Flying For Fun [Archive]

topcat450

24th Jun 2005, 11:41

I was reading the AIC late last night - and so might have missed something.

Am I correct in thinking...Inbound: You fly your chosen route towards the relevant holding point. Having listened to the ATIS to get the correct runway & other details.

You then fly around the holding race-track pattern until you can safely slot into the approach with the a/c in front? You may have to go around the racecourse more than once. I presume you do this at circuit hight?

You then fly onto the approach - and when wings level you call up a brief radio call (to the relevant frequency). And that's the only radio call you actually do? Nothing from further out? Nothing advising where you are when inbound?

:confused: Or did I miss something

Laundryman

24th Jun 2005, 15:00

I'll have to look at it again now I thought that the racetrack was at 3000 ft, but apart from that you seen to understand the AIC the same way I do, which gives me confidence as this will be my first time flying in.

Whirlybird

24th Jun 2005, 18:36

I haven't looked at the AIC for exact heights etc, but roughly speaking, that's it. I flew in last year, and there was hardly anyone around, so I flew to the Water Tower, followed the route, made my one radio call, and landed. However, it was a showery day, which probably put off a lot of people; I know it's sometimes quite crowded. But it's not as daunting as it sounds.

Grainger

26th Jun 2005, 21:46

Count me in !

Should be there on Sunday, with a very very important passenger. ;)

G :cool:

aerobatic_dude

26th Jun 2005, 22:12

Should be there on one of the three days in what will probably be the only Orange/white twin there

cubflyer

28th Jun 2005, 11:52

Topcat,
yes you have interpreted the AIC correctly, except if you need to go around one of the "holds" then the recommended height is 1500ft to 3000ft QNH for the Malmesbury assembly area for the hard runway, and not above 1500ft QNH for Northside for the Grass runway. It is quite likely that you wont have to go around the hold at all, just follow the aircraft infront (assuming they are following the procedure correctly!) onto the "downwind" leg

Correct on your interpretation of only having to make one radio call on final. And dont expect anyone to talk to you to say "cleared to land" You are already cleared to land unless you are told otherwise. The runway may not be vacant, possibly aircraft ahead slowing down or at taxi speed vacating the runway. There is an exemption to allow you to land with the runway occupied- but of course dont if you think you cant slow down before hitting the aircraft ahead!
The procedure works very well and allows a high number of aircraft to land without incident and without a saturated radio frequency!

Anyone needing to call PFA Ops by phone at Kemble should note that of the numbers in the AIC only 01285 771177 should be used. The other number 771076 doesnt work. Unfortunately Kemble changed their phone system and removed this number but didnt tell PFA or spot it when they checked the AIC.
The advanced info number 771310 also doesnt work, but the fax number is OK.
Note these numbers are only for operational use-ie Non Radio briefing, Customs/immigration clearance, weather checks for incoming pilots etc, not for general enquirys!

Also note that no slots are required. You can arrive whenever you like, the AIC shows operating hours when the TRA and arrival procedures are in use, outside that time the airfield is still open using 118.9 for air to ground, or outside the air to ground times just make blind calls. PFA airfield operation starts 1800 local Thursday, usually 100 or so aircraft will have arrived by dusk Thursday.

Looking forward to a great time!

aerobatic_dude

28th Jun 2005, 19:39

All going well, I should be arriving on Sunday morning between 08.30 and 9.30 at some stage, if you're gonna be there drop me a PM

JonWhitehouse

28th Jun 2005, 23:02

Ur pretty much right bout the holding procedures TC450, from Malmesbury, do the racetrack thing anywhere between 1500' and 3000' QNH, then when u want to approach, fly onto left base not above 2000' QNH with landing lights on (if used). The rest, as u said is right as far as I can see!
From Northside, racetrack clockwise not above 1500' QNH, then peel off onto the appropriate base leg for the rwy. same radio procedure, but no l/light. Ill b there on Sat and Sun, look for ancient orange/white C152! Well it's cheap!
JW

shortstripper

29th Jun 2005, 06:56

Having flown in for the last three years, I'm driving to this one.

