Making the best of the sunshine

As I mentioned at the end of my last blog post, Curtis seemed keen to get up again for another sortie, only this time he wanted to go up in a plane that would let him stick his camera out the window. The solution was a simple one. We would go up in one of Polder's C150's and he could snap away to his hearts content.

The only difference with today's sortie was the choice of venue. Whereas the previous flights had been around the Flevopolder, Curtis had recce'd the areas around Lisse and Noordwijk. The only concerns I had about Lisse were managing the approvals with Schiphol to pass through their CTR (control zone) on the day, and then once we got to Lisse, making sure I stayed OUT of their control zone. Lisse is right on the edged of the CTR and can easily result in an infringement if you don't keep an eye on where you are at every given moment.

A quick call to Schiphol in the morning confirmed that it wouldn't be a problem to pass through, given the time of day we planned to be up in the air. And the airspace all in all was much quieter. Far fewer GA pilots out and about enjoying the sunshine. Our plane today was PH-ALI and was sitting all washed and cleaned on the apron. A quick refuel and safety briefing and of course checking that the windows opened for Curtis and we were off.

There was almost no wind and the "ALI" was simply cutting through the air. The fastest speed I noticed was 112kts. That's the fastest I've ever got from a C150!! I called Schiphol tower just after leaving Lelystad and was given a Squawk code and the local QNH settings. But Schiphol called when we were just overhead Almere and said they had not altitude read from our transponder. After fiddling with it, the solution was to just switch it off and then switch it back on. That seemed to work.

We were asked to Squawk 0060 and to report when entering the CTR. Ten minutes later and we were overhead the two large towers at Ijburg and I reported back to ATC. They asked me to steer direct to the Control Tower via Badhoevedorp. When I had reached the suburbs of Amsterdam they changed their instructions and asked me to head for the Mexx building on the A10. That meant a quick 180 degree turn to the left, by which time they gave another steering heading which would bring us right alongside the control tower. The best bit was their instructions to descend to 500ft :-)

We buzzed the tower and steered west to overfly Hoofddorp and eventually exited the CTR right over Lisse. The next 20 minutes or so was spent circling the many fields, watching from traffic and trying to make sure that wherever Curtis wanted to photograph did not mean I was venturing into Schiphol's CTR without their permission.

It took us just a few minutes to figure out the best line to take for the best angle, and of course to avoid the strong sunlight, but it was a lot of fun steering to each field and then circling it and off to the next. It was almost like being a bumble bee who buzzs from one flower to the next.

The route back was less complicated than the route in. We overflew Hoofddorp again and then straight on to Amsterdam city centre. I managed to get some photo's of my house from the air, a first for me, and we did a few orbits of the city centre before heading back across the water towards Almere. I thanked the folks in Schiphol Tower for their cooperation and then got ready for another smooth landing back on Terra Firma. All in all another great flight and of course, Curtis was well pleased with the photo's he managed to capture.

Tulip Fields/BBQ Extravaganza!!!

A few months ago, I received a very pleasant, but unexpected surprise as a result of my blog. I received an email from a really nice family who found my photo's on the internet. It turns out that one of the tulip fields I flew over and photographed last year was one of their fields. They are tulip growers living not far from where I live and they emailed me to find out more about how I took the photo's. We exchanged several emails and I was invited to visit their greenhouse to learn all there is to know about growing tulips, and when we said our goodbyes we were presented with the freshest bouquet of tulips as a gift, straight from the grower himself. 

I regaled stories of my flying adventures, and waxed lyrical about my joy and love of flying and I invited them to come and join me on a tulip hunting adventure in April. The initial plan was to go flying the Sunday that the horrendously named Eyjafjallajokull volcano erupted and all the airspace was shut solid. Unlike my friends in the UK who were happily buzzing Gatwick and Manchester airports, everyone in Holland was grounded.

But in the meantime, I had another pleasant surprise. Once again, out of the blue, a professional photographer had found my blog and wanted to go tulip hunting. GREAT!!! The more the merrier. Curtis, my new photograper friend, and I exchanged a few emails and it turned out he was planning to come to Holland the same weekend I had pushed back the initial tulip flight to, so I suggested he join us that same day. 

