West Coast of Scotland This Weekend - All Advice Appreciated
Thread Starter
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: UK
Age: 62
Posts: 62
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
West Coast of Scotland This Weekend - All Advice Appreciated
I am heading up from Lancashire to Mull in a R44 this Sunday. We'll be staying overnight at Glenforsa and I ought to mention how helpful and hospitable both David Howitt at the airfield and Alison Walsh at the Glenforsa Hotel have been. After some less than welcoming experiences at one or two other fields recently, their friendliness was outstanding and very much in what I feel is the true spirit of private flying in this country.
Anyway, I will have Monday free to explore the coastline provided I get back to Lancs before sunset. So any thoughts on scenic flights within say one hour's radius of Mull (or further if you can point me in the direction of some Avgas....) would be very gratefully appreciated. If we get some good pics I will post a few of them here on our return.
Anyway, I will have Monday free to explore the coastline provided I get back to Lancs before sunset. So any thoughts on scenic flights within say one hour's radius of Mull (or further if you can point me in the direction of some Avgas....) would be very gratefully appreciated. If we get some good pics I will post a few of them here on our return.
Disclaimer: I'm not a helicopter pilot, but I have explored that area both in light and microlight aeroplanes which probably had similarish performance to a small helicopter.
Firstly, fuel is everything in that neck of the woods - make sure you know where fuel is REALLY there, and plan around that. Don't just rely upon Pooleys - phone and check.
Secondly, two obvious really nice trips from there...
(1) Straightish line from Connel/Glenforsa over to Broadford, then take a look at Skye Bridge and Eilian Donan Castle, then land at Plockton - lovely little village with a semi-tropical micro climate and quite a few places for lunch.
(2) South side of Mull / Colonsay / Jura / Corryvreckan, Staffa...
Have fun, I envy you - I think that I'm off to the Isle of Wight this weekend, rather less glamorous!
G
Firstly, fuel is everything in that neck of the woods - make sure you know where fuel is REALLY there, and plan around that. Don't just rely upon Pooleys - phone and check.
Secondly, two obvious really nice trips from there...
(1) Straightish line from Connel/Glenforsa over to Broadford, then take a look at Skye Bridge and Eilian Donan Castle, then land at Plockton - lovely little village with a semi-tropical micro climate and quite a few places for lunch.
(2) South side of Mull / Colonsay / Jura / Corryvreckan, Staffa...
Have fun, I envy you - I think that I'm off to the Isle of Wight this weekend, rather less glamorous!
G
The Original Whirly
Join Date: Feb 1999
Location: Belper, Derbyshire, UK
Posts: 4,326
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I am a helicopter pilot, but all my flying up that way was done during a week's flying holiday, in a C150. However....
You can fly up to Inverness following a spectacular steep-sided valley north of the Great Glen (sorry, don't have Scottish map to hand to check names and details), refuel at Inverness, and fly back along the Great Glen.
Nip over to the Outer Hebrides, land on the beach at Barra, go back via Skye and Oban (for fuel).
Have a great time; it's a lovely area for flying.
You can fly up to Inverness following a spectacular steep-sided valley north of the Great Glen (sorry, don't have Scottish map to hand to check names and details), refuel at Inverness, and fly back along the Great Glen.
Nip over to the Outer Hebrides, land on the beach at Barra, go back via Skye and Oban (for fuel).
Have a great time; it's a lovely area for flying.
Better red than ...
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Appleby-in-Westmorland Cumbria England
Posts: 1,412
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
For Mull, with full tanks, in an R44, you can proceed North up over Morven towards Ft William, Ben Nevis (views of) then along the loch (Eil) west to the head of Loch Sheil (Harry Potter Viaduct in the background, here be Dementors..) then west to the coast and sandy beaches South of Mallaig. The North along the coast to the Kyle of Lochalsh and Syke to the West, then up as far as Stornaway VOR, then South along the outer Hebrides over BEN VOR, to Barra, then Eastbound into Tiree TIR VOR, then over Colonsay and into Mull the back way through the gap to land or straight onto Oban for 100LL and JDs.
The above, E&OE subject to weather, wind, vis and all things metrological, but a nice flight out from the GFH (and much more fun than spending the weekend flogging a jetbox round 10min circuits in Lincolnshire
)
The above, E&OE subject to weather, wind, vis and all things metrological, but a nice flight out from the GFH (and much more fun than spending the weekend flogging a jetbox round 10min circuits in Lincolnshire
)
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: UK
Posts: 99
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Have a really nice time - it's a lovely part of the world.
Support everything said earlier, also: If you're following coasts and lochs as you may well be (possibly at low level because .... well because its fun) then bear in mind that there is a fair chance that you're going to get your feet wet if the donk stops so wear your life-jackets!
Just because you can see land doesn't mean you can reach it or that there will be a flat spot to put it down on, and even if you put it down a few meters away from the shore doesn't mean you don't need a lifejacket.
A friend of mine learned that one the very hardest way up there - so i'm afraid that i'm on a bit of a mission about lifejackets - sorry!
