Cix VFR Club members are familiar with the RealAir Cessna 172. Now (December 2004) RealAir have just released a Mark XIV Spitfire, and club member Tony Driver has "bought" one. Expect to see it in the skies over Worcestershire and Gloucestershire on Tuesday 14th December. Tony says "I'm really enjoying this new aircraft. but following years of simulator experience, my instinct
tells me this is just right. I think it's their best yet, and I'm not
alone. There is a review in the new PC Pilot magazine which gives it 5/5, and a wonderfully enthuisiastic review by a retired Spitfire display pilot copied from AVSIM on the RealAir website."

From December 3rd 2004, thanks to the generosity of one of our members, we now have our own domain, www.cixvfrclub.org.uk. Well of course you know that, because you are reading this. Bookmark it now, tell your friends, mention it on the VATSIM forums. Anyone that has that slightly sadistic streak of the editorial critic is welcome to email the webmaster with any broken links, missing pictures etc., which may have resulted from the move. It is important to mention in this regard, our sincere thanks to Tim Benham, who has hosted our site on his own servers since last March, and will continue to host our Teamspeak server. Many thanks Tim for your continued support and contribution. Happy flying.everyone.

To celebrate the return of the real world G-GYAV from the Isle of Man on 31st August, Peter Dodds has finally completed the rework of the Cessna 172N panel. Every gauge has been modified, controls remodelled to look more like the real Cessna controls, and several completely new gauges created. For those who prefer the slightly more "weathered" look of an older aircraft - this panel has that look about it. Engine controls now include a primer for starting and a carburettor heat control. The panel also, realistically, lacks all the modern GPS, moving map, ATC and other "gizmos", requiring the pilot to use his paper map for VFR flight, and, naturally, to use VATSIM for ATC cover! Download a copy.

Vatsim-UK now has "regional nights". Thursday is London night, which covers anything in the London and City control zones, plus other London area airports like Biggin Hill. Wednesday night is Essex night, which is Stansted, Luton and Cambridge. the Club has already taken advantage of this on 21st July, when Tony Driver lead a fleet of four from Luton to Rochester.
VATSIM UKs Events Co-ordinator Nick Cunnington (G-TAAL) has emailed the Club to thank members for supporting the Kemble event. He also offered to help organise ATC cover for any of our events in the future - a very generous and warmly accepted offer.

Five club aircraft flew in convoy to Kemble on Sunday 11th July for the Vatsim equivalent of the Popular Flying Association's annual Rally at Kemble in Gloucestershire. The club aircraft swelled the numbers of aircraft which attended from six to eleven. members agreed it was our most successful, but also our most ambitious, trip to date. Nevertheless it went off without a hitch.  11/07/04

Diamond Katana DA20 G-BYMB (pilot Tim Arnott) departing homeward from Kemble.

Four other aircraft which attended the event can also be seen airborne.

Aircraft taking part were: -
From the club
G-BYMB - DA20
G-GYAV - C172
G-SPCA - C172
G-XAJD - C172
VH-DAH - Mooney B

Others:
G-HANA - Beech Baron
G-HENC - Beech Baron
G-TAAL - C172
G-DIVA - C172
G-WAVI - PA17
G-RAMI - Jetranger

On May 29th, member Ruth McTighe had a trial lesson in a real aeroplane - a Piper Warrior. She repeated one of the Club's early trips, flying from Biggin Hill to Rochester. Ruth described the flight, in poor visibility, as "very interesting".

It is perhaps not surprising that many Flight Simmers go on to fly in the real world. After all, the desire to see what it is really like must be strong in everyone who has mastered the initial aspects of flight on a computer. The cost of real flying is perceived as a significant stumbling block, but apart from the initial outlay for training which is indeed hefty, flying can be maintained within the bounds of the average income with some adjustment. New cars, more than one holiday a year, frequent eating out, smoking and drinking are all pleasures which can be put aside if you desperately want to fly and still keep the children fed and clothed. What is certain, though, is that almost everyone who " has a go" gets hooked, so you do need family involvement and agreement. 30/05/04

Tim Arnot is learning to fly in a Diamond Katana DA20 at Enstone Aerodrome in Oxfordshire. He is now well into the "circuits and bumps" element of his training, which leads to that magical day - First Solo! Read all about it on his own web site.

Peter Dodds is a member of Southport and Merseyside Aero Club, and flies the real G-GYAV out of Liverpool Airport. He has been flying for 11 years and has over 320 hours. He has flown seven different types of aircraft, including a vintage Tiger Moth..

David Humble flies a combination of Piper Arrows and Warriors with an occasional Cessna 150 out of Bankstown Airport, Sydney, New South Wales. Check out Schofields Flying Club

Paul Carrington did some gliding "many years ago" in the RAF.

Vatsim Deputy Director and Cix VFR Club member Ruth McTighe (G-RMCT) will be producing some of the missing pages from this site over the next few weeks, in particular the page of links to Simulated Aviation (and real World Aviation) sites of interest and importance to us, and the "Notams" page where updated information from Vatsim and other organisations world wide will be posted.

After some frustrating hours with an inferior panel design package, the panel for G-GYAV and other Club 172Ns is progressing well. The gauges and switches etc need to be edited to remove extraneous phillips screws, and the fuel gauges need recalibrating to reflect the 156 litres (49 US gallons) maximum fuel capacity of the 172N  .In addition, features incompatible with the Cessna 172N (e.g. an autopilot) have been disabled or removed from the aircraft design.

Tim Arnot flew over to guide in the Emergency Services, but they weren't needed.

Five members and 3 other aircraft descended on Gloucestershire Airport on Tuesday 7th December for a memorable fly-in and Champagne supper. There were controllers on line at Gloucestershire, Bristol and Wellesbourne Mountford, giving us particularly good ATC cover. Our grateful thanks to them all.

Our next planned event is a Piper Cub evening on 14th December - see the Events page.

VATSIM has recently announced that they will try and privide ATC cover at Biggin Hill. From the Forum: "PROJECT BIGGIN is an attempt to increase the stock of Biggin Hill on VATSIM and encourage its use as a GA and bizjet airfield. We would like to have BIG TWR or APP manned everynight plus THAMES (Radar). This should start encouraging traffic. There are already a couple of "flying clubs" based at
Biggin (that's us - Ed.) and I'm sure they'd fly more if we gave more service."

We will certainly try!

As can be seen from the attached photo, the Jabaru looks
like a diminutive C150, David says that for most operations it flies like one. The biggest difference is the weight. Adjust power and the speed changes almost immediately. The flare needs to be done a lot closer to the ground as there is very little momentum to keep you flying. Gusts will knock the plane around a lot until all the wheels are on the ground.

Cix VFR Club member Tim Arnot made his real world first solo on Tuesday 20th July at Wellesbourne Mountford in Diamond Katana DA20 G-BYMB based at Enstone. Contratulations to Tim from all club members. We are taking bets as to how long the grin lasts.
Coincidentally, PPL member Peter Dodds had flown to Wellesbourne and only realised he was watching the lead up to this momentous event as he sat in the cafe eating a burger watching a Katana doing circuits. When he realised it was G-BYMB he thought it mght be Tim, but unfortunately had to leave before the actual solo took place.

One of our members, Kevin Brian, is heavily into the design of extreme aircraft, mostly without wings. Here is the Simple 3, a jet powered tailless motor glider.

The Simple 3 is real fun to fly, if you can keep it on the runway during take-off!