The Scottish Reel - Rotor Run 'Round the Highlands

EGPL>EGQS

At Tiree we entered the Outer Herbrides and with the checklist in hand and new thermos of coffee (and tea) from EGPL the flight continued north across the Isle of North Uist to Harris and Lewis. Stornoway was our introduction to the The Minch as we began the crossing. Past Cape Wrath (best be cautious) and on to the Orkney Islands we pass Hey and then make the big turn to the southwest at Kirkwall (EGPA).

Passing over Wick itā€™s time to 'fill up the tanks' and RAF Lossiemouth seemed the perfect place as we received a nice welcome from the folks in the tower (or was it the Westland)? Cleared to land on R23, the Sea King was directed to the pad and we were invited over to the mess ... and the dance continues (am I starting to hear those pipes)?

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Leg 3 EGPO-EGPA

Leg three was the longest leg on the tour and I mentioned the chance of maybe needing a floater of some sort. I had a poke around Stornoway and managed to purloin one of His Majesty's Coast Guard helos so the Westland Merlin was the choice for the day!

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It was a nice bright morning even if it was a little cloudy but they were broken enough for the most part and as I set off across the sea it was nice to see the mainland in the distance.

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I took a slight detour from the GPS pink line to investigate Cape Wrath but even though I had added a scenery package for Scottish Lighthouses the one that was supposed to here was a 'no show' unfortunately! :(

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The final point of land before heading over to the Orkney's was Whiten Head.

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As I was representing HM Coast Guard on this flight I thought I'd better do my due diligence and check out the MV Scythia Graeca that I passed en-route to make sure everything was ship shape and above board. I'm guessing she was empty by how high she was riding in the water!

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This is the real one: https://www.shipspotting.com/photos/505991

Eventually the destination islands appeared on the horizon and very rugged they looked too!

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I managed to find a nice valley to run up on the Isle of Hoy which actually has an interesting piece of history attached to it!

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Part way down the valley sits the 'Dwarfie Stane', an ancient tomb which is estimated to have been built around 3,000 years B.C. šŸ˜²

en.wikipedia.org

Dwarfie Stane - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org

Talking of history as we exited the valley we were met with a very famous piece of water surrounded by islands.

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Scapa Flow has a very long British Naval History with the sinking of both German vessels in WWI and British vessels in WWII.

en.wikipedia.org

Scapa Flow - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org

Here we are on final approach to Kirkwall airport on the main island...or are we!

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Take a look at the <Shift+Z> data that I left in this Kodak on purpose. We are nicely lined up on the runway right, everything looks good right. Wrong! You can't tell from this picture but I am drifting left at an alarming rate thanks to the 17 kt cross-wind that is hitting me with full force on the starboard side! I decided that discretion was the better part of valour at this point and swung out into the bay to line up into the wind for landing!

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We got down safe and parked up for the night. Who knows what adventures tomorrow will bring as we turn south and head back to the mainland.
 
Leg 4 EGPA-EGQS

I might have to split this pirep into two posts as it got a bit 'Kodak' heavy! šŸ˜² ;)

I decided I'd start today with a flight in my recently acquired Cera Sim Bell 212 as I had not really flown it any distance up to this point, just testing locally. I'd even found her a spiffy new paint job to wear too!

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The front view is as spectacular as the side!

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So off we jolly well went but when I turned south(ish) after take-off I couldn't help noticing the clouds ahead were hanging a bit low and my intended altitude of 2,000 feet might have to be adjusted downward a tad!

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As usual ships were spotted which meant they had to be investigated and as it turned out there were going to be a lot of ships around today (hence all the Kodaks).

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This one was the CSAV Rio Illapel a specialized vehicle carrier designed to move vehicles from their source factory/country to anywhere in the world they have to go!


Back on course after the ship spotting detour and we pass over the famous town of 'John O'Groats' and the most north-easterly point of land on the mainland, Duncansby Head. Roughly 874 miles away in a south-westerly direction lies the equally famous 'Land's End' which is the most south-western point (go figure). It has become a 'thing' to travel from one to the other either by foot or in/on various forms of transport, wheeled or hoofed, generally to raise money for some charitable cause or other.

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Wick airport came into view and a safe landing was made.

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Pirep to be continued .................
 
............ Leg 4 Pirep part deux!

As we were about to head off to RAF Lossiemouth I thought it would be rather fitting if we took a ride in an RAF VIP helo I had lying around in a back hangar! After blowing off the dust it turned out to be a Cera Sim Bell 222 (can you spot some favouritism re. developers going on today?)

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Just after take-off and another ship spotting, the Moray Firth was going to be busy today and I only visited the ones close to the pink line, there were others further out too! This one was one of the many ocean going tugs/oil rig support vessels that ply these waters in large numbers, she's the FS Pegasus 1.

