UK Instrument Rated Private Pilot and Instrument Flight Instructor
Today was the day to return home. We had enjoyed our extra couple of nights away and awoke to a lovely sunny day, with a good forecast for weather for our trip. We had a leisurely breakfast, strolled back to the airport, paid the landing fee and prepped the aicraft. I had filed an IFR flight plan using Autorouter for 10am local time and we were almost exactly on time.
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I was keen to depart Glasgow promptly before the military activity NOTAM’d to start at 1315z began. Although we would not be flying in a Danger Area, it seemed prudent to have landed (or be about to land) before the action started. We climbed aboard at 1200z and took off at 1215z for our planned one hour flight. I had filed IFR for this leg even though almost all of
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With lockdown restrictions easing and hotels reopening, I was keen to plan a longer trip. Foreign travel bans remain for nearby countries but within the UK, Scotland beckoned. My wife and I agreed in March to take a week’s holiday mid May by which time restaurants and hotels should have reopened. Our itinerary was a few nights in Stornoway in the Outer Hebrides followed by a few nights in Mull,
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Our third and final stop during our week’s tour of north Ireland was to be Newtownards. This would give us easy access to the tourist area of the Ards peninsula. Ulster’s main GA flying centre is based here – it really is the place to go if you want to learn to fly in the province – and it seems quite a thriving club. The Cloud Nine restaurant was very
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Voted number 1 scenic airport in Europe, the tourist marketing photos of Donegal Airport are stunning. What they don’t mention is that it rains at least ten months of the year and it’s quite a tricky airport to land at in bad weather. It’s also nowhere near Donegal city. But the scenery really is stunning especially when the sun does come out and the locals are very friendly and welcoming,
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COVID-19 restrictions make it difficult to fly abroad for pleasure. The closest European countries require quarantine on arrival or return, and this may change at short notice. Ireland on the other hand has much closer links with the UK and as part of the Common Travel Area has far fewer constraints on travel. My wife and I took a week’s break, visiting both North and South Ireland by landing at
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We flew from Inverness to Kirkwall via Stornoway in the Cessna 182, flying some more unusual instrument approaches. Stornoway has many commercial flights each day but is one of the few commercial UK airports without a precision instrument approach. Pilots don’t get a glideslope and have to interpret that based on the DME distance from the runway. Adding a little further complexity, there are two DMEs – one on the
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With quarantines being imposed at short notice, holidays in the UK seem to be a popular option at the moment. Some may think it best to stay at home while others want to support the hospitality industry within government guidelines. My own plan this week was to combine a trip to Scotland with some flight instruction away from base. It takes most of a full day to get there and
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Regulations in both UK and France are constantly changing and already differ from the date of this flight, so please check the current status before you plan to fly. Relaxation of COVID-19 restrictions now permit international travel, with no requirement for self-isolation on return from over 50 countries. Private pilots can once again fly to and from European countries for daytrips or longer excursions. I believe that the main limitation
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Next stop on my daytrip to Ireland was on the north coast. Derry was the first in the UK to be awarded European City of Culture in 2013, and continues to attract many tourists. It has a large natural harbour and has in the past been a strategic and busy shipping port for centuries. Admin Crossing an international boundary requires a flight plan (for which VFR using SkyDemon was very
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