Another day in paradise (aka Kirkwall Airport)

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Last week I visited a few airports and sadly did not have a lot of time to take pictures but as always had the camera with me just in case.  Prior to leaving Orkney we had a crew change for the Subsea Viking and we had a visit from another Saab 2000 in Eastern colours, in theis case G-CERY

Then it was off to Glasgow, no time to take pictures at the airport but as I was standing outside Ikea, this Cessna 208 flew past.  I believe it operates a service from the River Clyde to Oban.  Sorry about the definition but it was a long distance shot.


After a short trip to Glasgow it was back to Edinburgh and while I was waiting to fly I managed to take a few frames.  They are all through glass but hopefully OK.  First an A320-200 operated by BMI


Then a few 737's in a row G-MSJF, G-BYZJ and G-CDKD




These were all planes I rarely see.  Then it was back to the type of aircraft I see on a regular basis.  First G-JECM, a Dash 8 just about to depart


Followed by G-ERJA, and Embraer 145


After arriving at Kirkwall at 1900, it was time to turn around and fly to Stornoway the next morning via Sumburgh and Inverness.  As I waited for G-LEAF to be loaded, I had a few minutes to take pictures on the GA apron.  First of all there were a couple of bizjets namely N403QS, a Gulfstream G1V


And N126KC, a Hawker 800


Parked next to these was G-ISAY, Highland Airways newest Jetstream 41


The last picture I managed to get on this trip was of G-TURF, an F406 parked in the Highland hangar in MCA colours


After getting back home, we had a few visitors this week.  First of all a flypast by XV236


Then completely out of the blue, my jaw dropped when Polly Vacher, her husband and her friends flew in from Mull unexpectedly.  Lovely to see everyone.


We then had a fly in by a number of aircraft on their way to Norway.  First a lovely Beechcraft Bonanza G-ZLOJ


And the inside


We also had the first Saratoga I have seen N77YY


And the inside


And I cannot believe what I did next, there was also a very pretty Trindad and I forgot to take a picture of it but here is the cockpit - Doh


My final picture of the week is N22CU, a PA46 which flew in the previous night from Holland


Donald Alexander Macleod 25/02/36 to 17/06/2008

Thats almost it for now other than to report the sad loss of someone who will always be part of Kirkwall Airports history.  Donald MacLeod moved to Orkney in 1966 as an engineer responsible for the Viscount fleet.  He continued his career until retiral with British Airways when they pulled out of flying their own routes and introduced franchises.

Donald met and married Marion who latterly became Senior Supervisor for Security but when I had the chance, took her on board the terminal duty officer team in January of this year.

Donalds passed away suddenly but is fondly remembered by family friends and colleagues.  He is survived by his three daughters Pamela, Morven and Tina and his grandchildren.

Our sincere condolences go out to the family.

Thats it for this week, take care and thanks for reading

Neil

Beam me up Scotty

Well I am ashamed to say I have not managed to get near this site in the last couple of weeks but I have been taking pictures all the time.  First of all as I was passing through Inverness I took a couple of pictures.

First we have G-EZAZ an Easyjet A319

Next we have G-FBEE an Embraer 195

And G-EMBI an Embraer 145

On the way back I caught this, a Cessna F404 in Coastguard livery

On my return to Kirkwall over the last couple of weeks I have managed to get a few visitors starting with G-BWYR a Rans S6

and the inside

Around the same time we had another unusual small plane in this case G-GDRV a Vans RV6

And the inside

When I walked down to photograph it, this was sitting on the small apron, G-BKUE  a Tampico

And the inside

We had a short visit from G-MSPT a private EC135

and a couple of pictures of the inside

Then we had G-CDBS in new livery

And the inside

A short visit from G-LOVB on its way to Cognac

At the same time G-SASD passed through

I got a text message from Bjorn, the Captain of G-SMMA to say they would be in Kirkwall at night, so being the anorak I am, I went back out to the airport when it arrived.  Thanks Bjorn.

