Pics from trip to Spa

As many of you will have read from my previous blogs, I had tried to ferry the Robin to Strasbourg unsuccessfully last year and ended up having to divert and spend the weekend in Spa, Belgium.

As luck would have it though, the weekend I made my unplanned arrival, they were celebrating their centennial, which meant there were quite a few interesting and exotic visitors to the airfield, including of course myself :-)

I have finally got round to downloading the pics from my iPhone and I thought I would share some of them with you. Can anyone spot my little Robin in the background? :-)

An interesting pic from the iPhone of the HEMS heli based out of Aachen in Germany.

My bundle of joy is parked in the grass in the back-ground. Pictured here is an OV-10 Bronco.

Yours truly sitting in the cockpit of an Antonov AN-2

A replica of the plane flown across the English Channel by Bleriot

A stunning example of the Beachcraft Staggerwing

Some pics from the Strasbourg flight

On the journey South from the Netherlands to France, you begin to notice subtle changes in the landscape. For a start, you begin to notice hills....a geographic concept unknown in Holland :-) Here are some small hills in South Western Germany peeping out from the mornings mist burning off.



This is a photo (below) of Geilenkirchen NATO airbase right on the German/Dutch border.

 Just below my wing, about 2,000ft below me you can see a NATO tanker climbing out from the airbase I passed over only a few seconds ago. I was cruising along at 6,500 ft and he was told not to climb above 4,500.... presumably to avoid me.

This is a pic of me in the cockpit. Even with the glass bubble cockpit, it was still a little chilly in the Autumn sunshine. However, the fresh-air vents are opened fully in the summer because it's like a greenhouse in there :-)

Another pic or yours truly. As you can see, there's plenty of headroom in the cockpit.

View of France from the cockpit, looking straight-ahead.

Finally got down to France

For those of you who either follow my blog, or who know me from flying out of EHLE, you'll no doubt know that I've been trying to get te Robin down to France for her annual for the best part of eight weeks now.

Each attempt swept me up in a new adventure in its own right, but always resulted in my having to put said tail between said legs and scurry back to Lelystad and wait out the weather for another day.

Waiting out the weather is easier said than done. For a start, it's the worst time of the year to go planning a long cross-country in Northern Europe. Autumn is in full force, bring strong trade-winds, unpredictable weather, and of course the shorter days, especially now since the clocks went back.

Back in August, I tried to fly down to Strasbourg. We had planned to go on vacation to Ukraine in August and so I figured I'd fly "NP" down before we went on our hols. I picked a weekend that worked, timing-wise, but wasn't looking so good weatherwise. The night before I worked on the flightplan, loaded it into the GPS, scribbled everything onto the charts and packed up for the trip.

All things being equal, in the ATL it should take about 2.5 - 3 hours in NIL wind and with an econocruise setting in flight to eek out as much fuel as possible. I was happy with the paperwork and I logged the flightplan online for a very early departure the next day. But that's when the fun started. I arrived nice and early, but some idiots buried my plane at the very back of the hanger. It took forty mins of moving 5 other planes out of the way before mine was on the ramp outside. That put me back a bit. But before long I was off.

I planned to route down through western Germany and then pop over into France, but as I approached Aachen on the Dutch/German border, the weather decided it wasn't going to play along with my plans. So I diverted to Aachen, parked up and ate my sandwiches with the folks in the tower. A couple of hours later, things looked like they were brightening up, so I jumped back into the air, only to be scuppered once again. As I was cruising along at about 1200ft, I noticed that the trees were very close, combined with an ever decreasing cloudbase. Not wanting to be one of those statistics you read on the accident reports in the monthly pilot magazines, I decided to divert again...this time to Spa. I had only managed an extra 15 mins flight from Aachen :-(

However, as luck would have it, I landed in Spa when they were celebrating their 100th anniversary as an airfield!! There were lots of exotic looking aircraft from bygone era's, and the staff there kindly arranged a hotel for me for the night and drove me into town. The next morning was even worse. I had to wait until midday for the mist to burn off and the weather to the South was the same as yesterday, so I flew home.

Vacation over, everyone back to work and Autumn settling in. But the annual was still not done. So I kept looking at the weather, hoping for a break. Finally, a break in the weather DID come. I took a few days off, planned the route again and managed to make my way South for the annual. This trip was less of the scud running exercise from the last time, but more a case of climbing, cruising, admiring the view and simply enjoying being a pilot. There were only two cock-ups on this trip. The first being the moment ATC in Holland told me I had flown through their active shooting range. They only told me AS I WAS EXITING. And they got all hot and bothered about it. I had called them up to ask for Flight Information Service (i.e. keep me away from other planes and places I shouldn't be near) so I was amazed they were having a pop at me for something they should have sorted out 5 mins earlier. But that's the Dutch for you....nothing is ever THEIR fault, it's always YOUR fault. I used the Irish charm offensive, apologised about the infringement and went on my merry way.

The other was a similar nature, but in France. I planned to skirt around a restricted area (not enter it, just fly around it) but the French guys were going nuts that I was close to it....I never infringed that airspace, but that's cause the French guys were awake at the radar screen, unlike the boys in Holland. The only downside to the annual is of course that the plane is not out of action until I get her back. And getting her back will almost certainly mean a 9 hour train ride (yes folks, that's how long it took me to get back after dropping her off) back to France and more fretting about the weather window. I just hope the current series of cyclones buggers off soon so I can get NP back soon.

Uploaded the Robin's Flight Manual

After several weeks of translation from French into English (and extensive use of the dictionary I might add) I have finally finished the English version of the Flight Manual for the Robin ATL I own.

Funnily the flight manual I got when she was purchased was simply a photocopy of something the previous owner used and there was no original manual to be had anywhere.

But using the power of the internet, I managed to find a .pdf version of the manual in French and went about making my own English language version. Each evening I had free I would fiddle about with the dictionary and MS Word and work on it.

I'm really pleased with the outcome and printed out the new English flight manual and had it bound. So now it'll stay with the aircraft or with me. I also worked on a checklist for the ATL. I based it on the layout I got from a wonderful FBO based in Florida. Everything for their C172's managed to print out on a single A4 sheet of paper. So using the checklist from the manual, I devised my own version for the Robin.

I've uploaded both the checklist and the manual for any other Anglophile ATL drivers out there to use at their discretion. Hope you enjoy using it as much as I do.

