TOUCHDOWN The OBAN AIRPORT Newsletter Issue 5 May-Jul 2013 Latest From OBAN AIRPORT FEATURES Latest From Oban Airport Following on from the last issue we have a bumper newsletter for you this time. Some of the comments I have received about issue 4 have INSIDE THIS ISSUE been very good indeed and in particular, the article about Coll’s five Historic Airport Visitor airports. I have also been quite busy with a Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) audit, three annual exercises (Colonsay, Coll and Oban) and not to Glenforsa Isle Of Mull mention another appearance on TV’s Reporting Scotland. The Oban Times have also reported on the scheduled service and were given Annual Emergency information regarding statistics obtained from the airline and the airport. Exercises Island Crews Fire Training As stated above, with the help of one of my colleagues, we have been preparing to carry out the annual exercise at Oban Airport which went Summer Timetable ’live’ at 10:30 on the 27th April. It involved a few local emergency Colonsay Abandoned services and others in a bid to provide an accurate simulation of an Village accident at the airport. During the period of the exercise, Oban Airport was closed for about 2 hours to all but emergency helicopters. We would Airlines of the Past - Logo like to apologise for any inconvenience this caused and we had the Quiz airport fully open by 13:00 closely followed by a real-time minor emergency. These exercises are conducted and reported back to the Customer Feedback 2013 CAA as part of our Licence conditions. We also have some news about a View from the Tower forthcoming special visitor during the summer which will no doubt be very popular. What’s On Breaktime I am also looking for any contributions to the newsletter which is of an interest to aviation and/or the local communities we serve. So if you wish BREAKING NEWS to have a short article published, send it to the address at the rear of this newsletter before 30 June 2013 in word or pdf format. It helps greatly Following on from a marketing when we receive additional material and helps to prevent a delay to the consultation which was issues being published. undertaken for Oban Airport and the Isles, the next issue is likely to have a whole new Tom Eddleston look and layout. New Logo, Station Manager New website and leaflets are all part of the upcoming changes which will hopefully promote the Airports and the Passengers after services they offer. arriving back at IMPORTANT Oban Airport HITRANS have commissioned a survey for possible development of routes. Please take part by visiting: www.surveymonkey.com/s/ highlands_and_islands_air_ services Page No 1 An Historic Aircraft to Visit Oban August 2013 marks the 100th Anniversary of the Circuit of Britain Race and this is worth a celebration. What better way to do it then retrace the original route in a historic aircraft, , the Imperial War Museum Duxford based Catalina G-PBYA. This will be flown during August 2013 and Oban is on the route plan. Jeff Boyling, one of the Catalina’s shareholder pi- lots, is the mastermind behind the project. 1913 was an important year in aviation and especially for planes associated with water as well as the names Sopwith and Hawker. Alan Bramson writing on page 69 of 'Pure Luck' The Authorized Biography of Sir Thomas Sopwith 1888- 1989 said “The year 1913 was very eventful for the Sopwith firm. As already mentioned, Harry Hawker broke the British duration record with a flight of 8 hours 23 minutes, gained various altitude records with and without passengers, and won the Mortimer Singer Prize for amphibians with a Sopwith Bat Boat. Less successful was the attempt to win the Dai- ly Mail £5,000 prize donated by the late Lord Northcliffe for the Seaplane Race around Britain.” 1913 was also very interesting for the aircraft designed by Companies under the Chairmanship of Thomas Sopwith in- cluding the following. Bat Boat 1913 2 seat amphibian 3 built Tractor Seaplane 1913 2 seat seaplane 3 built Circuit Seaplane 1913 2 seat competition seaplane (1 off purely for the race but led to the 807) 807 Seaplane 1913 2 seat Naval seaplane 12 built In 1913 Lord Northcliffe, the proprietor of the Daily Mail, offered a prize of £5,000 for the first seaplane to complete a circuit of Britain. This was the first major British competition for seaplanes. It started on August 16th and specified a course of 1540 miles to be flown by an all British aircraft before 30th. In the end there were four entries. Unfortunately, Samuel Cody was killed in a crash on 7th August. F K Mclean withdrew the Short S.68 due to engine trouble. The Radley-England entry did not start for the same reason. That left the 2 Aussies Harry