And the inside of a new aircraft

A couple of days later we had a number of diversions but it was the first time I had seen S92's in Bristows livery.  Here are G-IACA and G-IACC

And from the title of this entry a picture of the starship enterprise posing as an S92

Our old friend G-JURA popped in

As did G-SEIL which is bringing our papers in for the moment and at least all this week

Finally, an old friend, Harald Hansen flew in from Norway to collect a shipment of live lobsters in this pretty PA30

And of course the inside.

 Thats it for now, thanks for reading.  Until next time

Neil

Those magnificent men in their flying machines

I mentioned in my last post that I would have some interesting pictures this week and hopefully you will like what follows.   The 8th May is the 75th Anniversary of the inaugural air service from Inverness to Kirkwall by Captain Edward (Ted)  Fresson.

To commemorate this, the Fresson Trust has commissioned monuments in Kirkwall and Inverness to mark the occasion and a plaque was placed in the terminal building.

This was made a very special event by the arrival of a group of pilots who arrived in Orkney to assist the event with a commorative flyover.  Before I come to that, we had a visitor in a few days ago in the form of OY-PBW, a Danish registered Short 360, in australian livery called "Spirit of Fraser Coast"

And, as usual, the inside

Then on the 7th May, things became extremely interesting, originally we thought the veterans were going to Lamb Holm, a grass strip owned by local farmer and aviation enthusiast Tommy Sinclair, but as luck would have it, they all decided to come here.

The first to arrive was Mark Preston in G-ADNE, who are becoming regular visitors to the islands, I have a few pictures on the blog in my photo album.  Just as I was heading home, I spied G-ACUS about to land so had to do a U-turn and return to the airport.  Here it is, a DH85 leopard Moth owned and flown by Ron and Valery Gammons.

And the inside

Next we had G-AOJK, a stunning DH82 Tiger Moth owned and flown by Bob Willies

And the inside

Followed shortly after by G-AHUV, another beautiful DH82 owned and flown by Andrew Gordon from Blair Atholl

And the inside, front and back

And in the name of Bruce lee's most famous movie, "Enter the Dragon" , G-ECAN piloted by Henry Labouchere

And the inside

And the passenger compartment

Finally on Wednesday, the "star" of the show, Ted Fressons original aircraft G-AAWO, a DH60 Gipsy Moth owned and piloted by Nigel Reid.  This aircraft is displayed in one of large lino prints inside the main terminal.  I have heard about it but had never seen it until Wednesday.

And the inside, front and rear

The final pictures of the day were as the aircraft were being made safe for the evening, first G-AAWO in folded up mode

And parked up for the night

And a picture of some of the fire crew on duty

L to R Mark Rendall, Ivan Rendall, Craig Barclay and Albert Bruce

The next day was going to be busy with more aircraft due to arrive, the terminal presentation at 1100, the monument unveiling at 1200, and the arduous task of a buffet and drinks at 1300.

First to arrive was G-ANGK, a Cessna 140 which was here recently and a photo is on file.  Next we had G-ANFV, A bright yellow DH82 both based at Shempston Airfield in Moray.  FV was an aircraft bought for Orkney Flying Club in the 50's for around £25 according to one story.

And the inside

 Thanks to Air Traffic Control and the Airport Manager, the apron was organised to fit as much as possible in without disrupting schedules.  The Dragon and the DH60 were brought up to the apron to allow the public and visiting guests to see them clearly.

AS they arrived we had another couple of more modern visitors, first OY-EJD, a Falcon 2000

Followed swiftly by VP-BLS, a Bermudan registered Pilatus PC12

Another personality shot this time

L to R Mick Bain ATCO, Alan Bews (Hub) SATCO, Ian Cooper Security Agent, David Blackman Airport Manager and Michael Firth, technician and the most valuable man on the airport as he knows everything there is to know about the place.

Then it was time for the main event at 11am, the guests gathered in the terminal building for the unveiling of the plaque.  The introduction was by Hugh Lawson, ex MD of HIAL and the unveiling by Scott Grier, OBE and Chairman of Loganair.  Very appropriate as Scott has pioneered modern air services, air ambulance services and inter island services for the last 4 decades within and without Scotland.  Loganair continues to grow from strength to strength with an average of 25 scheduled flights a day outwith Orkney.

The first picture has Hugh on the left and Scott on the right

And the unveiling

And a close up of the plaque in the terminal.

