Oban/Glenforsa News
500 metre strip = almost only aircraft is Islander = circa 60 years old = piston = doesn't fly on one... Ok, to avoid the arguement, we'll say doesn't fly very well on one = loves ice = VFR operation = avgas = price of avgas = demise of avgas
With nothing new in terms of twin engine coming along I smile (fondly) at the thought of the future with the 80-100 year old Islanders flying the flag for remote community support and Scottish Tourism. Buffalo Joe will have a bit of competition.
Let's not get into a discussion about how good the Islander is/was - an incredible machine in many ways - that's not the issue.
With nothing new in terms of twin engine coming along I smile (fondly) at the thought of the future with the 80-100 year old Islanders flying the flag for remote community support and Scottish Tourism. Buffalo Joe will have a bit of competition.
Let's not get into a discussion about how good the Islander is/was - an incredible machine in many ways - that's not the issue.
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Let410 would have no problem and neither would a twotter or a 1900D.
The airport is just not suited to IFR flights and as such will never be suitable for reliable schedual service. However much people would like to kid themselves.
Unlicense the airfield. Get rid of trumpton. Put a coffee shop in the terminal with local Art for sale and you might be able to keep it running until the runway breaks up again.
Tri-lander to GLA maybe a possibilty unless the head wind gets to much and there is a danger of people loosing the will to live and jumping out half way.
The airport is just not suited to IFR flights and as such will never be suitable for reliable schedual service. However much people would like to kid themselves.
Unlicense the airfield. Get rid of trumpton. Put a coffee shop in the terminal with local Art for sale and you might be able to keep it running until the runway breaks up again.
Tri-lander to GLA maybe a possibilty unless the head wind gets to much and there is a danger of people loosing the will to live and jumping out half way.
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Aeroplanes are not the issue. Trislanders run a bus service from Southampton to Alderney in similarly exciting weather conditions.
The Islanders are available with turbines and there's lots of other possibilites as outlined above.
The issue is the gross over engineering of the airfield operations and infrastructure and a stubborn determination to do nothing about it.
The airfield could never be IFR without a(nother) realignment of the runway and then only landing from the South with a go around over the water.
The Islanders are available with turbines and there's lots of other possibilites as outlined above.
The issue is the gross over engineering of the airfield operations and infrastructure and a stubborn determination to do nothing about it.
The airfield could never be IFR without a(nother) realignment of the runway and then only landing from the South with a go around over the water.
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The issue is the gross over engineering of the airfield operations and infrastructure and a stubborn determination to do nothing about it.
However, there is a problem. The do nothing about it bit.
In the background, ABC, have to payback a pretty hefty European loan/subsidy, which would have been free gratis, if they had hit the 5000 passenger movements, which was the initial business plan foundation
Now we all know, and knew all along, that the fory five and three quarters passenger movements per month, the reality, is the case. So, EUROPEAN CLAWBACK.
They will be paying this back for some time, so can you imagine the pooh, if they were to close/alter/unlicense, a strip that they are currently paying back, effectively on tic....
Beam me up Scotty........
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BBC News - Skye commercial flights plan 'could cost up to £15.3m'
Broadford Skye. If this goes ahead we should get this thread up to 100 pages.
Broadford Skye. If this goes ahead we should get this thread up to 100 pages.
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dont overfil BBC News - Skye commercial flights plan 'could cost up to £15.3m'
Broadford Skye. If this goes ahead we should get this thread up to 100 pages.
Broadford Skye. If this goes ahead we should get this thread up to 100 pages.
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Obviously the suggested steering group, will not contain one individual who is actually involved in aviation, nor one idividual who will take any reference of the Oban fiasco, nor one individual who has an ounce of entrepreneurial skill.
You could almost begin writing the bloody script.
Astonishing.
Offset by expected revenue of 150k
Perhaps an e mail giving them the landline number of ABC at Lochgilphead, would in the long run be the best, and cheapest, option available to all.