New Annual needed soon

It seems the nice Summer weather has decided to go on vacation too. Warm sunny flying days have been replaced with crappy unpredictable rain soaked days, mixed with the occasional few days of strong gusts. I only hope that I get a break in the weather because I need to fly F-NP down to Strasbourg soon for it's Annual Check and CofA renewal before I head off on my on holidays soon.

I had hoped that I could have the work performed here in Holland and just get the guys in France to submit the paperwork to the French authorities....but those gombeens in the EASA have struck yet again. In an effort to harmonise the rules across Europe, in this case regarding maintenance of an aircraft, I have to wait until some date in Sept/Oct (which by then the CofA will have expired) in order to allow a perfectly qualified Ducth engineer to work on an "F" registered plane. Something I don't understand because a light GA plane works and fly's the same way in the air above Holland as it does above France or anywhere else for that matter. And if the engineer in Holland could fix it/look over it, then why must we be forced to wait for EASA to formally allow it in Sept/Oct.

Suffice to say, we European pilots hear a lot of bullshit from the multitude of Aviation Authorities, Groups, Organisations etc about standardising and singing from the same hymn-sheet but we never actually see it in practice. Look at the recent Mode "S" tx debacle, or the current conflict on licences and ratings (notably IMC vs Instrument Rating). Seems that standardisation results in more stringent rules being applied, and without any value-add in terms of extra safety...just more confusion, more paperwork and more cost. Oh how I long to have a flying experience enjoyed in the U.S. in place here in Europe.

Well....back to the weather charts to see if this weekend would work to get F-NP down South for her annual check-up.

Blue Skies

First PLANNED flight to Germany

This summer has been a pilots dream. There have been countless weekends with high pressures sitting right over the continent and not really bothered to go anywhere else. So it means that I can get to fly more. Yay!

Marina has also recently taken up sailing (a passion and dream of hers for a long time) so it means that I no longer feel guilty when I look at the long term weather forecast and start to come up with places to fly to. The plan this time was to attend a small airshow in Germany, spend the day there and fly back in the evening. We were both keeping an eye on the weather (I've begun teaching Marina what I learned so she can put it to use sailing) and everything was set. I dropped Marina off early and drive to EHLE to get F-NP ready for the trip across the border.

This was to be the first "OFFICIAL" trip to Germany. The previous visit to Germany (if you recall) was an unintended precautionary landing at an ex-RAF base in Elmpt, now occupied by the British Army. F-NP happily spent the night being billeted in one of the HUGE hangers that once house RAF Tornado's. I am eternally grateful to the guys and girls of HM Armed Forces for getting us back into the air the following day. Today, we would try and get ourselves there and back in one piece and under our own steam :-)

I filed the flightplan online (using the iPhone of all things) and got sms responses back that they were accepted (outbound and inbound) earlier that morning. Before leaving, I raided Wouter's Jepp guides for the airfield charts for my destination and alternate, and then packed the all important sandwiches into the Robin.

This was going to be the longest flight undertaken int he Robin since ferrying her from Strasbourg, and was also a good way of testing the PocketFMS software on the PocketPC. I had fiddled with it on shorter flights, but never really worried because I could also find my way back to EHLE if it ran out of batteries etc. This flight though was different. I plogged it on paper, but also created an identical flightplan for PocketFMS to steer me on. I would test my dead-reckoning against the computer and see how accurate I was, as well as test the PocketFMS more extensively in the air.

Before long I was up and away, contacted Dutch Mil for FIS to the German border and opened the flightplan with them. The great thing about heading East is that there is no Schiphol TMA to deal with from Harderwijk onwards. That means you can climb up to FL065 before reaching Class B airspace, and significantly improves fuel performance as well as comfort level (since it's less bumpy higher up). Traffic wasn't so busy, and the folks in ATC in Germany even let me cut through some of Dortmund/Hamm's Class "C" airspace, cutting down on the journey time. I even got to climb as high as 9,500ft on the way over.

One of the annoying things about German pilots though is the insistence on speaking German to ATC....it made building up a mental picture of who was were almost impossible because I couldn't understand what they were saying. I know Dutch pilots do it too...but not nearly as much as the Germans.

Finding the grass field of Soest-Bad Sassendorf's airfield was a doddle this time. I've been to Texel numerous times, and still have trouble spotting it's grass strip from the air. But the GPS simply pointed the way and I spotted it without much effort. It's also situated parallel to an Autobahn so I think that took a lot of the guesswork out of finding the field. I entered the deadside of the pattern, descended to circuit height and landed without a hitch. I parked right next to the tower, paid my landing fee and enjoyed the show that continued on into the afternoon. It was a rather simple affair, but fun and interesting all the same.

Soon it was time to get going again, so I fired up F-NP, took off and contacted ATC to open the flightplan for the journey home. The fuel inspection before leaving showed slightly more than half tanks. But the winds aloft had picked up. What's more, on my nose, I saw a bloody great big rain shower and it's associated low hanging claggy cloud right in front of me. I leaned the mixture right back and was more interested in staying aloft as long as I could than getting home as fast as I could. I had chosen Teuge as a fuelstop/alternate, but the rain shower sat right over Amersfoort and Teuge. I had enough in the tanks to get to EHLE, where they were reporting blue skies, so I opted to deviate North a little to avoid the rain and cloud and continue on to EHLE. Once clear of the cloud on the Western side, I benefitted from a tail wind too (according to the GPS) and I was doing 138kts G/S (ground speed). Sweet!!!

Traffic as always was busy coming into Lelystad and I had some clown report overhead "BRAVO VRP" but basically overtake me as I was making my way to join the turn downwind. I swear some pilots fly as badly as they drive....in a hurry to get back, but not paying attention to traffic ahead of them!! But the rest of the circuit was uneventful. After putting F-NP to bed in the hanger, I rushed back to Aalsmeer to pick up Marina from her sailing lessons. I guess there will soon be TWO captains in the family :-)

BBQ and the Robin

About a month or so ago, with the Summer weather finally making it's way to Amsterdam, I thought of a novel way to go flying with multiple passengers in the two-seater Robin. The solution was simple. Bring the mini BBQ, invite a load of friends, and then take them up one at a time.

I whipped open Google Earth and scoured the area for a nice spot close by to Lelystad airport but also nice enough for those who were busy eating to sit and relax while I took folks up for a spin in the Robin. As luck would have it, there was a nice wee spot in a woods close-by with a nice river area.