Hawker and Harry A Kauper (mechanic) to compete in the Sopwith tractor biplane powered by a 100hp Green 6 cylinder inline engine. The 1913 route reported by Flight (the leading aviation journal of the time) was very simple, starting and finishing at Southampton Water (opposite Netley Abbey) with eight control points: Ramsgate (Royal Temple Yacht Club), Yarmouth (Naval Air Station), Scarborough (Grand Hotel), Aberdeen (Palace Hotel), Cromarty (Naval Air Station), Oban (Great Western Hotel), Kingstown/Dublin (Royal St George Yacht Club) and Falmouth (Royal Cornwall Yacht Club). The first attempt on 16th August was aborted at Yarmouth with a cracked cylinder head and perhaps carbon monoxide poisoning of the crew due to a short exhaust pipe. With the same crew and a longer exhaust pipe it started again on 25th August and the two Harrys managed to reach Dublin but alas crashed when Harry Hawker’s foot slipped off the rud- der pedal (no end stops) when landing. The aircraft was destroyed and Harry Kauper broke his arm. Harry Hawker got wet but was otherwise unharmed. Consequently, the Daily Mail prize of £5,000 was not awarded but Harry Hawker was given £1,000 as a consolation prize for his effort. Furthermore, as reported in The Aeroplane 1913 (p277) “Mr. Hawker is to receive from “Shell” petrol firm a silver model of the Sopwith Seaplane, built exactly to scale by Mappin and Webb, whose excellent models of the Cody and Bleriot machines have been so much admired. Mr. Hawker used “Shell” throughout his journey.” That souvenir of the race still exists! In 2013 the aim is to fly the same route albeit with some minor modifications (more danger and restricted areas now!) The UK’s oldest airworthy amphibian, the Imperial War Museum Duxford based G-PBYA, has just completed its winter maintenance and is preparing to commemorate the 100th Anniversary of the August 1913 Circuit of Britain flight under- taken by Harry Hawker (Pilot) and Harry Kauper (Mechanic) in a Sopwith Waterplane. Oban has strong links with Catalinas and this will make the trip all the more interesting. Local aviation historian, Neil Owen, has been instrumental in getting the Catalina to visit and sponsorship from local organisations is being sought to cover the Oban costs of the visit. Weather permitting and assuming all approvals are granted, the Catalina is expected to arrive at Oban Airport on the afternoon of Thursday August 22nd. On Friday a mini flying display is planned for the morning with the aircraft open for inspection in the afternoon. G-PBYA will depart on Saturday to continue its Circuit of Britain journey. A comparison between the Sopwith Waterplane and the Catalina Aircraft Sopwith Waterplane Catalina Wingspan 49.5 ft 104 ft Wing area 500 sq ft 1,400 sq ft Length 31 ft 63 ft 10 ins Height 8 ft 6 ins 18 ft 10 ins Weight 2,400 lbs 26,453 lbs Engine 100 hp Green 6 cylinder inline 2 x Pratt & Whitney R-1830 of 1,200 hp each Fuel 50 Imp gall 1,458 Imp gall Oil ? 45 Imp gallons each engine Speed 56 kts 115 kts Crew Pilot & mechanic Captain, Co-pilot and Crew Chief Readers can stay updated on this exciting project by using the Pro- ject Hawker 2013 website at www.projecthawker2013.com SPECIAL VISITOR G-PBYA COME AND SEE THE CATALINA AIRCRAFT UP CLOSE AT OBAN AIRPORT ON THE AFTERNOON OF FRIDAY 23rd AUGUST 2013. Page No 3 GLENFORSA ISLE OF MULL Located about halfway along the North East coastline on the Isle of Mull lies a small airfield which is very popular amongst the General Aviation fraternity. With its 800m grass runway, adjacent hotel and facilities, Glenforsa is a popular destination for flyers who return year after year. HISTORY: Glenforsa Airfield started out life back in 1965 when it was decided that in order to support the medical facility at nearby Salen, an airstrip should be built to allow a fixed wing aircraft to transport patients to and from the mainland. In May of 1965, building work began and was completed in August 1966 (a very famous year for football so I hear). No 15 Field Park Squadron, 38 Engineer Regiment of The Royal Engineers based in Ripon, N. Yorks carried out the construction work and the airfield opened in September 1966. An early flight brought in the Commanding Officer to view the work and a plaque was erected near the entrance to the airfield. EARLY DAYS: In 1967 Air Ambulance flights began and included the Isles of Coll, Colonsay, Oronsay, Mull and Oban. With Glenforsa licensed for operations formerly by the British Airports Authority (BAA) then by Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) from 1972, flights were operated by Loganair, and the scheduled services operated until 1980 when it was said that the improved ferry service had a major impact.