The plan for the weekend had been brewing for a fortnight or two.. I wanted to tackle the Low Level Corridor which runs between the Liverpool and Manchester controlled airspace. The initial idea, was to head to the Lake District, to explore the lakes from the air, and visit a handful of incredible hotels in the area. However, that looked set to be a long trip, that deserved a considered amount of effort to enjoy it properly.
Therefore, the plan was set to visit Manchester Barton, the City Heliport and Airport. Which promised to have lots of visiting helicopters, a great café, and AVGAS to brim the tanks, and it entailed the low level corridor too. I had planned to leave Gloucester, direct to Manchester City Heliport for a re-fuel and possibly visit the city. I would then take a North Easterly departure, tracking East towards Rochdale and South East through the stunning Peak District. I had booked an overnight stay at the popular helicopter friendly Barnsdale Lodge near Rutland Water, so in total it should amass a good few hours in the air.
Booking into the City Heliport was easy and intuitive, they have a great online Prior Permission Booking system which allows you to request fuel and type too. My intention was to only listen out to Manchester International Airport, on a listening squawk, and then contact Manchester Barton on their frequency once much closer to their aerodrome. However, on the advice of the Flight School, they said to speak to Manchester International as they were more than helpful whilst in the low level corridor.
I had planed the route on SkyDemon meticulously, booked out, checked the fuel for the duration with enough for a good reserve, and headed out. I had G-OASH for the whole weekend, I put my overnight bag in the footwell of the passenger side, frequencies list on the seat and started up. It was a nice day in Gloucester, with some rain forecast between 10 and 11 in Manchester but nothing to stop play. I headed out to the North, setting a course for 310deg which would take me to the West of Worcester and Wolverhampton, East of Shrewsbury and a direct line to access the Low Level Corridor at Chester.
For the first 50 minutes, it was plain sailing. I spoke to Wolverhampton after Gloucester, then on to London Information and on to Manchester International on a listening Squawk of 7366. London had given me the Manchester QNH to allow me to ensure my routing below 1300′ in the corridor. However, as I reached Winsford, just to the East of Cheshire Polo Club, it as obvious that from North, through West to South, South West the rain that was forecast was considerably worse than predicted. Even though it was a good way off still, the horizon wasn’t visible and without a solid decision being made a situation could soon develop.
I opted to turn back, now heading South. Sierra Hotel was still good for fuel and other than a now marked headwind there was nothing to report. (Aviate). I made the decision that Wolverhampton would be my best guess, I was familiar with the aerodrome, the joining procedures and had already been in contact with them earlier on the route. My other options would have been Cosford and Ternhill, both military. (Navigate). Even though I was on a listening squawk, I made initial contact with Manchester International, stating my original intentions and requesting their weather. It transpired with their weather report and cloud base, it was a good decision to turn around. I switched back to London Information and explained my new intentions. (Communicate).
The weather still easily provided VFR Minima, but it was an interesting 45 minutes extra in the air, avoiding the worst of it, battling a headwind and getting to Halfpenny Green. It was a good development of airborne decision making and airmanship. I arrived at Wolverhampton and headed straight to fuel Sierra Hotel, get a coffee and re-plan the day. It didn’t seem much use to try and get to Manchester now, so I opted to take route around the Northern boundary of Birmingham Controlled Airspace, towards Tatenhill and then South East of East Midlands and on to the hotel for the night.
Wolverhampton were professional and friendly as always, and very understanding of my divert into them. I fuelled for another 2 hours in the air and went in to the tower to charge my phone as the extra 45 minutes of using SkyDemon had drained my battery considerably, I think I arrived on 35%, oh and of course get a legendary sausage sandwich. Flight across to Barnsdale, was the furthest North I had flown in a helicopter to date, it was good to see and work with new airspace. East Midlands were particularly helpful, and knew of the hotel location.
Rutland water appeared at my one o’clock position and it was spectacular, its considerably more expansive than I first thought. It was stunning. East Midlands called to request I squawked 7000 when on the ground, and I replied with confirmation and let them know I was on finals to land. The wind was from the West and it afforded me a beautiful approach into the hotel helipad, which is enclosed, with its own windsock. The manicured lawn was beautiful in front of the lodge, and I was excited to get inside and discover the charm it held.
My room had been upgraded from a single, to a superior double and with a view overlooking the helipad, I couldn’t have asked for more. I signed in and headed up to the room. A super king 4 poster, sofa, arm chair and all you could ask for. I was super content. I completed the Techlog, took the Telegrpah outside to read in the sunshine, showed people around the R22, and then headed off for dinner. The food looked promising and the menu didn’t disappoint.
Even though I never made it to Manchester, the experience I gained through airmanship decisions, dealing with poor weather, diversion and flight re-planning was the real benefit. The hotel was just the bonus!
Hourbuilding Adventures 