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TOUCHDOWN

The OBAN AIRPORT Newsletter Issue 2 Jul/Aug 2012

Following the publication of our first newsletter 2 months ago, the

feedback has been very positive overall. With the suggestions we have

received regarding some articles, we have included a few in this issue

based on the information we were able to gather.

It was certainly nice to see so many visitors over the last couple of

months and some who had never been to Oban Airport before. The

Connel Flying Club, Fly-In proved to be a big hit with many visitors over

that weekend. Helped by some fantastic weather, we had aircraft all over

the Airport and with the addition of a quick Burger or Hot-Dog to keep the

energy levels up. The day proved to be such a big hit that we are

looking to next year with a view to adding even more for visitors to enjoy.

With regard to the improvements made at the Airport, we are now able to

offer the loan of up to 4 Bicycles to visiting pilots/passengers of aircraft

when they pay a landing fee. The cycles are brand new and come with

the option of helmet, and other safety equipment including locks. The

removal of the Vending Machines is on track however there is a slight

delay in the operation of a snack facility. In the meantime, Items that

were available from the vending machines can now be obtained by

asking a member of staff for assistance. Other smaller improvements are

being made to enhance the pleasure of using Oban Airport.

So for now, enjoy reading this second issue and if you have any

suggestions to improve this newsletter, please get in touch via the

contact numbers/address on the rear page.

Tom Eddleston

Station Manager

Latest From OBAN AIRPORT

FEATURES

New additions and

changes to the Airport

History - Before the

Airport became

Licensed.

Destination - Coll and

Colonsay

Meet the staff who work

at the Airport

View from the Tower

What’s On.

Bikes on Loan

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

Changes at the

Airport 2

Meet the Staff 2

Keeping up to

date 2

Brief History Part

2 2

Information and

Improvements 3

Coll and

Colonsay

Gallery

4

View from the

Tower 5

What’s On 5

Cycle Loan 6

Connel Bridge

Changes at the Airport

As the Airport continues to develop, certain changes will

be forced upon us and some will be made out of a

desire to provide a better facility. Over the last 2 months,

we have seen both take place.

Towards the end of June, a member of staff at the

airport decided to move on to a different career but

using some of the experiences gained whilst working at

the Airport. Bruce Craig was a valued member of the

RFFS and FISU and we wish him well on his new

venture. He is a member of the Flying Club and it is

likely we will see him again during his visits.

The other change that was borne out of a desire to

improve the facilities was the removal of the vending

machines, and the acquisition of a Kuboto Tractor with

lots of attachments for keeping the Aerodrome

Maintenance within the control of the Staff at the Airport.

The other improvement is with the development of a

cycle loan scheme for visiting Pilots/Passengers. Cycles

may be borrowed for a few hours and returned to the

Airport before closing time. This will give some people a

chance to visit the Local villages and sample the area

close to the Airport. Please ask a member of staff for

details however be advised we only have 4 Cycles and

they must be returned same day.

The Airport is currently staffed 7 days a week by 10 people.

This consists of the following:

WHITE WATCH BLUE WATCH

Meet The Staff

It has become quite surprising how information seems to be out-of-date and just how many people are using guides that are

some years old. The main source of up to date information regarding the Airports of Oban, Coll, and Colonsay are to be found

within the UK AIP. Other guides are usually only updated annually and if you have a copy that is a few years old, it may

contain incorrect information. Of course these days, we can always publish things quicker by Tweeting, Facebook, or indeed

on our own blog and Webpage. A suggestion made to us recently by one visiting pilot, was

to have a distribution list of email addresses that we can send updated information to. This

was an excellent suggestion and if you wish to receive information on things that may be

happening at the Airport, the area or this newsletter, please forward your email to the

address opposite. Any email address supplied will not be given out to any third parties and

only emails that are relevant will be sent out.

KEEP UP TO DATE!

