Rough reception at Popham!
I flew my little home-build over to Popham on Sunday for a cup of tea and chat with the boys, I did all the usual things that I've been doing for the past 25 years when I plan to visit another field, ring for PPR, study the pattern , frequency, joining procedure, make sure nothings changed.
I called up and obtain the details and join on the base leg, on reporting established I'm told "who are you? I've never heared of you" I was a little surprised as I'd passed my details only minutes before, but I relayed them again. I was then issued with a hold-nothing-back b******ng, over the airwaves , by the time it finished I was on final! I reported "final" but heared nothing back, a stoney silence, I could see the wind sock and as I didn't need a clearance (its an air/ground ATSU at Popham) I landed, only for more of the same when I entered the club house to pay my landing fee and sign in.
I was also accused of cutting up another aircraft in the circuit, which was complete rubbish, I was starting to wonder if this was some sort of set up and I was being filmed, but sadly it wasn't. This numpty was in deadly earnest.
Give the wrong guy a clip board and you create another Stalin, well thankfully my aircraft isn't based there so I've no reason to go back, and I wont, its a real shame, its a lovely little field that Dick Richardson has built up since the crazy days of Jim Espin, but if the fee-paying public are treated like this then it wont be long before it's just another ghost station. Unless you have the hide of a rhino -- Avoid--