With the BBQ, burgers, beer and the dog pack into the back of the car, we headed off. The sun was beating down and it was perfect weather to go flying. I was so keen to get up in the air that I took our friends Nadya and Pavel up before heading off to set-up the BBQ. It was Nadya's first time flying in her life. And she was also the first passenger I had ever taken up in F-GFNP. So I was a little worried that she might get air-sick or worse....freak out on me. I told her that I would only do a few circuits and if she was up for going further, then let me know. The idea was that if she did freak out we'd only be a few minutes from the airfield to get her down quickly and safely.

Armed with her video camera (am still waiting for the video to load up to You Tube) Nadya strapped herself in and was busy taking in the sights. When I lifted off I could hear a happy scream from the right-hand seat. I looked over and saw the Cheshire cat grin on her face. When I asked her if she wanted to fly the plane, she declined and said she was happier if I flew. She sat back and enjoyed a quick tour of the area and about 20 minutes later we landed. This time to load Pavel into the co-pilot seat.


I can't remember if Pavel had flown before, be he was clearly not at all nervous and after listening to Nadya regale her experience, he was keen to get up also. I asked Pavel if he was interested in doing some light air maneuvers. He gave a cheeky grin and said he was up for it. As soon as we were up and I trimmed the plane for the climb, I gave Pavel the stick and asked him to head to the North. When we got over the North end of the Flevo Polder I did a 360 to check for traffic and showed him simple things like Dutch Rolls, negative-G flight and spiral turns. I don't have a parachute, so i wouldn't even attempt anything hardcore in the F-NP. He clearly enjoyed himself and he too landed with a Cheshire cat grin on his face.


After parking F-NP, we headed off to the woods to get the BBQ going. The girls found a nice spot and Pavel and I lugged everything out of the car and did what all BBQing men do best...got the fire going :-) Not long after the BBQ was fired up, the rest of the gang arrived. My friend Jamie, his brother Kyle and friend Mike, and my friend Ben and his girlfriend Monika. Introductions over, we soon got down to the business of frying up the burgers and the girls digging into the ice cold white wine. Of course, I was the only one not allowed to drink....bugger.


Ben was next to come up with me. And as a novice glider pilot, he said he really liked the feel of F-NP. It was very light, and you only had to turn your body in the direction you wanted to go and found yourself heading there. I explained that it's as much a curse as a blessing. Especially if you're navigating long distances by yourself. I found this to be the case when I flew back from Strasbourg as well as a recent trip to Germany. With the guys and girls enjoying each others company at the BBQ, I took Ben up for about 40 mins. We did a large tour of the polder and took in some airwork. Before long, we were parking up F-NP and heading back to the gang.


The BBQ was winding down, all the food having be devoured by everyone (including Alko). So we packed up everything and headed to the bar on the airfield (Flantuas above Martinair's offices). The food there is fantastic, and they also have a great terrace overlooking the active runway where you can sit outside in the sun watching everything going on around the airfield. Jamie offered to pay for a C-172 for a flight with himself, Kyle and Mike, so I arranged the use of one of Polder's 172's for an hour or so. The rest of the gang sat enjoying beers while I took the boys for a jaunt over Amsterdam. I managed to squeeze in an extra passenger on this flight...a world reknowned traveller who goes by the name of Mr. Duck. Seems he was accompanying Kyle and Mike on their trip across Europe and Kyle smuggled him onboard :-)


The boys enjoyed their flight, snapping away at the majesty of Amsterdam below us. But I could hear the bar calling and I wanted to head back and enjoy my well deserved glasses of beer. I for one really enjoyed the day, and cannot think of a better way to spend an afternoon....BBQ, beers, burgers and view from above. Isn't that right Mr. Duck??

Buzzing the tulip fields

Well, Spring is in the air, and with it comes some fantastic flying weather. At this time of the year the weather is turning to warmer climes but the dust and dirt has not yet had a chance to get lifted into the air on the warm columns or rising air, which means that you can expect pretty good visibility in all directions as opposed to Summer flying when you can expect a layer of clag hanging around at the inversion layer.

Today's sortie or sorts was to bimble around the tulip fields of Northern Holland. Something I have wanted to do since I got my PPL but had never managed to get up in the air for whatever reason during blooming season. The weather forecast all weekend was for sunshine, but when I awoke on Saturday I thought the weather men had gotten it completely wrong. Saturday as it turned out was indeed a write-off, but as luck would have it, I had planned to go up on the Sunday, and when I awoke and had breakfast and my morning coffee the sun started to burn off the early morning mists and the sun was playing centre stage.

While Marina entertained the dog, I whipped out the map and had a look at where might be a good place to go. I had initially planned to go towards Lisse, but those crazy Dutchies have scuppered those plans....and also any future idea's of overflying Amsterdam with friends. They've introduced a new SRZ (Special Rules Zone) which prohibits VFR flying inside the Schiphol CTR. The reason for this apparently is that since the introduction of Mode S transponders, the radar scopes that ATC use are now cluttered and they cannot provide safe separation. I'm guessing that the Mode S tx's give more info which must show-up on the screens. If you ask me, all they need are bigger screens which would help with the clutter. But after talking with some fellow pilots yesterday, they think that this has been their (ATC) golden goose in terms of finding an excuse to kick VFR traffic out of the CTR. Which the way the SID's (Standard Instrument Departures) and STAR's (Standard Arrival Routes) are set-up for Schiphol, there really isn't a lot of work for ATC whenever a VFR flight passes through, but cést la vie. I'll keep you posted on any updates, as the AIP stated that they were "working on a solution". I personally won't be holding my breath.


Anyway, after chatting with Wouter in Polder about the new SRZ I asked if he thought I would be excluded. The rules stated that all Mode S equipped aircraft wouldn't be allowed in, but I had an old Mode C tx in my plane. He said give it a go and let him know how I got on. I did, and failed. ATC wouldn't let me anywhere near the CTR even told them I was Mode C equipped. Unless, I was told, that I intended to land in Schiphol, I was not allowed in.....BUGGER!!

No worries, I turned the plane Northwest and headed towards the fields over Noord Holland. It was a gorgeous day, and F-NP (if anyone can come up with a cuter name, then let me know) was enjoying it as much as I was. Over the water of the Ijsselmeer she settled down and was as smooth as silk. Overland though, the thermals bumped her ever so slightly. She's a very light plane, only 600kg's MTOW, so she can get a little jittery if a stiff breeze is blowing, or in rising thermals.


