80th anniversary of commercial flights to the Isles of Scilly

[POBJOY]

In these rather 'trying times' for airlines and airfields it was a nice change to attend an event that celebrated 80 years of commercial flights to the Isles of Scilly. It also 'showcased' the new Lands End Airport which now boasts hard runways and modern terminal facilities. The event was organised by the airport owners (and airline operator) who have steadily increased the operations from Lands End and utilise a mixed Islander/ Twin Otter fleet. The weather conditions at Lands End can be challenging, but by utilising GPS approach technology the service no longer has to adopt the 'Creeping around the houses' situation that kept the service going in the early days.
Star turn of the day was the attendance of Rapide G-AHAG that flew from the airport in the 60's, and also the welcome appearance of Brian Neely who started Scillonia Airways after BEA moved to Penzance. If it were allowed the route is a classic for the Cessna Caravan but not under current rules. The downside was the loss of the Chocksaway Café that was a popular feature at Lands End, but every credit must go to the 'continued' use of the airport and its service to the Isles.

[Herod]

I've never been there (my loss), but it's great to have some good news these days. Well done all concerned.

[olympus]

Visited once only, about 1959 (I was quite young) and remember seeing a Piaggio which was notable for its twin pusher engines (I think it was a P166). A local identified it for us as a Piaarrgo!

[POBJOY]

Lands End (St Just) airport came about as a direct result of the attempts to start a service to the isles.
Originally the golf course on St Marys was utilised and the aircraft were the DH Dragon. In fact they were well suited to the job as they required very little space to operate and with folding outer wings could be accommodated in a suitable shed at St Just. When BEA operated the route they had a fleet of Rapides up until the time the S61 Helicopter service started. It has to be said that the S61 really got Scillies into the serious tourist business as it was far less weather dependant operating from its base at Penzance, and could carry up to 30pax at a time. However Lands End (owned at the time by a consortium of Councils) carried on and that's when Brian Neely started its second coming with improvements and flying promotion. It was a fabulous airfield to visit and eventually Viv Bellamy took on the challenge and a flying club blossomed. Westward airways also built replica aircraft which helped to keep the operation going through the winter months. The current owners/operators (Isle of Scilly Steamship Co) were encouraged to get involved as a direct result of a docks strike that saw their normal business stopped by industrial action. A Cessna 337, and later an Islander were pressed into service to fly food and goods to the Isles and the company decided to start their very own Airline which has grown to operate a mixed fleet of Islander/Twin Otter from the 'modernised' Lands End plus NQY airports.

[rog747]

one of the current twotters is G-BIHO which i used to handle when it was in service with Brymon! late 1980's

Brymon when they got their new 50 seat Dash-7's they thought about ops to St Marys with those but that never came to fruition - i think one test flight was done

I always thought a Dash 7 would do them well now but then you start to have to bow to security issues (diff rules over 19 pax) both at ISC and Lands End airports which are not in that category and the costs soar

[POBJOY]

Brymons chief pilot did a test run in to the new runway when it was built but the declared distances and general lack of space really precluded any serious consideration.
Also the Dash was an expensive aircraft to maintain plus could do well on the oil support operations in Scotland by being able to access the small fields with a good payload.
Anywhere else in the world would have looked at the Cessna Caravan as the best option, but not the UK. Interesting as I flew in a Caravan over a much longer distance (over shark infested waters) to land on a coral reef and the pax were all quite unconcerned.

[rog747]

Brymons chief pilot did a test run in to the new runway when it was built but the declared distances and general lack of space really precluded any serious consideration.
Also the Dash was an expensive aircraft to maintain plus could do well on the oil support operations in Scotland by being able to access the small fields with a good payload.
Anywhere else in the world would have looked at the Cessna Caravan as the best option, but not the UK. Interesting as I flew in a Caravan over a much longer distance (over shark infested waters) to land on a coral reef and the pax were all quite unconcerned.

thanks for that - been in a Caravan a few times - some rather posh examples in Kenya whilst on Safari hops between Wilson and the camps

[A30yoyo]

Here's the Rapide arriving back from Scilly https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4459/37655724782_bcaab0b3ac_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Znvr5b)De Havilland Dragon Rapide G-AHAG Land's End 4 Oct 2017 and (https://flic.kr/p/Znvr5b) by A30yoyo (https://www.flickr.com/photos/74784995@N00/), on Flickr

