Saturday the 2nd of Sept was planned as the group trip to explore the Welsh Mountains and the west coast. Given this was the third year of attempting this trip with the previous two year’s having been scuppered by atrocious weather my expectations of success this time weren’t really that high.
However, it’s nice to be surprised sometimes and as the date approached the forecast look eminently doable. I hadn’t done too much detailed planning given the wasted time on previous years so it was a case of digging out the contacts from before to put it together at relatively short notice. The original plan included a stop at Llanbedr on the northern end of Cardigan Bay but unfortunately despite it being their first day of opening on a weekend in sometime they were booked out for drone flying which prevented us visiting. The staff I spoke to were all very friendly and welcoming so that’s one to go on the list for another day.
Not unusual then, a plan B was called for. This involved three stops away, Pembrey, West Wales and would take in Cardigan Bay before crossing the mountains to Welshpool.
The day arrived and amazingly the forecast was still pretty good, not as good as previously forecast but certainly with plenty of room to spare over the big lumpy Welsh bits if the cloud base was as predicted. With the NWFG aircraft plus VB, the GEEP and James Grainger and Linda Winstanley’s new C 172 mount CSCS we had eight aircraft in all, a very good turnout.
To give a little separation for the arrival at the first stop we departed between 09.30 and 10.00, all heading west through the TMZ and on towards Bovingdon and the Benson MATZ where the differing planned routes started. It was a pretty good day but certainly not as good as forecast, haze blocked out the city and the cloud base was practically overcast at around 2300ft which we could only hope would get better as we had an MSA of 3300 ft over the mountains to the northwest of Cardiff. Clearing through the Benson MATZ to the north and speaking to Brize Radar our route in VB was to head towards the Faringdon VRP before continuing to Thornbury VRP north of Bristol and then cross the River Severn at the new bridge. Once clear of any affecting airspace restrictions we climbed to 5000ft to get above a nagging layer of broken cloud which was causing a fair bit of uncomfortable turbulence below it. As we routed west the cloud started to break up nicely which was a bonus for as we passed south of RAF Fairford we had a great view of two USAF B52s and two B1B Lancers sitting menacingly on the large apron, which was the first glimpse of these aircraft in ‘the flesh’ for me.
Passing RAF Fairford with the B52’s and B1B Lancers on the apron.
Low cloud over the Brecon’s
Passing from Brize to Bristol Radar the weather continued to improve and as we approached the Severn Bridge the visibility was so good we could make out the whole north Devon coastline. A change to Cardiff Radar and we headed towards the high ground around the Rhonda valley. Of course, being Wales there was the inevitable low cloud hanging around the tops of some of the hills but this presented little problem other than a couple of minor course adjustments. We were asked to make a courtesy call to Swansea Radio as they were parachuting but there was nothing to affect us. With 15 miles to run to Pembrey we could see the peninsula where it should be sticking into the sea and started our descent towards it. We could already hear a few of our number in the circuit so elected to join overhead for a dead side descent for a left-hand circuit on the 797 metre R22. A great view of the coast as we came over the top and started our left turn. We had had already heard NUKA going around earlier and as we positioned number two to Malcolm and John in FC who were calling final they then called ‘going around’ which was handy as it allowed us to slip in on a slightly shorter circuit and not have to worry about them having to make a backtrack to the parking area. Finally with us all safely in we retired to the very pleasant cafe for an early lunch. Gordon and Daniel Dobrey on his first fly out in the GEEP had snatched the last two ‘fat boy breakfasts’ which looked really good but the lunch menu was equally good. Quick service and very pleasant people. Pembreys ‘official’ photographer Richard Green had been snapping away during our arrivals and again on our departures and came up with a great selection of shots from our visit. These can be seen on @Pembreyairport
Departing Pembrey
Our next stop was to be West Wales (Aberporth) and as they were opening up especially for our visit I needed to give them a quick call to say we were on the way. This was only a 35nm hop over the Pembrokeshire hills, but on the way in we had noticed some gathering low cloud in that direction so Plan B was to follow the coast around if in fact the hills were covered. Climbing out from Pembrey we could see that although there was some cloud there wouldn’t be any issues in taking a direct track which would take us just to the west of Carmarthen, one of the oldest towns in Wales. With such a short hop we hadn’t said goodbye to Pembrey for long before we were calling up West Wales info. The airfield sits on the cliffs just inland from the miles of coast that form Cardigan Bay and looking towards the horizon it was easy to see why this had been a prime missile test centre in years gone by. Joining left base for R25 the wind had gone from being very calm up to a rather sporty 14/17kts right across the slot. There were two go arounds again at this airfield but given the unfamiliarity of the airfield and the conditions that weren’t really surprising, it’s always better to throw it away if the approach becomes unstable than try and land. No further issues and everyone was in to be marshalled onto the parking area. Once we were all in the operations centre enjoying the coffee and cakes that had been laid on for us we were joined by Barrie Foster from West Wales Airport who had kindly opened the airfield for us. Barrie then gave us a very interesting talk on the long and fascinating history of the airfield and its current key role in the development and testing of state of the art UAVs which was a real bonus for our group on what was expected to be a quick stop.
