Cumbernauld, very good and very bad
Went on a trip yesterday, White Waltham to Cumbernauld return, which was pretty uncomfortable getting there but better coming back. I phoned the tower up the day beforehand for PPR and any other relevant details and spoke to John.......I was surprised and pleased at the enthusiastic reception I got from John who even offered to pre book a cab for us so that we could visit the town of Cumbernauld for a look around and get some lunch.............an unexpected and refreshing attitude to customer service in GA (apart from White Waltham and Bembridge)
Having arrived there at around 12:25 after a pretty unpleasant flight battling with some adverse weather over the Lake District etc, we decided our time would be better spent doing some serious flight planning to get back via different route along the east coast. We ventured into the offices of Cumbernauld Flying School and asked if we could do some flight planning for our return trip, we spoke to a lady flying instructor who guided us to the person in charge.............we asked if we could get some TAFF's and METAR's etc.............and we were unceremoniously told that information of this nature was for their use only, they "were nothing to do with the airport and we should speak to ATC for anything like that, that is what they are there for". I then asked if I could have use of one of the spare computer terminals so that I could access the Met office, logged in under my own password, so that I could retrieve the information myself. Oh no........much to busy for that we were informed ...............and very impolitely shown the door.
IN 18 YEARS OF FLYING I HAVE NEVER ENCOUNTERED SUCH AN UNPROFESSIONAL AND TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE STANDARD OF BEHAVIOUR AND MANNERS AT ANY FLYING CLUB OR AIRFIELD.........EVER !!
Tails between our legs we sought some help from John in the tower who promptly introduced us to Trevor Mckenna of FLIGHT ACADEMY SCOTLAND.
What a breath of fresh air................not only was Trevor Polite, courteous and very helpful........we were treated to free tea, coffee and biscuits ! While we were enjoying the hospitality Trevor was printing off forms 215 and 214 along with the latest Southern and Northern TAFF's and METARS.
People like John and Trevor are great assets to GA..........their professionalism and enthusiasm really makes going to some of the more out of the way places (for us southerners that is) worthwhile...................I will certainly be going back and would thoroughly recommend it to fellow aviators.
If you want to learn to fly or do a night rating / IMC then a week with Flight Academy Scotland would be money well spent and great value for money at that.
As for Cumbernauld Flying School.............................if that's your only choice, take up sailing instead
Regards
Flybywyre