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Exploring from the air | General Exploring Chat Forum | 28DaysLater.co.uk

Exploring from the air

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keffa

Bringer of free Cylumes
28DL Full Member
Having just attained my private pilots license, it got me to thinking the other day how I might combine exploring with flying and what sites you could potentially have a look at and scope about from the air. I did have a look at the Mostyn fun ship which was an interesting angle (From the air you can see she is tilting ever so very slightly).

I have also scoped out some former airfields that have clearly just faded away and been forgotten about in the stages just before and after world war 2. They would not be anything interesting at all from ground level but from the air it's pretty awesome to see just how many airfields have come and gone!!

Being the pilot and a pretty fresh behind the ears one at that (62 hours now, 21 of them solo), I've not been confident enough to get busy with the camera while I've been at the controls. As I get more comfortable I'm planning to take some photos and maybe get creative with a Go Pro (Have to be careful though, plane rental firms get very nervous about you sticking stuff to the outside of their aircraft).

Initially before I started to learn to fly I thought looking at stuff from their air would just be a more time intensive and expensive way of doing the equivalent of browsing through google maps, but it's really not. The level of detail and a 45 degree angle let's you see so much more than you could imagine. And of course it's real time.

I was extremely surprised when I first started learning to discover the majority of UK airspace up to a certain height is uncontrolled and does not require a flight plan for you to potter about in (I'm generalising there but it incorporates something called Visual Flight Rules). However quite a few of the big urban things such as Battersea are in controlled airspace so circling around them isn't an option.

So what other sites do you think would be worth a look from the air at 1 or 2 thousand feet (About as low as is practicle, safe and also legal)? Or maybe having an airborne view would assist a ground visit? I'd love some suggestions.
 

Oxygen Thief

Admin
Staff member
Admin
Sites like these !...

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keffa

Bringer of free Cylumes
28DL Full Member
Come pick me up then we can discuss it from the air :D

Ha ha if your somewhere in North Wales and you have a large patch of grass nearby I will think about it. ;)

Sites like these !...

<<Snip photos>>

Yes! Alas I might need a time machine rather than a flying machine for one of them! :)

What's the story behind them? (I am assuming they are your photos?)
 

Lavino

................
28DL Full Member
There's plenty of large patches of grass in Wales. Just watch out for the sheep.
 

Oxygen Thief

Admin
Staff member
Admin
What's the story behind them? (I am assuming they are your photos?)

A friend of mine has a plane or three, we used to go flying fairly often, until I moved away. He's also taken Turkey, Rooks, Raddog and others up with us.
 

keffa

Bringer of free Cylumes
28DL Full Member
A friend of mine has a plane or three, we used to go flying fairly often, until I moved away. He's also taken Turkey, Rooks, Raddog and others up with us.

I wish I could afford to own my own plane, but then in a way I kind of don't. I rent a Piper PA28 and its like 300 an hour and I thought that was expensive till the mechanic told me it had just had its engine changed and it cost £16 grand!

Once I've got my night certification and Instrument certification and about 150 hours under my belt I'm planning to start on my helicopter license but I need to get comfy with fixed wing first.

Did you ever see anything from the air that turned out to be useful on the ground?
 

Oxygen Thief

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Staff member
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I wish I could afford to own my own plane, but then in a way I kind of don't. I rent a Piper PA28 and its like 300 an hour and I thought that was expensive till the mechanic told me it had just had its engine changed and it cost £16 grand!

Yeah not cheap. My mate does a lot of the work himself, he's a licensed engineer, but still the parts cost thousands.

Did you ever see anything from the air that turned out to be useful on the ground?

Not really mate.

Once I've got my night certification and Instrument certification and about 150 hours under my belt I'm planning to start on my helicopter license but I need to get comfy with fixed wing first.

Wish I had the money tbh. Thing is, you'll never be able to afford to fly anything other than a Robbo R22 (death egg) - for the money you could buy a share in a plane.
 

keffa

Bringer of free Cylumes
28DL Full Member
Wish I had the money tbh. Thing is, you'll never be able to afford to fly anything other than a Robbo R22 (death egg) - for the money you could buy a share in a plane.

God don't I know it. Nine hours rental for a Bell 206: £8765 not including VAT!! I closed the browser window...
 

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