Spitfire K5054 90th Anniversary Circumnavigation of the UK: PIREPS

[ScottishMike1]

21st. May 2026
Leg 9 Exeter (EGTE) to Southampton Intl. (EGHI)
FS9 and FS Global Real Weather

PART 2

We carry on eastwards and after Poole we pass south of Bournemouth airport (EGHH):


Just past Bournemouth and time to skip acroos to the Isle Of Wight:


No sooner have we turned east again along the northern shore of the island and it’s time to contact Southampton ATC. We are directed to fly right traffic rwy 20, so a sharp turn onto a 2º heading for a long downwind leg:


North of (EGHI) Southampton and we turn onto a short base leg then onto a curved final for rwy 20:


The wind is quite turbulent and we have a dancing final, but make it down OK, if a bit off centre:


They had reserved us a space next to the fire tender. Shut down procedures complete and Yannick can now relax.


Flight time 1 hr. exactly and 29 gallons used.

 

[Melo965]

Shut down procedures complete and Yannick can now relax.

Good job completing the UK tour! That JEJ Spitfire looks great!

 

[Melo965]

Spitfire K5054 TR9 Flight 4: Lossiemouth AB (EGQS) to Prestwick (EGPK) Part 1

For this event I am flying in FSX. Using Active Sky 2016 for weather and Little Navmap for navigation.
Flying an Aeroplane Heaven Mid-War pack TR9 Spitfire. Repainted to match the livery of the K5054 TR9 Spitfire.


Ready to fly. Looks like reasonable weather locally today. Wind direction indicates a takeoff on runway 10.


It was a very long taxi to get to runway 10. Keeping a careful eye on the engine temperatures!


Holding short for runway 10.


Ready for takeoff on 10.


I took off to the East and then swung around to the South West to get on course.


My by now routine adjustments. Set the throttle, mixture and prop settings to conserve fuel. Throttle set to about 63%, then coarsened the prop pitch and moved the mixture back to get a RPM of 2500 with about 4 boost.


Passing Kinloss AB (EGQK).


Now headed for Inverness (EGPE). You can barely see it ahead in this virtual cockpit view.


Inverness Tower view of us passing by.


Same shot from a different angle.

Continued in Part 2

 

[Melo965]

Spitfire K5054 TR9 Flight 4: Lossiemouth AB (EGQS) to Prestwick (EGPK) Part 2


Could not resist checking out the Kessock Bridge. Not an option once I got close enough to scope it out.


A beautiful vista below, but some clouds building up above.

My original flight plan was parallel to and West of Loch Ness. Decided it would be much more fun to fly over the water instead. Only a single engine, but the Rolls-Royce Merlin 61 V-12 up front is very reliable.


Flying over Loch Ness.


This attitude made it easier to look for Nessie.


No sign of any creatures this time, but the reflections on the water are beautiful.


Leaving Loch Ness behind.


Climbing up to get over the hills ahead.


Now up to 4000 feet with some storm clouds nearby too.


4,343 feet altitude. Still in a gradual climb to avoid terrain.


At 4,505 and still climbing. I did not save a picture of the forward view but it is still solid white. I knew that the highest mountain in the UK was somewhere near here in the Scottish Highlands, and somewhere in the mid 4000 foot height range so I kept climbing just in case. (After we landed I looked up Ben Nevis, the highest peak in the UK and it is 4,413 feet. It was West of our flight path so we did not actually fly very close to it.)

Continued in Part 3

 

[Melo965]

Spitfire K5054 TR9 Flight 4: Lossiemouth AB (EGQS) to Prestwick (EGPK) Part 3


By now we are up over 5,400 feet and no sign of the cloud tops yet. I had to figure out a safe method to get back down below the clouds. I checked the map and just before getting to the Glasgow (EGPF) waypoint we were due to cross the River Clyde. So we flew down and turned West over the river as we kept descending.


Finally broke out in the clear near the town of Dumbarton at an altitude of 248 feet. Whew!

It was then an easy option to just turn around over the water and head back toward Glasgow. I spotted an airliner ahead in the haze and just followed it toward Glasgow.


Over Glasgow at 450 feet.


Lots of airliners at Glasgow as we continue on.

After all of the excitement so far on this flight, I decided to just plan to get down safely at Prestwick. No high speed pass down the runway this time.


Approaching Prestwick (EGPK) and banking left to get established on the Downwind for runway 31.


Here is a shot of the weather behind me that I am glad to be leaving behind.


Base leg for runway 31.


Over the numbers. Landed not quite on center line, but down safely which is what counts.


Parked at Prestwick with 47% fuel left on board after engine shutdown.

The flight was 206 miles. The flight was completed in 1 hour and 16 minutes at an average speed of 141 knots.

I used 44.8 gallons of fuel on the flight. For this flight the Merlin engine used 35.4 gallons per hour.