Also: Watch out for wires - there are some real corkers strung between some valleys over that way and even a couple crossing stretches of water to islands. Also there are telephone masts popping up on the tops & sides of hills faster than they can mark them on the maps so be careful.
If you are going to do a low level sector i strongly recommend that you have a look at it first from a higher level.
Lastly - Check the times for the military low flying areas and consider using the Civil Aircraft Notification Proceedure (CANP) but should be ok at the weekend.
Enjoy - It's great.
Support everything said earlier, also: If you're following coasts and lochs as you may well be (possibly at low level because .... well because its fun) then bear in mind that there is a fair chance that you're going to get your feet wet if the donk stops so wear your life-jackets!
Just because you can see land doesn't mean you can reach it or that there will be a flat spot to put it down on, and even if you put it down a few meters away from the shore doesn't mean you don't need a lifejacket.
A friend of mine learned that one the very hardest way up there - so i'm afraid that i'm on a bit of a mission about lifejackets - sorry!
Also: Watch out for wires - there are some real corkers strung between some valleys over that way and even a couple crossing stretches of water to islands. Also there are telephone masts popping up on the tops & sides of hills faster than they can mark them on the maps so be careful.
If you are going to do a low level sector i strongly recommend that you have a look at it first from a higher level.
Lastly - Check the times for the military low flying areas and consider using the Civil Aircraft Notification Proceedure (CANP) but should be ok at the weekend.
Enjoy - It's great.
Thread Starter
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: UK
Age: 62
Posts: 62
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Wow! Excellent feedback, and so quickly as well. Thank you everyone for your comments and suggestions so far and please do keep them coming. I do plan to take (and use) lifejackets and appreciate the warning about the low level obstacles as well. Weather is looking pretty favourable at the moment - I just hope it stays that way.
locator beacon.
Went to a helo crash some years ago in the Highlands. Found the site easily but it was only the personal locator beacon that took us quickly to the survivors, who were some distance away.
Went to a helo crash some years ago in the Highlands. Found the site easily but it was only the personal locator beacon that took us quickly to the survivors, who were some distance away.
Thread Starter
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: UK
Age: 62
Posts: 62
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Just Got Back Home - What a Trip!
I'll post a fuller report later and my companion for the trip (Cyclic Chick) has some great pictures we will try to upload, but it was quite an incredible weekend. Flew up from the very gusty Lake District on Saturday afternoon, out over Arran and Kintyre then routed up past Islay and the intriguingly named Paps of Jura. At the north end of Jura we saw the amazing Corryvreckan whirlpools before tracking the coastline to Mull and swinging west up the sound into Glenforsa. Caused the hotel's residents no end of amusement as we struggled to erect our tent (no rooms available but we were welcome to land and camp on their lawn) and then enjoyed a couple of beers and a good meal before retiring for the night even though it was still quite light at 11.30 pm. Up early this morning and after breakfast in Mull, we flew to Oban for fuel then over Skye and by lunchtime today we were in Stornoway. Heading back down the Outer Hebrides we landed on a deserted island north of Benbecula with a beautiful white sand beach for a short break and a cooling paddle - the whole weekend has been blazingly hot - before following the west coast of Skye down to the islands of Rum and Eigg, then back into Oban for more fuel. The last long leg back to Lancs was made a little easier by Glasgow clearing us direct through their zone (thanks very much!) and slowly the wind picked up and the sky became more overcast as we approached home. I would recommend this trip to anyone and the beauty of doing it by helicopter as opposed to plank is the ability to set down in some of these beautiful but otherwise inaccessible spots. Thanks to all of you who posted advice. The PLB was always attached to us and the lifejackets were diligently worn.
Last edited by Baldegret; 26th May 2008 at 20:00.
Glad you had a great time at Glenforsa. A few years ago whilst operating out of Oban for a week the weather closed in and got really bad. Crawling down the coastline of the Sound of Mull I saw Glenforsa on my chart and landed there, just in time before the cloud got down to zero/zero conditions.
Having shut down and thrown the blade socks on, on a deserted grass strip, a man appeared from a building, asked me to sign a piece of paper and said "landing fee is £xx's". I paid my fee in howling met coditions and he pottered off.
Although the hotel was closed, they very kindly opened up for one night off season for us. After a fantastic meal, glass of wine and all the stories from Davids days as a roadie with some of the best bands, we retired to our rooms. Woke up the next morning in search of our missing blade socks and then went on our way.
Two fantastic, kind, generous people. Am planning on a weekend there later in the summer.
Having shut down and thrown the blade socks on, on a deserted grass strip, a man appeared from a building, asked me to sign a piece of paper and said "landing fee is £xx's". I paid my fee in howling met coditions and he pottered off.
Although the hotel was closed, they very kindly opened up for one night off season for us. After a fantastic meal, glass of wine and all the stories from Davids days as a roadie with some of the best bands, we retired to our rooms. Woke up the next morning in search of our missing blade socks and then went on our way.
Two fantastic, kind, generous people. Am planning on a weekend there later in the summer.
