| VAC flyin Sandown - Isle of
Wight - 28 June 2008, and as it turned out 29 June 2008 |
| Arriving at the airfield we
were delighted to see our old plane HW in for service |
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We were hoping to attend the VAC flyin and
BBQ at Sandown but somewhat concerned about the wind strength. We
took off in an increasing South Westerly which was even higher at Sandown
but straight down the runway. On the way across the Solent we could
see the many yachts involved in the round the island race. Guess
they were finding conditions quite lively in the strong winds. |
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| Joining the circuit we saw
our friends had survived their first night camping by their plane and they
were awaiting our arrival |
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We landed on Runway 23 and were pleased when
the plane finally stopped rolling. We filled the tanks with fuel and
parked the plane behind the hangers |
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After a while John Morley arrived in his
Auster and he joined us for some lunch in the caravan behind the burned
out restaurant. |
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The boys exhausted sunk into chairs for a
cool drink and a chat, before the guided tour around the Spitfire
manufacturing facility on the airfield. Paul Loveday who organised
the excellent weekend had arranged the tour and it was incredible to see
such a high standard of sheet metal fabrication |
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The wind showed no signs of decreasing so
declining our friends offer to share their tents for the night we headed
off up the hill to find a recommended B&B. We found Copperfield
Lodge and were offered a double room with ensuite shower room.
Jan and Roy even lent us a torch in case we returned in the dark. We
joined the VAC group for a welcome BBQ and chatted late into the evening |
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We enjoyed our stay at the B&B having a
wonderful breakfast before we returned to the airfield. If you ever
go to the Isle of Wight we can thoroughly recommend staying with Jan and
Roy |
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We did not hang around as the wind was still
quite strong and may get worse as the day progressed. Our return flight
was uneventful until we got close to the airfield, where the large
crosswind component was promising an exciting landing. Martin
skilfully landed AY on the second attempt |