You could almost begin writing the bloody script.
Astonishing.
Offset by expected revenue of 150k
Perhaps an e mail giving them the landline number of ABC at Lochgilphead, would in the long run be the best, and cheapest, option available to all.
Last edited by maxred; 8th Mar 2013 at 17:19.
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I abhor the total and utter waste of subsidised buses, clogging up the streets of both our fair city, Glasgow, and the midden capital of Edinburgh
NS
PS: yeah and I don't mean the midden bit - I understand that!
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maxred:
Well, don't assume too much too quickly. There are moves afoot to do proper assessments of this and related developments. Skye's the next great challenge. If there's a way to apply the lessons (aka the things Cap'n WW was telling us all along) of Oban, Skye is it.
NS
Obviously the suggested steering group, will not contain one individual who is actually involved in aviation, nor one idividual who will take any reference of the Oban fiasco, nor one individual who has an ounce of entrepreneurial skill
NS
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NS, were you not aware that the vast majority of public bus services received public subsidy?
In Glagsow city centre, you generally cannot move for hundreds of buses, all attempting to get somewhere, all with an average of three people on board.
The best result was one evening in early 2013, when I managed to count 58, yes 58, buses lining Renfield Street, from the bus terminus, to Union Street.
I was walking down, some of the buses had no one aboard, except the driver, all going somewhere mind you. This at 4.00 in the afternoon.
The best bit was when Keith Brown, the Scottish Transport Minister, came on BBC attempting to explain why the carbon emissions target had not been met, in fact it had failed miserably, and he actually blamed the recent spell of cold weather, and people putting their heating on for longer.
When asked if he was aware that Hope Street in Glasgow is one of the most polluted streets in Europe, he suggested that the equipment might be faulty, and wrongly placed.
Utterly priceless:
In Glagsow city centre, you generally cannot move for hundreds of buses, all attempting to get somewhere, all with an average of three people on board.
The best result was one evening in early 2013, when I managed to count 58, yes 58, buses lining Renfield Street, from the bus terminus, to Union Street.
I was walking down, some of the buses had no one aboard, except the driver, all going somewhere mind you. This at 4.00 in the afternoon.
The best bit was when Keith Brown, the Scottish Transport Minister, came on BBC attempting to explain why the carbon emissions target had not been met, in fact it had failed miserably, and he actually blamed the recent spell of cold weather, and people putting their heating on for longer.
When asked if he was aware that Hope Street in Glasgow is one of the most polluted streets in Europe, he suggested that the equipment might be faulty, and wrongly placed.
Utterly priceless:
Last edited by maxred; 8th Mar 2013 at 18:35.
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Excellent news, sounds like a good chance of public sector investment to provide another quality airport like Oban for the Isle of Skye.
Option 2 of the consultants report sounds good to me, new extended runway and an ILS, for an 11 million pound investment.
Far better use of public money than a 58 bus traffic jam in Renfield Street
Option 2 of the consultants report sounds good to me, new extended runway and an ILS, for an 11 million pound investment.
Far better use of public money than a 58 bus traffic jam in Renfield Street
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Stop talking ****e PPL
Hope fully it will be 2 fire men and one FISO check in and baggage loader like the rest of europe for sub 19 seats.
BYW I shifted 60 pax today through 3 airports with 3 airport staff per airport no security. Each day we have a morning shift and evening so about 90 pax per day. I reckon we do more per week than oban does in three months. The combined trumpton count over three airports is less than Oban. And thats running a proper perf A turbo prop.
Hope fully it will be 2 fire men and one FISO check in and baggage loader like the rest of europe for sub 19 seats.
BYW I shifted 60 pax today through 3 airports with 3 airport staff per airport no security. Each day we have a morning shift and evening so about 90 pax per day. I reckon we do more per week than oban does in three months. The combined trumpton count over three airports is less than Oban. And thats running a proper perf A turbo prop.