With the camera in my hand and a few fields spotted, I did a few orbits and snapped away. Mission complete, I then headed towards the Afsluitdijk for the crossing over towards Texel. The closer I got to the island the better the visibility, and pretty soon I was talking to Ed in Texel asking for the airfield info. Runway 04 was in use today, so pretty simple approach. I've noticed with the clean lines on the wing of the little Robin that F-NP is very slippery and hard to slow-down. I was a little high initially on finals, but I put in the remainder of the flaps and throttled all the way back. Today's landing was an indication for the rest of the day...very smooth and gentle.

After taxying back to the apron and paying the landing fees I got talking to Ed about landing fees in general here in Holland. Texel is the cheapest in terms of Full-stop and touch and go's, but I was asking him his opinion that charging for touch and go's puts some pilots off of practicing their landings. I know though that I'd journey over to Texel to do them rather than pay the HUGE price in they charge in Lelystad!! Ed went out to take some photo's of F-NP as she was a new visitor to the airfield. Marina called to ask when I'd be back. That was my signal to head off again, and so goodbyes to Ed and I was off.


Crossing back though was a bit of a pain in the arse. I had Amsterdam Info providing FIS all the way over to Texel, but when I left Texel, I couldn't raise them on the radio at all. I called De Kooy tower for the frequency of De Kooy Approach to ask them to give me FIS service. The boys in De Kooy were only too happy to oblige and every few minutes suggest I try Ams Info again. It wasn't until I was near Enkhuizen that Ams Info could hear me. Very strange. But there wasn't much in the way of traffic at all. I took the scenic route to the North of the Lely Polder and then headed South towards Haarderwijk to join BRAVO.

Lelystad was pretty quiet, considering the weather. I think I was only one of two airplanes in the circuit. I turned downwind, did the before landing checks, throttled back on base leg and then turned final, selecting the last notch of flaps. Once again, the little Robin just kissed the Earth...what a smooth landing. Maybe my friend Matt is right......low-wings seem to have a more pronounced ground effect and the landings seem to be greasers a higher percentage of the time. :-)

Off at Delta and taxy back to the hanger to tuck F-NP into bed. I have to say that the 3 hours clocked on her were a lot of fun. I had thought that I would get cramp or something, but it wasn't so. And with only 11 litres of fuel drank during those 3 hours flying, it has to be one of the cheapest flights. That's €5.50 per flying based on the fuel consumed, and I wasn't flying too lean either. A few more hours under the belt and looking forward to the next bimble. Now if I can only convince Marina :-)

Back in the saddle

Yesterday we took our new puppy, Alko, to Naarden and then on to the coast. With the weather being so nice, and with us being so close to both Hilversum and Lelystad airports, my thoughts turned skyward again. Marina knows that every now and then I simply HAVE to go flying, regardless. She calls it my "flying addiction" and she knows that pretty soon I'm gonna have to go flying, no matter what. So today was one of those days.

I spent a while last night looking at the TAF's and also figuring out where to take "November Papa". I was deciding on Ameland, or Midden Zeeland. But in the end, I thought why not do a round robin and test the new GPS software from PocketFMS. I downloaded it onto my old Qtek mobile phone and tested it on a train journey earlier in the year. I fiddled with the setting and practiced using it en-route. But of course, nothing is quite like the real thing. So with the GPS software updated and the latest WX and flight plan uploaded we were off.

It was also a fun time since we were going to introduce Alko to life at the airport for the first time. Marina had not seen "NP" yet either, so it was a chance for her to check out the plane. She really liked the plane and looked all round it. I did the walk-round and sat in the cockpit. Marina and Alko sat on the bench and waved goodbye as I taxied out to the run-up area. I started up the GPS and lined up for take-off.

It was pretty blowy today, and I had to use the rudder a lot after lifting off, but I was soon climbing up to the cloud base and settled her in the cruise at about 700-800ft. Any higher and I was zipping in and out of clag. So I kept low enough to avoid the cloud but high enough to avoid the wind farms.

The mission for today was to do a round-robin trip from Lelystad towards Teuge, then route North to Zwolle and back towards Lelystad. But I ran into a fair bit of turbulence overhead the forest between Harderwijk and Apeldoorn. I was also worried a little about carb-icing but the engine was ticking over nicely. With a strong tailwind (GS was about 125kts) I was soon overhead Teuge and turning towards Zwolle. Zwolle was pretty easy to find (just follow the river North and hey presto) and soon I was turning South West for Lelystad. The GPS was working perfectly, and even flashed whenever the airspace changed or if an obstacle was up ahead. I just need to get myself a cradle for the window to hold the GPS whilst flying.

Heading towards Lelystad, the weather started to turn a little sour. I found myself zipping in and out of the odd light shower here and there. I was told by the folks in Lelystad's tower to keep an eye out for a Beechcraft King Air on long final. I found the traffic, and set myself up into the circuit, letting down slowly. The Robin really does turn on a dime and it's so lovely to fly in the circuit. With the last little bit of flap to bring in, I was set-up nicely for the approach. Just a little crosswind to deal with. With a little flare, the main wheels kissed the ground gently and I rolled clear of the runway.

Marina and Alko helped me put "NP" to bed......I pushed as they looked on and made sure I didn't hit anything. Another hour in the log book.

Oh, before I go, there's one last thing to let you know about....the new cafe above Martinair's flight school. It's always existed, just run by somebody else before. But now it's under new management and they have a new menu....which is FANTASTIC. Marina had a mustard and taragon soup with a salmon/cheese toasted sandwich, and I had a fantastic BLT with a mayo mixed with a small amount of chili peppers. If you're looking for somewhere to visit on the airfield for some food, then check out the restaurant above Martinair. We both totally recommend it. Oh....and it was THE best service I've had in Holland. They even gave Alko a bowl of water ;-)

Blue Skies.

Test Flying F-NP

Well as I had planned, I managed to get up last week. The weather here in Holland has been lovely the last week or so. Bitterly cold but with a large Polar airmass resulting in a high pressure sitting right over the Netherlands. That means frosty days but "gin clear" skys to go flying in.

I had a couple of chores to do before I headed off to the airport...the most important one was to buy Marina her Christmas pressie. But once I got all that squared away I headed off to the airport.

F-NP was tucked up in a nice warm hanger. But she was put into a tight corner right next to another airplane and I was scared of twanging her on the hanger door or against someone else's plane and having her suffer from hanger rash. Thankfully I managed to squeeze her out into the cold winter air and I ran in to grab my headset and the ships papers.