Then Marina met a couple from her homeland of Ukraine and after a few glasses of wine when we all made our acquaintances, she announces I am a pilot, to which we recieved the obligatory "COOOOL" response. Marina told them about the planned tulip flights and instantly they asked "Can we come too??". Suddenly my dream of my own airline (aptly named Pendair) doesn't quite seem like an unobtainable dream :-)

Finally, our best friends, Andrew and Angelina, joined us for a boat cruise around Waterland in Noord Holland and we talked about the tulip weekend. And yes, you guessed it, they were hooked too. That's three plane loads of people all booked for Sunday. I made a quick call to Wouter in Polder Aviation and he said I could have their new C177 Cardinal for the afternoon from 2pm, BUT, I would need a check-out ride in it first. No problem....well, only one, but it's a minor one....I would have to be there at 9am for the check-ride, and then wait until 2pm for everyone to arrive. A small sacrifice to pay.

With so many people planned to come flying, Marina thought about having another BBQ flying day, similar to the one late last Summer. GREAT IDEA. We called everyone and they all agreed it was a great idea. So we agreed Marina and I would arrange the food and drinks and bring our portable BBQ. We set off for Makro (the local cash and carry) and bought all the provisions and then some and Marina marinated everything the night before. The BBQ was on for Sunday.

Then the first snag, of many, made it's appearance. Our tulip growing friends were not able to make it. They were really excited about coming, but unfortunately would not be able to join us and asked to take a rain cheque to another time. Fear not.....Angelina and Andrew mentioned on Facebook about their upcoming adventure, and that got others asking if they could come along, so once again the planes were fully booked :-)

The plan was for everyone to meet at Lelystad at 13:00. Marina and I loaded the car the night before, I made my way to the airport bright and early to get checked out and Marina would follow at 13:00 and me me and everyone else there.

That's when the second snag made it's appearance. Keep in mind that it's been a full six months, yes, count them, one, two, three, four, five, six, since I last flew, which was when I flew "NP" down to France for her annual. I have been unable to get her since (snow storms in Europe this Winter, volcanos in Iceland) and had shied away from renting anything if I was flying alone. Now also bear in mind that I'm flying in a new airplane type, which has several key handling differences, one of the biggest being that a) it's got a less powerful engine, b) has an all moveable elevator (an elevon) and c) has an ASI (airspeed indicator) in MPH instead of KTS which means a new set of speeds to memorise, and you can see where I'm going with this. A rusty pilot in a new plane is not exactly a successful mix.

Eelco, my instructor arrived and briefed me on the differences between the Cessna 177 I was about the fly, and the C172 I know so well. We refuelled and started her up and off we flew. The check-out would consist of the usual few steep-turns, stalls, practised forced landings and touch and go's. The first few steep turn exercises were a bit all over the place. Given there was so much haze and not much of a horizon, it was difficult to begin with, but I got it nailed eventually. Then we practiced stalls. Stall recovery in landing configuration was good, but stall recovery in a clean configuration and fully stalled were a bit slow in the beginning. Eventually I got the drill down perfectly though. We then headed to the field and Eelco pulls the throttle to idle "Engine Failure" he says. OK, run through the drill, look for a field. Since we weren't very high to begin with, I had to get her to V BG (best glide) quickly and then look for a suitable field even quicker. The first attempt was criticised because I chose a field that would have had a tail wind instead of a head wind. A new nugget which I NEVER considered, and I'm shocked I was never told about it before, was to look at the windmills and where they are pointing to figure out the wind direction and THEN choose a suitable field. The second attempt was carried out flawlessly.

That done, we headed back for the circuit to practise landings. That's when it all went a bit tits up. Getting the set-up in the plane in the downwind took a lot of practice. I ended up being too low in the downwind, over compensating, then getting too high on final. Then when I flared, I was over controlling with the elevator and we had to go-around after a baulked landing. Second attempt I was a bit better with the altitude but was way too fast on final. Third and fourth attempts I was better with speed and height, but wasn't spot-on with compensating for the cross-wind. The last attempt was a total greaser. Perfectly executed and was greeted by a loud "YESSSS!!!" from Eelco in the P2 seat. "THAT'S what I want you to do each and every time!!". We ran out of time and made that the last one and agreed to do two more later that morning. If they went OK, then I would be signed off. Phew...The rust is starting to flake off :-)

Everyone arrived at 13:00 on time. The plane was for our new Ukrainian friends, Maks and Tanya, to come fly first. Marina took everyone else to the woods to set-up the BBQ. I got up again and managed two more greasers and went in to sign the paperwork. While we waited I showed Maks and Tanya around the hangers of Lelycopter's and introduced them to Albert, one of the pilots there. A short 15 mins later and we were in the plane and ready to go tulip hunting.

