September 8, 2012 - RV Flight Over Scotland |
| In September,
Lynnette and I enjoyed a two-week vacation to Ireland and Scotland.
One of the highlights -- at least for me -- was a flight over
Scotland. Keith B. graciously flew me around for a couple
of hours in his RV-12. We met Keith at Perth
Airport
, in New Scone, the busiest general aviation airport in Scotland. |
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Instead of many individual
T-hangars, Perth has one giant hangar! |
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| There were lots of
interesting airplane sin the hangar like this Aerosport Scamp,
which is a home-built from plans. |
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There were a couple of beautiful
Spitfire MK26s, which believe it or not, are
kitplanes. |
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| These Spitfires
are 80% replicas that look and fly like the real thing. |
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| You can build one
of these yourself. Just order the kit from Supermarine Aircraft in
Texas. |
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| Lynnette watches
anxiously as we get ready to depart. The Scottish
Aero Club
has been in existence since 1927. |
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We headed northwest towards the Scottish
Highlands. |
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| Visibility was
awesome. You'd have to fly out west near the Rockies to get visibility this
good back in the States. |
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| Approaching Loch
Tay, one of
Scotland's many Lochs. |
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| Taymouth Castle
Golf Club, located at the east end of Loch Tay. |
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| We went down low
over the Loch. |
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Approaching Loch Tay with the town of Aberfeldy in the
foreground. |
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| Scotland has big
windmills too. |
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| We flew east to
the Firth of Tay and the city of Dundee , with the
North Sea in the distance. |
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| Many seals relaxing
on the coastal sand bar. |
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| Passing the
Leuchars Royal Air Force Base. |
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| The 18th fairway of
the Old Course, believed to be the oldest golf course in the
world. |
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A better look at the Links, taken by a
passenger in an RV-6 that was flying at the same time as us. |
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| Another good
picture from the RV-6, this one looking north back at the Links. |
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| In addition to the
Links, the town of St. Andrews is famous for the University of St Andrews,
the Castle and the Cathedraal. |
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| The RV-6 took this
great shot of the Cathedral. |
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Golf is big in Scotland! There
were big golf complexes south of St. Andrews. |
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| Rounding the point
near Crail with the Isle
of May visible in the background. |
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| The old Crail
Aerodrome, which served as an airbase since WWI, now serves as a car
raceway. |
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| The coastal town of
Pittenweem on the Firth of Forth, where Lynnette and I stopped for lunch
in the rental car a few days ago. |
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Overhead Perth Airport. In
addition to the two asphalt runways, there is a nice grass runway as
well. |
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| On final to Runway
27. |
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The RV-6 landed right after us.
All of us, Keith, Lynnette, the RV-6
pilot and passengers, all had lunch in the Perth Airport on-field
restaurant after the flight. I guess you could call it the $100 Fish
and Chips! Thanks again to Keith for the wonderful opportunity
to see Scotland from the air. |
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