Dear Zuiko Lovers
I have decided to tell you part of today. It is a soppy tale, so please move on
now if you are easily bored... You may not know the area, but be assured that
Yorkshire is a lovely county in the north of England.
Went flying today over Yorkshire and there was proof positive that God provides
us with a a beautiful world. We (my navigator and I) let down to low level (not
below 250ft) just to the north of Harrogate after having dropped 2 practice
bombs at Wainfleet Range in the Wash. The small valleys to the west of Ripon
were filled with little houses issuing little columns of smoke from their
chimneys. With the slack gradient (little wind) there was mist around them. We
headed over Grimwith Reservoir, south of Malham Tarn and turned NNW by Settle to
attack a simulated targete (road over railway bridge) west of Langsrothdale
Chase in the Yorkshire Dales. As we popped up to 2500ft in the attack, I
realised that the target was right next to the Ribblehead Viaduct, part of the
Settle to Carlisle railway. Northern England was laid out at our feet and, in
the diffuse light of the late afternoon, it looked quite beautiful. The sun was
low, but there was also a high cover of Cirrus to soften the light; the world
looked warm and lovely. We flew underneath a helicopter in the dive at the
target (it was at about 2000ft) who was trucking SW, perhaps enjoying the late
afternoon light with no turbulence and we waggled our wings to show that we had
seen him - in case he was worrying about the proximity of a fast jet.
And... I did not have a camera to record the scenery. After a few more minutes
we came to the end of our usable fuel and climbed out to FL270 (approx 27000ft)
to return to Germany where the weather was dank and wet - what the UK had
experienced the day before. And I thought that you might like to share the
experience.
I do envy you Stateside Zs who are visiting Yosemite (prior to the Master Plan)
and Zion, Arches and Bryce. But I treasure some of the flights during which,
while carrying out training that I would be doing anyway, I and my nav see God's
world in all its glory.
And, yes I know that Mr Environmental (me most of the time) would not appreciate
the tale of a flight that will use a fair amount of the world's scarce fossil
fuels - a flight that only carries 2 people. The noise the machine makes is not
too attractive either, but it is part of the training that we need to carry out
to maintain operational proficiency.
Next time, I'll take a little OM with a 28/2.8 and hope that the vibration in a
jet aircraft is low enough to allow some sharp photos.
Endit....
Chris
~~ ><>
Chris Barker
Mailto: cmib@xxxxxxxxxxx or mailto: cmib@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
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