Thanks Southern Cross
Puts me in mind of that old Dr John blues song, Cripple Creek:
“I don’t have to speak
She defends me
A drunkard’s dream
If I ever did see one…”
But to more serious matters, and speak I will because the posts above portray us as a bunch of aloof and arrogant hooligans whizzing around causing mayhem and believing ourselves a cut above everybody else. Nothing could be further from the truth. This is a longish post because I take this very seriously.
Stratton I’m sorry, but you must have caught us at a bad time. This in fact occurred last April, during our work up week, when things are sometimes a bit tense and we can get rather self absorbed. But apologies – being rude is not part of the game. If you want a chat, we’re always approachable in the bar after the debrief.
I’m in no position to talk about published procedures – that is the province of the airfield management. But we no longer do solo run and breaks (I’m talking about the AeroStars, not other NW based pilots) and if the circuit is active we split into a stream outside the zone and join downwind. This is actually more time consuming, no safer and more inconvenient for other traffic because the circuit gets clogged for longer, but it is what we have been asked to do. (Otherwise we can hold clear if there are just one or two a/c in the circuit, and R&B once they’re down.)
On a broader note, a lot of these issues arise because of the fundamental difficulty of mixing light GA traffic with formations of slightly higher performance aircraft. We take the view that this is our problem and we go to significant lengths – which other users will generally be unaware of – to minimise the impact of our activities. For example I can’t recall us ever forcing a go around, and often is the time we’ve sat on the cross runway, waiting to backtrack the active, because somebody has called downwind and we spend long minutes with CHT’s rising while s/he disappears towards Stapleford or Stansted before dragging in on an airliner final (sorry, but it happens and it’s bad flying.)
North Weald has, however, always been a home for warbird, formation and display flying – that’s what it set out to be when the Huttons revitalised it and set up the Squadron in the ‘80s. In a perfect world this would perhaps be promulgated in Pooley’s et al and, maybe with areas marked where it would be safe to hold for a couple of minutes when all this malarkey is going on until visitors can see and hear that the circuit is clear.
That is outside our domain, but if there is anything else we can do, such as letting other users know how we operate, please suggest it and I will respond.
A and C, we undergo levels of scrutiny by the CAA which you would not believe. We are watched closely and speak to them regularly during the season. The SRG know exactly what we do and how we do it, and quite rightly would not hesitate to pull our DA’s. Perhaps the fact that we get on well with them, and that just about every airshow organiser we have worked for has asked us back, might indicate that we are not completely useless after all.
Finally, last April’s tragic accident has been raised again. Please - we lost a dear friend as well, the subject has been exhausted twice on this forum, we’ve had an AAIB investigation and an inquest – can we leave it be?
Best
Garry
AeroStars home page