View Full Version : Best day of the year? A diamond of a day.
Halfbaked_Boy
1st Sep 2004, 18:00
Well I don't know about other locations throughout the country but down here at Sywell (Northampton), the weather today has been absolutely prsitine; a perfect blue sky with not a CU in sight... come to that, there were no clouds whatsoever throughout the entire morning; some light stratus passed over in the afternoon, but did not intefer with the beautiful evening sun as it lowered to the horizon this afternoon.
And up in the air it got even better, so perfectly smooth; absolutely no input necessary on the controls once we'd gotten ourselves all trimmed out... fantastic.
So, who here has made the most of the weather today? I was only up doing some circuits today, and even they required almost no thinking at all... pure animal nature.
Who else has been enjoying the smooth waters and clear skies then? I say here's to at least a few weeks more of it :)
Jack.
stiknruda
1st Sep 2004, 18:16
Well Jack, I spent most of the day in my luxuriously appointed tractor, listening to Radio 2 whilst helping with the harvest.
At 13H there were puffy wee clouds at 1500' and I decided that I'd stop harvesting for half an hour whilst the lads had a tea break.
So at 1830, I jumped into my wonder ship for 20 mins of fun aerobatics. As I climbed out with the wind out of the south at 12kts, I realised that the vis on the ground was far better than it was at 2000'.
Didn't stop me having fun but a better horizon would have made my stall turns, inverted turns and spins onto a hdg a lot easier.
Well, that is my excuse:eek: !
Stik - another 3 hours of tractoring then maybe a quick pint in the Bell!
Halfbaked_Boy
1st Sep 2004, 18:18
Indeed, we noticed that as well; at 1,000 feet AGL we noticed the inversion 500-1,000 feet above us so it did make the visibility slightly poorer, but that is to be expected on days such as today. Just wait until the Winter months start rolling in, then you get the luxury of a crystalline day with unlimited visibility, and increased 'grip' on the air as an added bonus!
Keep it up,
Jack.
Algirdas
1st Sep 2004, 19:31
Ab Fab flying today - a real corker, and a satisfied smile on my face. Up again tomorrow morning - another cracker by the looks!
Maude Charlee
2nd Sep 2004, 09:28
Pretty pants up in Dumfries and Galloway. Cloud 7/8 down to 1200'. Much better down in Lancs and Yorks though. Good viz and scattered at 2500'. Very pleasant afternoon, though could have done without the 30 minute wait for fuel at Blackpool - never seen a fuelling operation so slow for 4 aircraft!!!
Visibility and ride quality - superb but every man, jack and his army decided to jump into a glider - in the Vale of York yesterday.
Any RIS service came with a health warning and 50-mile diversions recommended to avoid block levels of engineless traffic. Throw in the non radio, non transponding brigade and it wouldn't surprise me that folk on the ground were left muttering about a strange new form of solar eclipse.
After weeks of trolling around in the crap - with silent radios except the occasional comment from ATC to the effect " you’re the only one in the sky today" - the sensational weather yesterday was a delight but it certainly raised every wing upwards into a fiesta of ICAS reports
:\ .
S-Works
2nd Sep 2004, 10:22
halfbakedboy, the inversion over you today was from surface to over 5000ft. I came over the top of you on top of the clouds while listening to who I assume was you as I think it was the only school aircraft airborne at that time.
Halfbaked_Boy
2nd Sep 2004, 10:51
Hmm, not so sure it would have been me then; I'm positive that at 2,500 we had an inversion at least slightly below us... the only real way I could tell was from the abrupt change of cloud patterns and the hazy horizon; then again, distance can be deceiving.
S-Works
2nd Sep 2004, 10:58
If you were in the air at 18:00 then that was the height of it! I had spent the previous 90 minutes to that talking my mate through NDB holds in preperation for his Instrument renewal and was very greatfull to climb on top of the inversion.
You are right distance can be hard to judge, it gets better with experiance!
Halfbaked_Boy
2nd Sep 2004, 11:12
Ahh we were enjoying the earlier evening, so that is more than likely the reason!
Right, I'll have my head bitten off if I don't go out now, so I'll say cherio for a bit!
Rgrds,
Jack.
S-Works
2nd Sep 2004, 11:15
silly me, i though anything before 18:00 was afternoon.......:D
Kolibear
2nd Sep 2004, 11:28
The vis. must have been nearly perfect, as I managed to find Lydd :ok: And we were at 20,000 feet (give or take a few thou)
Interestingly, the flight and descent back into Stansted was very smooth, until we dropped down below the inversion, when it became bumpy enough to move the 737 about.
Captainkarl
3rd Sep 2004, 11:17
WHO are YOU Bosse-X other PPRUNERS who is he? He flys from sywell but His identity is secret!:confused:
PPRuNe Radar
3rd Sep 2004, 11:22
Captainkarl,
anonimity is a policy on PPRuNe ....
unless the individual wants to make themselves known :)
Captainkarl
3rd Sep 2004, 11:28
But he is playing MIND games, isnt he halfbakedboy!
Three Mile Final
3rd Sep 2004, 11:56
Why does the best weather always coincide with work ??? I can't even look forward to a good weekend flying and with the forecast it should be good !!!
I am going to an airfield for the weekend but it is former RAF Westhampnett. I should have the company of Ray Hanna and some rather superb old drivers and fast motor cars though.
Lets hope next weekend is as good and I can get the Cherokee out again.
S-Works
3rd Sep 2004, 12:02
i dont recall saying I flew from Sywell....... :p
Andy_R
3rd Sep 2004, 12:49
you didn't !!!
And re the thread title spent a wonderful day flying down to Deauville and back, where the inversion layer was at 5550' precisely :rolleyes:
S-Works
3rd Sep 2004, 12:53
Cloud69, wow thats 2 of us now that experianced the inversion at the same altitude. I am seeing a pattern!!
:O
benhurr
3rd Sep 2004, 13:11
Make that three of us bose - I was around 300' above it at FL060
Halfbaked_Boy
7th Sep 2004, 00:20
Talking of diamonds of days, here are three of a few pictures I took today whilst having a spin (literally!) in the T67. As some of us found out, later on in the day it became rather murky indeed (300 foot cloud bases/less than half a mile visibility and the like...), but just have a look at the visuals direct from heaven:
http://server5.uploadit.org/files/Jacknjill-small168.JPG
http://server5.uploadit.org/files/Jacknjill-small169.JPG
http://server5.uploadit.org/files/Jacknjill-small170.JPG
The first of those was taken from roughly 4,000 feet, the second from around 7,000 and the final one... well, you can see for yourself in that one (although I believe that was as we were levelling off at 6,300)!
It really is such a shame that not everyone in this world has the dispensation of witnessing scenics such as this :)
Rgds and best wishes,
Jack.