There's a lovely high pressure system sitting over the country at the moment. I should be reporting that I expect to get qualifying cross-country completed this week. But no. While the weather's great on the ground the haze makes navigation that little bit more difficult. Add to that the fact the airplane with the functioning navaids is undergoing maintenance and you have a recipe for local flying.
I made it down to Abbeyshrule today on a navex, though had I not been there before, I'm not sure that I would have. And my cockpit management and general flying were a little rough. Bearing in mind that Knock isn't the easiest airport to find ( hard to believe, I know); me trying to find it on Wednesday, with no VORs, and raggedy navigation, would probably have been overly optimistic.
So, the plan for the week is to curb my ambitions and stick to some local flying, upper airwork and circuits. At least this season the airport is going to stay open till end of VFR and not repeat the debacle of last Autumn when it decided to close a 6pm- meaning I couldn't fly after work.
BTW- Abbeyshrule is now charging €10 for a full stop landing. I thought that this was a bit much but they're actually doing something with the money, including fitting out a new clubhouse and coffee dock - so I happily forked out the tenner. There's a bit of life about the place and a sense of future for GA in the midlands. Drop in, pay the fee, watch and support its growth.
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