A busy GA day over Scotland

[fisbangwollop]

With fly-in's to Castle Kennedy and Oban my morning shift at "Scottish information 119.875" was quite fun.
Wall to wall sunshine over Scotland and over 40 aircraft booked into Castle Kennedy and even more into Oban the morning started quite brisk.......by 1000 though Oban were reporting visibility below 250 metres as a bank of low cloud/fog rolled in off the sea. This gave an increased workload as flights started to opt for alternates.
A big thanks to everyone that called and your good R/T discipline in General was appreciated. It make my job so much easier when you all listen out and respond in a quick and efficient manner....well done guys :ok:
So after chatting to you all it would be nice to hear how your day went. :cool::cool::cool:

[140KIAS]

Hi FBW, G-WIFE had a great day out taking the scenic route to Coll. I was in the 'other' seat when you spoke to use this morning!

We were going to be joined by another aircraft from Oban (the grumpy geordie ;) but they were fog bound until lunch time so didnt make it.

Gave my new Garmin Virb camera its first test run. Few teething problems. Need to read the manual again I think.

[supersani]

Had a lovely day.

Trapped early on in Oban with a localised ground fog but had a great welcome (and a free burger!) from the Connel Flying Club folk whilst we waited to get away to our destination of Coll, so it didn't seem a long time at all.

Busiest on the radio I can recall so well done. New appreciation of the frequent forum comments about London Info and their workload as calls were virtually non-stop. Usual radio signal drop out around Mull affected us and thanks to the person who offered to relay for us. Reciprocated for a southbound microlight on our return to Fife but can't say I was nearly as slick as my earlier helper. Fortunately the airwaves were quietening by then.

Thanks again for the top class service.

[JDA2012]

Great trip up to Castle Kennedy from Blackpool thank you fishbangwallop - technically still inside the London FIR but always tune into you when I can :ok:

Went up via the north end of the IoM - very hazy over that way (no real horizon) and a few actual clouds ~3000ft. Appreciated my IMC/IR(R) just for the comfort factor, and it made for a very relaxing afternoon.

Back via the Conway Firth and down the coast as D405/6 were unusually NOTAMed as hot even at the weekend (though 406 had gone home by the time I got there) - along with the RA(T) for the IoM TT this made for "interesting" routing :mad:

My Dad and I were both very impressed with the service, and almost continuous "break break" as you endeavoured to answer so many calls at once. Thank you once again. Perhaps all the way to Oban next time...

[fisbangwollop]

Great trip up to Castle Kennedy from Blackpool thank you fishbangwallop - technically still inside the London FIR but always tune into you when I can

Not quite right with regards to the airspace. Although most charts show the border between London and Scottish airspace as 55N the actual "Area of Responsibility" differs greatly. Roughly the southern extremity of Scottish Information sector is along a line Newcastle just south of the DCS VOR then down to south of the Isle of Man then west to the Irish coast. If you take a look at the legend on the 1:500,000 aeronautical chart it gives a small diagram showing the airspace and frequencies to be used. Also check out the following page in the UK AIP.

http://www.ead.eurocontrol.int/eadbasic/pamslight-EE0C01CB54CC9A5DA68BADB34BBD369B/7FE5QZZF3FXUS/EN/Charts/ENR/AIRAC/EG_ENR_6_2_0_2_en_2012-09-20.pdf

[4RTR]

As a relatively new PPL up here in the West of Scotland I thoroughly appreciate the friendly helpful service from Scottish, thank you FishBW. I seem to be talking to you guys rather a lot these days so am keen to call in for a visit sometime to say hello if that is possible?

[bartonflyer]

Thoroughly enjoyed my trip up from Lymm Dam International to Castle Kennedy - 6,000' over the Solway then a gentle cruise descent to the airfield.
Excellent service from Scottish information, though the service from the caterers at the fly-in was pretty good too!!

[fisbangwollop]

4RTR........Regarding a visit, that Bridge will always be open, just pop by and say hello one day soon :ok:

[LandingConfig]

Shame I missed you JDA, would have been great to speak to you! I was in rather late, from PIK.