Stornaway-Oban

Saturday 22nd May, 2010

After lunch at Stornoway airport we'd hoped to be able to fly to Benbecula. Benbecula is another of the west coast airports that operates unusual hours at the weekends. Most of the western island airports have a couple of commercial flights each day and will open for an hour each side of the scheduled flight time. There was a possibility that we might be able to able land whilst the airfield was unlicenced, but unfortunately neither us nor Benbecula airport could prove that we had the insurance cover to do this.

We decided that after such a warm welcome yesterday we'd route back to Oban, flying overhead Benbecula and Plockton en route. Once in the aircraft we noted the information in the Stornoway information broadcast (ATIS), which showed runway 18 in use; the wind was 260 degrees at 5 knots; the visibility was excellent and there a few clouds at 1800 feet and scattered clouds at 3800 with a temperature of 18 Celcius.

We called for start and in view of the wind and out initial track requested runway 24 instead of 18. We were instructed to taxi to runway 24 and to carry out our checks at the hold point.

At 1405 we released the brakes and taxied in front of the tower towards runway 24. We did out power checks at the hold point and were cleared on a VFR departure with a left turn on track Benbecula.

Before departure the controllers confirmed that we had three persons on board and that we had 5 hours of fuel. Most of the Scottish airports are keen to confirm these items, and understandably so considering the remoteness of the western isles.

With a final wind check we launched into the early afternoon sky. Passing 500 feet we made a gentle left turn to a heading of 226 degrees and settled into a climb to 3000 feet between the cloud layers. I made a note of the estimated time overhead Benbecula, which was 1445 and we settled into the regular pattern of cruise checks with an occasional check for icing. Although the freezing level was 9000 feet, our occasional brief transit through cumuliform clouds meant that we could potentially collect ice at much lower levels: the icing check was essential.

At 10 miles out from Stornoway we were handed over to Benbecula approach who already had our details. They asked us to report our estimate for Benbecula, which we duly reported as minute 45. "Roger" said the Benbecula controller "I have traffic due in the overhead at 45, a Piper Seneca to land at Benbecula, maintain 3000 feet QNH 1029 as you transit the Benbecula area please". This was no problem and was our intention anyway, so having read back the clearance Andy and I set about looking for the airfield.

"Is that it with the smoke rising to the left of it?" I enquired. "I do believe it is" commented Andy, who confirmed this with a quick glance at the chart. As we flew overhead Benbecula I was a little disappointed that we'd been denied the opportunity to land there, but a future trip was already taking shape in my head, with a view to visiting the airfields we'd had to miss out this time. With a little wry smile and a nod I pointed at Benbecula below so that Andy could see me: he returned the nod indicating that we'd be coming to this airport again!

With the grey sky as a backdrop and the smoke billowing up next the runway, Benbecula airport looked somewhat eerie, and so terribly isolated. The rugged coastline of the Island of Benbecula was a reminder of the fact that in the wrong weather this would be an extremely hazardous place to be.

We turned towards Plockton and we asked to report 10 miles east of Benbecula, which we did. We were passed to Scottish Control on 127.275 and thanked Benbecula for their help.

By the time we'd established contact with the Scottish controller the clouds were becoming more dense and the bases lowering. Having been forced down from 3000 to 2000 feet we had to make a decision. Do we go over the clouds or attempt to remain VFR below. Going above was a good option for now, but as Oban has no instrument approaches we could have a problem getting below the clouds again at Oban. If this happened then we would have no option but to divert to Prestwick. If we stayed VFR below we could end up fairly low, but at least we would still get to Oban and also the backup option of climbing above was still available if we got uncomfortably low. With a quick confirmation that we had fuel for the diversion, 30 minutes holding plus 45 minutes reserve, we decided to stay below for now safe in the knowledge we had a workable reserve plan.

The route we'd take was not exactly what was planned as we'd have to follow coastlines and valleys to avoid high ground. We passed Plockton airfield on time at 1500 feet. Plockton is where The Wicker Man's opening scene was filmed in which Edward Woodward lands in a float plane at a small coastal airfield. After we'd all had a look at the airfield Andy showed me the route on the chart that he'd chosen around the coast. The aim was to find the Sound of Mull and fly down it between the high ground to arrive at Oban.

For a while we picked our way around the coast between 1000 and 1500 feet, and flew over several seaside towns and harbours. Despite the rather menacing sky, the water below was an almost Caribbean blue. We contemplated an alternative routing to The Sound of Mull, but eventually agreed that simply following the coast was the best option. The cockpit was fairly quiet now with Andy concentrating on navigation whilst I flew our relatively low level accurately and ensured we didn't inadvertently enter cloud.

I spotted a lighthouse on a peninsula and Andy showed me the corresponding position on the chart. "When you get there, turn to face up the valley and you'll be presented with two channels, we want the right hand one".

I turned at the lighthouse and saw the two channels which didn't look quite as I'd expected, so I asked Andy to confirm this was the right place. We identified a second lighthouse and decided that if we aimed for that we would be in The Sound of Mull.

Now the sky was opening up again. The menacing grey was giving way to blue and we were left with a beautiful last 20 minutes to the flight. We passed Glenforsa airfield where there seemed to be about four aircraft inbound. We were also passed by a Dehaviland Beaver float plane. I could now see Oban so we said goodbye to the Scottish controller who'd been keeping an eye on us as we'd picked our way through the valleys and greeted Oban.

We joined right base for runway 19, and here I was flying the curving approach past the high ground once again. I flew it exactly the same way as yesterday, with exactly the same result, a smooth touchdown on the runway.

Having parked up in the same place as we had the day before, we shared a few stories with the refueller. Whilst talking to him about the adventures at Inverness, Stornoway and the flight back to Oban I realized a lot had happened in the last 24 hours!