare.
I'm now over the A14 eastbound and clear of Cambridge's ATZ, had to go around it as I couldn't go above it and I have no radio and penetrating it was not an option.
Sweet - know exactly where I am, know exactly where I am going, know exactly when it is officially night and know exactly when I'm going to run out of fuel.
As the trucks on the A14 switched on their headlights and crept forward underneath me, it felt anything but sweet. It was getting darker and I'm forced down to 1000' agl. The trucks are definitely faster than me and are they not restricted to 56mph, flat-out? I begin to start seriouslyu wondering about the safety of all of this.
I now realise that I should be looking to put the aeroplane down and accepting the fact that a night in a b&b will be far easier to explain than an inevitable accident.
I get to Bury St Edmunds, there is Rougham, I could just land, find John Askew and apologise for dropping in unannounced, hell, he might even run me to a b&b. But it looks a little less dark ahead and I'm so close to home.
Rougham recedes behind me and all is well, T's and P's are fine and that annoying cork floaty thing is banging against empty - but that is okay because that means you've got 45 mins reserve. Yes, but how long has it been on the stop for? Best you land now and accept that this was not your best ever bit of airmanship. In fact Gt Ashfield disused should be on the nose about now. You could land there and walk up to the farmhouse, introduce yourself and aplogise. Maybe they'll let you ring home - it's only about 14 miles away. Wifey will come and collect me.
Gt Ashfield dissapears behind me 800' beneath and now I really am struggling to pick out features. Not to worry just another few minutes of this and then I'll be back at base.
As I approach the A140, I realise that the cloud that has forced me down to 650'agl, is also preventing me from seeing the 1240' mast that is only a couple of miles of my course. I can't define exactly where I am and I can't see the mast. But I am so close
I dogleg down the A140 until I spot the headlights of the A14 traffic, work out exactly where I am am head back to my home base. It really is dark out there but officially it is still daylight, that does not exactly give me the comfort that I want it to!
I know this area really well and I spot an obelisk in a park just 500' beneath me, I am just a minute away. I get it down, struggle to taxi as it is so dark and put the aeroplane away. I don't want to check how much fuel I have but I do. 2.5 gallons useable which will give me 35 mins at std power but only 20 mins at full power.
The strip is still deserted and I reckon that I must have been the only movement that day. I don't go straight home but detour to a local hostelry where I begin to realise what an absolute Łukwit I have been.
As I debrief myself, I can not believe what a catalogue of errors and bad decisions, I made. Pressonitis
Only twice have I landed and been really pleased to be back on the ground and that was one of them. Even typing this out, brought me out in goosebumps as relived the fear!
ILAFFT
Stik