Left base for 25 at West Wales.
Whilst we were inside the wind had shifted and it was slightly favouring a departure from R07 which was preferable as it required a much shorter backtrack to the ‘dumbbell’ at the far end. Departures took a while with our number but we were soon heading north along Cardigan Bay towards Aberystwyth where the plan was to turn northeast across the mountains to Welshpool. Sitting at 800ft just off of the coastline gave a great view of the small towns and villages scattered along the coast and the rolling green hills beyond in this remote part of Wales.
Routing along the coast at Aberystwyth
Having done some research on the ‘Mach Loop’ the military low flying area (LF7) in central Wales it would have been rude to have been there and not experienced a little of it. So VB continued a little further north to the estuary of the river Dyfi before turning right and up towards the town of Machynlleth where the ‘MACH’ loop takes its name from. With no military traffic at weekends, light winds and great visibility we headed into the valleys whilst ensuring that we didn’t get too low to risk breaking the 500 ft rule.
Entering ‘The Mach Loop’
Slipping into the Valleys.
Running along the valleys with the meandering rivers and roads was a great experience almost matched by flying the RAF Tornado sim on the same route several years before at RAF Marham, although that was done between 250 and down to 150 ft in places so a bit higher on this occasion! Before getting into the much deeper valleys and bigger hills of the ‘loop’ it was time to climb away and set course across the mountains to Welshpool.
Approaching Welshpool
The scenery was stunning and the weather couldn’t have been more perfect for this trip. Calling Welshpool at 10 miles gave us runway 22 in use with a left-hand circuit. This was another new airfield for most of the group and although in a beautiful location it has high hills on both sides of the runway and can be a little challenging and the circuit needs to be flown very accurately. The good weather was a real bonus and soon we were joining crosswind and running along the hillside on the downwind leg. It really is a picturesque location but judging the base and descent into the runway can be tricky especially as the runway is quite narrow which once again caused a couple of go arounds from our number. After landing on R22 a lengthy backtrack is required which meant that good separation discipline was needed to avoid further go arounds.
All in eventually and after more coffee and cake in the clubhouse it was time to depart for the long run back to North Weald. The departure was again very picturesque and routing west towards Redditch we passed over the hills of the Long Mynd before reaching the much flatter countryside which would be a feature all the way back as we routed to the south of Birmingham near Wellesbourne Mountford. Our flight continued in the continuing great weather, so good in fact that various hot air balloons could be seen drifting serenely at various locations in the distance. Passing to the north of Cardington Danger Area we also had a great view of the huge Airlander 10 airship, the world’s biggest air vehicle, tethered on the ground. Running down the Luton/Stansted gap and into TMZ 2 we were soon slipping back into North Wealds very familiar R20.
A great day out for all of us, three years of trying and having got there in the end we couldn’t have asked for a better day in all respects. New flying territory for most of us and new airfield entries for all. Thanks to all who took part. Richard Green at Pembrey for his splendid pictures and especially to Barrie Foster and his team at West Wales for disrupting their weekend off and opening up for us to visit.
Our intrepid aviators at Pembrey.
