Flying with Martin

in our Vintage Cessna 170B

Contact us on GMDAY170B@aol.com or Martindayaviator@aol.com

We decided to have another visit to the Isle of Wight but this time to Sandown, giving an opportunity to walk some different paths.

It was an unusually hot day for the time of year but unfortunately with very poor visibility. We flew the usual well-known route, which was just as well since the lack of visibility would have been very disconcerting in unfamiliar territory as the familiar landmarks were not appearing until we were very close.

The wind was light and variable and just before we arrived at Sandown the runway was changed from 05 to 23. We joined downwind landed and took on fuel. The price of fuel here was 1-57 per litre, which was considerably less than what Bembridge were recently charging.

Having taken on fuel we were given a notice informing us that the airfield was under threat from development. This was really terrible news since Sandown is a very popular destination for many that fly and its loss to the general aviation community would be considerable.

Having paid for fuel and our landing fee we set off for our walk. Before leaving the airfield we noticed that the Aviator Restaurant had been demolished and we hoped that a replacement would be built and that the airfield will survive for many years to come.

After our meeting with the squirrel we continued along the bridleway and discovered a small market garden activity that we had not seen before. A box next to the path had some really great looking vegetables for sale. The bridleway continues through a mobile holiday home park and then slopes upwards before coming out on the road near the railway station. Sadly along this last section of bridleway a vast number of new houses have been built with other patches of land being cleared for further housing development. This part of the island seems destined to be ruined by having houses crammed into any small patches of land that haven’t already been built on.

At the traffic lights we took a different route to the seafront walking along Queens Road to Shanklin Chine. Then down to the sea front to our usual café for lunch. Incredibly the day was sufficiently warm for many sunbathers to be on the beach and even a few hardy individuals who were swimming in the sea.

After lunch we walked along the sea front to Sandown pier, then through the town and onto a footpath that crosses the railway line. A short walk along a road leading to another footpath that took us across the golf course, through a small wood, over a stream and eventually coming out by the end of runway 23.