Early Morning and Beautiful Sunshine

Sunday June 8, 2014 - A beautiful morning and I was up at Rochester Airport early. It was absolutely perfect. Everything seemed still, just the birds singing and not a cloud in the sky. I took G-BMCN out which had a working transponder (mode Charlie) and also had two radios (COM1, COM2). This is always convenient because it reduces the amount of time you are 'off air' as you can get the next radio station tuned in on standby and then quickly flick over when you need. My chariot last week didn't have this (G-FLIP).

I took off from Runway 20 went down to Bewl Reservoir, turned left over to Rye and then off to Manston before heading back to Rochester. It was really relaxing just taking it all in. There was hardly anybody else in the air at that time so even the radio was quiet. I did catch a few lucky souls off to Le Touquet and also Guernsey.

The whole trip was total bliss - really so quiet and tranquil. One thing which I didn't expect was I couldn't contact Farnborough Radar on 123.225. There was no answer which told me the LARS service wasn't available. I called up London Information after trying 3 times and got a basic service from them instead. I have to say the controller was rather polite and I received a very friendly service. I noted when I got past Lydd they put me on to them and not Southend which I was expecting.

I took a few snaps on the way which I've put here below. As I drove home and reflected on my mornings trip I felt incredibly grateful for the opportunity I have to do this. Prior to 10-October-2010 [my very first lesson] I would never have imagined I could be doing this. In fact half way through my lessons I would have given anything to have time-warped into the future to these moments.

Brakes Off 08:40 Brakes On: 10:10 Total 1:30