Have to say, it looks like a real fun adventure to take a SEP there. I see that people do it also with low wing, tricycle planes:
https://www.euroga.org/forums/trips-airports/4793-scotland-trip-part-3-egpe-inverness-egpr-barra#post_80607
Do you have to be a bit crazy, or is the risk, in a way, lower than on grass, as a beach is less likely to have some hidden holes?
hmng wrote:
Do you have to be a bit crazy, or is the risk, in a way, lower than on grass, as a beach is less likely to have some hidden holes?
As they have airline flights to Barra, I think the risk is very low.
I wonder how many years these airplanes last before they’re full of corrosion.
hmng wrote:
Do you have to be a bit crazy, or is the risk, in a way, lower than on grass, as a beach is less likely to have some hidden holes?
One of my friends dared to ask his insurer if he can land his SEP on the sand? I think mentioning later on “it’s for Barra international airport” did smooth things out 
the surface is smooth and feels just like pavement on touchdown & taxi, the only caveat is the amount of washing you will need (using pure water) if you land and taxi using retractable SEP, still enjoyable than landing in muddy & rough grass…
PS: I am sure someone will say that propeller hitting sand & water counts as prop strike just like cutting grass with no RPM loss 
Airborne_Again wrote:
As they have airline flights to Barra, I think the risk is very low.
I meant the risk of a prop strike for the typical low wing SEP :-) Looks like most airline flights are with airplanes with (high) wing mounted engines.
Ibra wrote:
the only caveat is the amount of washing you will need (using pure water) if you land and taxi using retractable SEP,
So the modern “plastic” airplanes with fixed gear (Cirrus, Diamond, etc) are more suitable then? Way less metallic parts exposed?
hmng wrote:
So the modern “plastic” airplanes with fixed gear (Cirrus, Diamond, etc) are more suitable then? Way less metallic parts exposed?
I guess yes, plastic is inerte to slated water (not sure about FADEC sensors but a DA40NG went there with no ECU fails )
Dimme wrote:
I wonder how many years these airplanes last before they’re full of corrosion
Untill 2019 you could not park overnight in Barra due to rising tide when parked in the sand
I think now they have two high pavement pads but I doubt anyone is based there?
I went there in a PA28 – went to Oban afterwards where the aircraft was thoroughly washed by the airport fire brigade in return for a charity donation.
I once flew on the CAT that did the Barra – Campbeltown – Glasgow run (boarded at Campbeltown) and the airplane had sand and salt all over. IIRC a Twin Otter. Not sure I would want to do that with my own airplane…
A known beach really isn’t an issue. I’ve landed on Knott End Sands a couple of times for the fly in there.
Firm sand is a really good surface to land on, you get a nice pillow soft touch down. There’s a bit of drag on takeoff (as the wheels will make a track). Our solid tailwheel tends to like to plough a furrow.
The heaviest plane I’ve seen at this flyin was a Cessna Skywagon, but it left pretty much the same tracks in the sand as the microlights.
Our insurance has no exclusions for landing off an aerodrome. We once had insurance that did have some verbiage (about the surface havinig to have been verified, or some such wording), but that was quite a long time ago.
