Alderney has proved to be a popular destination this year for Seawing. We are aware of 3 trips so far this year.  Here is a summary of a trip Ian Chandler made last month in GBXSE.

In Ian’s Words:

“Alderney is the smallest Channel Island with an airport and the closest to England. Its size is its attraction to many; it’s around 9 miles in circumference so lends itself to plenty of walking. We had booked a B&B near the airport for me, my wife, Clare, my son, Martin and his wife, Laura.

The first problem to be overcome was the weight and balance requirements of BXSE, with its long range fuel tanks the available payload had to be carefully considered. As well as urging my passengers to travel lightly we had to restrict the fuel uplift so we kept within the max all up weight (well almost!).

The easy route is over a fair amount of water; we routed to MAY, then St Catherine’s Point (off the Isle of Wight) and then direct to ORTAC (the northern edge of the Channels Island Airspace) and then Alderney. This avoids French Airspace so after London Information we were handed over to Jersey Approach. Visibility was superb and we had the island in sight some 15-20 miles away and after a handover to Guernsey (who administer the island and the approach) we were soon cleared for a visual join via Alderney lighthouse for runway 26

Alderney airport is very GA friendly and has a detailed website (www.cicz.co.uk) showing the arrivals procedure and details for PPR. (I suggest you phone ATC at Alderney several days before the planned flight to check the current situation.) Information is also available at: http://www.flyalderney.com/pilot-information.html

Accommodation can be limited but again booking in advance through the internet (or telephone) is recommended. For the adventurous there is a camp site where you can hire tents.

Cars are plentiful on the island but as I said earlier you can walk everywhere; over the three days we were there we must have walked miles and miles but very enjoyable. There are plenty of places to eat both in the main town (St Anne) and elsewhere and we enjoyed good food all the time we were on the island.

Unfortunately all good things must come to an end but so when we woke up on the morning of departure it seemed that Alderney didn’t want us to leave – it was foggy! However after spending a couple of hours at the airport the visibility improved and we were able to set off for home. Once clear of the low level mist visibility was again very good and soon we had the Isle of Wight in sight and following the same route back to Southend we were soon passing MAY and had Sheerness in sight for a left base join for 23.”