[A30yoyo]

And approaching two Skybus B-N Islanders

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4512/37688159841_237d9df922_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/ZqnETk)DH89A Rapide G-AHAG Land's End 4 October 2015 (https://flic.kr/p/ZqnETk) by A30yoyo (https://www.flickr.com/photos/74784995@N00/), on Flickr

[rog747]

very nice - shame they do not use that it would be very popular

[A30yoyo]

One thing the helicopter service did was to set the air fare at a high level. Thirty years ago Skybus management tried to get land reserved for a small fixed wing airfield near the Penzance Heliport(now a Sainbury's Supermarket !!! ), but the local authorities didn't see the wisdom of it

This B-17 42-30018 'Old Coffins' force landed at Lands End airfield in WWII (and, lightened, was flown out after repairs) UPL 27746 | American Air Museum in Britain (http://www.americanairmuseum.com/media/27746)

[RedhillPhil]

if only the fares weren't so ruddy high..........

[rog747]

if only the fares weren't so ruddy high..........

tell me about it
2 adults NQY-ISC return in June with 2 little Chihuahuas cost over £550 :rolleyes: the pups did enjoy themselves though

[VictorGolf]

I thought EASA had finally given the "green light" to single engine commercial operations?
Or maybe I was dreaming.

[POBJOY]

I think the 'over water' bit is the stumbling block with the CAA/EASA, that is why the 'twin' scenario will always be expensive, and a turbo prop is never cheap to maintain. In fact a piston Islander on full load is not a happy bunny on 'one', but it does have 'user friendly' handling which helps. The latest situation re a new Heliport at PZ is now back in the melting pot as the recent planning consent has been withdrawn by Cornwall Council due to 'issues' with the planning process. The original location was perfect (now a supermarket) but any alternative will have far more restrictions due to the surrounding area having been developed and also terrain implications for weather/wind conditions. Another factor with helicopter ops is the extra fuel required to carry for a poss 'alternative'. Lands End is hardly an option when it is marginal, and Culdrose not open at w-ends or for periods in the busy summer period. Alternative fuel can make the difference of 2-3 Pax,so bang goes that revenue.

[Rosevidney1]

This takes me back down memory lane! Between 1984 - 1988 I was the chairman of the Lands End Aerodrome Committee. A splendid job title but my task was to keep the peace between members of the District Councils who shared the ownership (but usually begrudged spending money) and the operators of the aircraft. Oh, happy days!! :-)

[POBJOY]

Hi RV was not aware of your involvement at LE (no doubt was a peaceful change to auto rotates in the Gazelle!!)

As I recall the 'Airport' was owned by The County Council, Kerrier, and Cam RR dis councils.
During their tenure a new hangar was constructed (the one used for the 80th anniversary event). The old BEA term building had become the Club House, and Brian Neely had already converted the fire station maintenance bay into an interesting café/pleasure flight reception area; complete with water feature (the old pit). I remember the Scillonia Airways name being paraded around Penzance on a fire engine/ambulance.
Viv Bellamy had not intended to operate a flying club (as he had done at Southampton) but was pestered by potential aircraft owners to teach them to fly. The Airtourer was the chosen instrument of learning and it suited the relatively windy conditions very well. The new hangar soon filled up with members aircraft and as alluded earlier the production of replica aircraft (eventually including a 30's Hawker Fury). Scillonia Airways ( pilots and some booking staff) had always included a good selection of BEA staff on leave.
However one always had to be aware of the 'split' as the area could clamp within minutes.

[A30yoyo]

On an escorted visit to Lands End in May we found the Skybus fleet lined up on the apron and the terminal full of passengers waiting for a break in the low cloud. Whilst being shown over the new control tower they were able to 'launch' a few flights and immediately we were into serious classic air traffic control. The first departure, a private German Europa tourer took off westwards , into cloud at the field edge and then had to be monitored by the tower until he was clear of the field to the north and heading east back home before the Twin Otter, which had waited some 5 minutes on the threshold ,could take off westward for Scilly. Next another German tourer heading back east from Scilly had to be monitored until clear of the zone before a Skybus Islander could depart. So we got an impression of the havoc the poor weather causes at Lands End and perhaps why all the resident light aircraft got evicted some 5 years ago.

