Scilly St. Mary's

[malcolmfrost]

Down here at the moment after a relatively uneventful Monday flight down from Popham. It got a bit busy around LND with schedule traffic and other GA inbound to Lands End. After that we flew the Northern fixed wing corridor at 2000 ft from LND to St . Martin's head VRP. We were held on long finals for 14 for inbound commercial for one orbit. It seems that the commercials are so used to the area, they fly around us!
14 is interesting, it has VASIS and some interesting wind effects. It also takes a leap of faith after touch!down that there is plenty of runway after the hump! Photos to follow.
Parking was in the "paddock" which is a grass area West of the tower. Backtrack 09 and turn right. There were 2 tiedown weights available, but bring your own as well. Landing fees in the tower, £43 for a PA28 and 2 nights. No AVGAS.
It's about 15 min walk into town. The taxi drivers charge a standard £3.50 per person to town, so if you want to save money, give the bags to one of you and walk into town! It's easy, from the paddock you can see a sign saying footpath to Old Town go down the hill and at the white post turn left. Tourist info centre will help with accommodation.
We stayed at the Harbourside, which is right on the quay where all the boat trips start. £75/night, clean, and fantastic views from the bedrooms of the working harbour. Breakfast continental, nothing special, but adequate, cereal, fruit. yogurt, toast and tea/coffee. Several hotels apparently will take a booking, and if you don't make it will credit you for another time.
Departure was interesting as well, off 09 this time, uphill to start, then you get onto the tarmac and accelerate towards a cliff edge that launches you into the air! Fantastic scenic departure with a right turnout up to St Martin's Head to rejoin the corridor to LND. Scilly need a call at 20 miles out, and then you call Lands End, who know you're coming.
A good fuel stop is Bodmin, about 40 min from Scilly, we uplifted 60l and weren't charged a landing fee.

[BlackheathBloke]

Dropped in here on Bank Holiday Monday, direct from Biggin.

Called them for PPR before take-off, they told me what to expect when I reached LND so was all nice and simple. Happy for us to stay high at 4,000ft, which is the top of the controlled corridor. Most commercial stayed lower, one other GA below at 3,000.

Nice easy descent at the VRP, a quick circuit around the island, gave me a chance to have a look at the runway and confirm there was plenty left the other side of the hump.

Landed and down to taxi speed by the time I'd reached the hump, a turn and backtrack enabled me to see the other half of the runway I hadn't used.

20 quid landing, plus parking after 2 hours. Bill for a PA28 was 33 quid for the day.

http://www.scilly.gov.uk/transport/airandsea/airport/airportfees.htm

Departed to Land's End for fuel. Opted to stay low at 1,000 to keep below their commercial traffic.