Welcome to the Dawn to Dusk Classic Flight Challenge
During August 2010 Classic Flight's Commercial Manager, Steve Bridgewater and co-pilot Guy Stockley will embark on a marathon endurance flight around the British Isles... all to raise money and awareness for the Air Atlantique Classic Flight and the Classic Flight Club.
Departing AIRBASE at Coventry Airport at 05.15 they will head as far as northern Scotland and the south of England as they attempt to win the prestigeous Dawn to Dusk (D2D) flying competition. See below for background and more information about the competition.
Latest News
19/08/10 Weather Stops Play for Second Day Running - Mission Aborted for 2010!
(Now updated with Photos)
After a pleasant evening at the Golden Fleece near Carlisle Airport the Steve and Guy were up early and ready to fly. The team at the Golden Fleece were wonderful hosts, loading the crew mobile phone chargers and 'smellies' in their hour of need! Their hospitality, and that of the local residents at Carlisle Airport was much appreciated - especially after Airport had insisted on charging the team a landing fee for their emergency landing! Dave Parker and the North Lakes & Borders Microlight Flying Club insisted on paying the fee - ensuring every penny of sponsorship goes directly to the Classic Flight. Thanks guys!
Steve and Guy were on Carlisle Airport at 05.00 today in readiness for an 05.30 depart
ure to Scotland in an attempt to complete their Classic Flight Dawn to Dusk Challenge. Although the weather reports at Edinburgh and most of England were fine the conditions at Carlisle were truly awful (and completely unforecast!). The hoped for 'bright start' transpired to be heavy rain and low cloud until about 07.00.
Shortly after 7.00am the clouds lifted at Carlisle and blue sky prevailed - but the airport was surrounded by banks of low and angry clouds meaning the duo were forced to sit and contemplate their next move.
Reluctantly they decided the weather conditions were not suitable to complete the challenge and they decided to plan a route back to Coventry.
Shortly before 08.00 the clouds lifted to the east and the crew were airborne at 08.15 and heading towards Newcastle. They then turned south and routed via Sheffield and Burton on Trent before arriving back at AIRBASE at 10.45.
The crew are devastated that they have had to cancel for a third time and have, reluctantly, decided to abandon all attempts at the 2010 competition. They would like to thank everyone who has helped make the flight possible - from airport operators (all of whom agreed to waive their charges) to the FlightWorx team who helped with clearances, flight plans and PPR. Debi Unwin at Air Atlantique did a sterling job updating the website and answering the team's many queries and phone calls and Captain Dak (left) kept everyone's spirits up during the rain!
Roll on 2011...
18/08/10 Weather Stops Play for Today
Once at Carlisle Guy checks the weather for the onward journey. Unfortunately the weather, that was forcast to be scattered showers around the country yesterday, has turned into heavy showers and thunder storms.
Due to this change in the weather forecast the guys are staying at Carlisle overnight with a hope to continue tomorrow when there is an improvement in the weather forecast. Fingers Crossed.
18/08/10 Coventry to Carlisle
The guys have departed from Coventry with a change to the routing due to the weather conditions at Edinburgh. They are now going to stop at Carlisle.
17/08/10 Final Once over of the Aircraft
Guy gives the aircraft a final check (and removed all the engineers fingerprints), before the off in the morning.
17/08/10 Flight Rescheduled - Due to Depart Coventry at 05.15 on Wednesday August 18
Undeterred by yesterday's setbacks the team has rescheduled the Classic Flight Dawn to Dusk Challenge and will depart Coventry tomorrow at 05.15 tomorrow (Wednesday 18th).
The aeroplane's slight technical issue has been fixed and the weather forecast looks suitable. The conditions are far from ideal but it does appear that most, if not all, of the route should be flyable.
Check back here tomorrow for regular updates.
16/08/10 Flight Postponed due to weather and aircraft technical problem
Fog across most of Scotland and Northern England forced a weather delay to this morning's departure. Edinburgh had thick fog so the team replanned the flight to route direct to Durham Tees Valley airport with the intention of refuelling and then attempting to reach RAF Kinloss.
