For my first ‘proper’ post I thought I would recount and summarise a flight I made back in September. It began with a suggested sponsored post that appeared on my news feed on Facebook – ‘Scenic flight over The Solent and Portsmouth Harbour’. For many years it had been a goal of mine to fly over The Solent, Isle of Wight and near Southampton. In my capacity as a student pilot up to this point, I had only flown as far westwards as Eastbourne. What further caught my attention was that this scenic flight was operating out of Shoreham, to the west of Brighton. I had always wanted to fly out of Shoreham so this opportunity was too great to miss, especially when advertised at a reasonable price.
Our steed – the powerful Piper Archer, G-BYKL
But rather than being advertised through a flight school/club as I would have expected, this opportunity was displayed through a website called ‘Wingly’ – a cost-sharing platform for Private Pilots who advertise seats in their aircraft to the general public at a rate calculated to reduce their operating costs. It appeals to the public as an alternative and quicker means of travelling between destinations (it can be cheaper than catching a train across the UK) or a cheaper scenic flight experience. Transversely, it appeals to pilots who are looking to gain flying hours but at a cost subsidised by their passengers. The pilots are not charging out directly for their service as under a Private Pilots Licence, a pilot cannot be remunerated for their flying. Instead the passenger pays Wingly, who take a percentage. Wingly then deposit to the pilot a pre-calculated sum of money to levy against their operating cost.
I eagerly registered to Wingly but then found rather than just being able to book the flight experience, I was instead encouraged to communicate with the pilot through a messenger service, in this instance, it was a chap called Michael. We spoke about my experience as a student, expectations of what we wanted to achieve and see and also our availability. Once Michael was happy with this ‘vetting’ process he was able to accept me as a passenger – thereafter, I was able to pay a fixed price for the flight. Past this point, it was down to Michael and I to agree a time and date. As it were, we were both eager to get airborne and it happened that the following day the weather was looking favourable. We agreed to meet at Shoreham at 1400hrs.
Michael Childs – Pilot Ace
Michael was/is a top class pilot – knowledgeable, competent and very professional. I can see how people who aren’t from a flying background are put at ease by him and his ability as a pilot. Reviews of him on Wingly’s site speak volume for his airmanship.
We took off shortly after 1600hrs and headed westwards down the coast of West Sussex. I mentioned to Michael about my plans to one day fly over Portsmouth once I have my licence and how I intend to fly via Goodwood, a small airfield but also home to a racecourse and motor circuit. Based on this, he happily altered our course for us to arrive in Portsmouth via Goodwood which, in turn, would see us pass over Hayling Island and above the Langstone Harbour – famous for its extensive range of marine and bird wildlife. Soon enough, we were overhead Portsmouth where I was able to take some stunning shots. I’ve preached this before on Instagram – many of us have flown on a commercial airliner at a higher flight level but I would strongly recommend that everyone should fly at least once in a small light aircraft, at a lower altitude, at a different perspective. The scenery doesn’t disappear into rolling terrain and an endless horizon like it does at 38000 feet, at 2000 feet the detail is rich and offers a welcomed assault on the eyes.
The Spinnaker Tower, right, and to the left, the Royal Navy’s latest aircraft carrier, HMS Queen Elizabeth
I have shared via my Instagram one of my favourite shots of Portsmouth and the Gunwharf Quays area including the Spinnaker Tower.
At this stage, I felt happy with my photos and the views I was able to take in. Michael suggested we fly the entire coast line of the Isle of Wight. At first, I was dubious to commit to such a journey as the Isle of Wight’s coastline is around 60 miles long and I was conscious that I had paid for only 1 hour; this would take the Cessna 152 around 40 minutes to complete. But alas, my fears were unfounded, as covering such a distance proved no problem at all for the Piper Archer which sits comfortably at a cruise speed of 110kts or, for you laypeople out there, 126mph. We circumnavigated the coastline in a clock-wise heading in little under half an hour.
The Needles, Isle of Wight, approaching from the South
Soon after our lap of honour around the Isle of Wight, we headed back for one last pass over Portsmouth where we completed some sweeping turns to the left and right at 1500 feet for some more views of the new Royal Navy aircraft carrier and the city. We flew the coastline home back to Shoreham, where we had the wind in our favour. At one stage, with our indicated airspeed reading 120kts, our groundspeed was registering as 140kts – an impressive 161mph. Needless to say our return leg to Shoreham was swift and we landed back on Shoreham’s runway 20 shortly after 1700hrs.
The flight out of Shoreham and the views over The Solent met and exceeded all my expectations for such a flight. I would recommend a visit to Shoreham Airport, even on foot, to appreciate the impressive architecture of its 1930s Art Deco terminal building and to absorb its history and atmosphere. A big thanks to Michael for his availability at short notice but moreover for his passion and eagerness to fly with me – I will be flying with him again in the future, without doubt. His energy and love for flying was great to witness and manifests exactly what this great hobby is all about.
Dan
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