Islander to Fair Isle 29 February 2012

[@atlanticcoastexpress]

Fair Isle airstrip must be busier now compared to the occasions .when I flew there with colleagues to work at the combined IBA/BBC transmitter-relay station. The short flight in the Islander aircraft from a Sumburgh Airport on Mainland Shetland only took about ten minutes, including a short orbit around the airstrip to frighten the sheep away! In this video you can clearly see the the relay station above the airstrip. The installation was built into the buildings of a former wartime Royal Navy radar station and we had full living accommodation provided there. The only problem was protecting your head when the nesting Arctic Skuas (I think they should be called ‘skewers’) dive bombed you from behind…very accurately! It was a fascinating place to visit but woe you if the weather changed snd you had to return to Shetland by boat. A very unpleasant experience! We had the use of a rusted out Austin J4 van to ferry our equipment from the airstrip to the transmitter. Latterly the van’s body had almost completely separated from the chassis and wheels …so that when the chassis and wheels turned left…the body eventually followed in the same direction a second or so later! (This was in the mid 1980s). I wonder what happened to the van…did it eventually just rust away? The Islanders were very friendly and we were helped out by Barry Sinclair who used to do many different jobs on Fair Isle ….ranging from being the local policeman, IBA/BBC Rep, Local Registrar, etc, etc, . He once appeared on TV as ‘The Man With the Most jobs,! A great character. I was glad to have met and worked with him. Rob Mannion in Bournemouth.

[@grantdyble3472]

I could see my old house from up there. Seriously.

[@Mogget5]

The Islander is one amazing plane. That runway at Fair Isle is barely 500 metres long, and yet the aircraft had acres to spare on both landing and take off. I also loved the STOL approach to Lerwick Tingwall. It almost looked like it was about to land vertically!

[@Trollberg60north]

Yes, it seemed a bit of a steep turn and decent!.

[@tommo01]

I have flown on that very plane to Out Skerries, where the runway is the shortest commercial runway in the world at just 370 metres. A rough gravel runway with rocks and the sea right at the end!

[@garrardcole864]

@@Trollberg60north It's called a tactical approach. I didn't realise there was a need to evade enemy fire in the Shetlands!

[@Trollberg60north]

@@garrardcole864 They're great pilots and it's a great experience but the only enemy fire would be from angry Bonxies(Skuas) ha,ha!.

[@victorgrasscourt3382]

Excellent pilot. I bet he is working for BA now. Lots of BA flight crew cut their teeth flying highlands and islands. They are the best.

[@initiallyinterested74]

If an aircraft is on the apron it is not ready for departure. If it is at the holding point it may be.

[@LCMNUNES1962]

ÓTIMO VÔO, VERY FLYGT, BRASIL OK.

[@davenicoll43]

suprised you didn't take up the vacant right seat