Loganair is 50 today!

[DB6]

1 Feb 2012 sees the 50th anniversary of the formation of Loganair, the UKs' oldest airline still operating under it's original name, and the place where many Ppruners got their first airline job.
Happy Birthday Loganair :ok:.

[cal368]

Happy Birthday old girl. All the best to all the crew and everyone involved, those I know and those I don't. Hope the next 50 years are an even better success than the last 50. Enjoy the cakes!!

Paul.
(Waiting my turn in the holding pool!)

[Herod]

One of the Ppruners who got his first airline job. Trislanders and Twin Otters at Aberdeen, supporting the oil industry. Fun flying, but hard. I certainly learnt a few things in my two years there.

[bcgallacher]

I started my aviation career with Loganair at the old Renfrew airport when they operated 2 Piper Aztecs - the two years I spent with them were among the happiest and most interesting of my life.The boss was Capt Duncan Mackintosh who will never be forgotten by anyone who knew him - a gentleman and born leader of men.

[chevvron]

Back in '72, I had 2 superb trips from Sumburgh (where I was detached for 30 days following unit endorsement at Glasgow) with a pilot called Peter ( I think he was Dutch) one out to Foula, and the other the round islands schedule.
At Lerwick (the old strip not the present one) the holding point was marked by a patch of stinging nettles!
I remember the station manager and chief pilot was Alan Whitfield.

[parabellum]

I think that would be Peter Knudson, a Norwegian, very nice guy.

[chevvron]

That would be him. They often used to phone ATC if they had a spare seat on a 'special' like Foula; there were always 2 ATCO cadets at Sumburgh in those days (pre HIAL) so one of us was always available.
The strip on Foula* was amazing, first third was undergrowth, next third stones and earth and only the final third smooth(ish) earth. The Islander (especially in Peter's hands) was built for this sort of punishment and the undercarriage took it in its stride.
* If you miss Foula, the next landfall is either Rockall or North America!

[ricardian]

Still going strong on the Northern Isles route in Orkney. Nowadays the Islanders have a paint job promoting Highland Park; nice, simple pre-flight briefing from the pilot who turns around in his seat to say "All strapped in? Safety kit is under your seat. Next stop Sanday (or Stronsay, Eday, Westray or North Ronaldsay"

[chevvron]

And that was after he'd taken your money and written out your ticket!
By the way, I forgot to mention when I was talking about Foula, there are no beaches or harbours, the entire island is surrounded by cliffs, boats have to have their cargo/passengers offloaded to a sling to lift them up the cliffs, so services like Loganair provide are real lifesavers in emergencies where time is of the essence. The flight I went on was primarily to deliver a new electric generator; easy by air but it would have been very difficult to offload from a boat. A couple of passengers were also on board; a young couple who had been to the mainland for the female's ante-natal checkup.
This illustrates the sort of thing Loganair do in the more remote parts of the UK, where surface transport is simply impractical.

[ricardian]

And that was after he'd taken your money and written out your ticket!
Not quite - there are a couple of office staff at Kirkwall who handle booking, marshalling, luggage weighing etc. The Northern Isles airfields (http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/stronsay/stronsay/) are very simple affairs.
For some reason the main Loganair website (http://www.logainair.co.uk) makes no mention of its Northern Isles flights and the timetables are hidden away in the "reservations" page (http://www.loganair.co.uk/reservations)

[chevvron]

Well back in '72, we picked up passengers at Lerwick and Unst, and I remember Peter taking their money and writing their tickets out; obviously everything can change a lot in the intervening years.

[DB6]

ricardian, the Northern Isles link is smack in the middle of the Loganair (http://www.loganair.co.uk/home) home page - Book a Flight. The ones at the sides are for Flybe and BA flights.

[parabellum]

I'm with Cheveron, I only spent a week or two as a leave relief up there in about 1971/2 and we definitely wrote the tickets and took the money, (back to the office!).

[Loose rivets]

Dead heading up front with Alun? Skiffing over the still grey water until suddenly making a right turn. The runway was soon in sight. I asked him how he knew when to turn, and he said, it was the eddy swirling of ??? that was his marker.

A black art, that island flying - and I though I was ahead of the game by keeping my DC3 below cloud the whole way from Aberdeen to Sumburgh,* but I was seriously out-classed.

*Relied on crystal clear air below, and seeing Fair Isle loud and clear.

[OUAQUKGF Ops]

Happy Birthday Loganair - over the years your staff and particularly the pilots have contributed (in amongst things) to saving hundreds of lives in the Highlands and Islands often in the foulest of weather.

I have a treasured memory of being given a ride in an empty Islander by Alan Whitfield in 1971. We flew low level from Sumburgh, checked out the new strip being built at Lerwick then flew onwards to Unst. I have never before or since seen such wonderfully clear waters as those surrounding the Shetland Islands.

Good health to Alan if he is still with us, a nicer man one could not wish to meet.