Henstridge Fly In - 28th August 2010

Fair weather brought plenty of Fly In visitors although a strong cross wind proved tricky at times.

Escapade G-MCUB did well in the gusty wind - this Escapade is painted in typical Piper Cub colours and is marked "Mini Cub" on the tail.

Jodel D120 G-BHXS arrived from Plymouth - this aircraft was built in 1958 by Wassmer and has flown in excess of 6500 flight hours by 12.09.

G-BMWF ARV Super 2 c/n 013 was built in 1986 at Sandown on the Isle of Wight, UK  - the original two stroke Hewland engine has been replaced on this example by a Rotax 912 ULS. Approx 30 aircraft were built in the UK before production ceased in the 1980s. There are plans to build the aircraft as a LSA aircraft known as the Opus in the USA.

The visiting aircraft park was opened to spectators after lunch - shown here is G-CBIF a Jabiru UL-450 designed in Australia and was kit built in 2002 by a builder in Suffolk, UK. Today this aircraft is owned and based in Somerset and has flown over 300 flight hours by 12.09

Late arrival mid afternoon was Fournier RF-4D G-BXLN c/n 4022 - this single seat motor glider was designed by Rene Fournier and built by Sportavia Putzer GMBH in Germany in 1967. Approx 150 examples of the RF-4D were built. This aircraft is based at Seighford, Staffordshire and was visiting Henstridge en route back home after a weekend trip down to Lands End & the Scilly Isles via several other airfields.

G-BYBR Rans S6-116 Coyote II c/n PFA 204A-13081 taking off after the event  - this microlight aircraft was built in 1999 from a factory supplied kit by the original owner in Lancashire, UK. In 2007 the aircraft moved south after it was sold to a pilot in Devon, UK. 


External Link to official RANS website 

Another RANS S6 Coyote II was G-WZOY c/n PFA 204-14735 - this S6-ES aircraft features a tail wheel rather than a nose wheel. The aircraft is based at Westonzoyland airfield in Somerset - hence registration "WZOY". This aircraft was built in 2008.


Todate RANS have produced approx 2,000 examples of the S6 since production began in 1989.




Steve

Henstridge airfield - Sunday 6.12.09

Henstridge airfield ( EGHS ) is right on the Somerset - Dorset border, to the West of Shaftesbury.

The airfield benefits from a hard runway a legacy from it days as a World War 2 airfield ( Fleet Air Arm use as HMS Dipper ) - despite the recent winter wet weather it remained open for flying.


G-KHRE SOCATA Rallye 150SV Garnement c/n 2931 landing on the hard runway ( 07 / 25 ) - this colourful Rallye is painted in a very bright colour scheme of Breitling watches. The aircraft was built in France in 1979 flying as F-GAYR before being imported into the UK in 1982 as G-KHRE.

It is now based at Henstridge and had flown approx 2,130 hours by December 2008.



G-IRAF RAF 2000 GTX-SE gyroplane painted in a most unusual "giraffe" ( hence G-IRAF ) type colour scheme. This gyroplane is based at Henstridge and is seen here taking off for some very local flying training along the length of the runway. This aircraft was built in 1996 and had flown approx 360 hours by December 2008.

This two seat design is powered by a Subaru EJ22 130HP engine that drives the propellor blade behind the cockpit. This example was kit built with parts supplied by Rotary Air Force Inc of Canada. Production switched to South Africa in 2007.



G-CFDI Vans RV-6 c/n 23116. This aircraft is unusal as it was imported in from the USA as N76GC rather than being kit built here in the UK. There are almost 100 RV-6 aircraft in the UK today of which approx one dozen have been imported as complete aircraft from the US. The type first flew in 1985 and over 2,000 examples were built ( many being the RV-6A version with a nose wheel ).

N76GC was originally built in 1999 and based in Florida, USA - it was imported into the UK in 2008 becoming G-CFDI

G-DORS EC135 Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance

G-DORS EC135 operated by Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance visits Wells 9.9.08

Today my local air ambulance helicopter visited my own home town.

G-DORS is based at Henstridge airfield on the Somerset / Dorset border. This helicopter was delivered new to Bond Aviation Leasing and was registered with the CAA on 14th December 2006.

G-DORS was officially handed over to the Dorset & Somerset Air Ambulance on 15th February at RNAS Yeovilton in the presence of HRH The Princess Royal. The aircraft carries a metal plaque below the c/n plate to commeorate this.

Construction Number plate on G-DORS c/n 0517

The Dorset & Somerset Air Ambulance was operating today as HELIMED 10A and piloted by Max Hoskins a former North Sea oil & gas helicopter pilot flying with Bristows.

G-DORS EC135 lifts off from a school cricket pitch in Wells 9.9.08

Henstridge - Compton Abbas - Kingston Deverill - Wed 6.2.08

Wednesday 6th February 2008 was bright and sunny so I headed out to some of my local airfields.

Henstridge

First time I've been here for almost 5 years ! Thankfuly the cafe is still there and open. From here you get a very good view of the tarmac runway. Over on the farside were several new to me blue metal hangers with a couple more still being built.

New for me here was the Christen Eagle II G-NUTA


The owner of this aircraft was very happy to chat about his Eagle. He bought it from a Germany owner although the aircraft was based at the Vendee Air Park in France. G-NUTA was registered in the UK on 15.8.06 and was previously D-ECCA being built from kit in 1991.

Two Vans RV-9 aircraft departed whislt I was having a coffee - G-CCGU and G-RUVY, both taxied out from the new hanger area.

Compton Abbas

This lovely airfield is up on top of a hill, approx 10 miles East of Henstridge. I reckon it is one of the most scenic airfields in the UK - add in a good cafe and a large viewing area too it is an excellent place to visit, not that it was busy during my quick stop ! The grass strip looks a little bumpy in comparison with the tarmac at Henstridge.

The only activity was G-WARZ a based Pa-28-161 Warrior doing circuits and bumps. This aircraft was built in 1997. The photo below shows plenty of mud by the gear and underwing.

Kingston Deverill - The Park

Next stop was the gliding airfield at Kingston Deverill home of the Bath, Wilts and North Dorset GC. This strip in on top of large hill just north of Mere. Luckily there was some mid week activity - outside was the beautiful Glasflugel Libelle 201B G-DCLP wearing competition number "948".



This Libelle was built in 1971 and is the former BGA 1630 and took up its new G registration on 1.10.07.

The local club uses Piper Pa-25-235 Pawnee G-BUXY for air tows - this has a 4 bladed propellor to give it some more towing power.



This Pawnee as built back in 1963 and was imported from Canada before becoming G-BUXY on 18.3.93 - 45 years old.

There is one large hanger here and among the gliders present was SZD 50-3 Puchacz G-CKAN.



This Polish built glider was built in 1997 as c/n B-2106. It was originally delivered to the Netherlands as PH-1104 but sufferred a major accident in the summer of 1997. After a rebuild in Poland it arrived in the UK as BGA 4938 in 2001. It became G-CKAN on 26.11.07. Another Puchacz was in the hanger too - "FUY" BGA 3546.