PIREP ID: to be filed

Aircraft: Rock Hopper

Start Date: 28/12/05

Departure: Inverness [EGPE]

Destination: Gamston [EGNE]

Having spent the days before and after Christmas packing the bulky remains of my personal possessions for flight, I find myself sitting in the private pilots lounge at the Inverness Airport staring out of the window at my newly repaired and painted Turbine Otter. I had arrived early in the day to prepare the aircraft for flight, which included scraping a copious amount of snow off the fuselage and flight surfaces. I left it in the hands of the capable ground crew at Inverness while I took breakfast in the lounge.

After a warming breakfast of Irish sausage wrapped in crispy bacon with scrambled eggs and a side of brown toast and several slices of smoked salmon, washed down with a pot of tea naturally, I felt energised for the task ahead. Not the flight, but rather lugging the heavy massage chair into the back of the Rock Hopper.

The task was hard but made much easier by the assistance of the crew. Before long, my departure slot came open and I was heading skywards above Inverness with my cargo. And not a minute too soon either. The snow had begun to fall rather heavily again as I was heading down the taxi way to depart. I adgusted the flight plan to get above the weather system that was heading northwards towards me and made my way to the south.

I knew that was only part of the struggle though and a rougher landing was ahead of me at Gamston Airstrip. I checked with their arrivals office before taking off for an update and the news was that the runway was rather snowed in. To make matters worse their plough operator had been sick recently wand was unable to come to work. And the local council was unable to send any ploughs around to clear the runway until that evening.

Despite their warnings, I had a trick up my sleeve as I attached the new skis I had ordered with the replacement landing gear. Needless to say it brought back fond, and expensive memories of the last landing I conducted in the Rock Hopper several months ago when the gear came lose… So here's to a good landing today.

For the most part the trip was uneventful with the occasional spat of turbulence and a constantly changing crosswind that was blowing me off course. I made it to Gamston in a little less than 2 hours as I flew into another flurry of snow, and circled the airstrip once to assess the landing conditions. Had it been any worse I would have diverted to Netherthorpe or Sheffield. But I was feeling lucky and was more than happy to test out a landing with the skis. After all, this is what the Otter was made to do right?

The landing was unusual. Like landing on bubble wrap, or something equally soft and cushy. It didn't feel like concrete at all. And better still, I enjoyed every minute of it from the feeling at touchdown to sliding to a halt in the parking area while all the other grounded pilots looked on in envy.