A Day Trip to Tiree

Introduction

A day trip to Tiree is always reserved for a day with very good weather. So, with the sun high in the sky, it was time to put on the life jackets and head over to Tiree to enjoy the very reasonably priced snacks in the terminal building. With the flight taking just over an hour, we phoned Tiree, got PPR (Prior Permission Required), and then set off.

Perfect weather

Journey

Leaving Cumbernauld and heading North, we picked up a basic service off Scottish Information and climbed to 4000ft when we passed over Callander. Routing up towards Oban provided great views of the hills, with Ben Nevis visible in the distance and, as usual, the submit hidden by a blanket of cloud.

Ben Cruachan and Star Wars

Continuing North and routing towards the Oban, we pass Ben Cruachan, a valuable set heading point for us pilots. Even in the age of GPS and tablets, knowing you are navigating accurately is always reassuring. Passing Ben Cruachan on the left lets us see the dam and loch set into the quarry with the massive Ben Cruachan hydroelectric power plant hidden within the mountain. It would be the perfect location to hide some top secrets or a military base, which is probably why the recent Star Wars TV show Andor used it during filming.

Oban and Glenforsa

Passing over Oban and heading out the West Coast, we pass over Glenforsa, a small grass airport on the Isle of Mull, where we will soon go for some delicious food. Continuing West and leaving the shores of Mull behind, we are now over the largest stretch of open water before the beautiful beaches on the coast of Tiree come into view. Flying into Tiree has its advantages in that there are very few obstacles as the place is devoid of trees, but then you remember why it is devoid of trees. It is windy, very windy. Turning onto final to line up with the runway, we can feel the wind slowing us down to a crawl over the ground, giving us more time to admire the beaches.

Landing at Tiree

Having landed and parked at the terminal, we walked into the terminal to enjoy some snacks. Loganair and Hebridean operate flights into Tiree from Glasgow and Oban, respectively. The airport itself, like most airports in the UK, was originally an RAF base, but Tiree was important as it was home to the 518 squadron, who were one of a few metrological squadrons that flew 10-hour missions sometimes to gather weather data over the Atlantic. Thanks to the weather reports they gained, the D-Day invasion was postponed to the 6th of June to favour better weather.