Not the best way to arrive, but as I'm a little rusty and also have some bulky items for the flea market it seems a good plan. I'll be there Friday and Saturday, so if anyones meeting up for a beer in the evening ... count me in :ok:

SS

Go Smoke

29th Jun 2005, 17:51

I'm flying in Friday morning and out on Saturday afternoon/eve in lovely, blue and white, Fournier RF4 G-BHJN.
Never met any PPRuners but if I spot any badges in the beer tent I'll pluck up the nerve to say hello.
Go Smoke.

DubTrub

29th Jun 2005, 19:43

My Friday plans have run amok, so I'll now be going Sat...but probably need to be away before the airspace closes in the afternoon.

bletchleytugie

29th Jun 2005, 19:50

I shall be there from tomorrow afternoon and out on the airfield supervising air cadet marshallers for the whole of the event.

Can I make a plea - of the 160 air cadets that are coming -i t will be the first time that a lot of them will have been exposed to an event of this scale. Although there is an amazing depth of experince, some of the older ones having now been to the event for five or six years - be patient with them, we are only trying to help and its a good a place as any to start them thinking about taking part in aviation as a whole - and then someone can buy me some beer afterwards.

Now what about the weather.......................

Regards

Bletchleytugie

Kolibear

30th Jun 2005, 08:56

I'll be there on Saturday, with a couple of other people.

I've read the AIC and it sounds complicated. If the Fairford MATZ turns into a TRA, then that will mean we'll have to come from the north rather than the east.

Pitts2112

30th Jun 2005, 18:10

I'll be there in the Magnolia Pitts, probably arriving Sat around lunchtime. Will be camping out under the wing (no chance of rolling over then!) with a couple of other Pitts drivers. May even find my way into the beer tent at some point.
Hope to meet a few of you there (not that I'll know any of you to look at you)

Pitts2112

DubTrub

30th Jun 2005, 21:36

You'll know me, you old Brit you!

Brooklands

1st Jul 2005, 15:35

Will definately be there tomorrow (Saturday), but I'm driving in so don't have to worry about the AIC. Hopefully I'll spot some of you, but I'm not very good at remembering faces.

Brooklands

matspart3

1st Jul 2005, 17:01

Gloucester are offering free landing fees to any visitors buying fuel en route to/from Kemble this weekend.

Might save a few hours waiting for the bowser at Kemble!!

Whirlybird

1st Jul 2005, 21:20

I got up early this morning, looked at the TAFs, and decided I didn't believe them! I was convinced the warm front would come in earlier than expected, so I drove to Kemble. There was a fairly low cloudbase all day, and rain starting and increasing from midday onwards, so I'm glad my aviation intuition was working well, and even more glad that I listened to it! Nice to meet Genghis and Taildragger; if any other PPRuNers were there, I missed you. I might be back there again on Sunday, so look out for me...description elsewhere on this thread, if I remember rightly. :)

2Donkeys

2nd Jul 2005, 11:25

Flew in yesterday afternoon at around 1500, and out again this morning.

Good things - reduced fee, fewer un-aviation related tat-vendors, friendly welcome, good marshalling.

Bad things - fewer stalls than last year (I reckon), less to see and do than on previous occasions, more spotters than flyers, no discernable difference in style from the "Rally".

The weather obviously put a lot of people off on Friday, and as I departed today into a 700' cloudbase there were only a small number of PFA types on approach with relatively little inbound traffic evident.

Hopefully better weather will lift the mood a bit.

2D

TheKentishFledgling

2nd Jul 2005, 13:56

Flew in yesterday afternoon at around 1500, and out again this morning.

Camping under the wing, 2Ds? ;)

tKF

2Donkeys

2nd Jul 2005, 14:34

Sadly not! I was partying the night away a few miles south of Kemble! :D

Zulu Alpha

2nd Jul 2005, 19:22

I wish there was some way of getting an accurate weather actual and forecast at FFF. On Friday evening it was 2000ft here in East Anglia and for most of the trip but the Brize and Gloucester TAF/METAR said 700 ft (and Kemble is 400ft) so that means 300ft cloudbase. Decided not to go as I had a 1 hr trip and didn't want to have to divert or come back home. But it sounds as if lots of people did get in. I assume this meant it was actually OK or did lots of people scudrun?