The mission today was to do some airwork and get used to her handling, so I planned for some touch and go's, stalls and steep turns. But getting her started was a challenge in itself. As I may have mentioned, Marinus had replaced the voltage-meter and put some oil in the engine. But she was proving a troublesome girl who doesn't like being taken out into the cold from her warm bed. When I would do the run up checks and select the carb heat, the engine would quit. Not a good thing to happen especially when lowering the RPM in the pattern and choosing the carb heat selector to keep the carb warm. A little troubleshooting and I managed to figured out what was wrong. With a check of the windsock, I was off.....or so I was to think.

Just after I rotated and lifted off, the ASI began to show ZERO knots!!! WTF!!! I pulled the power back, told ATC and landed her back on the runway....there was lots of tarmac ahead of me to do it. Someone behind had to go around, but I was safe on the ground and trying to figure out what was wrong with the ASI. I put the pitot heat on and everything read OK. So off I went again.

The Robin is so light that she almost jumps into the air by herself. I will try and figure out how far the Robin takes to lift-off the next time I fly and try some short field and soft field take-offs. But for now I wanted to feel her handling in the pattern and in the air.

I did a few touch and go's, she's very slippy and hard to lose speed because the wing is laminar flow in design with no rivets anywhere to be found. But I soon got used to her in the pattern. She's slow int he pattern with the rest of the traffic, so when I was used to lowering the flaps just before turning on base-leg in the Cessna, I don't bother to lower them until mid-way on base-leg and then the rest on final, so as to ensure I don't affect the traffic in the pattern behind me.

At this point I would like to agree with my friend Matt. Matt as you may know from previous blogs, has fallen in love with the Piper. I never liked the piper, purely from an aesthetics thing and the Johnson Bar method for lowering the flaps. But he did tell me his landings had become smoother with the low wing of the Piper...and I've noticed the same thing with my landings. That extra cushioning you get from the lower wing on the Robin seems to have the same effect the Piper's low wing had for Matt. Nice :-)

After three or four circuits I left teh circuit and headed North. Clear of traffic, I set her up for some stalls and found her to stall clean at about 36 knots and with a dirty wing at about 33 knots. I think the C172 would regularly stall for me when I was training at around 40 knots. But there is no real departure from control flight and the stall horn blew about 2 knots before the stall on each occaision. It's reassuring to know that it's consistent with handling.

Steep turns were a little difficult, simply because the nose cowling is so short and there are not many useful reference points to use to maintain the position on the horizon. I got the hang of it, but will try them when I go flying again.

After about an hour of test flying, I decided to head off home. I was late for an appointment with our neighbours...a pre-Christmas drink. The sun was low on the horizon and I was approaching from the North West so it was sometimes difficult to see the traffic. And at that time of the evening there were a lot of folks returning before the sun came down for good that day. I did a 360 orbit (the visibility is FANTASTIC) to slot in behind someone else and followed them into the pattern for a Full Stop landing. Again, another smooth landing and taxi back to the hanger left me smiling from ear to ear. She handles beautifully and you really feel like you're part of the plane. The next few flights will probably be more fact finding apropos handling charteristics, but I'm comfortable to take her further afield now....afterall, I fewrried her back from Strasbourg :-)

Let's see if the weather tomorrow is gonna be nice...... I just checked, it is :-)

Hoping to fly tomorrow

Well, I have not flown for for a few weeks and I am starting to suffer from "get-up-there itis". I got an email from Marinus to tell me that the voltage-meter that caused the electrical problems on the ferry flight from Strasbourg are now fixed and I'm hoping to take F-NP up for a jaunt tomorrow, weather permitting.

Keeping my fingers AND toes crossed.

The lunch that wasn't

Ever since changing jobs, I have found many new colleagues who are both intrigued and enthusiastic about my flying hobby. And I have been equally keen on taking them up with me once the weather Gods allowed us to go flying at the weekend.

This weekend saw the Gods play nice, and I took some friends from work flying. Our plan was the usual sight-seeing flight in Amsterdam followed by lunch in Texel. We arrived at the airport at around 2pm and I grabbed all the paperwork from Vivienne in Polder Aviation. She told me though that my plane for the day (PJ-PJL - "Julie") needed fuelling.


I had the guys jump into the plane, and taxied to the fuelling station. The boys sat patiently until I filled the tanks and then I had Csaba help me push the plane back from the pump so I could then start her up. But I was like a jack in the box. I had forgotten to pick up the check-list which was on the ground near the pump. It had the fuel card in it, hence why I took it out of the plane in the first place.

But once we settled in and buckled up we were ready to go. I had a heavy load in the plane with me, four grown adults and 3/4 load of fuel. So the plane was a little slow to climb-out. After we settled into the low level cruise, I left Csaba steer us towards Amsterdam. He held a vice-like grip until I explained you could fly with your thumb and forefinger. He got the knack pretty quickly but was chasing the heading a little bit until I showed him how to trim the aircraft. Good job Csaba ;-)


I contacted Amsterdam-Info and asked them if the sector over Amsterdam was busy or not, but I was told it was best to call Schiphol Tower. The boys in Schiphol were pretty quiet when I called them, and they had no problems letting us into the sector, but the airspace over Amsterdam was busy. There were already 3 light aircraft either en-route or in the sector already, so I asked the boys to keep a close eye for traffic.

The boys were so quiet in the back when we were orbiting the city. Camera's were clicking and the occiasional "Oh that's the street I live on" could be heard. When able I did some tour guide stuff, like "to the right is Dam Square, on our left is the Rijksmuseum" etc. But my tummy was grumbling so I asked the boys were they ready for lunch. Jamie, who's always stuffing his face in the office, gave a resounding "Yes" so we exited North and made our way to Texel. Csaba kept her straight and level again for the way up and De Kooy Approach gave us Traffic Advisories on our way over to the island.


No for the fun part...trying to find a grass runway on an island covered in grass!! Runway in use today was 04, the North Easterly runway. And we were approaching from the South. I asked Texel Radio is I could make a straight in approach, and they said fine, just be aware someone was doing circuits at the field. Not a problem. In fact, when I had thought I found the runway, sure enough I saw a plane in the distance setting themselves up for final, so I just followed it in for a really soft landing. I have to admit....I'm starting to like grass fields more and more :-) They're very forgiving.

The boys jumped out at the cafe, ordered some coffee and I came back to the tower after paying the landing fee. But just as we were about to order our food a call came from the tower. A departing plane had encountered a bank of fog to the North which was moving towards the airfield. Apparently earlier in the morning the same thing happened and everyone was grounded. Bugger!!! We had to scrap lunch and head off sharpish. Coffee drank, trip to the toilet and we were ready for the off again. This time Jaime was sitting in the P2 seat.


