This would have been a lovely long telephone call to Dad a few years back …. Chatting about the details that would bore most people rigid … so, to my ‘collective Dad substitutes’ ….
The weekend had pretty much been a washout ..with constant rain and then much heavier rain and rounded off nicely with a mass of hail …. Not a day in November …but just a week shy of June !
And then the sun came out … like it always does .. just before it sets 🤣
I had been up to the airstrip the day before to remove the smoke system and iron down a couple of bits of covering (having pinked edge trim looks very traditional but can be a pain over time when the odd edge sticks up in the airflow … a few minutes around the aircraft and it’s all looking good and neat again).
Arriving at the strip later on Sunday evening, Bob (the owner) told me he had watched the storm drop its contents on the British Touring Car Racing at Snetterton … then slowly move over towards my house and drop on us ..before continuing its trail of delivery North Eastwards towards Norwich.
It had missed Priory Farm airstrip completely … but the runway was still pretty lush and wet 😊
Started up first turn and taxied to the pump ..letting her warm up to mid 30’s (needs to be 50 before take off – so that the TOCA oil system has opened, TOCA prevents cold oil pushing through the cooler matrix before the engine is warm and so aids a more rapid warm up at startup).
Switching off at 36′ .. I hop out and fill the tank .. takes about 2 mins then back in and startup.
Looking at the windsock, the SW is swinging more to S but looks to be around 7-10 or so … backtracking all the way down the runway to take an into wind takeoff I had a slight (unquantifiable) risk of finding some soggy part of the runway at slow speed at the turnaround point … not great
So, I opt for a 10 ish tailwind …as it’s only me and a full tank in the 256kg ‘plane … gently taxy to the threshold, just aiming to keep it rolling on the pretty wet grass .. full power and she’s off in around 40m
Climbing out to the West, into the setting sun with a full tank … listening squalk for Norwich (7350) radio ‘Mon’ button pressed so I can hear people chatting at Norwich doing the odd instrument approach and handoff to Lakenheath (didn’t think they would be offering a service late on a Sunday) …
Deciding to head out and skirt the Old Buckenham zone .. no one there, seems a shame you can’t blind call and buzz the field, but see in the distance that the British Touring Car tetnts and caravans at Snetterton are slowly clearing so head off towards them .. following the A11 at around 1500’ keeps me just N of Attleborough… I’m guessing my engine is inaudible at ground level at this height…
Arrive at Snetterton and think it would be fun to follow the circuit with a few wingovers Left and Right but duck out after 4 corners ..this is easily hat losing territory … you get excited and bank over and your head catches the slipstream and whoosh …it’s gone .. and you are left retrieving your headset that is around your neck ! .. lost about 4 caps in 5 years .. one at a wedding whilst over the sea in St Ouens, Jersey ! Managed to ‘save’ one around about turn of the year which managed to catch in the tail rigging wires until Flare in landing .. Good retrieval ❤️
Roll out of the 4th turn .. each one has nicely wobbled on completion of the 360 as you fly through your own wash , look up and can just about workout where Priory Farm base is …amongst all the green fields … it’s taken about 2 years but I’m slowly getting bearings for this large FLAT area 😊
Arriving back at Priory at a ‘huge’ 1500’ .. I blind call an overhead join and throttle back and she just doesn’t want to come down … floating on and turning crosswind there is a final nudge of descent and, at 2300 rpm the engine isn’t going to get cold, so opt for a high big turning circle descent to join into the (closer) 500’ circuit … pretty much where the 50m pylons are going to be be in 3 years time …
The 2300 was about right as, abeam the threshold, I bank her over at 45’ and she slides nicely around to slip onto a short final
As I’m still not sure just how wet that end of the runway is I decide to literally just touch the wheels once to guage it and do a touch an go .. climbing back out into the normal 500’ right hand
Blind call that this will be downwind right hand 19, to land and then start to decide where to turn
As the taxing back up to the hanger will be through wet grass I extend the flare and land further into the runway and use the speed to assist the taxing up to the pump and pull up just outside the hanger.
Apart from one vintage bright yellow Cub (up from Tibenham) who landed just as I took off .. the area was deserted …the sun just dropped to the horizon as the hanger doors clanked shut.
It turns out the runway surface was pretty solid .. not one blob of mud under the wings !
Nice evening … and to think we had been pelted by hail just a couple of hours before …
Night Dad ….x
❤️
Jersey Sherwood Ranger 
Thankful for every opportunity to fly! Summertime in the North Carolina mountains is pretty special. My trips to England were spent (when not preparing for the next leg of my trip) haunting former airfield sites. For me to fly in England is a wish not likely to be fulfilled – all the more reason I enjoy the posts from your side of the pond.
It’s always lovely to get feedback .. yes .. definitely changeable weather here in the UK ! But getting used to it 😕