"Colonsay does not have a good sheltered harbour."
Quite so but Coll does, and so does Tiree (to a lesser degree). You can't predict when the ferry will fail to line up adequately to the linkspan, nor indeed whether the Islander will get in. As a flyer you will know that it depends not just on wind direction ( not a problem on Tiree to the extent that it might be on Coll), but also on cloud base (not a problem at all for Calmac).
Justifying a VFR only service into 500m strips on the basis that it will be "more reliable than the ferry in bad weather" is very, very dodgy.
Ferries are big slab sided things, but compared to how an Islander gets affected by the weather (well by anyone actually sticking to the limits set in an Ops manual) they are fairly bullet proof.
So Oban with it's guaranteed cross wind runway is going to allow more opportunities to travel than a multi '000 tonne ship with a highly experienced crew?
Where's the Jimmy Hill scratchy chin smiley when you need it?
It's great that the licence looks as if it is about to be issued finally. It's just a shame the routes are so limited and with such odd timetables.
Fingers crossed though. The last thing anyone wants is for this to fall on it's backside now. That really would be a disaster.
I find all this talk by council officials of the service starting on June 2nd rather odd when the CAA haven't yet made the decision to licence. One of the major factors in the timing of the start of licensed operations is publication of an airfield's details in the AIP. Oban Coll & Colonsay have now missed the deadline for publication in AIRAC 7/08. Next one is 8/08 which is published on 19 June and takes effect from 31 July. No doubt they can issue some details via NOTAM but I would have thought that they cannot start drawing the final version of the aerodrome chart etc until the CAA has agreed every last detail. That's not a job that can be done in 2 or 3 days.
NS
Been pondering the question of lighting at Coll and Colonsay and found interesting info from the AGM of the The Association of Argyll & Bute Community Councils on 6-10-07 at http://www.aabcc.btik.com/attachment...hQuestions.doc
which includes the statement (from the Leader of the Council):
"There is no need for runway lighting at Coll and Colonsay"
Now I may be being very stupid here, but Highland Airways has published a timetable which has departure times from Coll at 1810 and Colonsay at 1740. In addition there are to be "scholar flights" which take kids to Oban for school, presumably on Monday mornings in time for the aircraft to turn round and operate the first outbound schedule at 0830, and on Friday afternoons after school gets out - departure from Oban at 1645ish?
Official daylight doesn't start at Colonsay until after 0800 in December and January, and it's official night for those afternoon schedules for the whole of the winter. How are they going to do it, or am I missing something?
NS
Last edited by NorthSouth : 29th May 2008 at 18:51.
Reason: found additional info
Surely means the kids will turn up at school late on Monday and leave early on Friday in winter. Round trip time Oban-Coll-Oban (without a stop at Colonsay) will be c.1hr 20 mins and official night at Oban in mid-December is about 1610 local.
NS
Hot off the press from the latest Corncrake Magazine:
Quote:
NO TAKE-OFF YET FOR AIR SERVICE
Well, we had high hopes of being able to bring to you, in this Issue, news of the commencement of our long-awaited air service. Alas, it is not to be, but, if all reports in the Press are to be believed, the three airstrips at Colonsay, Coll and Connell have at last received their necessary Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) licences (although, worryingly, an apparently reliable source has suggested that this might not actually be the case).
A catalogue of hold-ups has marred the progress of the project, and Argyll and Bute Council recently admitted that, over the last few months, it had run up a bill of over £300,000, for the "operational" costs of the service which has yet to actually take off. These running costs continue to mount daily, as Highland Airways, resident fire-fighting staff and airport staff at each airstrip have to be paid. Now however, the three final stumbling blocks to take-off have been overcome, according to Councillor Duncan MacIntyre, transport spokesman for the Council. CAA instructions state that airport fire engines have to be garaged and one of the last hurdles was the fact that the machines did not fit the purpose-built facility. But Mr MacIntyre said: "We have bought a hangar for them, the CAA required a fuel audit, which they now have, and trees have now been trimmed, as instructed."
Hopefully, by the time we hit the ether again in the middle of June, there will at last be good news to relate.
I have now been given a start date for the new air service as 9th June by 3 different sources, however no one can book flights and no official annuncemnet from the council regading the licensing of the runways.
Air services to Coll and Colonsay could be taking off from Oban Airport by next month after news that licences have been granted for Coll, Colonsay and Oban.
No mention on CAA website and no NOTAMs indicating a new licence - in fact AIS website won't even recognise the Coll and Colonsay ICAO codes. Anyone know the facts?
NS
Delighted to see the finishing line is in sight at long last. Its just a shame that the powers that be chose to run the Marathon when a 100 yard dash could have achieved to same results.
That said I visited Oban at the weekend and the guys couldnt have been more accommodating.
Oban, Coll and Colonsay
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