A brief writeup of a trip undertaken yesterday and today.
Besides the destination being Scotland, the two things I did decide ahead of time was to first stop at Perth Scone then overnight at Glenforsa. The rest was decided “on the fly”.
The trip up was done along the east coast from Deanland (home base) to Perth. Perth was chosen because it seemed a good place to begin the tour from geographically, and I’ve visited before, knew there was fuel and facilities so there would be no surprises.
This flight was unremarkable and I had a few kts tailwind, so I climbed high and flew at low power. The trip took 2h45 and burned 68 litres, not bad economy.
There wasn’t a great deal to see, but I tried out my new Fly Tex sunshade which worked well. It’s not as elegant as the Koger sunshade, but it’s a lot cheaper and suctions into place instead of being permanently stuck, and I couldn’t bare to permanently fix anything to my canopy.
Humber Bridge
North York Moors
Perth Scone on an uncharacteristically sunny day
100LL was dispensed by a friendly and enthusiastic attendant. In general I’ve found people in Scotland to be more friendly and laid back than down south.
IO390 wrote:
This flight was unremarkable and I had a few kts tailwind, so I climbed high and flew at low power. The trip took 2h45 and burned 68 litres, not bad economy
Looks like 6.5 US GPH at 145 mph indicated at 8500 ft?
That’s very low fuel flow for an O-320 so you must be leaning the heck out of it and running a very low power setting. I can’t see the engine instruments in the photo but that would line up with the low-ish air speed.
Now for the good bit.
I got some pointers for sightseeing spots from some of the Perth locals in the clubhouse, and roughly planned a route, taking note of areas where I could follow valleys at low level.
This is what I ended up flying, a total of 3 hours exactly and burning 72 litres, with the throttle in sightseeing mode.
My only regret is that I didn’t fly longer, it was absolutely spectacular and I’ve never seen scenery like it.
Just after leaving Perth, typical views of copses of trees and small forests.
I intended to fly along Loch Tay at low level but it was quite turbulent so I had to fly along at 3000ft or so. This also curtailed photo opportunities.
Loch Lomond from the north edge:
Ben Cruachan
Heading north towards Loch Laidon. With the flatter surroundings I was able to descend to a more interesting height, though no photos :)
Heading into Loch Ericht. I flew over the impressive looking Ben Alder lodge but didn’t get a good photo due to turbulence.
Out to the north around Auchgourish, or something.
Over Moray Firth, with spectacular views and visibility of Inverness airport and towards Dornoch.
I guess this is where our avgas comes from
Lairg Dam
Heading along Loch Shin. The wind had calmed a bit by this point so I was able to drop down comfortably.
Routing north west via Kinloch.
Out the other side, near the north west tip of Scotland
Amazing rock formations. Not best for a forced landing but my little O320 kept chugging away happily.
I then turned south and headed in the general direction of Glenforsa.
This guy definitely wanted a house in the middle of nowhere.
Fish farm
I know this photo was taken the wrong way up, but you can have it anyway
Lochinver, I think
More houses in the middle of nowhere
I then climbed and routed over towards the south east. Ben Nevis was immediately clear on the horizon so I headed there. I spotted some bikers on the top so I treated them to a couple of rolls.
With my stomach rumbling I turned south down Loch Linnhe
When you get to the end, take a right into the Sound of Mull.
Glenforsa, a spectacular place illuminated by a gap in the cloud cover
Final onto the smooth grass runway. By luck I pulled off a perfect wheeler, a great end to a flight.
A much needed beer, with a view.
Glenforsa Hotel was a pleasant surprise. The rooms are basic and mattresses are a bit hard, but the food was exceptional. I couldn’t decide between the mussels or scallops (all locally caught) so I had both, washed down with a Lagavulin.
The next day I’d planned to visit Plockton and Barra, and tour around the outer hebrides. Sadly, this was not to be. Immediately upon departure the conditions were unpleasantly rough and the visibility was only a few miles, a stark contrast from the previous day. It was necessary to climb to 6000ft to escape the rough air, and it was total soup.
I canned my plans and flew to Kirkbride to refuel, then flew home via a few stops to say hello to friends. It was generally murky and my plane was actually covered in fine sand when I landed, I’ve flown in hazy conditions before but never landed with sand on the leading edges.
Next time I’ll have to spend more time there, but this trip will be hard to top. The scenery in Scotland is otherworldly, and so diverse. To see all of this, in clear weather, over the course of a 3 hour flight will be hard to top.
IO390 wrote:
I have the Lightspeed Plasma 2 ignition which helps a lot with starting and leaning.
Good info, thanks.
What an awesome trip!
Scotland is indeed amazing. You picked good wx, which doesn’t happen very often.
Looks like you enjoyed Scotland at its best! Envy!
Great trip! I planned something similar for last summer and for this one but both times something else popped up. Definitely on my to-do list.
Another convert to the joy’s of Scotland! Looks like you had an amazing trip and some great weather for the first day.
You really caught some amazing photos too!
You’ve managed to see some part of Scotland that I’ve never seen, and yet you left some for the next time! Brilliant!
IO390 wrote:
Ben Nevis was immediately clear on the horizon so I headed there. I spotted some bikers on the top so I treated them to a couple of rolls.
How did you manage to accurately drop bread rolls to them? 🤪
Seriously, your photos are stunning. The weather really brings out the scenery. I’ve only been once to Scotland, in the spring, and never had much better than OVC009