In the preceding years before the Airport gained a CAA Licence to operate scheduled

flights to the Isles of Coll, Colonsay, Tiree and Islay, the Aerodrome was operated on

behalf of the Council by Mr Paul Keegan, Managing Director of Total Logistics Concepts

Limited. Since the early 1990’s Paul had seen a niche in the Fuel Supply market on the

West Coast of Scotland and set about starting a business at North Connel Airfield (as it

was then known). For many years Paul and his staff changed the face of the Airfield and

developed quite a reputation amongst many flyers which culminated in the Airfield

receiving awards and high praise within the industry. Paul even managed to get himself

on TV helping out during the filming of a documentary, ‘The Diceman’. During the year

2000, the airfield was also home to an air show which attracted lots of interest and some

videos of this can be found on YouTube. Paul is still operating at the Airport and

supplying fuel to many satisfied customers from near and far. To book Fuel with TLC Ltd,

please phone 07770 620 988.

Brief History of Oban Airport Part 2

Station Manager - Tom Eddleston

Crew Commander -

Graeme McCracken

Crew Commander -

David Rowley

Admin / Reception - Dixie Porter

Fire Fighter / SFISO -

Bruce Millar

Fire Fighter / FISO -

John Ferris

Fire Fighter / FISO -

Murray MacGregor

Fire Fighter / FISO -

Mark MacGregor

Fire Fighter / FISO -

John MacDonald

Fire Fighter / FISO -

Fiona MacLeod

obanairport@argyll-bute.gov.uk

Type in subject matter - ‘Please

add me to the distribution list’

Page No 3

Airport Information—For Pilots

Frequencies:

Oban Information

- 118.050 DME - Ch42Y 110.55

NDB - 404.0

Runway

Dimensions:

Length = 1264m

Width = 30m

The Airport has a scheduled service to one of the

following Islands 6 days of the week:

Coll Colonsay

Tiree Islay

The service is operated by

Hebridean Air Services and booking can be made

by phone (0845 8057465) or online at

www.hebrideanair.com

You could also book a scenic pleasure flight using Fly

Scenic Scotland who will be operating on various

days throughout the summer. Phone them on 01236

734672 or visit them on

www.flyscenicscotland.co.uk

Fancy taking control of your very own aircraft? Why

not contact Border Air Training who regularly visit us

to carry out pilot training in one of their aircraft. For

more details contact them on 01236 734672 or 01228

573490. Visit them on

www.borderairtraining.com

Oban Airport is open 7 days a week for other visitors

opening times vary so check for details by phoning

01631 710910

The Airport has now had the vending area disconnected and is

currently running a temporary solution for light snacks and Tea/

Coffee. This is expected to only last a couple of months but we

will update you as things progress. The pictures below give you

an idea of the current arrangement including the new viewing

room which doubles as a meeting room on occasions.

Counter with self service Tea/Coffee and Viewing Room

General Information Improvements

RWY TORA TODA ASDA LDA CLEAR-

WAY

RESA

01 1064m 1064m 1199m 1110m 199m 30m

19 1141m 1141m 1193m 993m 122m 30m

Taxiways:

Alpha (A) for use by gliding club mainly

Bravo (B) to Light Aircraft Apron

Charlie (C) to Main Apron

Echo (E) to Argyll Aero Club

Foxtrot (F) to Argyll Aero Club

Golf (G) to Western Parking Area

Fuel:

Jet A1 and AVGAS supplied by TLC Ltd

(24/7)

Phone 07770 620988 to book fuel (Note

this is not considered PPR)

Fuel payments and landing fees to be

paid separately.

Landing Fees 2012:

<1000kg - £11.55

1001kg to 1500kg =£17.38

1501kg to 2000kg =£23.10

2001kg to 2500kg =£28.87

2501kg to 3000kg =£40.37

See website for other fees

and charges.

ISLES OF COLL & COLONSAY GALLERY

COLL - Row of Cottages in Arinagour The Beaches on COLL are some of the best on the

Western Isles.

The small but friendly Terminal buildings are similar

on Both Islands. Consisting of a small waiting area,

a radio room and a garage to house the Fire Vehicle.