What about a webcam?

aerobatic_dude

2nd Jul 2005, 19:36

Still hopeful to be going tomorrow, Kemble might not be the problem, getting back in here might be. They are giving a lot of CB activity for the day here tomorrow.

And we even went to the hastle of getting fuel and oil this evening :mad:

DubTrub

2nd Jul 2005, 20:29

Posting on Pprune BB because I got to this one first

[Rant on]
For my first PFA Rally event in five years, I arrived at Kemble as a passenger in my 1941 PFA aeroplane registered in my name...it cost me £10, plus £5 for my flying buddy the pilot, also a co-owner of the plane. Why the difference?

I have to suggest that I was not too impressed. A bit like the actors paying to go on stage. I shall not bother again. I shall attend other events.
[/Rant off]

[Glowing report on]
But may I commend the PFA arrival procedures, which worked a treat, and the Kemble ATC folk who appeared to manage the arrival & departures with great professionalism.
[/Glowing report off]

Mike Cross

2nd Jul 2005, 21:24

Missed seeing you Rob. Flew in this morning, 2000 ft most of the way so no problem. It looked far worse than it was.

I suspect the AIC had the same problem. 20 pages IIRC containing such gems as avoid flying over villages and there's no need to call for a transit of the Fairford MATZ (which didn't exist as it wasn't activated by NOTAM, and even if it had been would not have been CAS in any case). Anyone who hadn't been there before would have been frightened out of their wits by the sheer volume of paper. Put it on a diet please!

Despite the rebranding it was difficult to see much difference. Failed to notice any great presence on the part of the BMAA, the hang gliders or the paramotors, or indeed much of a presence from the flying clubs, training organisations, AOPA or the non-PFA fraternity. No more spamcans than normal (all scared witless by the AIC no doubt). Good to see some stuff to amuse the kids though it wasn't really the weather for a family day out. After previous events Ultimate High seemed to have shut up shop for the weekend and didn't even have an aircraft on show.

Flying home was interesting, 1200 to 2000 ft most of the way, though I gather those heading north were finding things a lot worse.

The closure of the airfield for two hours for displays was OTT IMHO.

Marshalling was excellent as were the procedures and it was gratifying not to see the large fleet of expensively hired-in 4x4's that have (dis)graced previous rallies.

Mike

DubTrub

2nd Jul 2005, 21:45

Sorry, Mike, I did not express myself correctly: The AIC was fine, as were the procedures (and so was the marshalling, good show, chaps). My harrumpt is with the charges.

After 5 years, I could see no difference in the branding, other than pre-1939 drivers got in free (harrumpt...mine is 1941)

Foreign pilots get in free (what, even in a spam can? that really takes the Micky!) Harrumpt!

To be fair, that French delta homebuilt-thingy was worth seeing...hope he gets the "most meritorious flight"

That Flitzer was nice...hope he gets the silver.

Edit: silver as in "goes home with the gong"...should be gold, really

JonWhitehouse

3rd Jul 2005, 00:10

Was flying in from Wolverhampton, got as far as Stroud and found the hills blocking Kemble from the north, east and west were rather higher than the cloudbase! With viz around the 2k mark and narrowly avoiding northbound aircraft materialising from the murk, decided to wait it out at Gloucester. After a few hours, and another attempt to get the a/c cleaned in the showers over the ridge I decided to head home. Plan on heading North tomorrow, better luck that way maybe!
Glad some people got in though, hope it was fun!

Monocock

3rd Jul 2005, 09:13

I didn't make it. I'm also afraid that I didn't make that much of an effort to make it either....:(

The more I fly the more I get really wary of large gatherings of planes that are all converging into one place, in marginal weather and with a large variation of pilot experience levels.

I had to be back home by early afternoon and my son was desperate to go for a fly so I couldn't really say no as I am trying to encourage him to get into flying. Needless to say, we got half way to Compton Abbas and he decided he wanted mummy and that daddy's plane was really boring....:confused:

Finally I made a quick solo dash to Popham for a read of the paper and some lunch. It was beautufully tranquil.

