TOUCHDOWN

The AIRPORT Newsletter Issue 2 Jul/Aug 2012

Latest From OBAN AIRPORT FEATURES

 New additions and Following the publication of our first newsletter 2 months ago, the changes to the Airport feedback has been very positive overall. With the suggestions we have received regarding some articles, we have included a few in this issue  History - Before the Airport became based on the information we were able to gather. Licensed. It was certainly nice to see so many visitors over the last couple of  Destination - and months and some who had never been to Oban Airport before. The Flying Club, Fly-In proved to be a big hit with many visitors over  Meet the staff who work that weekend. Helped by some fantastic weather, we had aircraft all over at the Airport the Airport and with the addition of a quick Burger or Hot-Dog to keep the

 View from the Tower energy levels up. The day proved to be such a big hit that we are looking to next year with a view to adding even more for visitors to enjoy.  What’s On. With regard to the improvements made at the Airport, we are now able to  Bikes on Loan offer the loan of up to 4 Bicycles to visiting pilots/passengers of aircraft when they pay a landing fee. The cycles are brand new and come with the option of helmet, and other safety equipment including locks. The

removal of the Vending Machines is on track however there is a slight delay in the operation of a snack facility. In the meantime, Items that were available from the vending machines can now be obtained by asking a member of staff for assistance. Other smaller improvements are INSIDE THIS ISSUE being made to enhance the pleasure of using Oban Airport.

So for now, enjoy reading this second issue and if you have any

Changes at the suggestions to improve this newsletter, please get in touch via the 2 Airport contact numbers/address on the rear page.

Meet the Staff 2 Tom Eddleston Keeping up to 2 date Station Manager Brief History Part 2 2 Information and 3 Improvements Connel Bridge Coll and Colonsay 4 Gallery View from the 5 Tower

What’s On 5

Cycle Loan 6

Page No 1 Changes at the Airport Meet The Staff

As the Airport continues to develop, certain changes will The Airport is currently staffed 7 days a week by 10 people. be forced upon us and some will be made out of a This consists of the following: desire to provide a better facility. Over the last 2 months, we have seen both take place. Station Manager - Tom Eddleston

Towards the end of June, a member of staff at the airport decided to move on to a different career but WHITE WATCH BLUE WATCH using some of the experiences gained whilst working at the Airport. Bruce Craig was a valued member of the Crew Commander - Crew Commander - RFFS and FISU and we wish him well on his new Graeme McCracken David Rowley venture. He is a member of the Flying Club and it is likely we will see him again during his visits. Fire Fighter / SFISO - Fire Fighter / FISO - The other change that was borne out of a desire to Bruce Millar John Ferris improve the facilities was the removal of the vending machines, and the acquisition of a Kuboto Tractor with lots of attachments for keeping the Aerodrome Fire Fighter / FISO - Fire Fighter / FISO - Maintenance within the control of the Staff at the Airport. Murray MacGregor Mark MacGregor The other improvement is with the development of a cycle loan scheme for visiting Pilots/Passengers. Cycles may be borrowed for a few hours and returned to the Fire Fighter / FISO - Fire Fighter / FISO - Airport before closing time. This will give some people a Fiona MacLeod John MacDonald chance to visit the Local villages and sample the area close to the Airport. Please ask a member of staff for details however be advised we only have 4 Cycles and Admin / Reception - Dixie Porter they must be returned same day. KEEP UP TO DATE! It has become quite surprising how information seems to be out-of-date and just how many people are using guides that are some years old. The main source of up to date information regarding the Airports of Oban, Coll, and Colonsay are to be found within the UK AIP. Other guides are usually only updated annually and if you have a copy that is a few years old, it may contain incorrect information. Of course these days, we can always publish things quicker by Tweeting, Facebook, or indeed on our own blog and Webpage. A suggestion made to us recently by one visiting pilot, was to have a distribution list of email addresses that we can send updated information to. This was an excellent suggestion and if you wish to receive information on things that may be obanairport@-bute.gov.uk happening at the Airport, the area or this newsletter, please forward your email to the address opposite. Any email address supplied will not be given out to any third parties and Type in subject matter - ‘Please only emails that are relevant will be sent out. add me to the distribution list’

Brief History of Oban Airport Part 2

In the preceding years before the Airport gained a CAA Licence to operate scheduled flights to the Isles of Coll, Colonsay, and , the Aerodrome was operated on behalf of the Council by Mr Paul Keegan, Managing Director of Total Logistics Concepts Limited. Since the early 1990’s Paul had seen a niche in the Fuel Supply market on the West Coast of and set about starting a business at North Connel Airfield (as it was then known). For many years Paul and his staff changed the face of the Airfield and developed quite a reputation amongst many flyers which culminated in the Airfield receiving awards and high praise within the industry. Paul even managed to get himself on TV helping out during the filming of a documentary, ‘The Diceman’. During the year 2000, the airfield was also home to an air show which attracted lots of interest and some videos of this can be found on YouTube. Paul is still operating at the Airport and supplying fuel to many satisfied customers from near and far. To book Fuel with TLC Ltd, please phone 07770 620 988.

Airport Information—For Pilots

Frequencies: Taxiways: Landing Fees 2012:

Alpha (A) for use by gliding club mainly Oban Information - 118.050 Bravo (B) to Light Aircraft Apron <1000kg - £11.55 DME - Ch42Y 110.55 Charlie (C) to Main Apron 1001kg to 1500kg =£17.38 NDB - 404.0 Echo (E) to Argyll Aero Club 1501kg to 2000kg =£23.10 Runway Foxtrot (F) to Argyll Aero Club 2001kg to 2500kg =£28.87 Dimensions: Golf (G) to Western Parking Area 2501kg to 3000kg =£40.37

Length = 1264m Width = 30m Fuel: See website for other fees and charges. Jet A1 and AVGAS supplied by TLC Ltd (24/7) RWY TORA TODA ASDA LDA CLEAR- RESA WAY Phone 07770 620988 to book fuel (Note this is not considered PPR) 01 1064m 1064m 1199m 1110m 199m 30m Fuel payments and landing fees to be 19 1141m 1141m 1193m 993m 122m 30m paid separately.

