Le Touquet
or Bust!

My return to flying, following a serious injury two years ago, was smooth enough with the help of Aerobility, and I was soon enticed into joining a club on the airfield. I tagged onto the East Staffordshire club and quickly saw the benefits.

A couple of handy safety seminars and talks, plus the social events and friendly members, justified the reasonable yearly membership fee, and I began to look at the other things that the flying club had on the season's schedule.

The fly-outs looked the most attractive, with the opportunity to share flights and make flying a more social affair, so I began my plans just in case I was able to take part in a few.

The trip to Le Touquet looked to be the main event, so I quickly got in my request. Of course, my new licence limitations meant I couldn't actually leave UK airspace, so that meant being extra nice to Martin Jones, as I would need an instructor to act as Captain for the last couple of miles of the trip.

As is often the case with aviation, the trip was in doubt right up until the eleventh hour for a variety of reasons but, when a club member unfortunately became ill, a plane was suddenly available.

With just a day to go, things were hurriedly compiled. Safety equipment was acquired, flight plans and all the necessary paperwork put together, all made easier using SkyDemon — a thing we certainly didn't have back when I learned to fly, but an invaluable tool now we do have it.

Saturday arrived. A mix of nerves and excitement had me awake well in advance of the alarm call, and I set off to the airfield.

The clubhouse was buzzing when I arrived, but doubt was in the air about the trip to France, and rightfully so, as the weather was patchy. Talk began of a trip within the UK instead.

It looked like we had ten aircraft looking to fly somewhere, which is an impressive turnout, and after a lot of in-depth weather reporting the decision was made to set off to Le Touquet.

A second club member joined us, making three on board, the plan being that they could fly the return leg. Luckily I had factored the extra person into the previous evening's weight and balance calculations just in case, so all was well.

With full tanks and life jackets adorned, we set off in Lima Echo, one of Tatenhill Aviation's trusty PA-28s.

Once out of the airfield ATZ we started an en-route climb, hopefully up to 5,000 ft, but hit cloud pretty quickly at around 2,500 ft. We could see it was clear higher up though, so pressed on, and quickly got tops at the required altitude.

And that's as exciting as the journey got, in a nutshell. I leaned the engine off for the best fuel consumption, carried out my FREDA checks with pinpoint accuracy, and enjoyed the smooth and peaceful ride.

We headed out over Cambridge and on to Clacton, before routing south over the Thames Estuary, tracking the Dover VOR and then the English Channel.

The various air traffic services encountered throughout the route were super helpful every step of the way, and we hardly saw another soul, quickly picking up the French coast and following it down to the distinctive estuary at the mouth of the River Canche.

Le Touquet Control were also helpful, albeit clearly busy, which is never a happy French attribute, but they allowed us to join downwind, tracking the river to intercept base leg.

A smooth landing ensued, and we left the runway promptly to keep the tower appeased.

Once landing fees and customs were out of the way, a taxi was called to take us to a beach restaurant to meet up with the other club members who had arrived before us.

A couple of club members had diverted to Lydd on the Kent coast, but seven club aircraft made it in the end.

A fine lunch was enjoyed before returning to the airfield. We refuelled so we had full tanks for the journey and set off.

This time I sat in the rear and was in charge of the life raft, but once again the journey was trouble-free, routing back to UK airspace following the route we came.

Once back at Tatenhill, and with the engine off and ticking away, the magnitude of what we had just done struck home.

It all passed by so quickly. That's usually a sign that it was all great fun.