Local flight to the Port of Dover – The day Storm Hannah hits

With some time off work, I thought it would be a nice to plan a day trip with friend Matt to Bembridge on the Isle of Wight on Friday 26th April 2019. It got to a week before the flight and frequent checks of weather forecasts from multiple sources it was clear that some unpredictable weather was on its way, so I started to think of some back up plans.

The day before the flight, the Isle of Wight was being battered by strong winds and with all weather information telling me that it was not going to get any better, in fact it was getting worse and the cloud base getting lower and lower I started to make alternative plans.

On the morning of the flight the winds were variable and getting stronger by the hour, but although the cloud base was only at 1,500 feet visibility was good. Knowing it would most likely be quite a bumpy and turbulent flight, I planned a route in the PA28 G-SEXX to take use of some of the  areas in Kent that Matt is really familiar with from his past.

We departed from runway 10 at Headcorn heading towards the east. The first point of interest that we passed over was Ashford where we had to make a few turns and deviate from our planned route to avoid some rather nasty looking clouds.

After making our final turn over the unmissable designer outlet shopping centre we were back on track and started to head towards the coast to Dover via Folkestone.

On this part of the flight it was clear by the formations of some of the low laying clouds that a storm was on its way and it made for a bit of a bumpy flight.

Due to the low cloud base we could only climb to 1,500 feet, and being aware of an antenna in the area at a height of 1,300 feet, I took a slightly longer route to the Port of Dover by heading out to the English Channel and flying around it. This also gave us a great view of the famous Port of Dover and the ferry ships and cruise liners in the port.

It was at this part of the flight that we actually managed to climb to 2,500 feet, as there were almost no signs of any clouds to the south.
In some rare cases, however viagra sildenafil canada may be utilised only by Pfizer and Bayer AG, GSK, and SP respectively and all other Sildenafil Citrate and Vardenafil drugs are called levitra and buy cheap levitra. Forzest pills possibly will merely fluctuate in look, volume and color of the capsule but the constituents and the effectiveness of the remedy is the similar. levitra purchase Visit This Link Zinc is also directly involved in glycolysis and oxidation of sperm, maintaining the integrity and permeability of the sperm cell membrane and the vitality buy viagra from india of the sperm. When a person suffers from erectile dysfunction, in which a man is unable to carry forward your relationship in a healthy manner or even don’t have a normal state of working with your partner then also you can quietly intake this drug and you will feel relaxed. levitra professional samples

After passing the port and making a left turn back in land we very quickly had to descend again below the cloud base and it was time to start heading back towards Headcorn. But we still had time to pass over one more location that we are both familiar with.

With the plan to land back on runway 10 at Headcorn (the same runway we departed from), we routed towards Leeds Castle in the Maidstone area. As a really family friendly attraction we have both visited Leeds Castle a number of times with our kids and families. So getting to see the castle from the air would position us nicely for a left base join for runway 10.

On contacting Headcorn Radio for the airfield information for our approach, they informed us that the runway direction had changed and they were now using runway 28 which also has a left hand circuit. This meant that we were completely in the wrong position for a nice and simple join.

So after passing Leeds Castle we positioned to join the circuit on the crosswind leg while keeping within the noise abatement procedures and not flying over Headcorn Village. The circuit was reasonably quiet with only one other aircraft ahead of us but we had to be extra cautious not only because our aircraft was significantly faster but the other aircraft was also practicing a glide approach.

After extending slightly in the circuit to give some spacing and crabbing in on final approach to counter the wind, we landed safe and sound on runway 28.

We most definitely made the most of the day as later that afternoon Storm Hannah hit the south of England which meant activity at Headcorn became almost non existent.

 

Photo credits: Kentstormchasers – West Division | https://www.facebook.com/extremeweatherenthusiasts/

View the video on my YouTube channel:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvjBt5GjQ9M&t=1s