Next it was off to the old aerodrome site where Ted Fresson was based for the unveiling of the monument.

There are a number of unsung heroes connected with this monument.  First of all the monument was donated by Paddy Casey of Casey Construction.  Not only was the monument donated, he provided 2 stonemasons to ensure the target date was met and I can confirm when I left the airport the night beofre the event, the men were finishing off.

Credit must go to the men who completed the monument namely Charlie Juhlenski and Paul Hewison.  Well done to you all.

Shortly before the unveiling we had a spectacular fly past by the vintage aircraft

And then to everyones surprise, Nigel Reid flying Ferssons original aircraft G-AAWO, landed in the field where it it all happened 75 years ago to the day

When the aircraft came to a standstill, the passenger was Richard Fresson, Ted's son who had joined the procession flight.

 to

Nigel Reid and his father have owned the aircraft for a total of 52 years and is a Jumbo pilot by day.  He gave a short reading from the original log book to the small crowd of visitors, guests and onlookers. 

Appropriately, Henry Labouchelle passed overhead and the flypast had ended.

After the unveiling, Nigel and Richard were back in G-AAWO and it was off to the St Magnus Centre

Then it was back to normality as we were expecting a visit from a group of students from Orkney College.  The timing could not have been better as just before they arrived we said goodbye to the last of our visitors

That's about it for this week, I have many more photographs and have been sent many more by Kenny Christie and Gemma Knutton from Loganair, I am not quite sure how best to deal with them but may end up creating a gallery of the last few days.

Where do I start with the thanks on this one, the assistance I receive to assist with my hobby in my free time is immense and greatly appreciated.  Thanks to the OIC (Hi Colleen) and the Fresson Trust for the invitation and the outstanding event.

Sincere thanks must go to all the pilots who made their aircraft accessible to everyone and to all who assist in helping with this blog.

Finally, for those that look at the webcams, they no longer have a 5 minute delay, its now 5 seconds and shortly I intend to provide a live feed, just need to work out how to do it.

Take care and have a good weekend

High Spirits

Another busy week at the airport, the week always starts normally and you think nothing is around the corner and then you get the chance to take pictures of new aircraft.

The most unusual aircraft of the week was a Dornier 328 jet OY-NCM, operated by Sun Air of Scandinavia in British colours which arrived in from Cologne/Köln with a group of visitors bound for Highland Park..

And another angle

And, of course, thanks to the crew, a picture of the inside

As the passengers were released they were met by the sound of a lone piper.  In this case, Mike Parkins from the Kirkwall City Pipe Band.

We had a short visit from a C182 which was passing through, G-EIWT

And the inside

On friday morning our german guests (+ 1 british person) headed back to Köln/Cologne and thanks to Volker Löken I have extra photographs for the blog.  First my picture of the group

And an artistic shot of Highland Park at 11000m and 720km/h

And finally, a first, our airport on the arrivals board at Köln/Cologne Airport

Thiking that was it for the week, our old friend G-ADNE came in for a short visit on its way to Foula.  The first picture is taking off on 15 and the second as it passed me next to the small apron

And finally when I had finished work an unexpeted visitor came in on 15.  An Islander from Hebridean Air Services.

Just when I thought I had finished, my friend Paul Warrener from SFPA sent me pictures of the first brand new Cessna F406 for the Scottish Fisheries.  The first is G-SMMA and the second is the new aircraft with its predecessor G-SFPA.  Not sure about the colour scheme but will tell you when  I see it in the flesh.

Many thanks to all contributors and all who assisted.  Thats it for now, I should have some interesting images by the end of the week.

Thanks for visiting

Neil

Eligible bachelor of the week

Just kidding.  I took a picture of Tant Black, who is a ground handler working between national and inter-island flights at the moment.  Always good to have someone around with a sense of humour.

Being serious for a moment, one of the other ground handlers from the inter-island team,  was taken ill on wednesday with a suspected aneurysm.  He flew off this morning to Aberdeen for scans.  I and all other of his colleagues wish him a speedy recovery.

We also have the return of Captain Malcolm Hempsell who has returned to Orkney from flying Saabs to take the controls of an Islander again.  He is replacing Captain Ian Potten who is leaving shortly to take up post with the British Antartic Survey team at the South Pole. 