They strapped into the aeroplane just before 06.00 and the engine was started at 06.10. Sadly, when they reached the hold, the oil temperature gauge failed. The team has therefore taken the reluctant decision to 'scrub' today's mission.
The weather for the rest of this week is far from ideal - with Wednesday being the only possible option at this stage.
Check back here for updates.
15/08/10 All Systems Go
This afternoon G-BWFG 'Atlantic 18' has been fully washed and logos applied for her epic jaunt around Britain on the Dawn to Dusk Classic Flight Challenge. Guy and Steve and now putting the finishing touches to their flight planning, having posed for a multitude of photographs at AIRBASE earlier this afternoon.
In addition to the sponsors logos and website on the tail and the D2D emblem on the wings the aeroplane also now wears the name 'Doreen' on the forward fuselage. This is tribute to Steve's mother, who lost her brave fight against cancer in April of this year. She would have been 65 next week and was always a supportive and enthusiastic follower of Steve's flying adventures. This D2D flight is dedicated to the memory of a very special and much missed lady.
Earlier today Steve did more radio interviews and the team also appeared on ITV Central News yesterday. Steve and Guy will soon be heading off to the hotel to get some much needed rest in readiness for t
heir 05.15 departure on tomorrow morning.
Keep checking back tomorrow for updates - and thanks again for all of the messages of support.
11/08/10 Progress Update
Guy Stockley arrived at CFC HQ today to begin the final flight planning process. The final airfields have now confirmed their intention to support the flight and we can now confirm that Leeds Bradford, Woodvale and Gloucester have all pledged to take part.
We are pleased to welcome two extra sponsors to the team. FlightWorx has pledged to support the project by providing a dedicated flight planning and operations service on the day. Powertraveller has provided a Powergorilla battery pack to give extra endurance for the Airbox GPS unit.
Steve is expecting to air test the aeroplane this afternoon and Guy will complete his check out tomorrow daytime.
ITV Central News will be at AIRBASE tomorrow morning to interview the team and we're very excited about appearing on TV. The whole reason for doing flight like this to get publicity for AIRBASE so we are very pleased to attract TV coverage at this early stage. We also have BBC radio interviews lined up for Friday and a series of press conferences during the actual flight.
10/08/2010 Extra Passenger!
The rules of Dawn to Dusk state that no passengers may be carried. However we are 'bending' those rules to take an extra crew member. 'Captain Dakota' is AIRBASE's new mascot and he will be joining the team in the Robin for the flight on Monday. We just hope he's good at reading a map...
09/08/10 'Go' Date Announced
Having studied the long range weather forecasts the team announced this morning that their 2010 Dawn to Dusk entry would take place on Monday August 16th. Now the hard work begins...
06/08/10 Provisional Route Announced
Flight planning is progressing well and the team is now able to announce the provisional route for the Dawn to Dusk Classic Flight Challenge.
Current plans call for the team to depart AIRBASE at 05.15 and then route:
Edinburgh [Fuel] - RAF Kinloss [Fuel] - Kirkbride (TBC) - RAF Leeming (TBC) - RAF Linton-on-Ouse - Leeds Bradford (TBC) [Fuel] - Woodvale (TBC) - Hawarden (TBC) - Caernarfon - Llanbedr - RAF Cosford - Halfpenny Green [Fuel] - Gloucester - Kemble - Netheravon - Blackbushe - Wycombe - Sywell - Coventry.
If all goes to plan the team should return to AIRBASE at 20.25hrs after a total of 13hrs 05 minutes in the air.
04/08/10 Aeroplane Announced
The team can now confirm that they will be using Robin HR200 G-BWFG for the 2010 Dawn to Dusk Classic Flight Challenge. Generously loaned by Air Atlantique this aeroplane will soon be embarking on a 15hr adventure around the UK to help raise money and awareness for the Classic Flight and Classic Flight Club.
Dawn to Dusk Background
The objective of the Dawn to Dusk (D2D) competition is to encourage the most interesting employment of a flying machine within the limits of competent airmanship and to demonstrate the capabilities of pilot and machine in a day's flying, during the hours between Dawn to Dusk in terms of furthering some original and praiseworthy objective.
Competitors must choose a theme for their entry and then complete as much flying as possible between the hours of 04.30 and 21.30 in a single day. All competitors must complete a minimum of 8 hours airborne and the remainder of the available time must be used in connection with the theme of the entry.
