ENGLAND
Written: 21 APRIL 2007

I've spent the past week down close to Preston in England. Highland Airways flies a contract for BAe Systems between 4 airfields in England where we transport BAe personell. Even though the life down in Preston isn't all that exciting, it is nice to get some variation. The operation down in England is different to what we do in Scotland, as the distances are longer, the airspace is different and some of the airfields are military.

Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday this week I flew between Warton and Cambridge. Departure from Warton is normally 0810 with arrival at Cambridge about an hour later. Then we wait there for 9 hours before we fly back to Warton.

Since we have 9 hours in Cambridge it's a good idea to find something to do to get the time to pass. The alterative to sit in the lounge and watch bad daytime television is to go into town. Either 10 minutes by bus or a 45 minutes walk.

Cambridge is mainly known for it's university, which is the second oldest in the english-spoken part of the world (after Oxford) and was founded in 1209.

There are a total of 31 colleges around the city. Among the most famous we find Trinity, know for Sir Isaac Newton. Apparently a descendant of his famous apple tree is planted outside the gate.

After having strolled around the city for several hours, including a couple of hours with a personal guide in the shape of captain Tim, I can claim I know my way around town. I can definitely recommend to stop by here if you are nearby. The city is full of students and toursits and there is plenty of history to absorb.

After a day off on Thursday I flew to Cambridge again on Friday, but instead of staying there, we flew up to Inverness to get some maintenance done on the aircraft. After the maintenace was done we flew back to Cambridge and from there to Warton. I logged a total of 5,5 hours that day which is the most I've logged so far in one day as a Jetstream pilot.

Saturday I had to drive back to Inverness from Preston. It took me almost 8 hours in a Ford Ka with a 1.0 liter engine. I chose to take a litte detour to make the journey a bit more scenic, so when I got to Glasgow I drove towards Fort William and Loch Ness. There is alot of beautiful scenery south of Inverness. Alot of fun roads to drive on too, but you have to watch out for all the sheep...

 

When we got back to Inverness with G-LOVB on Friday I met one of the helicopter instructors from the flying club next door. He previously promised me a ride in the helicopter and the timing was perfect as I had nothing to do and he was positioning a helicopter to a place a little east of the airfield.

The helicopter was a Robinson 22 which is a piston engine helicopter (in a way the Cessna 152 in the world of helicopters). This was the first time ever I've been flying in a helicopter, so the feeling of going straight up was pretty weird. Slowing down mid air made my mind want to pitch forward and add power to prevent a stall.

The ride wasn't long, but enough to fuel the dream of getting the PPL on helicopter at one point in time. But that's not going to happen before I have alot of money.. The hourly rate for a R22 here in Inverness is £ 250...