Alan & Geoff's mini fly-in, in Cornwall.

[alan_k]

Thanks to Geoff keeping an eagle eye on the weather in Cornwall, he spied a great couple of days on Saturday and Sunday. So a plan was hatched for a weekend away, a bit of a trek from the West Midlands. Was it worth it? Hell yes!

Many thanks for the hospitality of Davidstow Flying Club, details here for visiting pilots: https://davidstowflyingclub.org/visiting-pilots2/

We traveled down on Friday morning, setting off just after 6:00 and had a good run for 1/3 of the way until 5th gear failed in the motorhome. It decided it just didn't want to play so we continued the journey in 4th gear at a slower pace . We arrived at Davidstow at about 11:30 and set up camp after checking in with John (the Chairman of the club) in the clubhouse.

 

It turned out that we shouldn't really have camped where we did but we will know for next time. The crew:

 

 

Friday afternoon and evening were blown out but the forecast for Saturday and Sunday was superb. The airfield is at 1000 feet above sea level with so much space around it with the coast within easy reach to the west and Bodmin moor to the east. Geoff and I had two flights on the Saturday morning, one at about 8:00 and the second at about 10:00.

It was my first ever time coastal flying, plus cloud hopping, it was superb. We both had a third flight later but Geoff was so keen when he saw Tony in the air that he went before dinner whereas I waited until afterwards. We were joking on the radio that everything would have been eaten before Geoff got back.

 

 

Once I had flown Saturday evening turned into a long one with much mirth and merriment, just like the best fly-ins. We all got up a bit later on the Sunday but the weather was even better, so this time we both flew inland over Bodmin moor. The views from 1800 feet were epic with both coastlines in view, plus it was really smooth above 800 feet. Unfortunately we had to land eventually for a brunch fry up. Here is a contented pilot in his element post flight:

 

Geoff had to be back at work on Monday so we packed up and returned on Sunday afternoon, myself at a slower pace in 4th gear. Fantastic weekend.

[asquaddie]

Alan and Geoff - Great to meet you all down our end of the country.  Yes, weather was lovely most of the time, but was getting worse as the week went on.  Poor Tim came down on Sunday - had one flight and now the weather has changed, most probably until Friday. Then it was plan B for them and they are now touring round the Cornwall seeing all the sites - so not that bad really.

Awesome you both had a good few flights in,  seeingn the North coast and the moors, but still plenty more to see.   Sorry Geoff if you had a cold dinner.

If anybody else is planning to come to Davidstow, please check out our website first, because as from now things have changed slightly.

Once I know the full details I'll update the website - hoping to get it done by the weekend.

Tony

[timm9227]

Ye! Thanks Alan and Geoff for using up all of the good weather! I did manage to get a good flight in though above the stunning Cornish coastline. Let's hope Simon works his magic with the weather when the summer fly-in gets the go ahead. See you then. 

[alan_k]

A couple of videos from the weekend.

With the landing the wind was blowing towards the trees so a bit of tree hugging was needed.

The takeoff includes warming the engine before the off.

[Chris Dev]

Just come back from 2 weeks caravanning near Tintagel and have been past the Davidstowe airfield and wondered what it was about.  Anyone know the web address?

[asquaddie]

DavidstowFlyingClub.org

If you need any other info - just ask

Tony