For full rules and regulations please see: www.automatic-button.com/d2d/
Over the past 40 years winning and highly placed entries have been submitted from more than 14 countries including Australia, New Zealand, Scandinavia, Europe, Canada and the United States. The panel of esteemed judges is headed by HRH Prince Phillip, Duke of Edinburgh.
In 2006 Steve Bridgewater and Louise Walker’s ‘Spitfire D2D Challenge’ entry marking the 75th anniversary of the Supermarine Spitfire was placed third in the world and won the Tiger Club Trophy. They landed at 14 airfields in 9.2hrs and covered 617nm
In 2007 Steve and flying partner Amanda Harrison chose the 85th anniversary of the King’s Cup air race as their theme. They were placed third once again, retained the Tiger Club Trophy and also won the Pooley Sword for the best flight report and log. They landed at 14 airfields in 10.5hrs and covered 712nm.
For Dawn to Dusk 2010 Steve will be flying with best friend Guy Stockley, who returns from a tour of Afghanistan just prior to the fight.
The 2010 Theme
Steve and Guy intend to use their 2010 entry to raise both money and awareness for the Classic Flight and Classic Flight Club.
Classic Flight, based at AIRBASE a Coventry Airport, maintain, support and fly some of the rarest historic aircraft in the country. It has been established to preserve these graceful flying machines in flyable condition and demonstrate them to future generations. Classic Flight believes that these aircraft can be best appreciated when they are seen, heard and event smelled starting up and flying in front of the public. At AIRBASE classic aircraft are brought to life.
Aircraft preserved and flown include the Gloster Meteor (Britain’s first jet fighter), a Canberra jet bomber that once held the world altitude record for Great Britain and the world’s only airworthy Avro Anson. More than 30 aircraft are supported by the Classic Flight and they act as both a memorial to past generations and an inspiration to future ones.
Classic Flight Club has been established to enable members of the public to become actively involved in the preservation of these classic aeroplanes. Through their generosity these priceless artifacts can continue to be flown and enjoyed for many years to come.
Venues range from small rural airfield to international airports. It is hoped they will manage to cover more than 1,000 miles in the day and visit upwards of 20 airfields.
The Team
Steve (35) grew up around aeroplanes and obtained his pilot’s licence at Oxford in 2005. He has a background in both marketing and accounting but in 2000 he joined Key Publishing as Deputy Editor of Today’s Pilot magazine. He was also the launch editor of Air Action magazine, a publication aimed at encouraging young people into aviation. Steve later joined Archant Specialist as Launch Editor of Go Flying! magazine and Deputy Editor of Pilot magazine. He also worked as Marketing Manager at Pooleys Flight Equipment before establishing Awyr Aviation Communication in 2008.
Steve is an accomplished aviation journalist who has been short-listed for the International Aerospace Journalist of the Year Award (AJOYA) on three separate occasions. He has won the Tiger Club Trophy twice and has flown around 150 hours in aircraft ranging from Cessna 152s to Piper Cubs, Jet Provosts and Cirrus SR22s.
Guy (38) and Steve met in 2005 when they started their flight training on the same day. They have been friends ever since – in fact Guy will be Steve’s Best Man when he gets married in September!
He spent 14 years in the RAF as an Intelligence Analyst (Imagery), deploying numerous times to Croatia, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. He left the RAF as a Sergeant in 2006 to gain his Airline Transport Pilots Licence which he completed in 2008.
Guy has a passion for flying and is currently converting on the 1940s era Chipmunk with a view to flying historic aircraft in the future. He is also a fully qualified aerobatics pilot and has flown in the region of 850hrs to date.
Guy has been involved in the team’s previous Dawn to Dusk entries – primarily in the Ground Operations role. He is looking forward to taking to the skies in the 2010 competition.
Ground Support for the 2010 flight will be based at AIRBASE at Coventry Airport.
John Baker will once again act as Operations Manager for the flight, ensuring the team's passage is as smooth as possible via close liaison with air traffic and other units.
During the planning stage he has been ably assisted by newly qualified commercial pilot Adrian Kinsley.