Anyway, planes!  Iam not sure if I have got to grips with my new camera yet but we had a few extra bits and bobs this week.  The first being G-OMGI, a B200 from Northern Aviation based at Tees Valley Airport near Darlington.

Shortly after we had an unexpected visitor from Aberdeen which diverted to Kirkwall as it was unable to continue to Shetland because of fog.  This is G-TBIC operated by Flightline

And a close up shot approaching the apron

The weather yesterday in Shetland meant we stayed open late to accept a couple of diversions meaning a very busy apron this morning.  4 Saabs, 1 for Edinburgh, 1 for Aberdeen, 2 for Shetland, A F406 from Inverness and the inter island aircraft.  Not bad for the beginning of a work day.

And one for the album G-LGNM

The figures have been published for the last year and Kirkwall has had another record year with the number of passengers increasing by nearly nine percent to just under 150,000 and 15,600 or so aircraft movements.  Fantastic news.

Thats all for this week, thanks for taking the time to stop by.

Regards

Neil

Kirkwall 1944

And at 1945Z the crew of watchdog Alfa were in the pub.  Just kidding!  I received a couple of pictures from Paul Warrener to stick on the blog.  The first is the above prior to take off for the last time from Kirkwall.  From left to right: Paul Warrener, "Tactical Director", George Jack, Extreme skier and First Officer and Simon Eardley, Fitness fanatic, chocolate cake expert and Captain.

Next we have a phot of G-BLDV lined up on 33 as G-SFPA was doing the fly past for the last time and I was taking the picture in my previous post.

I took a couple of pictures this morning of a lovely PA28 which had arrived last night after I had finished.  They left this morning en route Shetland and I promised I would write a short note to prove the occupants had visited Kirkwall Airport so hello to David Stone and David Williamson.  Enjoy yourself in Shetland.

Here are the pictures, first G-BRXD

And the inside

I mentioned in my last post that I was waiting on a new camera.  It has arrived and the next two photos show the difference in the zoom from the same spot.  the first is from my trusty S5600 and the second from the S8100.  The difference is only the S5600 has a 10x optical zoom and the S8100 an 18x equivalent to about 465mm on a standard lens.

That's it for now, thanks for taking the time to look

Regards

N

PS did you know this site had an RSS feed, here's the link

http://www.spottersblog.com/rss.php?w=kirkwallairport

PPS Congratulations to Natasha Groundwater who has got into the final 20 of Miss Scotland.

Goodbye Watchdog Alfa and hello Miss Scotland (we hope)

I thought I would not have any more news for this week but as always things change.  Watchdog Alfa has been in all week crewed by Simon, George up front and "tactical director" Paul Warrener in the rear.  AS the new aircraft G-SMMA is due to start work on Monday, this was Alfa's final visit to Orkney and this was commemorated by a flypast on 09-27.

Alfa came in lit up by the morning son and I messed up meaning a never to be repeated shot was lost, however, as luck would have it, Alfa flew past the airport as it finished its patrol and this time I was ready.  The limitations of my camera came to the fore as I cannot take photographs in quick succession.  None the less here is G-SFPA approaching 15

Next over the 33 threshold

And finally heading towards the North Sea

So that's it, end of an era.  Thanks to the crew and Air Traffic for keeping in touch with me to get the shots.  I have organised photos of the new aircraft so looking forward to seeing it.

And now for something completely different...........

The daughter of one of Loganairs ground handlers flew off today for a photo shoot in Glasgow, courtesy of The Sun newspaper.  The reason behind this is a great story.  Natasha Groundwater is down to the final 25 of the Miss Scotland competition.  After this weekend the numbers will be down to 20.

We all have our fingers crossed and wish her all the best this weekend, here she is with her mum before heading through pre-board search.

That is definitely it for this week.  Take care and have a good weekend

N

Come fly with BE

Sorry that I have not been opn here for a while.  I have been away to the snow for over a week to my favourite place on the planet.  Is it St Moritz, the Alps, the Himalayas, nope its Aviemore in the Highlands of Scotland.