Sadly I am at a ruby wedding celebration from lunchtime onwards today so it looks like the rally 'aint gonna' happen for me in 2005.

It's sad that so many people slate it as if it stops for good there will be a really annoying "do you remember the good old PFA/FFF Rally?" comments for years to come.

Surely if some structured comments and suggestions were placed on the PFA forum then the whole process will gradually improve. I can't help feel that people went there in readiness to moan about it this year so it didn't really stand a chance.

However, £15 quid for a stunning vintage a/c to arrive does take the mick slightly. I concur with your annoyance Rob.

P.S Anyone know who went in to the rally in a Diamond 40? I very nearly had a head on with him en route to Popham. Two seconds later we would have been modern art on Coombe hill..........

yakker

3rd Jul 2005, 11:11

I concur Monocock with your being wary. We went in on Friday, followed the AIC, working okay until we were on base. Then watched a PFA aircraft, fly in on a long final, straight over the village we had been asked to avoid, underneath a Jodel on final, causing the controller to ask the Jodel to move to the right of the runway, and then land long to avoid a collision. Too close for comfort.

Don't these people read the AIC, or do they think it does not apply. I would not fly in solo, another pair of eyes is needed to avoid these idiots.

However I cannot see how the AIC would work if the cloud base is low, as you then have aircraft flying to the water tower at say 1500 ft, under the cloud base, and aircraft flying back from the race track at a similar height. I know the two routes are not exactly the same, but it doesnt allow for much seperation.

Pitts2112

3rd Jul 2005, 17:50

Got Popham Sat morning thinking the weather was iffy. Read the TAFs and METARs and wondered what windows those reporters were looking out of becuase they didn't seem to resemble what I was seeing. The weather wasn't a complete no-go but was in the marginal "decision-making" band. Clearly worse or clearly better weather would have been a no-brainer. But couple the iffy weather with complicated procedures, unfamiliar territory (have only flown into Kemble once years ago) and a bunch of amateurs who don't read AICs, that all started to look decidedly unattractive. The final input into the decision was that it was less than an hour's drive from Popham and, while it would have been nice to fly in, once there I wouldn't have been doing anything with the airplane anyway - it was only a means of getting to the event. If the trip was going to be hard work and the drive was short, there was really no point in flying. So a fellow Pitts mate and I drove in.

Had a decent time but more because of the company we kept, as is usual with these things. The Rally is a good event, but not a great one. There was really nothing there that would have made me want to go other than the meeting up with some mates. But, then again, I'm not a builder or tinkerer, so I'm the wrong target market, I suppose. It would be a shame if it didn't happen, but there will have to be more there in the future to attract me. The stalls were somewhat thin on the ground, I thought, and didn't offer anything really very different from previous years that I could tell. A shame AOPA weren't conducting a symposium on their latest political efforts and trying to drum up membership, same with the PFA on the future of GA in an EASA world. There were a couple of talks I should have gone to but got distracted. Those may have been worth the price of admission.

Thought the Spitife Mk26 was impressive and the Alpi Pioneer 300 looked a pretty cool ship. There was some newish technology there which may represent the future of light aviation and that was good to see.

Best part of the whole event was having dinner and a wee dram of the Knob with our own Trapper69 Sat night. Great evening of story-telling and basking in reflected glory. Thanks, Trapper! That was an evening I'll long remember.

Pitts2112

PS - since it\'s supposedly the busiest piece of GA airspace in Europe during the event, it was a real piece of shortsightedness for the Met Office not to have a live weather station on the field giving TAFs and METARs, expecially since people are trying to make weather decisions from all over Europe and given the variation in weather around those hills.

Pitts2112

DubTrub

3rd Jul 2005, 20:16

Met Office not to have a live weather station They did at the G-VFWE...and it was well staffed, well used, and well appreciated (at least my me).

smallpilot

3rd Jul 2005, 20:58

Agree totally that the lack of a met office on site was a big minus point. Surely in this day+age the pfa could at least have got a wireless internet connection at the booking-in tent to give up-to-date TAF's + METAR's. Looking at 8 hour old printouts pinned on a board was no use at all when people were making decisions late afternoon about whether to go or not.

