The wind blows free

I have noticed that during this Autumn that we have had rather a lot of gales. Wind can be a good friend but a bad enemy, and it also means that walking, bike riding and flying are more hazardous than usual.

Walking

Each morning I walk our dog over the field behind the house. The field includes the hill at Moorfields where the wind sweeps over the Cheshire plain and hurtles up the Weaver valley. It is always colder on that hill than in the surrounding country. On one recent morning whilst crossing the hill in a gale it took hold of me and blew my legs from under me and I found myself looking up at the dog!!. She didn't mind of course, but I had to gather myself up and press on.

I seem to have developed a reputation for falling and ending in an untidy heap so I didn't tell Anne and don't you tell her either.

Motorbike riding

On a windy day riding motor bikes brings it's own hazards. The dangerous part is usually passing a field gate when one can be pushed involuntarily across a road. I had this happen to me last year when crossing the mountain between Bala and Trawsfynydd. In order to maintain some semblance of control I had to reduce speed to 25 MPH and still I was blown into the path of oncoming traffic.

Flying.

Some years ago taking off from Groningen in Holland and heading for the KZ rally in North Jutland, Denmark I found myself heading into the teeth of an un-forecast gale. We were cruising at 80 Knots (90 MPH) and we followed a Volkswagen Beatle on the whole journey and making barely 45 knots over the ground.

To make matters worse we got to Bilund to find the runway was across the wind which was blowing at 32 Knots. As we circled and considered matters we watched as a KZ biplane lost control close to the ground and ended in a heap. Our aircraft is cleared in the manual to cope with 12 knots of cross wind, so what to do. There being no alternative airfield available we had little choice but to attempt the seemingly impossible. Over the radio I asked for wingtip assistance, which means asking a team of men to standby to seize our wingtips as we slowed from our crabwise descent.

Fortune smiled on us and we landed safely and tied down quickly.

On another occasion , I decided, one Saturday afternoon to go to our field with tools to make adjustments to the brakes which were pulling to the left. They should pull nice and evenly on both wheels. Having completed the job I decided I should make a short proving flight before hangering the aircraft.

Looking to the South West I observed a squall approaching but as it was about five miles away it wouldn't interfere with my plan. The Air Navigation Order specifies that a pilot who is dependent on corrected vision (who wears glasses ) must carry in the aircraft a spare pair of specs. I had a permanent spare pair stashed in the glove compartment.

So, I started and warmed the engine and making the best of my time before the squall arrived. I promptly took off and made a quick circuit. The squall had by now crept a lot closer to me, but never mind I shall be down in a minute.

I was beginning to get buffeted as I made my approach to the runway and was dismayed when I realised that I had made a poor approach and could not land off it, and the only option was to turn the wick up and go around again.

The leading edge of a squall often is marked by a very boisterous and peevish wind with and can be aggravated by a phenomena called Wind Shear, which means a wind rapidly changing velocity this can cause an aircraft to suddenly run out of airspeed whilst dangerously close to the round.

This one was all of those and I had my hands full getting back on to the ground. Just as I slowed and turned at the end of the runway one of my spectacle lenses dropped out on to the floor of the cabin. Never mind, I shut my blind eye and taxied back to the hanger 'one eyed' and in a (by now) fully developed rain squall.

What would I have done if my lens had dropped out a minute earlier? I would reach for my spare pair of course. So I checked. They weren't there, as I had taken them with me on holiday a few days before and not returned them.

Byarne Anderson from Copenhagen was with us for the weekend – he had arrived on to our field at Coole Lane with his wife, and It was decided that fully loaded there was not sufficient runway length for him to take off on his homeward journey. So we would move his aircraft to Shropshire Aero Club at Sleap where with huge concrete runways he would have no trouble taking off.

So a plan was made for him to fly empty to Sleap with me accompanying him in my aircraft,to make the return journey to Audlem.

However a gale blew up and we took off in tandem and made towards Whitchurch. It soon became obvious that we had bitten off more than we could chew. So, I put out to him a radio call saying I am going back. Making a very gentle turn I headed back to our field, he followed.

We both made a very precarious landing and as we stopped he pulled back his canopy and shouted across to me above the gale.

' This iss flyink for men vith hair full chests'.

Cheers for now

Geoff Farr 19/12/18

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