4 March 2024
Hello Everybody,
I must warn you all against unwise runway intrusions.
We have had two near-misses recently, and I'm sure you've all seen the TV footage of what can happen when an aircraft in motion collides with an object on the runway.
All aircraft on the ground are required to give way to all aircraft in the air.
Motor vehicles must give way to all aircraft at all times.
Before you cross any Serpentine runway you should bring your vehicle to a complete halt, just as you would at an intersection with a stop sign. This is particularly applicable when you're coming back from the fire heap or the helicopter area towards the clubhouse. That unbroken yellow line paired with a parallel dashed yellow line on the taxiway is an airport stop sign. Stopping there ensures you are clear of both runways 05/23 — the bitumen one and the grass one.
Before crossing any runway we should look both ways — both upwind and downwind — to make sure there are no aircraft on the runway or about to taxi onto the runway. Aircraft do from time to time land or takeoff downwind, both intentionally and unintentionally.
When looking for airborne aircraft, we should not only look up the 3° to 5° slope that ordinary aeroplanes like Cessnas or RVs follow; we should also look down very low to the one degree approach slope used by Vari-Ezies, LongEzes and the jet Cri Cri.
You should be aware that some aircraft types, including draggy biplanes like a Pitts or a Tiger Moth and aeroplanes with symmetrical aerofoils like One Designs and Extras have to make a steep, curving approach so that the pilot can see the runway. So you also need to look up high and to either side of the straight-in approach path (they might be flying a right-hand circuit) to see these.
From some of these aeroplanes a pilot can see nothing of the runway itself in the last couple of hundred feet.
So it must always be the vehicle driver or the pilot of an aeroplane on the ground intending to cross or lineup on the runway who does all the looking out and avoidance. Having a really good look will probably take you many seconds.
And listening on the radio, although certainly vital, cannot guarantee your safety because there may always be non-radio aircraft in our circuit.
Rant over, I sincerely hope you all get as much pleasure out of your flying this year as I intend to.
I hope that your 2024 is filled with wonderful flying.
All the very best to everybody, Bob