North Weald to Biggin Hill in poor visibility
After a pleasant outbound flight via Maidstone with my friend and neighbour Dave and his daughter Catherine, we stopped for a quick snack, drink and a look around The Squadron at North Weald.
Although the Air/Ground radio operator was a slightly blunt on the airwaves, I found North Weald fascinating with lots of aircraft movement, an abundance of aircraft types, a great cafe at The Squadron and even managed to get my self a Red Arrows pin badge for my flying bag by making a donation to the RAF. I must admit, that with a nice long and wide asphalt runway the landing fee of only £12.50 I thought was good value. I will definately be back.
Just as we were finishing our drinks in the glorious sunshine, I was fully aware that the weather back at Biggin Hill was anything but that. With the visibility and cloud base reducing but still within VFR limits, I wanted to start making a move back to base.
We gave North Weald Radio a call to get the airfield information and then taxied back past a watching audience at The Squadron to runway 20. Being aware that with 3 on board the Cessna 172 with some baggage, we were slightly heavy so decided to backtrack on the runway before departure to give us as much runway as possible.
After taking off to the south on runway 20, we made a left turn after departing the circuit to avoid the Stapleford ATZ and once well clear of the Stansted CTA we climbed to 2,300 feet.
As the flight to Biggin Hill is quite short, we changed frequency directly to Biggin Approach. With Southend Radar being so busy, it might have been that we wouldn’t have made contact with them before it would be time to switch to Biggin Approach to get our join and landing instructions.
We routed towards the M25 and followed the motorway all the way to the Queen Elizabeth bridge that crosses the River Thames where we called Biggin Hill on the radio.
It was at that point that the weather really started to close in and had to descend to 2,000 feet to keep under the cloud. The visibility also significantly reduced which resulted in a lot of concentration and a rather tiring remainder of the journey.
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Biggin Approach offered us the opportunity to bypass the fixed wing circuit and join directly on left base which would have been a lot quicker from our position, but with the poor visibility and the airfield not in sight, I decided that the safest option was to join the standard right hand circuit from the dead side for runway 21. This allowed me more time to spot the airfield and position the aircraft on a stable approach.
Although it was the safest decision, it did add a delay to the flight. As in a number of my recent flights, I was held at the end of the downwind leg while jet traffic departed ahead of me.
After being cleared to proceed to base leg and then to land on runway 21, we touched down just as the sun had started to set. After tying the plane down back at Alouette’s parking stands, emptying the aircraft of our baggage and removing the cameras, the scene of both the Cessna and Piper aircraft parked in the sunset was just beautiful.
Note: I am not an instructor and these videos are for aviation enthusiasts to enjoy for entertainment purposes. Please always consult a qualified instructor for advice.
View the video on my YouTube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5PYq0S22T-g