Other minus points that need to be addressed....
Why no fuel after 17.30 ? People were waiting for the weather to lift and the decision to go would have been easier to make if fuel had been available later.

Why wasn't the display stopped in order to allow people to get away before the weather got worse.

The 'no radio call until on finals' is a mistake and a recepie for trouble. On my first approach I was cut up by a slower aircraft and had to go around. Second time round we followed the AIC route exactly (turn finals inside of Kemble village) and was accussed by ATC of cutting someone up who had made a straight in approach. If muppets didnt make finals calls straight-in from 4 miles and actually followed the route it would be helpful but you also need to stream the faster / slower traffic. A streaming from the VRP would be so much better and safer. Oh yes, and make sure the arrival ATIS can actually be heard properly!

A disappointing day for me and I saw no real improvement on previous years.

I'm sorry but this is supposed to be a premier event but much of the organisation has more of an air of a village fete about it. I will think seriously about if I go again next year. memo to the PFA - get a professional event manager to organise it - sure, it will cost but you'll reap the benefits of increased attendance. .

Well done though to the Marshallers who all did a great job

DubTrub

3rd Jul 2005, 23:09

I do appreciate that Francis, John and Andrew from PFA Engineering manned the PFA Engineering stand for the duration of the Rally. I hope they were able to get out awhile, and look at the aircraft and get a bite to eat...certainly when I saw them they were busy answering a lot of members' questions in the Homebuilders Centre.

Well done, chaps.

paulc

4th Jul 2005, 07:01

I was there for most of Sunday and it did seem much quieter than in previous years even though the wx yesterday was ok for much of the day.

Still think that £20 per person (non member coming by car) is expensive though and if, as said in a previous post, there were more spotters than flyers then maybe the PFA message is still not getting across.

Kolibear

4th Jul 2005, 07:34

First time into Kemble and first time to the PFA Rallye. I'm glad that I had a co-pilot as there was a lot of info to assimilate and the weather was marginal. We didn't see many other aircraft until we were on base leg, when we discovered three more a/c in front of us.

The marshalling was very good, no problems with finding a parking space.

We had a go in the BA Flight Sim and made a complete hash of landing a B737 at Heathrow. Is it true that during the PFA Rally , Kemble is busier than LHR?

Our major grouse was the timing of the aerobatics from 3:30 to 5:30. Our home airfield shuts at 7:00 so even with a tailwind we would have to be airborne by 6:00 and I'm sure that we would not had been the only ones in the queue. We ended up leaving at about 3:00.

All in all, a good day. We bumped into Mike Cross, Windy Militant & A Pommie, as well as another one of our group who had driven down there.

Mike Cross

4th Jul 2005, 11:09

Glad I'm not the only one who made a hash of the B737 landing. Slightly long and on one wheel but at least it stayed on the runway.:uhoh:

Mike

bletchleytugie

4th Jul 2005, 11:50

Thank you all for the positive comments on the Marshalling, i'll make sure that the feedback reaches all the cadets.

It was nice to see/meet some of you over the weekend, although due to being heavily disguised in the Queens cold and wet kit I suspect Mr Cross was the only one who positily identified me and didn't feel the need to take avoiding action!!.

One of the cadets did ask me on Friday evening why people were launching themselves into cloud - ah the inocence of youth.

Do it all again in 363 days I suppose

bar shaker

4th Jul 2005, 12:46

Its interesting to compare the PFA's event with the Air Britain fly-in at North Weald, a couple of weeks ago.

That was not only free landings fees, but visiting pilots got a £1.50 meal ticket.

Approx 200 (Aerbabe will correct me) visiting aircraft and half a dozen stalls, selling trial flights to £50k Hungarian imports.