Maks was all questions and excitement. Tanya was all smiles and big eyes. We took off and headed straight for the nearest tulips fields in the Flevo polder. I gave Maks the controls for a few mins and had to keep repeating to him not to be afraid to actually turn the plane, and to stop climbing or descending. The landing though with a full load was a little different than the last greaser I pulled off with Eelco and we bounced a little bit upon landing. I was so PISSED with myself, because as all pilots know, everyone who is NOT a pilot judges a pilot on his flying skills solely on how well/bad he lands the plane! D'oh!! We had flown for about 50 minutes. By the time we had landed, Marina, the amazing logistics planner for the day already sent the next batch over.

Now it was the turn of Andrew, Angelina and Curtis. Andrew had planned on sitting up front and flying, but Curtis needed the use of that seat for his tulip photo's. Andrew kindly gave up the seat on the proviso that he sit up front on the next lift. We took off and again headed all over the polder. Andrew brought along with him his portable GPS device and tracked the entire flight. At home later that evening he downloaded the data and sent me the track overlayed on a map of the Netherlands. This time I ventured a bit further South to Naarden. By now the skies were getting VERY busy. We had traffic off to our left about 200-300 feet higher. I have no idea if he saw me, so I gave him a wide berth and had Andrew help keep an eye on him. We circled Naarden, everyone snapping off like the paparazzi and headed back for more tulip fields. Curtis and I were getting the hang of figuring out the best line to take for everyone to take pics and we circled a few fully bloomed fields several times. Alas though the fun had to come to an end and we headed back. But the tulip fields just kept on giving...there so many more on the route into the circuit, so everyone was happy. This time though the landing was as smooth as silk :-) Having said that, Angelina looked a LITTLE bit green as it had turned a little turbulent as the heat of the day resulted in a lot of thermal activity. But she still enjoyed her flight.

Curtis wanted directions to the tulip field near the run in to the circuit, so off he went to photograph from the ground. Andrew had to drive back to pick up the girls for the next flight, so I relaxed and chewed the cud with the guys in Polder, trading war stories. When Andrew came back they came bearing gifts.....a gorgeous burger, cooked by my gorgeous Marina. Pendair has now graduated to in-flight catering :-)

Once again, everyone climbed in, a quick taxi to the active and we were off. This time though we were getting pressed for time. Wouter needed the plane back soon and I wanted to make the most of the daylight. Andrew took over the controls and flew the girls around the Polder. I kept a sharp eye on any potential traffic and also made sure we stayed below the Schiphol TMA. I have to say that Andrew did an amazing job flying. All those hours mucking around on Microsoft Flight-Sim had paid off. He knew what all the dials were, he knew what to expect from the handling of the plane, just was not used to the real sensation of flying. He nailed the altitude the whole time and eventually built up his confidence about "controlling" the plane and not being afraid of it biting back. I had him steer us back towards Bravo (the run point to the circuit at Lelystad) and took control about 2 mins out. Great job Andrew!!! Again, a good set-up resulted in a smooooooth landing and I was happy that the last of the rust on this pilot flaked off for good.

In all, I logged a little over 4 hours in the saddle, logged 10 landings and flew with 8 people yesterday. I was completely knackered, but in a good way. The highlight of the day was listening to everyone share their stories of the days experience and look at the amazing pics everyone had taken. And of course enjoying the efforts of my amazing Marina's BBQ while enjoying a few well earned COLD beers. 
 

Huge thanks to Andrew and Curtis for letting me use some of their photo's on my blog.

Seems like Curtis wants to go up again on Tuesday, so maybe I'll go up again!

VFR flights allowed again

Well, it seems the powers that be are finally relaxing the rules after having realised that the ash cloud will not affect VFR flights. 