Kiloran Bay on COLONSAY is an area of outstanding

beauty and well worth a trip The Ferry Terminal on COLONSAY

We will give a more in depth feature on each of

these Isles in the next issue. Meanwhile, enjoy

these images of COLL and COLONSAY

Page No 5

The Oban Highland Games takes place on 23rd

August 2012. check out the following website for

more details

http://www.obangames.com/

The Airport is showcasing items made on the Isle

of Colonsay and are situated in a display cabinet

within the airport. The company is Hebridean

Island Trading and you can view them on the

internet at;

www.island-at-the-edge.co.uk and check out

their goods. (See opposite)

Tiree Music Festival is due to be held on the 21st

and 22nd July 2012 and has a range of popular

artists.

Oban Events. For more details on events in Oban,

visit http://www.obantowndiary.co.uk

Lorn Farmers and Crafters Market at Kintaline

Farm Plant & Poultry Centre, Kintaline Mill Farm,

Oban, PA37 1QS

Every first and third Thursday of the month.

View from the Tower

What’s On

The Flight Information Service Unit is there to provide a

‘Basic’ Service for pilots of all aircraft. The latest news is

that we are about to undergo our annual audit in Mid-

August and as we are regularly visited by the Civil Aviation

Authority (CAA), due to the validation of the unit’s officers,

we anticipate some good feedback.

The Senior FISO (Bruce Millar) has attended the FISO

Association which has a number of representatives from

various Aerodromes around the country and is driven to

improving the service overall. They were particularly busy

recently during the ‘Fly-in’ with around 120 movements in

2 days. This was a huge success but also illustrated the

need for improved aircraft parking. This is something that

is being looked into primarily for next year. If you have any

questions or queries regarding the FISU, Bruce can be

contacted via 01631 572910.

Frequency 118.050

In The Next Issue Of Touchdown We take a look at the things to do in the area

and how easy it is to get there

We will take a more in depth look at the Isles

of Coll and Colonsay

We will look at the various aircraft types

that visit Oban both now and in the past.

Sep 2012

Goods on Display

at Oban Airport for

Hebridean Island

Trading of Colonsay

OBAN AIRPORT

North Connel

Argyll

PA37 1SW

Tel 01631 572910 (NEW NUMBER)

Email obanairport@argyll-bute.gov.uk

www.flyobanairport.co.uk

We welcome any feedback about our Airports including this newsletter. If you have any questions

or wish to talk about any of the articles in this newsletter please indicate the issue number and

date so your query can be dealt with as soon as possible.

Also you can follow us at the following locations

Twitter (twitter.com/obanairport)

Facebook (Support Oban Airport)

If you are interested in advertising in Touchdown, contact the airport for a quote.

flyobanairport.co.uk

ON YOUR BIKE!

For those Pilots and Passengers of Aircraft

planning a visit to Oban Airport, why not ask

about our new Cycle Loan scheme. There is

limited availability and it is based on a first

come-first served basis. The bikes are new this

year and you can use them for the day (must

be returned before Airport Closing Time).

Congratulations to Peter Adams for getting the location of the photo in issue

1 correct. It was of course Colonsay Airport. Peter has been sent a goodie bag with various items in it - well done!

FLY-IN 2012

You may have heard of the success of the fly in at Oban with visitors coming from many far away air-fields in Ireland, Eire, Orkney, England and of course our own Scottish flyers. All seemed to enjoy it and we received many positive comments and lots of "we will come back here" comments.

Right up to Friday night we only had a list of 23 posi-tive responses. Early Saturday morning we bought enough supplies for 84 ---the BBQ started at 11am and by 2pm we had to buy more! in all we supplied 134 burgers and finished about 5pm!!

The weather was fantastic so all those prayer mats must have worked. Parking became a problem as there were so many aircraft in, I am told we had around 60 and there were other arrivals who were not part of the fly-in so the airport staff were kept busy.

There were about another 16 who could not make it for many reasons, including a group of 9 coming up from mid England. Some called off through family matters. others were stopped by the weather else-where, our thanks to them and better luck next time.

The Airport staff have asked me to convey their thanks for coming, and for your co-operation and patience on the day.

Connel Flying Club