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Seaside, Seals & Sky Diving – Homeward bound on the final day of the UK Tour 2021

Posted by

Becca

31 January 2022

On 10 January 2022

Later start on our last morning so we all took breakfast at a little more leisurely pace and discussed the route. No obvious complications, the weather in stark contrast to the day before was nice and sunny with very light wind. Our plan was to navigate back to Elstree using the East Coast for as long as possible with just 2 stops on route for fuel; Beverley (a new airfield for all of us) and Beccles. We gathered our things and grabbed a taxi back to Eshott Airfield. The taxi driver had heard about us landing at Eshott the day before so was very interested in what we were up to.

Usual check of the helicopters, before we depart and soon we were airborne. Our first waypoint was Newcastle as we had planned to fly through their controlled area (CTA). They were very helpful and seemed excited that there was a group of helicopters ‘on tour’ and all heading back down South together. Anyway, super friendly and meant that we were able to start our coastal route immediately rather than flying ‘under’ their CTA.

Beyond Newcastle, we passed Sunderland then down to Hartlepool now talking to Teeside International Airport. Again a really helpful and friendly bunch offering us a zone transit which we took so we could stay slightly in land and keep high, I think travelled through there at about 3,000ft. Next was the North Yorkshire Moors and post Newcastle and Teesside which are very industrial/surburban from the air suddenly its all goes green again with a little terrain to be aware of. There were a few little towns just dotted about but so incredible to see how the UK landscape changes in just a few miles.

Time to head back to the seaside/fishing towns of Whitby, Scarborough then down to Bridlington. You often imagine some of these places are large cities but actually they are similar to Clacton in size. This part of the East Coastline is quite hard looking form the air. A combinations of towns, ports, magnificent cliffs giveway to secluded coves and beaches tucked away and you’d never know that they were there from the ground.

Just after Bridlington we turned inland heading down to this little airfield called Beverly, just North of Kingston upon Hull. Really nice little airfield and café, it appears the airfield didn’t get many helis so 3 at once was quite an event for them. Was great to read all the comments on social media over the week but to see the reactions of our adventure face to face was priceless!

Up and away South Eastbound over Hull, a huge industrial city, and across the mouth of the Humber to Grimsby, home of Fish and Chips! Then we flew passed a vast wind farm located just off the coast of Skegness. It was then time to hop across The Wash from Skegness to Hunstanton and into North Norfolk. This is such a beautiful coastline almost tropical in places with their broad sandy beaches and clear waters; Hunstanton, Brancaster and of course Wells-next -the-sea which I visited quite recently with the family so its fun to spot where we had been just a few weeks before. The biggest treat of all is the colonies of seals that can be found in the area and they were all ready for their close up as we circled around and took a few photos. Definitely a fantastic way to see these amazing creatures and without disturbing their habitat.

Cromer, a popular student trip destination then on to Caister-on-Sea, Great Yarmouth, Lowestoft turning inland into Beccles. They have a lot of parachuting going on there so that is always a bit added fun/challenge as you must integrate with the parachuting. You can’t take off, land or even have rotors running when they’re doing their skydiving which meant we had to hold off for a little while. Those who had been there before know you could get quite close to their airfield up in the air so that as soon as you get the go ahead you can nip onto a 2 mile final. The alternative is to hang back so it can take a little longer to get in but doesn’t matter really as those who descend first head to the refuel bays as you can’t all fit around there at the same time anyway.

Once landed we were met with a heroes’ welcome as the airfield had been following our journey on social media so had been expecting us. Beccles is well equipped for visitors with friendly faces and fabulous food and with the now Indian Summer weather we were glad to grab a table in the shade. After a delicious lunch and a few last minute souvenirs there was a slight delay in departing as I think we all knew this was the final sortie of the day and the tour.

So a bitter sweet lift and away to complete our flight along the East Coastline down to Felixstowe and Walton-on-the-Naze, Clacton-on-sea before turning inland for the last time. This is a very busy stretch of water Ferries, Cargo ships, those sailing for business or using the sea for pleasure there’ always plenty to look at around the Blackwater Estuary. Westbound heading now as we make for home and Elstree.

When you fly around the UK you realise so much of the sky is ‘unused’. It’s rare to see other traffic and whilst we talk to lots of air traffic controllers, much of the time you can use a common frequency and just communicating with each other, keeping an eye on where we all are, what’s coming up, what’s happening, if there was any weather to be discussed etc. Its like you are the only pilots in the air much of the time. But as you get back down to the South, particularly that South East corner, it is noticeably busy and you lose the perks of the common frequency. Especially through Chelmsford area, as you catch up with all the traffic in Southend, Stansted and Heathrow, Stapleford, North Weald. It feels like suddenly there are aircrafts and airspace EVERYWHERE! That level of radio and nav is our bread and butter but after a week’s break it is a bit of a WHOA ok we’re nearly home!

We chose a fun route for the last few miles, over the top of North Weald and I believe the others did a zone transit through the Southern Stub, as we call it, of Stansted. Then around M25 the staple of every trip lol before descending down into Elstree.

A warm welcome from the Aerodrome as they too had been following our trip and of course much excitement from all our ground crew back at the flying school especially as they surprised us with a mini makeover as had been busy giving the crew room and shared areas a fresh coat of paint. A bit of post flight/tour admin; filling in tech logs etc and making sure we had all our numbers correct.

I’m often asked about the helis reliability on these long trips… All of the helicopters behaved themselves and without even as much as a glitch – yes G2 I am talking about you – but nothing at all. I mean I don’t know why that would be a surprise as they are in use are on a daily basis, flying four to five hours a day, up to 7 days a week. I think it’s more to do with where they have been, different temperatures, conditions, terrains even over 5 days rather than often pootling around the local area. Plus of course the what if you get stuck question… *shudder* Not these super machines, to fly round the entire UK Coastline (well almost) and without any hitches, not missing a beat is pretty much a tick in the reliability box for me.

All pilots were really pleased on what they had achieved, a little tired, but super chuffed – 2,000 nautical miles and between 25-30 hours of flying. Over mountains and down by the beach an amazing experience.