Day trip to the Isle of Wight
Headcorn (EGKH) to Sandown (EGHN)
I have flown to Sandown once before on a very brief visit with a fellow pilot at my previous club Alouette based at Biggin Hill. Now based at Headcorn in Kent, it was my first chance to fly their Cessna 172F as pilot in command and carrying passengers.
About 4 weeks before the flight, I arranged with my parents a day trip to Sandown to spend a bit more time there and enjoy the day. Over the 4 weeks I planned the route and itinerary which was tweaked a number of times but always had in the back of my mind that the trip might not happen and the typical British weather would put a massive dent in our plans.
Sunday 3rd June came around and it was an absolutely perfect day for flying and I had the aircraft (G-ATWJ) booked out for the whole day to make the most of it. Actually it was probably some of the best visibility I’ve experienced in the UK with only a few bumps of turbulence along the way.
We got to the airfield early just as it was opening at 9:00 to make the most of the day, and by the time I has completed all of the paperwork, finalised some of my aircraft performance calculations, set up all of the cameras and refuelled we managed to get airborne just after 10:00.
We departed from runway 28 after a short delay at the holding point and must admit I was slightly taken back to see an inbound aircraft flying straight towards me while I was on the climb out and had to take some slight avoiding action.
As this particular C172 isn’t quite as powerful as the one I was used to flying out of Biggin Hill, with 3 on board, bags and full fuel, our climb was slow, so initially I levelled off at 2,000 feet and started our track to the south west.
Just before we approached Bewl Water, I changed frequency to Farnborough LARS East for a Basic Service and then climbed to our cruising altitude of 3,300 feet. As soon as we were in contact with Farnborough on the radio, it was very clear that we weren’t the only ones who had decided to make the most of the good weather and fly to Sandown for the day as they were inundated with flights inbound to the Isle of Wight.
We stuck with Farnborough LARS East for almost the entirety of the flight as we routed via Heathfield then passing to the north of Brighton and south of Goodwood.
To try and limit the amount of time we were over water and not in gliding distance of land, I opted to route towards Portsmouth and break off to hug the eastern coastline on the Isle of Wight keeping clear of flights departing and arriving at Bembridge.
Around the area of Thorney Island we made a left turn heading towards the Isle of Wight and at this stage I requested frequency change to Sandowns Air/Ground service as we started a gradual decent over the Solent.
Although Sandown didn’t require PPR on the day, I called them on the phone before departure to check that they could accommodate my arrival and to get an idea of the runway that would most likely be in use. They briefed me on the phone that it was more than likely that the Air/Ground operator would probably not be present and be prepared to make blind radio calls to Sandown Traffic.
On first contact I attempted to speak with an Air/Ground operator by calling Sandown Radio, but after no response made blind calls to Sandown Traffic and kept an extremely vigilant lookout and listened closely to the movements of other aircraft on frequency.
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It actually seemed that my approach was timed to perfection as I approached from the dead side with a crosswind join for runway 05 and a left hand circuit slotting in between a couple of departing aircraft and another two aircraft approaching the overhead.
On touching down on runway 05, the Air/Ground operator was on frequency and gave me instructions for parking and I was met by a marshaller to guide me to my bay.
After an extremely pleasant flight of just over 1 hour I payed the landing fee by visiting the top of the control tower and then we got into a taxi to head into Sandown for the day.
We definitely made the most of the sunshine, stopping in a sea front bar serving great food for lunch and then explored some of the shops and the beach. We then had a well deserved ice cream before getting in a taxi back to the airport for our return trip home.
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I really do recommend a visit to Sandown, we were made to feel very welcome and there is plenty to do on the sea front and it made for an excellent day out. Can’t wait until I visit again.
View the video on my YouTube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJ6OcaNpmXM