No bother from spotters but plenty there and they had a very good day too, one told me.

cubflyer

4th Jul 2005, 13:59

Had a great 4 days at the Rally, pity the weather cut the attendance but still almost 1200 aircraft was pretty good and lots of interest to see.
ZA if you wanted the Kemble weather you could always have phoned up, no forecast though, only actuals.
Glad someone spotted the 8 hours out of data weather at departures, most of the time it was within 1-2 hours of what came off the met office site. Getting the weather is a real pain though, it is a pity that the Met Office refuse to come, saying they dont make enough money- seems they sponsor G-VFWE, so dont mind making a loss there! But if whoever suggested it wants to come along next year with their laptop and printer and wireless linkup and volunteer to provide the weather then they will be more than welcome!
Dub Trub, the difference in entry fees for you and your mate were due to the Pilot getting a discount! Yes it would be nice if it was all free, but the money has to come from somewhere!
I see even the £20,000 worth of loos and showers didnt please some! (agree we need a ladies loo at South side Booking in next year!)
Dub Trub also compliments the Kemble ATC, yes, an excellent job was done by ATC as usual, but they arent Kemble ATC, but PFA volunteers from various other places, SATCO from Aberdeen, others from elsewhere.
Good to hear that the AIC procedures work, it is a pity that some people dont follow them though! Agree with Mike that there is too much though, but the CAA keep wanting more things in there- every zone incursion in the UK over the 3 days is the fault of the PFA according to them!

I quite agree that there was not much difference in FFF than the good old PFA Rally, all the good things weve had for years were there, and little of the new stuff promised (much of which had been tried before and discarded over the years) materialised, or was a success. This year there was a "professional" event organiser involved (with the exhibition area), but much of what was promised to be different didnt happen, so it was the same but just a big expense for the PFA and also quite a few P**d off volunteers. hopefully back to normal next year!

Looking forward to the 2006 PFA Rally!

robin

4th Jul 2005, 14:41

Cubflyer

Made it to Kemble on Saturday and, given the weather, wasn't quite able to follow the AIC directions.

I'd echo the problem with the out-of-date TAFs and METARS. Surely it would have been possible to wire up a link at the booking-out tent, or even just a fax from Kemble Tower to give the current info.

I thought the arrangements were fine and the price OK. ATC as slick as ever. The twitchers seemed to be enjoying themselves. Parts of the display were great, esp given the cr*p weather.

Downsides:

1) ATIS inaudible
2) For sale park was limited and the flea market was much worse than previous years - probably due wx.
3) No real focus to the day

I'll go again, but mainly to support the PFA rather than because it is a spectacular event

aerobatic_dude

4th Jul 2005, 20:47

Got there on Sunday morning around 09.30a.m, surprised how quiet it was. With 4 of us looking out the window we didn't spot any traffic until we were almost on the " base " leg if you want to call it that. A little bit daunting coming in at 100mph+ and the Robin in front is doing a mere 70kts, trying to stay behind it was interesting to say the least.
Surprised how many marshallers there were, they marshalled us in nicely beside a Seneca V on the hard standing.

Thought it would have been busier with more aircraft but still there were more than enough to keep anyone happy, Was more than impressed by the Elite Twister display.

Made 2 landings in the 737 sim, the second one was more of an arrival rather than a landing.

Good show for all, and hopefully be visiting next year again

cubflyer

4th Jul 2005, 23:20

Robin,
it may well be possible to have some kind of link to something at the booking in tent. But there are no telephone lines within a few hundred meters. I guess some knid of wirelesslink might work, if someone has the technology and equipment to let us borrow!
Fax has been thought of, but problem due to no phone lines!

ATIS seemed to be variable quality, I'll pass on your comments!
Aircraft for sale is dependent on who turns up with an aircraft they want to sell. The guys running it said they had more than usual. A friend of mine was selling a very nice Glastar, didnt you like it??!!
Didnt get to the fly market.

Not sure what you mean by "no focus" does there need to be a focus? what do you want? serious question.
I thought the focus was all the aircraft flying in and there in the parking area for you to see. The biggest collection of aircraft in one place in Europe each year (3rd biggest in the world) All different types, aircraft that you could build, restore or buy yourself, some equipped with the latest technology, some back to basics. Plus meeting up with lots of likeminded people , old friends and new, its a big social event too. Then there is the exhibition area if you want to buy something or see some new kits on display.
This is what its all about.

