Helicopter service - Penzance to Isles of Scilly

[whole diary]

[TonyK]

I've long wanted to visit the Isles of Scilly and was actively looking at the rail/helicopter options back in the early part of this decade. Much more preferable to me, for novelty, than the Scillonian sailing or fixed wing flight.

I also looked for options, and hope to be able to do so again in the not-too-distant. Fun though the choo-choo-chop-chop combo may be, my own preferred method, highly unlikely though it now is,  would always be in the left-hand seat of a 4 seater aircraft, such as a PA^▸ (Public Address)-28. Whilst learning to fly, I planned it as a theoretical navigational exercise, starting from Filton. The route took us over Exmoor, around Plymouth, and across Cornwall. I built in a re-fuelling / brew stop at either Perranporth, Bodmin, or Lands End. If the last, I would spend a bit of time climbing after departure, for safety - at least FL060 before the mid-point of the crossing via the Scillies Corridor. Then a slow descent for an overhead join before one of my semi-controlled but somehow ultimately soft reconnections with the floor, preferably via runway 33.

[JayMac]

choo-choo-chop-chop

Is that not a perfect marketing tagline? Quick FT,N! Trademark it! 

[stuving]

Even in Summer, and especially with the weather as it was last week (wet, windy, low cloud, poor viz a lot of the time), I can only imagine that the Skybus fixed-wing operation must be haphazard at best.

The big helicopters were much more resilient to the variable west country weather!

You'd think so, but not always - at least, not in the early 70s when I went to the Scillies. We started by objecting to the extra cost due to some of the party insisting on going by plane, but the day we came back the BA^» (British Airways - about) helicopters were grounded. I can't now remember who flew the little plane we were on (10 seats or less) from Newquay, or whether they really were the only fixed-wing operators at the time.

The day before we came back, we could afford to joke about the 50 shades of green that the Scillonian had given its passengers, when they disembarked. This was the old one - more draught than the current vessel, but no stabiliser - and famous for its roll. Then, as I say, we found BA were not running due to high winds. Our flight did: taking off was OK, the crossing quick, and the landing ... interesting. The pilot based his landing technique on the width of the St Mawgan runway, meaning that an oblique approach got the wind close to head-on, and the reduced airspeed that allowed something close to a zero-length landing roll.

It's only later, on reflection, that you wonder if it was such a good idea after all.

[Chris from Nailsea]

An old pilot's adage: 'Any landing that you walk away from was a good one.' 

[JayMac]

Indeed. And an excellent landing is one that allows the aircraft to fly again. 

[TonyK]

Our flight did: taking off was OK, the crossing quick, and the landing ... interesting. The pilot based his landing technique on the width of the St Mawgan runway, meaning that an oblique approach got the wind close to head-on, and the reduced airspeed that allowed something close to a zero-length landing roll.

It's only later, on reflection, that you wonder if it was such a good idea after all.

It is a little disconcerting to be able to see the runway through the passenger windows on finals, but I'm betting that your pilot ran the aircraft straight down the middle of the runway after banging the nose around at the last minute.

The offset approach is generally favoured by bigger aircraft. For we four-seater single engine jockeys, the "wing down" method is preferred. You dip the wing into the wind, then apply opposite rudder, holding this sideslip position even through the flare. You need to estimate the headwind and crosswind components rather quickly, using the information supplied by the tower - as an example, if you were landing on runway 27 at Bristol, and you were told by the ATIS (Automated Traffic Information System* - a recording of the current state of play) "Wind is three one zero speed three zero knots", the wind is 40 degrees right of the runway direction. You would have a crosswind component of around 20 knots, and a headwind component of around 23 knots - out of my depth!

Airspeed is never reduced for landing, but with an approach speed of 70 knots for a PA28 and a 23 knot headwind, the relative ground speed is a mere 57 knots, which makes it feel like a Harrier  landing. The three most important things to monitor during finals to land are, in order of importance, 1) Airspeed 2) Airspeed and 3) Airspeed.

My first crosswind landing remains a memory. I turned from base leg to finals to land on 27 at Filton, at 1500 feet, and about 2 miles out. I lined up perfectly with the runway, then watched it slide gracefully to the right. After I had done it a few times, my instructor said he couldn't understand why my landings were closer to the centre line with a crosswind than without. I couldn't understand it either.

(* You can listen to the ATIS on frequency 126.025 MHz, callsign Bristol Information, or on 01275 475686. These are published contact information. Each update has an identification letter from Alpha to Zulu, and a pilot would call eg "Golf - Foxtrot Golf Whiskey Romeo, aerodrome in sight, DME 10 decimal 9 with information Quebec, request joining instructions Golf - Whiskey Romeo.")

Which reminds me that it's time for a dram. Sl^inte!

[GBM]

From Andrew Geroge, M.P, West Cornwall
http://www.andrewgeorge.org.uk/scillies-helicopter-step-closer/

Scillies Helicopter Service One Step Closer
 
 
Andrew and AgustaWestland Chairman Graham Cole before their meeting at Department for Transport
 
The effort to reinstate a helicopter service to the Scillies continues.  I recently led a delegation of senior executives from AgustaWestland and PricewaterhouseCoopers to meet Transport Minister, Baroness Kramer, to seek Government support for the reinstatement of the Scillies helicopter service.  It was agreed that, following the meeting, PricewaterhouseCoopers and AgustaWestland executives will meet with Department for Transport officials to go through the report to identify where there may be prospects for Government support within state aid rules.

This is encouraging.  The PwC report/business case is encouraging and confirms there is a viable business opportunity for the service, operating from a Penzance heliport.  It also confirms that a new heli-link will be a significant boost to the Islands^ and the Penzance economy.

[Thatcham Crossing]

I wonder which "Penzance Heliport" that is, as the old one in now a Sainsbury's Supermarket (I know a lot of people know that!)

I can't see Skybus/IoS Steamship being too keen on a helicopter op. from St Just (which they own, and have just spent quite a bit on) in direct competition with their fixed wing op. Anyway, St. Just is no good for someone arriving by train at PZ and wanting to travel on by air.

Newquay is an option, great if flying in from London, and wanting to xfer to IoS, but Skybus already make this possible, and Newquay is not very good for road/rail connectivity.

The ideal would be another heliport right next to the Penzance rail terminus and the A30, but in the past BiH could not make it work (and that was with an existing heliport and old helicopters that were probably written down years ago), so this seems like a venture for someone with very deep pockets.

If AgustaWestland are involved, I wonder which helicopter they are proposing? Assuming a civil version of the Merlin/EH101 is not likely to happen (it never has yet), the AW189 is their only other current model that might be suitable. The nearest replacement for the old S61's is the S92, but that of course is a Sikorsky!