I took off, climbed out and turned South East towards the Afsluitdijk. Jamie was asking lots of interesting questions and had a nice touch with the controls. I told him where to aim for and he banked the plane into the turn and then settled her on the new course. My arm was on the dash and so restricting his ability to see the altimeter, so I'd ask him to climb or descend a little. I only found out I was blocking his vision after we'd landed ;-)

Sunset was glorious and Anthony started to perk up a little at that stage. We flew over the city of Lelystad and I was told that the traffic pattern was empty. So I was give the go ahead to join from Sierra rather than Bravo and set us up for a nice descent and approach. The landing was a little wobbly, but still soft. With the full PAX we rolled a little further than usual, and we taxied back to Polder. After settling the bill, I told the boys about the cafe in Martinair. I was famished at this stage. But when we got there we were told the cafe was being used for a private function. Damn...I couldn't catch a break at all today. We elected to grab a steak in Amsterdam, so off we went. Talking about the days events on the way home and tucking into a nice cut of beef and a cold beer toasting their accomplishments from earlier that day.

I think they've got the bug in them now....I'm looking forward to the next flight with them.

Home Sweet Home

Well, the last 24 hours have been eventful to say the least. My electrics problems resulting in full comms and TX failure meant I had to do an emergency landing at the old RAF Bruggen base, which is now an Army base for 16 Signals Rgmt.

When I landed, one of the first people I met, and as luck would have it, probably the most useful person on the base to have met insofar as a) he was the base's electrician and knows EVERYTHING about electrics, and b) he's known by everyone on base so was able to sort me out for hanger space and getting back into the base, was Sergeant Milliken, or "Spike" as he liked to be called.

Spike was out walking his dogs on the base when I should up and landed on the runway last night. As I taxied up to the apron, I was a little apprehensive having just landed on a military site. I had visions of armed guards with rifles and the rest of it. But then a smile crept on my face, because all the parked vehicles sat next to me on the apron had Union Jacks painted on them. I thought to myself that if anywhere on God's green Earth, this was probably the best place because for starters, everyone would speak English, and secondly, there's no better bunch of lads to help sort out a problem than those in HM Armed Forces.

Straight from the off, Spike helped sort out security, hanger space for the plane and even got a spare battery to try and recharge mine. We settled on the idea of finding me a hotel for the night and dealing with it the next morning because it was getting late and I wouldn't be allowed fly at night in Holland (no night VFR in Holland!!) even if we did get F-NP up and running.

Luck was starting to shine on me at this stage. I got the last room in the hotel, and the staff were wonderful. It's funny, but the base is only a few hundred metres from the Dutch-German border in Germany...but the hotel is just inside the Dutch border. And the amazing thing is, is that the Dutch are most decidedly Dutch. I'd have thought there would be some sort of cultural cross-over with them being so close to the Germans...but NEE!! They are Dutch and proud, and it was great being able to speak Dutch (my second language) rather than German all the time. A few beers later and I was off to bed for a well earned rest.

The next morning, Spike came to pick me up at the hotel. This guy just kept going over and above the call of duty. We fiddled with the cockpit and took out the battery. We plugged in a different one to see if that helped. Everything showed up as dead as a door nail on the cockpit instruments. After a while we plugged in car jumper leads to try and see if that worked. We kind of jump started the battery by turning over the car engine and having the engine recharge the battery. It took ages though, and when we reckoned it was OK, we tried turning over the plane's engine. Nothing doing.

Eventually, Spike suggested taking my battery to his workshop and testing it. If it was a good battery, he had something that could power the battery up. So off we went. All the tests proved the battery was sound, just out of charged, so he hooked it up to his charger and we left if for a while. And we went to get some grub. Over lunch, I was trying to figure out a route back home. I showed Spike my problem about crossing class C airspace without a radio and would have to fly the long way round.

After lunch, luck was again on my side. Wouter rang to tell me the weather was clearing in the west and that Holland had blue skies, but strong winds. Germany was also easing up...no rain, scattered clouds at 1,500-2,000 ft and clearing. We also had a fully charged battery and were off to go test it in the plane. A few minutes fiddling with the screws to screw it back in and we were ready to try and turn over the engine. Wouter reasoned that as soon as the engine started, the magneto would keep the engine alive even if the battery failed. So I was able to get home radioless if need be. We filled the tanks up with fuel, and I tried turning her over. In my haste, the first time I tried firing her up, I completely forgot to put the mixture rich....D'oh. But I copped it and when I put mixture rich, she started without any problems.

Mission control, we are T -10 minutes and counting.

I rang Marina to tell her I was off (she was worrying) and I filed the flight plan. It was a bit weird telling then that the departure airfield has no ICAO code 'cause it was a disused RAF base and I had an emergency landing the night before, but the guy on the phone was OK with that. Only things to organise were the security guys to give the runway a once over, and I needed to use the loo. Here's were it gets funny.

The hanger loos had no loo roll....so the guys brought me up in the back of a army Defender Landrover (always wanted to do that) to the fire station so I could use there loo. The fire station is run by Germans....who have instructions pinned to the toilet wall telling you the right and the wrong way to take a shit....I knew the Germans were anal, but this is unbelievable. Here's the pic to prove it.


Pilot's weight lightened and duly relieved I was ready for the off. Driven back down to the aircraft and strapped myself in. F-NP started up first time and I was then shown how to get back to the runway from the apron.

I gave Spike a quick wave and salute to show my appreciation for everything he did and took off. I did a quick orbit, flew low and rocked the wings to say good bye. Was kinda cool flying low in front of Spikes car like that. But then I had more pressing matters....the route home and the opening of my flight plan.

I called up Dutch Mil Info, but they either didn't hear me or were busy. So I called Langen Info, and they told me to contact Dutch Mil....fucking Germans!! Tried Dutch Mil again and they heard me and opened the flight plan for me. The route of choice was directly North as far as Apeldoorn, and then head NW to Lelystad. Only problem with that was there was one small stub of Class C ahead of me for Niederrein airport (now being used by Ryanair and sold as Dusseldorf, which is about 80km's from Dusseldorf!!) and I needed a working radio to cross Niederrein. But so far, the radio was working and I decided I'd give it a go. And hey presto, clearance received. I passed right over the top and was making good progress. But for one thing. The cloud base was low and wet, with a few showers hitting the canopy. I knew that carb icing was a very real risk, so I kept testing the carb heat. When I would notice the RPM drop and then rise again, I knew I was in icing conditions. So I kept the carb heat on for a significant time during the flight. When I would test again by putting the carb heat off, the engine would cough and splutter, so I put it straight back on again.

