Bash News 2002/3/4

RAF Valley

No sooner had John Wrayton caused every Basher to turn green with envy at his flights in RAF fast jets than he did it again by flying in to RAF Valley!

Above: John and G-BASH at RAF Valley

Pete Flies a Tiger

Inspired no doubt by Dave Leddy's flight in South Africa Peter Rounce has been flying Tiger Moth G-ASKP. 

Above: Peter Rounce flies a Tiger Moth

John Wrayton Upgrades

John Wrayton has clearly been finding G-BASH a trifle pedestrian and not half as exciting as he would have liked. Frustrated by the fact that G-BASH could not fly upside down, could not exceed the speed of sound and did not carry guns, John, we presume, must have responded to an advertisement for a share in something a little faster.

Above; John Wrayton flies a fast jet courtesy of RAF Coltishall

From the photos of his trial flight it would appear that the RAF have "days out" too and just like the Bashers fly in close formation, I guess the RAF got the idea from us!

Avaranches

Dave Skertchly took his mum to Avranches to visit the impressive Monte St Michael. Dave's mum is 76 and as she climbs into the cockpit of G-BASH insists on announcing to all within earshot that she can still get her leg over (the cockpit surround we all assume).

Above; Monte St Michael just a 20minute taxi ride from Avranches

The trip to Avranches is now a routine trip for a Bank Holiday Monday. On the return trip they just popped into Alderney to top up with, beer, wine, spirits and some tobacco for Doug. 

Brooklands

The Bashers (Leddy and Skertchly who else!) were among the last aircraft to land on the old historic runway at Brooklands. It is soon to be dug up and replaced with a test track for residents Daimler Chrysler. The Brooklands museum will get a 600m grass strip in a different location to the original runway.

Above: Dave Leddy takes off for the last time from the old hard runway at Brooklands

Dr Syn

A hospital appointment for the Monday had ruined Dave Leddy's planned trip to Germany, but a quick dash to Lydd rewarded the Bashers with a view of friend Malcolm Barton's erstwhile RAF2000 gyro-copter.

Above: Solent Strut Member Malcolm Barton built this RAF2000 seen at Lydd

For a second treat they headed off the Romney Hythe and Dymchurch Railway where they were hauled to Dungeness by the famous Dr Syn.

Above: Dave Leddy with Dr Syn

On the way back they decided to blow a half price landing fee voucher at Bembridge. The airfield Management at Bembridge are making attempts to attract more customers to the airfield and maintenance facility. They even offered to fix the ADF (some hope thought the Bashers!). On the approach Dave Skertchly decide to get a close up view of the Nab Tower. Take a look at www.eghj.com

Above: The Nab Tower in the Solent

St Michaels Mount

Peter Rounce nearly gave the editor kittens with this photo. Before reading the text the ed had assumed that this was Monte St Michael in France, and to get this close Peter would have to bust the SRA! In fact this great photo was taken on Pete's trip to Cornwall when he got clagged in at St Mawgan.

Above: St Michael's Mount by Peter Rounce

Dave Leddy in South Africa

Having achieved notoriety by his appearance in the centre fold of flyer magazine, Dave Leddy has pulled yet another publicity stunt. Flying a Tiger Moth in East London sounds like fun. Click on the link for the full story.

http://www.go.co.za/2003/06/12/news/AAALEAD.HTM

Mt Snowdon

During regular trips to North Wales the Bashers have never yet got sight of Mt Snowdon, the highest Welsh mountain. After a quick stop for coffee in Welshpool Peter Rounce and Dave Skertchly headed north to try again.

Above left: Low over mid Wales, and right, the peak of Snowdon surrounded by clouds

As they flew over mid Wales the Bashers could see that Snowdon was again surrounded in cloud, but as they approached they could see the summit in a hole. Positioning so that the route out would be clear of cumulo granite (stuffed clouds) they approached cautiously to get the shot below.

Above: The Peak of Snowdon against a backdrop of mist and clouds (photo Peter Rounce)

After refreshments at a crowded Caernarfon, they headed home via Sleap, passing over Chirk, where Thomas Telford's twin viaducts were spotted.

Above: The twin viaducts at Chirk

Blackpool Tower

Chris and Dave couldn't resist the urge to make the call "Blackpool Tower this is Golf Bravo Alpha Sierra Hotel" so they headed North. Before arriving at Sleap to swap seats, they diverted over the Iron Bridge near Telford.

Above: Over the famous Iron Bridge in Shropshire

On landing at Sleap it all happened! The surface seemed rough, and Chris struggled to keep G-BASH on the runway. "G-BASH You have a puncture" called the tower. "We could smell it from the moment you touched down" said the fireman, "there was smoke pouring out from behind the wing" he added clearly disappointed that he hadn't been able to cover G-BASH in foam! There was panic to get G-BASH clear of the active, but the firemen were careful and no damage was done. Pete the local engineer was called away from his Sunday Lunch and in less than an  hour the tyre was fixed. Many thanks to all the guys at Sleap.

Above: Blown Tyre at Sleap

The Bashers again headed North through the low level route and could hear the Liverpool controller warning other aircraft of the Red arrows routing to Llandudno for a display. At Blackpool Dave donned the foggles for a radar vectored ILS which positioned them for a favoured "straight in" approach to a crowded circuit with Radar Control priority, good move there!

Above: Chris at the Blackpool Tower and right over the Blackpool Tower! 

In no time the "Reds" arrived at Blackpool to refuel, and after a run and break they positioned in a perfect, equally spaced circuit to land, with the last one calling "downwind number 9 Number 8 in sight" no doubt.  

Above: The Red Arrows were probably thrilled to find G-BASH at Blackpool when they arrived

The day finished with a return to Popham via Coventry.

A rainy day in Bexhill

The weather sounded dreadful, with hail, snow, and  thunder storms forecast. Dave and Steve noticed that the poor weather was "prob40-tempo-ocnl" etc, in other words heavy showers. They headed for Le-Touquet routing from diversion to diversion. At Beachy Head they could see Bexhill under a heaving great CB (storm cloud) and it was pouring down with rain. Later as they walked through Le-Touquet, the same CB could still be seen in the distance. Believe it or not there it was still over Bexhill when G-BASH flew past 3 hours later on the return trip. On the way back to Popham the Bashers could see all the way from Manston to Beachy Head, but with storms and lightning over Brighton!

Above Left: CB over Bexhill and as viewed from the approach at Le-Touquet.

Trip to the Trenches

Chris Sellen and Dave Skertchly decided to take fellow Solent Strut member Steve Bond to visit the WW Battlefields at Albert on the Somme. Before arrival at Albert, the Bashers circled the site of the Red Barron's crash.

Above: Red Barron's crash site close to the brickworks

After landing at Albert the bashers tramped across fields past cemeteries all which were maintained by the commonwealth war graves commission. They soon came across the "Maple Redoubt which was visible from the circuit at Albert.

Above: Maple Redoubt

From here the Bashers walked to the Lochnagar crater where 50,000lbs of TNT was buried in a mine underneath a German a Machine gun nest, and exploded when they (the Germans) were least expecting it. 

Above: The Lochnagar crater form the air and from the ground.

After a 15 mile round hike to the Thiepval Memorial the Bashers flew home direct to Popham with Dave negotiating the flight plan with a reluctant Air Traffic Controller at Paris Information. It seems they close the outbound flight plan on arrival earlier that morning, instead of the inbound!