VFR in Scotland ??

[james brown]

I didn't ask about your instructional prowess MJ, indeed I'm sure you're wonderful.
Nor did I suggest that he was fired for his instructional ability Radar.
If we can go back to the point now:

So what is your opinion then mad jock - get off the bloody fence. I read what you originally posted - was that a moment of weakness or was it your opinion?

Any chance of a straight answer?

[TonyR]

Is digging up this personal $hit helping private flying?

[james brown]

I believe it is. MJ had a public dig at a school I am interested in. All I want is for him to back it up or apologise. No one wants to start at a school that may go under - apart from losing cash which I wouldn't by not paying up front it interrupts the continuity of training. Therefore yes Tony I believe it is helpful.

[BRL]

The original question is about the Scottish weather and how often he can fly up there. Somehow, from JB's post telling MJ to get off the fence, it has gone off track quite a bit hasn't it.

I suggest JB and MJ continue this discussion by PM or e-mail but not on here. Start your own threads guys if you want to, but this is stopping right now on this thread.

I want to see the next few posts going along the lines of what the original poster asked.

For those people who have stated in the past about me deleting posts/threads or stopping anything that has a bit of 'spice' in it, well, you can explain to me exactly what the JB/MJ argument has to do with the weather in Scotland ok? Do this by PM or e-mail and I will happily discuss this with you untill the cows come home.

[james brown]

Check your PM's.

[TonyR]

James, I dont know MJ, nor am I interested in his employment history.

Your comments are NOT relevent.

You may be pissed off at MJ but most of us don't want to know. if he does not reply to his PMs then he does not want to know either. so please leave it there.

Scotland is a wonderful place to fly but like every other place in the world people sometimes don't get along.

Tony

[mad_jock]

BRL i think you might want to check these threads. James Brown seems to have a slight problem with what stage in his training he is in. I think he is just trying to provok a reaction.

http://www.pprune.org/forums/showthr...5&pagenumber=4

http://www.pprune.org/forums/showthr...threadid=99033

Subject finished now as far as i am concerned.

Flying in scotland, it's great.

On a reply to the original post, Fife or Perth with Tayside might also be an option as also Cumbernauld but I don't know much about them. And pay by CC

MJ

[BRL]

Thanks for that MJ. I have had a PM from JB explaining a few things and I see your answer here too so that is that, no need for either of you to continue this on here. End of story.

[ComJam]

Gods Country

Nothing wrong with Scotlands weather for VFR flying.

In fact the visibility (in excess of 50km's regularly) is generally much better than it is "down south". Which means you get a much nicer view of the scenery, which is also much better than it is down south Add to that the vast tracts of open airspace, the snow capped mountains, the beautiful islands of the west coast and the quiet, well run airfields and you've got a light aviation paradise

Might be slightly biased there.....

For PPL training in Scotland i'd recommend Tayside Aviation's outfit at Perth (40 miles north of EDI). Great airfield, outside controlled airspace but within easy range of the Edinburgh and Glasgow control zones. Give them a call.

Enjoy

CJ

[Sandy Hutton]

AST at Perth had 20 Cessna 150's during the 70's doing 700 hours a year each. Is that a good enough weather reference for anyone?

[skydriller]

The weather in Scotland......

I used to live there and to all of those that say the weather is good I say....

Bo ocks

.....It is not warm and dry, it is cold and wet

......but let me clarify...

That is not to say you wont be able to fly up there and that you wont enjoy it immensely. I did my PPL with Tayside at Dundee, and I did it over the winter period with only a few cancelled lessons due weather. Great memories...I remember some amazing viz flights over the hills. I remember some challenging crosswind circuits such that when I got down I was told it was towards the limit. I remember dodging snow showers and diverting due to a snowy runway. I remember the hills covered in snow below looking like a chrismas card scene. Amazing, and I loved every minute of it.

I know you will like it too.

And if you are wondering, I now fly where it is warm and sunny!!

Regards, SD..

PS - I also did the valley flying/cloudbase thing with my instructor - it was a good lesson.

[Oshkosh George]

Sandy Hutton

Check your PMs

[ComJam]

Ah AST

A proper flying school, lots of aircraft, great airfield, cracking facilities, excellent instructors (obviously )good weather (just to keep on topic ), i haven't enjoyed working for any other company as much as i enjoyed myself there.

Bloody Wocca wocca operators closed it and sold it!

Any other ex-AST instructors around here? Or students (GAC)?

[NorthSouth]

Stewartflyer:

at Tayside just across the water which is less than a half hours drive from Edinburgh

Better watch out for those speed cameras then Stewart!

[PPRuNe Radar]

Tayside at Glenrothes Fife most likely

[KCDW]

Now completed the 1st of a 4 month assignment up in Glasgow.

And it's wet. It's raining as I type. It was wet at the beginning of the assignment and it has practically not stopped raining since. There was a Friday when it wasn't wet, but that feels like light years ago.

Fortunately I go home "darn Sarf" on weekends so I can still fly.

I think the band "Wet, Wet, Wet" were Scottish weren't they? Good name.

[Genghis the Engineer]

I love flying in Scotland, best scenery, nicest people, good food (well, sometimes) - if only there was any work for flight test engineers up there I'd be up like a shot to stay (although Mrs.G, who was born in ZA and considers the South of England rather chilly for much of the year may disagree with me).

To some extent you don't need a weather forecast so much as a calendar - the weather is much more seasonal than down South. But to a very large extent it's also very localised - all that high ground, water, odd ocean currents, etc. mean that local knowledge is everything. I won't claim to have done enough flying in Scotland (sadly) to have developed that level of knowledge - but I've learned enough to know the importance of virtually every time you plan to fly, finding the most experienced local you can find and asking their opinion.

The keen local aviators tend to run their lives on the basis of being able to drop everything and go flying as soon as the weather becomes flyable - but what's wrong with that?

Safety needs to be a bigger issue - you'll spend much more time over inhospitable terrain than you would in most of England - RT, flight plans, dinghys, etc. become rather more critical.

Another interesting point is that the airfields are rather more widely spaced - so they tend to be less "specialist", and in a light aircraft you mix with big stuff more than in the South.

So, it needs a different approach - but if you're looking to learn anyway you'll pick that up from the experienced local instructors.

G

[murphy1901]

Even by our own standards, the weather here in Central Scotland has been bad over the last few weeks! Wet, wet, wet sums it up.

Last year while doing my PPL, between March and December I flew every weekend and only cancelled three times due to weather. This year, during September alone, I've scrubbed 3 times.

I've got a trip to Oban planned but there's some of the inhospitable terrain to cover that Genghis mentions. At the moment, there's little prospect of the weather cooperating and the altitude required being available.

Hopefully some gin clear winter flying days to look forward to before too long!

[NorthSouth]

PPRuNe Radar:

Tayside at Glenrothes Fife most likely

He must live in Cramond then....

murphy:

I\'ve got a trip to Oban planned but there\'s some of the inhospitable terrain to cover that Genghis mentions. At the moment, there\'s little prospect of the weather cooperating and the altitude required being available

Fly round it! Getting the cloudbase for a direct VFR route to Oban is unusual, but there are plenty alternative routes using Carron Valley/Loch Lomond etc, with last resort (when cloudbase 2000ft) being all the way round by Rothesay. It\'s a nice trip! More changes of heading required but the nav\'s easier because you\'re going coastwise.

[NinjaBill]

I flew all the way from prestwick to oban with a cloudbase of 1500ft by routing up the coast, no problems. I get a nose bleed when I go much above 1500ft