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What to spend the public’s money on??
I feel if we are going to spunk it on marginally justifiable stuff then let’s splurge it on ourselves.
I read a story about the UK governments decision to install some type of hydro generator in Afghanistan as part of our “nation building” efforts (Note: our tax money, somebody else’s nation) , The purchase price for the unit was about 80M quid and unsurprisingly it was ordered from a Chinese engineering group, after a huge mission that involved a convoy of trucks and thousands of troops escorting/guarding it for the 2 week journey to the site, all under the watchful eye of the Taliban, it was installed then attacked and damaged.
So if we go ahead and spend money on projects here at home, even ones of dubious fiscal worth like multi millions for an airport at Skye it’s better than doing it somewhere else, coz the bottom line is no matter how up **** creek the country is financially the politicians are going spunk money on ****e, I'm just glad it’s our ****e every now and then
I feel if we are going to spunk it on marginally justifiable stuff then let’s splurge it on ourselves.
I read a story about the UK governments decision to install some type of hydro generator in Afghanistan as part of our “nation building” efforts (Note: our tax money, somebody else’s nation) , The purchase price for the unit was about 80M quid and unsurprisingly it was ordered from a Chinese engineering group, after a huge mission that involved a convoy of trucks and thousands of troops escorting/guarding it for the 2 week journey to the site, all under the watchful eye of the Taliban, it was installed then attacked and damaged.
So if we go ahead and spend money on projects here at home, even ones of dubious fiscal worth like multi millions for an airport at Skye it’s better than doing it somewhere else, coz the bottom line is no matter how up **** creek the country is financially the politicians are going spunk money on ****e, I'm just glad it’s our ****e every now and then
I disagree. Whether public money is spent at home or abroad, I can't see that subsidising what is essentially a very niche hobby for the relatively well off can be justified. There are 20,000 non-professional PPLs in the country - I would be willing to bet that there are more clarinet players, or more scuba divers by far. Yet I don't hear about Oban scuba club being sponsored to the tune of millions, even though I would wager that diving will bring in more to the local economy than aviation does.
What general aviation actually needs is not subsidy, but a sympathetic hearing. It would be far cheaper to protect airfields from brownfield development than it would be to continually subsidise marginal ones.
What general aviation actually needs is not subsidy, but a sympathetic hearing. It would be far cheaper to protect airfields from brownfield development than it would be to continually subsidise marginal ones.
The acid test:
Oban Licensed - the islander flies to the islands, helicopters come and go, PPLs enjoy a wonderful little airport
Oban Unlicensed - the islander flies to the islands, helicopters come and go, PPLs enjoy a wonderful little airport
The difference..... a lot of money
Oban Licensed - the islander flies to the islands, helicopters come and go, PPLs enjoy a wonderful little airport
Oban Unlicensed - the islander flies to the islands, helicopters come and go, PPLs enjoy a wonderful little airport
The difference..... a lot of money
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I disagree. Whether public money is spent at home or abroad, I can't see that subsidising what is essentially a very niche hobby for the relatively well off can be justified. There are 20,000 non-professional PPLs in the country - I would be willing to bet that there are more clarinet players, or more scuba divers by far. Yet I don't hear about Oban scuba club being sponsored to the tune of millions, even though I would wager that diving will bring in more to the local economy than aviation does.
What general aviation actually needs is not subsidy, but a sympathetic hearing. It would be far cheaper to protect airfields from brownfield development than it would be to continually subsidise marginal ones.
What general aviation actually needs is not subsidy, but a sympathetic hearing. It would be far cheaper to protect airfields from brownfield development than it would be to continually subsidise marginal ones.
I think you are missing Piperboys point.
Broadford is perfectly useable now for GA if a little expensive. The money only needs spent for a scheduled service, not for GA. But hey, if GA gets a nicer place to fly to it's a bonus for us. Unlike the millions spent on the Chinese generator.
D.O.