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PEGASUS I, Offshore Tug/Supply Ship - Details and current position - IMO 9133111 - VesselFinder

Vessel PEGASUS I (IMO 9133111, MMSI 428000414) is a Offshore Tug/Supply Ship built in 1996 and currently sailing under the flag of Israel.
www.vesselfinder.com www.vesselfinder.com

Boy these VIP RAF types don't half travel in style! It's quite comfy back here!

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Another mile or two and another ship to investigate! This time she's the AS Anne and running almost empty compared to web page picture.

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AS ANNE, Container Ship - Details and current position - IMO 9700251 - VesselFinder

Vessel AS ANNE (IMO 9700251, MMSI 636093211) is a Container Ship built in 2016 and currently sailing under the flag of Liberia.
www.vesselfinder.com www.vesselfinder.com

Another ocean tug/rig supply vessel was encountered, the Sea Halibut.

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www.shipspotting.com

SEA HALIBUT - IMO 9350501

Information, photos and AIS vessel tracker for the Ship SEA HALIBUT (IMO 9350501, Callsign C4TJ2, MMSI 212696000)
www.shipspotting.com www.shipspotting.com

The final ship of the day was yet another ocean tug/rig supply vessel (I said there were a lot in these waters).

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After all the to-ing and fro-ing either side of the GPS track I eventually got to Lossiemouth in time for lunch.

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I decided the RAF could put some Jet A in this bird after all the detours then it was off for a bite in the 'Officer's Mess' and a ponder over what to fly next!

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Finally found some time to fly, so here go two more legs...

EGEO > EGPU > EGPR

Ready for departure from EGEO:

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Travel through Oban:

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Took a small detour to Skerryvore Lighthouse, since it showed up as a POI and had a helipad:

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The helipad landing was a bit scary...

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Now to find EGPU Tiree...

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There it is, lots of runways. No need to land so just buzzed the field:

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Lots of water on the next leg so not much to see. I missed at least one screen shot along the way, but did finally make it to EGPR Barra. Not sure where I was supposed to land since I don't see a runway, but figured the windsock must be part of the airport:

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Leg 5 EGQS-EGPD

The helo choice for this leg was the freeware Bell 429 by Sergio Kaufmann Acosta wearing a paint scheme for the UK's National Grid power corporation. These helos criss-cross the country inspecting the high tension power lines to ensure their safe operation and to prevent outages.

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As our course paralleled the runway at RAF Kinloss I took this Kodak as we went by.

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The next way point was Inverness where the airport sits just NE of the town itself.

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It looks like everything is tickety-boo on this stretch of power line!

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This Kodak was taken at the grid reference provided by Phroggy in the initial routing. Research seems to indicate that there should be a large wind-farm in this vicinity much to the chagrin of a certain local landowner but I saw no turbines and only a 2nd rate golf course!

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I did however spot some ships off the coast and you know what that means by now!

First up was the Seabulk ..........

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Seabulk Brasil

Joomla! - the dynamic portal engine and content management system
www.shipsandoil.co.uk www.shipsandoil.co.uk

......followed by the Maersk Pacer

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MAERSK PACER, Offshore Tug/Supply Ship - Details and current position - IMO 9007154 - VesselFinder

Vessel MAERSK PACER (IMO 9007154) is a Offshore Tug/Supply Ship built in 1991 and currently sailing under the flag of Unknown.
www.vesselfinder.com www.vesselfinder.com

Oh look, our paint schemes almost match! šŸ˜²

Both of the above ships were heading to the port at Aberdeen which is where I was going to drop off this National Grid 429.

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Down safe on the pad.

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Leg 6 EGPD-EGPH

The Bell 429 is a beautiful model on the outside but the VC is a little 'sparse' and the glass panels are very hard to read when zoomed out far enough to actually see where you are going so I decided to give the Cera Sim Bell 412 another run as it's such a nice helo and I haven't flown it much recently as it's been 'back hangar-ed' in FSX since I got P3D 18 months or more ago. She works just as well in P3D as FSX which is nice. The paint for this flight was a rather nice RAF Rescue scheme in a low viz grey rather than the usual high viz rescue schemes.

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The sun was getting low in the sky but as I flew this on the day of the Summer Solstice I should have enough daylight left to get back home to Edinburgh!

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I am really glad I spotted this mast in the diminishing daylight as running into one of those guy wires might have been catastrophic!

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Over the last ridge and the low-lands of Scotland lie ahead!

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En-route we passed by what looked like an old and disused airfield where part of the runway has been given over to what could be animal buildings for pigs or chickens maybe. :unsure:

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Over the city of Dundee and it's airport on the banks of the River Tay as the light levels start to drop.

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Once you see the Forth Bridge you KNOW exactly where you are!

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Time for one last sunset Kodak from the 'office' before turning to the airport.

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Down safe and all tucked up for the night!

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Thanks for putting on a great event Phroggy. I really enjoyed myself and look forward to the next rotor adventure!

Cheers!

:ernaehrung004:
 
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