Manston Fog

A routine mail flight in a twin engine plane which test the pilots skill. Skill? Preparation is a better word.

It was a routine flight almost. Southend England to Brussels, Belgium hauling TNT freight,  occasionally overloaded twin engine Cessna. The flight usually started after flight prep and weather check by takeoff from runway 06 at Southend Airport, straight over the town. He banked left as soon as he reached 500’ to get out over the water. Frigid channel water was his desired alternative to the city concrete in case of an engine failure after lift off. He’ll die slower but with a chance of rescue before hypotherma.

The return flight around 4am was when the fun started.

He kept his ear glued to the weather broadcast. Temp and dewpoint were closing. When they equaled each other a blanket of thick ground fog would cover his destination.

He

It wouldn’t come gradually, but would appear in the snap of a finger. There are a number of alternatives to the possibility of not being able to land at the intended destination.

Manston, directly below him was a giant airfield with Ground controlled Radar capable of talking him down till his wheels screeched on the runway pavement. At 4 am, Manston was closed.  GCA was developed by MIT in 1942 and was installed at 3 major aerodromes at the height of WWII, and still used for emergency backdoor 0/0  weather alternatives. They were Prestwick, Scotland, Lyneham, Wiltshire and Manston, Kent. Lyneham and Manston were closed and Prestwick was beyond fuel range for the Titan 404.

From Manston his destination, South End, on the south east coast of England was 120 miles distant. About 45 minutes flying time. Chances are he isn’t going to make it if the temp dewpoint closes any further.

Visability was clear and unrestricted. He continued listening to the weather radio and watching twinkling lights from street lights and automobiles slide by his side window.

About 15 miles north of Manston twinkles were barely visible through the white, fuzzy cloth covering the ground .

He made a radio call to Terminal Control.

London Approach, gulf delta alpha foxtrot sierra ten miles north of Manston , altitude 6000 request vector to Heathrow for full stop landing.

Heathrow was his alternate. Every IFR flight requires an alternate and 45 minutes of fuel left in the tanks upon landing.

Foxtrot Sierra, approach Heathrow is accepting Cat II approaches only due to 0/0 visibility, came the reply. Altimiter two niner niner two.

Although ILS was developed in years subsequent to GCA, it required highly sophisticated electronics and specially trained pilots for a 0/0 landing. GCA merely required a number of practice approaches, which he had, but useless still if the operators were home in bed; normal procedure which, in the face of a true emergency, such as a pilot trapped over an impenetrable cloud deck with no available alternate,  they would be called out by Terminal Services.

The pilot asked approach for suitable alternative airports.

London Approach responded that Calais

is reporting cavu.

Calais, France is on the coast.

The pilot responds that he is proceeding across the Channel to Calais

He opens his flight bag and pulls the appropriate chart and approach plate.

He does a routine scan of his instruments, checking heading, altitude and the engine instruments.

He pulls the chart from his bag and studies it, making note of the necessary  track to the Calais airport.

Meanwhile, the author muses to himself: “Why am I writing in the third person? This was my predicament.”

Even though it’s cool in the cockpit, his brow wrinkles and nervous sweat beads up from concentration and concern whether Calais will become socked in also before he arrives. He is trueing out at 180 kts and can see the lights of Calais from over the Channel.  He estimates he will cover the 40 mile flight in 13 minutes. Halfway over the Channel he spies the airport strobe and alters course slightly straight for it.

He listens to the radio for weather on the Continent. The unemotional drone from the radio announces  dewpoint spread is closing.

He sets up for a visual approach to 06 after crossing the runway and turning downwind. Pulls off power for the decent and runs through his mental checklist:  Brakes tapped , gear handle down, flaps set, power check, radios set, altimeter set, auxiliary fuel pumps on, mixtures rich, props , icing check.

He does a double check of his checklist in anticipation of turning final.  No greens! Three greens for the landing gear down are not lit. His mind races. He didn’t hear the gear noise. All three lights can’t be out.

The gear is still in its well, he surmises. No chance of abandoning the approach and troubleshooting it further for fear of the closing dewpoint temp spread. He decides to use his emergency procedures and blow the gear down.

He cycles the gear handle up. Nothing. No sound or vibration. He places the gear handle in the down position. Nothing, waiting for the three greens: nothing. Right! The fingers on his left hand count the circuit breakers on the panel by his left elbow.  He is on the final approach leg now and setup for landing with a minor exception. THE GEAR IS STILL IN THE WELL! He’s practiced emergency gear procedures before and now MAYBE it will payoff. Three over and four back. Without looking, he pulls the circuit breaker for the landing gear motor. Immediately he reaches for the red handle connecting a cable attached to a compressed air bottle in the nose if the aircraft, double checks his airspeed and pulls the handle.

The compressed air from this bottle will blow the gear down. There is only one bottle.

“Its now or never.” He whispers.

Either way he is landing at Calais. His mind races by habit to the pilots creed: the most importand two questions good pilots keep asking themselves: What if and what’s next.

So What if the gear blows down no three greens? He waits.

He will at least save the engines and shut them down and feather the props before touchdown. He will also shut off the fuel feed having already shutdown the engines by pulling the mixtures back to full lean.

He runs through the checklist items mentally, power off, feather props, mixtures lean, fuel valve off, magnetos off, fly the airplane. (short for maintain enough airspeed in the glide to avoid a stall and crash).

The adrenalin is pumping. He’s 10 seconds from the runway threshold as three green lights blink on and he eases the craft down to a smooth and uneventful landing. The buildings are dark so he taxis to a nearby ramp where other small aircraft are parked and secures the aircraft.

He finds a phone and calls a taxi, which drives him to a hotel. He will phone his office in the morning.

Ops sends over two mechs the following morning. ‘Ok. Burst hydraulic line. Fly it back with the gear down.’ The morning was CAVU all the way back to Southend. A pilot being a creature of habit, he learned how difficult it is to resist habit, interrupt the take off check list and found himself yelling outloud as mentally ran through it. “Brakes DO NOT REACH FOR THE GEAR HANDLE!, gear DO NOT REACH FOR THE GEAR HANDLE!, flaps DO NOT REACH FOR THE GEAR HANDLE! Power DO NOT REACH FOR THE GEAR HANDLE!, radios DO NOT REACH FOR THE GEAR HANDLE!, altimiter DO NOT REACH FOR THE GEAR HANDLE!, fuel pumps DO NOT REACH FOR THE GEAR HANDLE!, icing DO NOT REACH FOR THE GEAR HANDLE!