Islay- Oban

Friday 21st May, 2010

Having sat in the back and observed the journey from Caernarfon to Islay I was relieved to unpack myself from the back seat and head into the Islay terminal for lunch. I remembered that last time I was here the cakes were particularly impressive, and perhaps I was going to opt for something similar this time. As it turned out, unlike last time I was at Islay, the café had a full menu available for lunch and so a healthier option was chosen.

Whilst we were eating I was also planning the next leg up to Oban. A direct route would take a little over half an hour and would see us fly almost the entire length of Jura, over Scarba and Oban town center into Oban/North Connel airfield. The approach up the coast, with Lismore Island off to the left of the aircraft promised to be spectacular.

Now working as a team, I finished the planning whilst Margaret made the necessary phone calls to ensure we had permission to use the airfield (PPR) and also that Oban would have fuel. A key element of any flight in the Scottish highlands is ensuring that the airfields you're visiting are open, as many have unusual hours at the weekends. Next most important is to be sure that they have fuel.

With the planning completed we returned to G-CCTT for the short leg at 3000 feet to Oban. On departing Islay on runway 31 we made a climbing left hand turn to depart the Islay zone to the North East. The cloud initially appeared quite low and for a moment it looked like climbing to 3000 feet might be optimistic. As we cleared the high peaks in the center of the island of Islay the clouds opened up and 3000 feet became a realistic prospect once again.

Once we were level at 3000 feet there was time to enjoy the view. Scottish control were again providing a basic service and in preparation for the arrival to Oban Andy selected, identified and displayed the Oban NDB (OBN 404kHz). Although we were too far away for reliable indications the identifying Morse code signal was coming in strong.

With about 20NM to run to Oban and now overhead Scarba, we said goodbye to Scottish Control and hello to Oban Information. Oban informed us that it would be runway 19 for landing with the QNH of 1031.

With about 5 miles to run to Oban town, Andy and I could see Lismore Island and from this feature we were quickly able to spot Oban airport. Intially we descended to 1500 feet and, once we were absolutely sure of our identification, further to 1000 feet to join the circuit. We joined downwind for runway 19.

During the descent I'd become aware of the high ground about one and a half miles from the runway threshold and knew the base turn was going to have to be tight before this ground. I quickly began to widen the circuit to make sure there would be enough room to complete a smooth and unhurried descent on right base and final. As I got to the base turn position it was readily apparent that I'd made the right decision because a true base leg would have been impossible. Now descending I elected to make a curved descending approach whilst keeping a good eye on the high ground to the left of the aircraft. With the high terrain no longer a factor I could concentrate on losing the remaining 400 feet and making a smooth landing.

With the final stage of flap now deployed and trimmed for 65KT the runway threshold was exactly where I wanted it and now looming large in the windscreen. A quick glance at the speed, altitude and rate of descent revealed that from our position, now about one mile out, we were exactly where we needed to be: 300 feet showing 65KT and a rate of descent just over 300 feet per minute.

There was a slight crosswind, but nothing too much to worry about and all I had to do now was to arrest the rate of descent and finesse the aircraft onto the tarmac. We touched the ground smoothly at exactly 1500 local time, and just had a short backtrack to the apron.

As we shut down on the block paved apron the re-fueller was already drawing alongside in his bowser. Before refueling us we had a chat about where we'd come from and what our aims were: to cover as much of Scotland in one weekend as feasibly possible! Realising that this was something of an important trip for us, he very graciously offered to take a picture of the three of us with the aircraft!

As we went inside to pay the landing fees the refueling began. On the apron at Oban was a Britten-Norman Islander, which is used to ferry school children to and from schools on the islands. Andy remarked in jest that if they'd have had a school bus more like that in Bury he might have gone to school more often!

All that was left to do now was to enjoy the scenery, which was resplendent in the mid-afternoon sunshine!