Soon I was overhead Apeldoorn and things were brightening up, on all aspects. The shitty weather was behind me, the fuel situation was good and the radios were still working fine. In fact, during the last 15 mins of the flight, it looked as though the alternator had actually been charging the plane. So I'm really stumped about the incident last night.

But the annoying bit was the forest between Apeldoorn and the Flevo Polder. As far as Apeldoorn there were rivers, railways, towns, lots of useful stuff to navigate by. But now with the strengthening winds (and quartering headwinds) it made it difficult to navigate. Fortunately though there were two bloody great big aerials shown on the map and which I found and I used them to navigate by. Soon enough, I was back in familiar territory and readying myself for the last and final leg.

Lots of fuel still in the tanks....good, electrics still working for radio contact with Lelystad tower....good, and I was not lost, which is also good. I readied everything for the approach and followed another plane into the circuit. I saw that the winds were so strong, he was barely moving when on finals. And I really had to crab in the base leg of the approach, but I was on finals before I knew it and seconds from the runway. A small flare and gentle bounce and I was home, safe and sound.

Wouter came out to greet me and I gave the Earth and gentle kiss. It was good to be home.

We tucked up F-NP in the hanger for a well deserved rest and I went to regale my story to Wouter. This has truly been an adventure, and the memories I will cherish. Lastly, without the help and support of truly wonderful people (Spike, Matt, Wouter) I would've be taking the train home tonight. Again, thank you all for your help and I hope to be able to take you up in F-NP in the near future.

Collecting the pland and the ensuing Emergency Landing

Well, I picked up my new plane today from Strasbourg. I woke up this morning at 6am to catch the multitude of trains through Germany to Strasbourg. Yesterday Matt and I were looking at the weather online and figuring out what it would work out to be....either flyable or not. I bought the tickets to Strasbourg and off I went.

On the train down, Matt was updating me on the latest TAF's and METAR's. I did the plog for the flight the night before and only needed the winds aloft which Matt supplied. I found a nice seat on the train and updated the plog on the train. But I got more than a few funny looks when I whipped out the CRP-1 flight computer and the nav charts...hahahahaha.

I arrived in Haguenau on time with no problems and checked through all the paper work and paid for the annual. Christian was a nice guy and he helped me fuel her up with MOGAS and I took her for a quick circuit by myself. The circuit was good except for the landing. She's a very slippy plane, not loosing her speed much. I got her on the ground (she sits very low on the ground) but was way too fast and as soon as the nose wheel touch the shimmy was awful. So I held off the nose for the longest time until the speed bled off.

With everything sorted paperwork wise, I took off, opened the flight plan and took off. The first thing I did wrong was not lean the mixture enough. I was using too much fuel based on my plog and was contemplating a fuel stop somewhere. That was just as I was handed over to Dutch Mil. And that's when the fun started. Dutch Mil couldn't hear me and I swicthed back to Langen Info. They heard me but when I tried to reply, they couldn't hear me. They kept calling F-GFNP do you read me. I clicked on the radio but no joy. So I squawked 7600 on the transponder and looked for a field to land. As luck would have it there was a great big runway below me. It looked military to me, but screw it, this was an emergency. I throttled back, came in over the field looking for the windsock or signals box. Found the wind sock, no signals and set-up for the approach. When I landed, some people were on a quad bike on the runway!!! I taxied back to the main apron and such her down. I knew tha tthe alternator wasn't charging the battery, that's why all the electrics stopped working. I just hoped the flaps would when I was landing.

After landing, I walked over to some folks who were walking their dogs on the airfield. It turns out that I landed at a disused RAF base, now being used by the UK Army. Cool...everyone speaks English, and all is OK. They are letting me store the plane in the old hangers overnight and a nice guy, Sergeant Spike dropped me off at a hotel, where I'm writing this and I'm hopin that the weather is good enough for me to fly back tomorrow. If it is, I'll fly in without a radio through the Class F/G in Holland and get the plane seen to there. So pray for good weather. I'll take pics and post them of F-NP at the base and load them tomorrow. But right now, I'm off to bed.

Wish me blue skies tomorrow.

Proud New Owner

Good news everybody....after many emails and after an exhaustive search, I have finally found a pair of wings that I can call my own. I am the proud new owner of my very own airplane.


She's a Robin ATL, with the registration F-GFNP. Not the fastest bird in the hanger by any means, but she's solid, is perfect working order and easy to handle. What's more, she sips only 12 litres of avgas (around 3 US gallons) per hour, so she won't break the bank when operating her.



Originally the plan was to buy a decent C172. But after a tiring search, I found that the older ones were in bits and the better/newer ones were still commanding a high price. Testament to the quality and popularity of Cessna's venerable workhorse....but not doing me any favours in finding a cheap 1st time-buy. Until the Robin happened along. Besides, as I have flown more and more this past year, I've noticed that more often than not, I was flying either by myself or with only one other person in the cockpit with me. If I had a C172, that would mean I'd be burning 14 gals of AVGAS with load factor of between 25%-50%....not economical at all. And with the Robin being only approx 10kts slower than the C172, that small amount of lost time really doesn't compare to the amound of pure savings on each flight. You can tell that the man behind the stick works with numbers each day :-)


I'm in the process of getting all the paperwork together and the insurance organised. But I'm not in a mad hurry to be honest because the weather this weekend is SO bad. I will most likely have to pick her up later in the month when the sun decides to make an appearance.

The only two snags I have with her are the transponder and the engine. The transponder is a mandatory issue...i.e. she needs a Mode S in order to fly uninhibited in Holland. And the engine because the current one is a little under powered. Eventually I'll swap her for a Rotax, which sips a similar amount of fuel but packs a bigger oompf. But the engine can come later. She already has a GPS, albeit an 1st generation one. So I'll look into getting a new GPS at some stage. But that's not a necessity for the moment. I think I'll focus the initial 10-20 hours just getting to know her and she how she handles, and then work on the add-ons later on. So now hopefully the family and friends who complain to me at Christmas and Birthdays about "buying the man who has everything" know what they can buy me....something for "NP" :-)

Keep your fingers crossed that the weather clears up over the coming weeks so I can go pick her up, and I hope I'll see you all soon so you can come and take a spin in her with me. Hopefully this will keep the "mid-life crisis" at bay for a wee while longer.

