Landing on the beach at Barra, Outer Hebrides, Scotland

[rmdr2]

All

Thinking of taking a bog standard C172 to Barra for a day trip. Any of you chaps have any top tips/warnings about the landing surface there?

rmdr2

[Unusual Attitude]

Check the tide tables before you set off ! Might get a bit wet otherwise...

[140KIAS]

Call ATC and they will give you a good briefing. Opening times vary according to tides. You need to PPR at least a day before.

Video here (http://www.youtube.com/user/np4wd#p/u/4/WGxze77tn1g) of my previous visit, IIRC this was about 3 hours before low tide. The beach was draining but still a good bit of standing water.

Land at Oban afterwards and ask the firemen to give your aircraft a washdown

[Genghis the Engineer]

- 172 will be fine.

- You can't identify the runway as such, position yourself relative to the tower, hill to the south, and the compass.

- There's a lot of thin standing water, so it doesn't look very dry even if it's declared as such.

- Clean everything off with fresh water after your return home, particularly the undercarriage/wheel/brakes.

- Use radio/GPS nav to help identify the right island, it saves time and nervous energy.

G

[rateone]

Did that a few years ago in a 172. Great fun, no problems at all and on a good day the view is spectacular. Call ATC before you go to get the opening times, R/W in use, etc. Lining up the approach can be interesting but no big deal.

It's quite a long water crossing - the shortest across water (about 14nm) is coasting out from Skye directly west to Wiay and then south across South Uist. Otherwise its about 35nm NW from Coll or Tiree. Make sure you have enough fuel - Jammy Dodgers at Oban

Runway surface is suprisingly good but I would suggest you hose the aircraft down when you get back to get rid of the salt spray.

Make sure you get some pictures!

[sammypilot]

Visited there in a PA28. As mentioned earlier the standing water gives the impression that you are about to land on water. We did a low approach and go around just to satisfy ourselves that all was o.k. On take off the acceleration was normal until we reached the standing water when there was a feel of deceleration so I would recommend getting the nosewheel in the air early. We night stopped at the Isle of Barra Hotel which was excellent and on return to Oban the lower parts of the aircraft were thoroughly washed off for us.

[cats_five]

www.easytide.co.uk (http://www.easytide.co.uk) is very useful... Tides for North Bay are included, and it's clear if you are using GMT or BST. There is also some information on the airport's own website I suspect you need to read.

Barra Airport Information (http://www.hial.co.uk/barra-airport/airport-information/)
http://www.hial.co.uk/assets/_files/documents/apr_10/hia__1270640902_Runway_Incursions_Barra.pdf

Check there isn't more information elsewhere in the website.

[Mark 1]

If you land when the tower are on duty, then there's a landing fee.
If they're not on duty, then you are simply landing on a public beach at your own risk, but no landing fee.

I recommend a very thorough wash down soon after. Salt corrosion is insidious. The commercial operators hose down their wheels and surrounding areas every day.