Flyin'Dutch'

5th Jul 2005, 02:20

Cubflyer,

After the disappointing experience in 04 it was decided that the PFA Rally had to be revamped and that one of the ways to do this would be by 'embracing all of GA'

This obviously did not happen and that was painfully clear to see.

To then state that the PFA Rally is really only a gathering to meet up with some buddies and look at some homebuilts is akin to saying that you did not want any changes in the first place.

The PFA will have to make up its mind on what it wants, either to truly be the biggest GA event in Europe or a national PFA homebuilt strut meeting.

To struggle on in the current format is a recipe for financial loss to the PFA and unsatisfactory for punters and exhibitors.

Two other points:

1. The AIC is too convoluted, long and the routes complicated and potentially dangerous.

To force everyone in an horizontal and vertical straight jacket is asking for trouble. And by making the routing complicated people get put off to come in or just do their own thing. The people that have worked these routings out have more faith in the ability of the average PPL to aviate and navigate than is justified by the demonstration of airmanship of a fair few of the participants.

2. Not having current up to date weather available in this day and age is inexcusable.

LowNSlow

5th Jul 2005, 06:29

My friend and I arrived on Saturday and the only traffic we saw were two aeroplanes leaving the area and eventually one that joined the “racetrack” behind us.

The ATIS took every ounce of concentration to hear as it was extremely faint even when we were within 5 miles of Kemble.

The AIC was a pain. Does the EAA publish recommended routes to Oshkosh? Surely it would be enough to rely on pilots to find their own way to Kemble and only have a laid down procedure for the circuit and holding area? Most people manage to avoid MATZs and CAS in their day to day flying, why can’t they do it on Rally weekend?

The Marshallers were brilliant, plenty of them and precise with their directions. Well done lads and lasses.

The displays were good to see but the commentary on the various types could have been a bit more comprehensive.

There did seem to be a greater presence by the lit manufacturers which was encouraging. Good to see the Wilksch diesel being fitted to various aircraft. The 120 hp version would make a great replacement for my Cirrus…..

Apart from the displays and the fly-bys I think it differed from the PFA Rally of 2004 in name only. As with robin, I will be going next year out of support for the PFA rather than a great desire to be there. Until the PFA can get the rest of GA involved then the event will remain as the national “strut” meeting which is fine for a lot of people. However, I’m sure there were quite a few non-pilots who, in addition to possibly being interested in building / buying an aeroplane, might conceivably be interested in learning how to fly it! Has the London Airshow pipped FFF as the place where Flying Clubs make their presence felt? Obviously the events are aimed at a different congregation but there must be overlap there which could be exploited?

TAFs and METARs are available on a mobile phone. Surely somebody could subscribe to the service for a week?

Anyway, see y’all there next year for a lamb burger and fries (Welsh and delicious, the burger that is, I’m just Welsh!)

Genghis the Engineer

5th Jul 2005, 06:52

Personally I thought that the roast-lamb-in-a-bun was much nicer than the lamb burger, and well worth the extra quid.

G

LowNSlow

5th Jul 2005, 07:06

Damn, didn't see that option. See another reason to go next year already!

DubTrub

5th Jul 2005, 07:10

Does the EAA publish recommended routes to Oshkosh? They do indeed,here (4.3Mb) (http://www.airventure.org/2005/flying/2005_NOTAM.pdf)

Mike Cross

5th Jul 2005, 10:18

They do indeed,here (4.3Mb)Ah! The EAA routing document is less than half the size of the PFA one so the event must be a lot smaller!;)

Cubflyerit may well be possible to have some kind of link to something at the booking in tent. You don't need a phone line to the tent. Speak to the sponsors. Last year and this Pilot had a digital camera by the runway photographing the arrivals. The pictures were beamed to their stand using a wireless LAN link and arrived there before the aircraft had parked up. A similar wireless link with the right antennas should give broadband connectivity to the booking in tents, you'd need a small generator at each to power the PC's. It would also enable people to get up to date NOTAM if necessary.

Mike