The UK is a long way from the Eyjafjallajokull Volcano in Iceland and yet the transformation in the last couple of days is amazing.
Initially after the first day, I knew something had changed outside but its taken me until this gloriously sunny day to realise.
I live in Reading which for non UK people is in the south and lies approx 20 miles west of Heathrow airport. For at least 6 hours a day, before they swap the approach round, you get aircraft either departing or using the nearby NDB beacon at Woodley as they begin their decent into Heathrow. Its not very loud as the a/c are usually between 4000ft and 10,000ft, but if I go outside usually within 10 minutes I can hear a distant jet turbine.
Since all passenger aircraft have been grounded, the lack of anything bigger than a red Kite in the sky is indescribable. There’s not even any contrails of aircraft transitioning UK airspace, just clear blue sky.
For the other EAF guys in the Thames Valley, go outside and have a look - it really gives you that 28 days Later feeling.
No stack over South London where we can see the whole shebang going around and where we can predict where the weather’s coming from just by looking up. Hell of a weathervane
All airports closed in northeern Italy.
I had to fly to Berlin on Moday, but all flight have been cancelled.
This mean I will not travel on monday, and as a consequence I can fly on monday evening with my fellow EAF friends!
My dads flight to Turkey to try and get a contract for his business and further expand his industrial company in the country was supposed to take place at Sunday. This volcanic “accident” may make him loose this contract. He needs to get to Izmir latest by tomorrow…
Quite a once-in-a-lifetime-excuse:
“I couldn’t attend the very important contract competition meeting due to a vulcano has erupted on Iceland and blocked whole Northern Europe with ash”…lol.
Had I got there with a bus, instead of the TT, I would have been much richer now: lots of Itie businessmen begging for a hitch back!
Brought back just an ultra-scrooge friend instead, who didn’t even contribute to fuel expenses (my 10-years-old-but-still-astonishing turbofighter runs on 98 RON gasoline you know…) :rolleyes:
Motorways flooded by rented cars, and big queue welcoming me at the Swiss-Italian border.
Anyway, after a month spent almost entirely abroad, it has been wonderful to sit back in a Spitfire, and flying with 310 & 322 mates!!
I’m voting for the Icelandic Volcano Party. It’s done more to stop immigration into the UK in the last 5-6 days than Labour has done in the last 10 years. :bootyshk:
I live under the southern approach to Gardermoen Airport (OSL), and it’s been blissfully quiet since thursday. They have opened the norwegian airspace but since only flights from abroad comes in the southern approach, I’m still being mostly spared.
Tho, a friend of mine was stuck at Biggin Hills, so he and his mates bought an old Rover 400 and drove back to Norway