General Information Improvements

The Airport has a scheduled service to one of the The Airport has now had the vending area disconnected and is following Islands 6 days of the week: currently running a temporary solution for light snacks and Tea/ Coffee. This is expected to only last a couple of months but we Coll Colonsay will update you as things progress. The pictures below give you an idea of the current arrangement including the new viewing Tiree Islay room which doubles as a meeting room on occasions. The service is operated by

Hebridean Air Services and booking can be made by phone (0845 8057465) or online at www.hebrideanair.com

You could also book a scenic pleasure flight using Fly Scenic Scotland who will be operating on various days throughout the summer. Phone them on 01236 Counter with self service Tea/Coffee and Viewing Room 734672 or visit them on www.flyscenicscotland.co.uk

Fancy taking control of your very own aircraft? Why not contact Border Air Training who regularly visit us to carry out pilot training in one of their aircraft. For more details contact them on 01236 734672 or 01228 573490. Visit them on www.borderairtraining.com

Oban Airport is open 7 days a week for other visitors opening times vary so check for details by phoning 01631 710910

Page No 3 ISLES OF COLL & COLONSAY GALLERY

COLL - Row of Cottages in Arinagour The Beaches on COLL are some of the best on the Western Isles.

The small but friendly Terminal buildings are similar We will give a more in depth feature on each of on Both Islands. Consisting of a small waiting area, these Isles in the next issue. Meanwhile, enjoy a radio room and a garage to house the Fire Vehicle. these images of COLL and COLONSAY

Kiloran Bay on COLONSAY is an area of outstanding beauty and well worth a trip The Ferry Terminal on COLONSAY

View from the Tower

Frequency 118.050 The Flight Information Service Unit is there to provide a

‘Basic’ Service for pilots of all aircraft. The latest news is that we are about to undergo our annual audit in Mid- August and as we are regularly visited by the Civil Aviation

Authority (CAA), due to the validation of the unit’s officers, we anticipate some good feedback.

The Senior FISO (Bruce Millar) has attended the FISO Association which has a number of representatives from

various Aerodromes around the country and is driven to improving the service overall. They were particularly busy recently during the ‘Fly-in’ with around 120 movements in

2 days. This was a huge success but also illustrated the need for improved aircraft parking. This is something that is being looked into primarily for next year. If you have any questions or queries regarding the FISU, Bruce can be contacted via 01631 572910.

What’s On The Oban Highland Games takes place on 23rd August 2012. check out the following website for more details http://www.obangames.com/ Goods on Display at Oban Airport for The Airport is showcasing items made on the Isle of Colonsay and are situated in a display cabinet Hebridean Island within the airport. The company is Hebridean Trading of Colonsay Island Trading and you can view them on the internet at; www.island-at-the-edge.co.uk and check out their goods. (See opposite)

Tiree Music Festival is due to be held on the 21st and 22nd July 2012 and has a range of popular artists.

Oban Events. For more details on events in Oban, visit http://www.obantowndiary.co.uk

Lorn Farmers and Crafters Market at Kintaline Farm Plant & Poultry Centre, Kintaline Mill Farm, Oban, PA37 1QS

Every first and third Thursday of the month.

In The Next Issue Of Touchdown Sep 2012 We take a look at the things to do in the area We will take a more in depth look at the Isles We will look at the various aircraft types and how easy it is to get there of Coll and Colonsay that visit Oban both now and in the past.

Page No 5

We welcome any feedback about our Airports including this newsletter. If you have any questions or wish to talk about any of the articles in this newsletter please indicate the issue number and date so your query can be dealt with as soon as possible.

Also you can follow us at the following locations flyobanairport.co.uk Twitter (twitter.com/obanairport)

Facebook (Support Oban Airport)

If you are interested in advertising in Touchdown, contact the airport for a quote. FLY-IN 2012 ON YOUR BIKE!

You may have heard of the success of the fly in at Oban with visitors coming from many far away air- fields in Ireland, Eire, Orkney, England and of course our own Scottish flyers. All seemed to enjoy it and we received many positive comments and lots of "we will come back here" comments.

Right up to Friday night we only had a list of 23 posi- tive responses. Early Saturday morning we bought enough supplies for 84 ---the BBQ started at 11am and by 2pm we had to buy more! in all we supplied 134 burgers and finished about 5pm!!

The weather was fantastic so all those prayer mats must have worked. Parking became a problem as there were so many aircraft in, I am told we had around 60 and there were other arrivals who were not part of the fly-in so the airport staff were kept busy. For those Pilots and Passengers of Aircraft planning a visit to Oban Airport, why not ask There were about another 16 who could not make it for many reasons, including a group of 9 coming up about our new Cycle Loan scheme. There is from mid England. Some called off through family limited availability and it is based on a first matters. others were stopped by the weather else- come-first served basis. The bikes are new this where, our thanks to them and better luck next time. year and you can use them for the day (must The Airport staff have asked me to convey their be returned before Airport Closing Time). thanks for coming, and for your co-operation and patience on the day.

Connel Flying Club Congratulations to Peter Adams for OBAN AIRPORT getting the location of the photo in issue North Connel 1 correct. It was of course Colonsay Airport. Peter has been sent a goodie Argyll bag with various items in it - well done! PA37 1SW

Tel 01631 572910 (NEW NUMBER) Email [email protected]

www.flyobanairport.co.uk