[POBJOY]

The light ac demise at L-E was due to the closure of the Aero Club as they had run out of room for the expanding Skybus fleet, and needed the hangar space.
What they forgot was the Club, and associated pleasure flying operation provided an ongoing source of pilots who had gained valuable experience of the peculiar weather factor in the area. For many years the PF pilots would eventually gain a twin/IR and were then well placed to join the Islander fleet.
Without suitable radar cover the L-End IOS route has always relied on sensible height control and 'VFR' conditions. At one time (usually a Saturday) there could be two BA helicopters 4 skybus Islanders a Brymon Otter plus the odd private machine all flying in the L-E corridor. PZ and IOS had an NDB cloud break procedure (rarely used due to the high break off height) and L-E would use the LND VOR/DME for a similar purpose. To give added separation we would frequently use a slightly northern route which gave suitable space from the Helicopters routing from PZ that always coasted out south of Longships.
In other words by sensible cooperation and keeping to two way separation the system worked very well right up to the time PZ Heliport closed and the traffic reduced accordingly.

[A30yoyo]

The tower operation and personnel were very impressive.I was going to post a couple more photos by direct upload but can't get it to work...an earlier thread from 'elsewhere' contains pics of the Caribou demonstrated to Scilly 3 decades ago and the Choxaway cafe model Dragon
https://forum.keypublishing.com/showthread.php?107765-Dragon-Rapides-Lands-end/page2

[Rosevidney1]

POBJOY wrote:
Hi RV was not aware of your involvement at LE (no doubt was a peaceful change to auto rotates in the Gazelle!!)

I was a councillor on Penwith DC at the time and I seem to remember that most (if not all) the DCs from the rest of the Duchy sent a member to our meetings. On occasions there was money available for airfield improvement. I tried to use it for a tarmac runway but one of the users vetoed that! Later I was able to get a grant that was used to construct a hangar, which was a vast improvement over the small rickety affair they had previously. Are you still banner towing?

[POBJOY]

Yo-Yo Have PM you.
RV Will call in PC

[Harry Wayfarers]

one of the current twotters is G-BIHO which i used to handle when it was in service with Brymon! late 1980's

Brymon when they got their new 50 seat Dash-7's they thought about ops to St Marys with those but that never came to fruition - i think one test flight was done

I always thought a Dash 7 would do them well now but then you start to have to bow to security issues (diff rules over 19 pax) both at ISC and Lands End airports which are not in that category and the costs soar

The biggest problem with a DHC7 was fire cover, it could operate from the silliest of airports but did that airport have the required fire cover, Biggin Hill as one example needed to call in the local fire brigade ... I can just imagine a fleet of available fire tenders in St. Mary's :)

I did one trip to/from ISC in the RHS of a Twotter when ISC was, pretty much, all grass, a still air day so the Captain needed to bounce us to an airborne status before we reached the cliff edge.

Alas I was on duty that July day in 1983 when the BA chopper went in, talking with BA on the ground in ISC was somewhat emotional whilst a Brymon Twotter on the ground at the time in ISC got airborne on search and rescue activities.

[POBJOY]

One of the financial problems is when the 'operator' also runs the airport.
The cost of fire cover certainly was one of the factors that saw Plymouth's demise, and when the DH6 movements at L-End increased they also had to bite that extra cost bullet,(plus licenced Air Traffic).
PZ Heliport was able to operate with an 'in house' air ground radio service, and a (shared with other duties fire service).
The travelling public do not realise the huge costs that are borne by small airports just to satisfy regulations, it puts a huge financial load on a small operation out of all proportion to the potential revenue stream.

Yo Yo I was at L-End when the Caribou arrived and 'demo'd'. The Piston Radial
element was impressive enough, but when he did a stol landing and 'hit reverse' the dust cloud was awesome.

[Tagron]

One example of a Caravan currently flying on scheduled passenger services in EASA land is the Finist'Air operation between Brest and Ouessant (Ushant). The over water distance is only 11 nautical miles compared with the 27 nms between Lands End and St Marys.

I did note that the departing flight I observed climbed in the overhead of the island instead of turning straight on track for the mainland.