We set off from Orkney on the 4th of April with the promise of snow on the forecast.  We arrived late on the friday night and woke up to this.

As our caravan is rated to -30 it was not a problem, and even better here is our view, admittedly slightly magnified but still our view.

So what has all this to do with an aviation blog I hear you ask (or not).  Sadly the day after we arrived alight aircraft on its way to Wick crashed killing the pilot less than 1km from this picture necessitating a huge mountain rescue search involving ground search and helicopters.

A few nights later about 11pm the entire world started shaking and I stepped outside to find out what on earth was happening and saw 2 chinooks flying at extreme low level prior to landing at Glenmore Lodge.

Sadly I did not have my camera andthe next day when they were doing extreme low flying I had gone into Aviemore for something and missed it all.

Anyway back to Kirkwall, after completing my first aid course at Orkney College, I returned to work on wednesday morning and saw this, the first Saab 340B in Flybe livery.  I looked on airliners.net to see if it was there, it was, but from a distance, so here is a close up.

Then Northern Aviation came in flying for Gama, who operate the air ambulance contract, in G-ONAL which is a very pretty BE200.

Thats all for now, my new camera arrives tomorrow and hopefully will provide better results than at present.. I was going to buy a DSLR but after a lot of research went for the new Fuji S8100fd.  Will it improve my photography? time will tell.

Thanks for reading and have a good weekend

Neil

Summer is here

Oh well, maybe not, but on wednesday morning I was out on the apron speaking to Nic Van Der Meer in -3 centigrade in a short sleeve shirt at 0740 in the morning. Hard to believe but true. The last two days have been beautiful despite the ice and the light this morning was perfect for taking pictures. Not much happened until the terminal building shook which told me straight away that a Nimrod was doing approaches Sure enough I looked out to see XV254 climbing at the 27 end of the runway. So this is for the Nimrod fans.  First of all over the 09 threshold

And as it passed the terminal

Thanks to Paul Warrener I have added a picture of one of our Saabs on the beautiful morning in question.  Cheers Paul

Regards

Neil

Where is the sun?

I am sitting here tonight with the temperature outside at -3 centigrade and a windchill of -12.  Fuel has gone up to £1.25 a litre, so not much of a day.  So, I thought I would bring the blog up to date.  Not much has happened since my last entry apart from horrendous winds on Friday meaning I did not go to Shetland and flew to Inverness direct.  At times the crosswind on 09/27 was over 50 knots but in between the gusts the flights went as normal and I set off to Stornoway in G-LEAF, A Cessna F406 under the control of Nic Van Der Meer, Flight Operations Director of Highland Airways.

Before I come to that, here is a picture of G-MAJU which visited us last Thursday

We took off for Inverness in pretty bumpy conditions but a 5 point harness keeps you in place, with the tailwind we were showing an airspeed of 210 knots but a groundspeed of 267 on the GPS

Scotland was pretty much covered in snow on the high ground and when we got to Inverness it had all but disappeared.  When we arrived at Inverness there was an unusual visitor outside the Highland Airways Hanagar in the form of a United Express Jetstream 41.  A world first folks, on this site, thanks to Basil O'Fee and Alan Mossman, I was allowed to take pictures for the blog.  The J41 will end up in Highland Livery in about 6 weeks time.

I went into Highland Ops for a cuppa and to say hello to Paul and Ewan while the papers were being unloaded and reloaded.  On my way back to the aircraft, I passed this cute little Slingsby Nipper.  Worrying knowing an aircraft is only 3 times my weight.

Another bumpy flight followed and I returned at night to Inverness on G-BTXG, J31.  A particularly pleasant evening followed as I was invited out for a pint with Senior Watchdog Captain, Bjorn Sandison, a fellow islander from Shetland.

On my way home next day, I just took a couple of pics in Inverness.  The first is of my favourite aircraft, a BAE 146, in this case G-JEBG operated by Flybe

Followed by G-JECT, a Dash 8 about to depart for Belfast

Finally, when flying home on Saturday, weary but happy I took this nice picture looking up the Cromarty Firth from 12000 feet

Thats it for now, thanks for looking and thanks for the nice letters from the people who enjoy the blog

Till next time

Neil