I'll hold my hand up and admit I've done the scud running bit up the coast in the past but only in a very considered manner. I've lost track of how many times I've been coming north to be greeted by that layer of clag that often sits just south of Edinburgh and most of the time its not been an issue getting over or under it perfectly safely.
Its easy enough to ask for weather for Leuchars, Dundee and Aberdeen so you've a good idea of what’s up ahead... 9 times out of 10 once your past EDI / Leuchars the cloud base has lifted to allow you to continue VFR without issue and once your at Montrose basin its nice and flat all the way to Perth.
In something docile like a Cessna pootling along 1/2 mile offshore at 300' at 90kts or even a bit slower with 1st stage of flap to improve the view doesn’t take a great deal of skill and if you know its only for 10miles or so its no biggie. Very different prospect doing it in something fast, twitchy and unstable for a long period however and I'd not be giving that a go.
There is of course the question of what happens if the donkey quits whilst low over water but in some places such as Aberdeen your forced 1nm offshore VFR below 1000' for several miles to deconflict with the ILS traffic so its no worse than that!
I've met the chap who was involved in this incident and exchanged hangar chat with him many times, I've always considered him to be cautious and very sensible about his approach to flying and he takes very good care of his machine. I'm told he's also very experienced and has flown all over the world but we are all susceptible to a bit of 'push-on-itis' from time to time whether we are willing to admit it or not, especially in Scotland where the weather can be very different to the forecast.
Saying that, if I'd been looking for a way up the coast and told well in advance that Leuchars and Dundee were 300' I'd be looking for somewhere to land.....
Last edited by Unusual Attitude; 14th Jun 2012 at 10:18.