Mull Magic

The Hebrides and the west coast of Scotland is our favourite area to go flying. The mountain, coastal and island panoramas are dramatic and beautiful and, in our microlighting experience, cannot be bettered in the British Isles. The nagging irony, of course, being that as the scenery gets better and better, the options below for an emergency outlanding become worse and worse.

So my flying companion, Richard Murphy, and I set off westwards from East Fortune in our Quantums in warm, perfect weather with open minds as to the afternoon’s itinerary.

Over lunch at Oban we made the onward plan: to head west along the Ross of Mull for a look at Iona, then to skirt the west coast of Mull to Calgary Bay before crossing to the islands of Coll and Tiree. Tiree airport closes at 3pm and I was told that additional insurance was required to land there out of hours. Bizarrely though, they said that each pilot is permitted one “uninsured” out of hours landing at a Highlands and Islands Airport of their choice in any twelve month period. It having been established that ten months ago when we visited Wick we were within their operating hours, permission to land late at Tiree was granted.

As we headed west towards Iona we maintained an altitude of 5000’. This is remote, sparsely populated country, the terrain is rough and landing fields, and even roads, are scarce. From this height though, the landscape unfolded like a giant map beneath us. The vista of high mountains, rocky coves and unspoilt beaches below was magnificent. At Iona, Richard descended for a closer view, while I stayed above 4000’ to capture the scene on memory card. The clear, turquoise waters, white, sandy beaches and myriad tiny islands in the Sound of Iona looked spectacular.

From Iona we passed above the island of Ulva, climbed higher, and flew over the sea to Coll. With a stiff headwind, progress south-west above Coll was slow and as we neared the point where Coll turns into Tiree we became aware, thousands of feet beneath us, of a thick bank of low cloud rolling off the Atlantic. This was disconcerting. We could get into Tiree ahead of it, but were worried about the prospects of getting back out again. Not wanting to be stuck indefinitely on Tiree, we turned back for Glenforsa, via Tobermory, thus completing a circuit of Mull.     

The Glenforsa Hotel, beside Mull’s grass strip, is under new management again, and this time they’re getting it right. The owner, being a pilot himself, understands the needs of arriving flyers, and willingly provided bar and restaurant, showers, fuel cans and transport for petrol. We pitched camp beside the airstrip, facing the Sound of Mull, the Ardnamurchan peninsula and the lowering, evening sun. A more idyllic setting is difficult to imagine.

Graeme Ritchie

East Fortune

18/7/2005