We are going to explore a particularly scenic part of the British Isles, even in the Flight Simulator (FS9 or FSX) default scenery.  This is the Western Isles of Scotland.  Because there is as much water as land in this region, we felt it would be fun to do so in floatplanes.  So we have created seven simple floatplane anchorages scattered around the region.  Members have 15 days to complete the tour, starting from Carlisle and ending up back at Carlisle. How we can use Carlisle in a floatplane event is explained below.

The floatplane anchorages are each located in natural harbours among the islands and lochs, with a good take off and landing approach available nearby.  At each anchorage you will find a windsock and shed for booking in, nearby on land.  FS9 users will also see a large red and white buoy at each achorage.  FSX users will see a green buoy at Campbeltown, and a boat anchored nearby at the other anchorages.  To add a little interest to the tour, each shed holds information which, when you have collected it all, provides the answer to a quiz question.  At the end of the event, you are encouraged to email it together with the specially designed pilots log to Richard Sinclair. This is available for download from here.

The event will be held over 15 days starting on Thursday 15th May (Carlisle Night) and returning on Thursday 29th May, which is also a Carlisle Night of course.

We will start from Carlisle in either a landplane or an amphibian aircraft. If you choose to use a landplane, then you will need to fly first to Campbeltown aerodrome (formerly RAF Machrihanish) then take a taxi to Campbeltown to collect your floatplane which will be moored near the lifeboat Station (LB Sta on the map opposite) in the harbour.  You can then take your floatplane round the rest of the anchorages, returning to Campbeltown to collect your landplane once more for the flight back to Carlisle.

Technical Note: To go to the starting point for your floatplane, start FS and select your floatplane, then look in the UK Airports List for "Harbour" select it and click "Fly Now".  After FS has finished reloading the terrain, your aircraft should be bobbing gently up and down in the surf, pointing away from shore in Campbeltown Loch, and, if you have loaded the scenery successfully, there will be a green buoy nearby, also bobbing up and down. We recommend you then save this flight in the usual way, so that in the event of an FS crash, you will be placed back at Campbeltown.

The Average leg length is 60 miles, the shortest is 23 miles and the longest 100 miles
Cruising at 100 knots, the complete floatplane tour will take about 4.0 hrs airborne time depending on route. Add to this the time taken to fly to and from Carlisle to Campbeltown if collecting a floatplane, or your first destination if flying an amphibian.

1. Any aircraft chosen, landplane, floatplane or amphibian or a combination, must be used for the duration of the event.
2. The pilots log, in the form of a downloadable spreadsheet must be presented to the organisers at the end of the mission. The logsheet must show the departure and arrival times at each landing site, plus the information collected at each one, together with the answer to the question on the logsheet.
3. At the pilot's sole discretion, floatplanes may collect a case or two of fine Malt at Islay, if they have the load capacity.
4. The event must be flown on line, whether or not there is any ATC cover available, in a similar manner to the Farm Stripping event.

Flight Plan

NDB Tracking

Radio Discipline