Blue Skies

Flying with Pendair

Since we all forgot to bring a camera, I'm afraid there are no photo's for you to see. Next time....I promise.

Anyway, I had to go for my biennial Medical Examination to get my new medical cert. It expires on the same day as my birthday, and given the fact it took the pen pushers in the Dutch Transport and Water Inspectorate an inordinate amount of time to process the last time, I booked myself in good and early at the medical examiners office this time and went for my check-up yesterday.

I hold two medicals, one for each of my licences (JAA for Europe and FAA for the U.S.). And since I'm flying to Florida for a holiday and intend to do lots of flying there, I would have had to find a flight surgeon when I got to the U.S. or find one here before I left. Thankfully, the same place I get my JAA medical can do the FAA one....and as with everything when it comes to Europe vs. U.S.A, the European medical was four times more expensive!!!

For those of you who care dearly about me, you'll be glad to hear I got a clean bill of health. I was even told that my hearing is as good as that of an 18 year old.....I guess it's true. If one of your senses is bad (in my case my eyes) something else compensates :-)

I had planned to go flying yesterday evening also. I met two of my friends in the office on Monday and chatted to them both briefly. I asked them if they were free on Wednesday evening, that they'd be more than welcome to come fly with me. Well, both of them jumped at the chance.

I arranged to meet Liat and Paula at the airport at around 18:30. I planned to get there myself a little earlier. I wanted to take the plane up by myself before taking anyone on board. It had been a little while since I flew and I wanted to get my hand in on my own and just relax and get ready for the main flight. The guys in Polder told me that they'd all be gone home by the time I'd get there. They'd leave the plane outside and the logbooks etc inside for me. Wouter asked if I wouldn't mind tucking the plane in for the night. Of course not Wouter....it'd be my pleasure.

I pre-flighted the plane and taxied out to the runway. I was to take off in the direction of the sun, which is never a good thing because it affects your visibility when the sun is low on the horizon. Power checks done, a quick look at the windsock which was completely limp (my best friend Matt has a saying, "Happiness is a limp windsock", my motto is, as long as it's only the windsock that's limp) and I lined up on the runway. Full power and off I went.

I was flying PH-PJL (Julie) tonight, and it's been a while since I was last flying this girl. It's funny, I've either gotten used to flying the lighter C150 or she was feeling a little heavy on the controls. It wasn't just when you climbed, but also when turning, with a little play in the ailerons. But nothing to worry about. I entered downwind and started getting ready for the first touch and go. I didn't get the speeds nailed properly and ended up being far too high and far too fast. I floated down the runway after trying to sideslip a little and I ended up giving up that attempt. Power to full, climb away and take the flaps back in. I was soon back in the circuit and started to visualise the steps I used to use when learning back in San Diego. I throttled back, brought in the flaps and aimed for 80 knots, imagined the blue building I used as a marker to turn onto base leg, then more flaps and 70 knots, then turned final with the final stage of flaps and 65 knots. I was still high (partly due to the fact that I'm so used to doing circuits at 1000ft, and in Holland they do them at 700ft, still not used to that. I sideslipped again a little, got the plane lined up straight and then nailed the landing. It was a little bumpy, but I was on the ground.

I took off for the last touch and go, and half way down the downwind leg the tower asked if I could do a 180 and go land at the opposite end. Sure, since I was the only one in the circuit. But this was a right hand circuit (a bit unnatural for pilots who are used to doing left hand circuits all the time) but I judged the heights and power settings perfectly. I came just over the threshold lights and landed nicely.

Touch and Go's over, it was time to pick up the girls. They were waiting for me in Martinair's restaurant. It's a really nice place and they have a veranda you can sit out on and enjoy some beers after a long days flying. The girls were enjoying a glass of Chardonnay and proffered me a glass, when Liat remembered that I was flying and it probably wasn't a good idea. Paula was worried because she hadn't brought any ID with her. It was not a problem though because she wouldn't need it.

We walked to the plane, I strapped them in and game them the safety briefing. Liat was going to be in the front today. Paula will join me up front the next time. I started up Julie and taxied out to the runway. Power checks done, we lined up and took-off heading West towards Lelystad and then South towards Amsterdam. I called the guys in Schiphol tower and was told to Squawk 0060, not above 1,200ft. Even though it was a glorious day, the air pressure was quite low and the QNH was only 998mb. But there wasn't a cloud on the sky and the wind was almost negligible.

On the way out there, I let Liat have a go at flying. I started her off with some steering. She soon got the hang of it and when we would climb or descend I told her to push or pull back. She did very very well. We were soon near the Amsterdam Sector, I called ATC to let them know and they cleared us to enter. I dropped altitude a little bit and slowed the plane down so the girls could get a good look at the city.

It seemed that in the beginning they were trying to get their bearings because they didn't really spot anything at first. Then I showed them the New Metropolis (looks like a ships hull sticking out of the water) and Dam Square. Paula was shouting "Ooh, the Bijenkorf". I wonder if that's were she likes to shop :-) We then flew down Overtoom, Paula trying to spot her house and over Vondelpark and up to Rembrandtsplein. I got to thinking if anyone down below was looking up at us with wonder and awe, and what must they be thinking. After about 20-30 mins of sighseeing, we then headed back. I had wanted to go towards Naarden, but with the light fading, and the fact that the Cloggies don't allow VFR (Visual Flight Rules) flights in the dark, we had to get back by sundown.

I let Liat take the controls again, and she was a natural. She even climbed and maintained an altitude, and descended and maintained, all with the greatest of ease. She seemed to be having lots of fun. So she flew it for most of the way back. Before getting near the airport, I was reminding the girls that the plane could not do aerobatics, but that I could show them something which would not stress the plane. I showed them the Dutch Roll (which is essentially what sideslipping is when you're too high on final approach) and a quick negative G. That got the biggest laugh of the night.

Minutes later we were soon on final approach and a little bit of a bump on landing (I've had worse in a KLM 737) we were home. We taxied back to Polder and the girls help me push the plane back into the hanger. That was the most difficult part of the night I'd say, but with lots of pushing and pulling and the girls watching the wings on either side, we soon got Julie back into her bed for the night. When we were done, we could hear someone taking a plane out for aerobatics, so the girls went out to watch. I think they want a piece of that action the next time they go flying. It was the perfect ending to a great evenings flying. I'm looking forward to taking them up again soon.