KLM sent up a 737 on Saturday evening and flew up to FL041 (41,000 ft) and came back with no reported problems. Likewise Lufthansa have sent up two flights from Frankfurt to Munich and back and also reported nothing untoward going on, so the pressure is on Eurocontrol to re-open the airspace across Europe.

My only concern now is that the gorgeous weather remains long enough for us to go flying this Sunday. Plan is to have a fly-in BBQ again at Lelystad and take two groups of friends up to find the tulip fields.

Fingers crossed

Below is the NOTAM update with the VFR restrictions being revoked

A0471/10 - DUE TO VOLCANIC ACTIVITY IN ICELAND AND THE 

RESULTING ASHCLOUDS IN THE AMSTERDAM FIR, ALL IFR 

OPERATIONS ARE PROHIBITED. 
VFR FLIGHTS ARE ALLOWED AT OWN DISCRETION. 
IN ADDITION OF NORMAL APPLICABLE STANDARDS AND RULES, 

PASSENGERS TRANSPORT IS ONLY ALLOWED IF THE FOLLOWING 

RULES ARE ADHERED TO:
1)9 OR LESS PAX SEATS IN THE AIRCRAFT, 2) MAX TKOF WEIGHT 

5700KG OR LESS. 

AFTER COMPLETING EACH VFR FLIGHT A PILOT REPORT SHOULD 

BE FILED IMMEDIATLY TO VULKAAN(AT)KNMI.NL CONTAINING 

FOLLOWING INFORMATION:
ROUTE, ALTITUDE, DATE AND TIME OF FLIGHT IN LOCAL TIME, 

OBSERVATIONS REGARDING (ASH)CLOUDS. EVEN WHEN NO 

OBSERVATIONS HAVE BEEN MADE A PILOT REPORT IS MANDATORY. 

WHEN EMAIL IS NOT AVBL A PILOT REPORT CAN BE MADE TO 

LOCAL ATC BY RADIO OR AIRPORT AUTHORITY. 

ALSO, CAA-NL STATES THE PITOT TUBE SHOULD BE CHECKED 

CAREFULLY BEFORE AND AFTER EACH FLIGHT AND ALSO INCREASED 

MONITORING OF FLIGHT SPEED AND HEIGHT INDICATION AND 

WINDSCREEN TRANSPARENCY DURING FLIGHT IN THE RISK
AREA.

Volcanic ash ruining my weekend plans

A0450/10 - DUE TO VOLCANIC ACTIVITY IN ICELAND AND THE RESULTING ASHCLOUDS IN THE AMSTERDAM FIR, ALL CIVIL IFR AND VFR OPERATIONS ARE PROHIBITED.

POLICE, SAR AND HEMS FLIGHTS ARE EXEMPTED. SFC/FL245. 17 APR 07:05 2010 UNTIL 17 APR 18:00 2010 ESTIMATED. CREATED: 17 APR 07:06 2010 

The above is the current NOTAM issued for Amsterdam's FIR.

In short they have basically shutdown the entire airspace over the Netherlands and are not allowing anyone to fly. This is a total bummer, because right now, I am in my garden looking up at THE most perfect flying weather imaginable and I am grounded. :-(

The even more frustrating thing is that the ash is a) not really anywhere near Holland, and b) only affects aircraft flying higher than FL200 (20,000 ft). We private pilots typically buzz around Holland at around 1,500 - 3,500 ft flying VFR (visual flight rules) and would not be affected by the ash cloud. But the powers that be have decided otherwise. My flying friends in the UK on the other hand are enjoying the fact that the British have shutdown IFR traffic but are allowing VFR traffic, which means all the private pilots pretty much have the skies to themselves. Lucky sods. Sadly though, the Dutch are not as cooperative.

Assuming the airspace is reopened by tomorrow (I will check back at the NOTAM's later today to find out the latest) the plan is to take friends for a tulip hunting flight over Holland. They themselves are in the tulip growing business, and they wanted to view their fields from the air. I also want to get up and see the fields again and enjoy the majesty of colour, the carpet of natures finest blooming in all its glory.

Now, if they only but a cork on that volcano in Iceland so I can go flying tomorrow I'll be a happy boy again.