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Glenforsa Airfield, on the Island of
Mull
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Salen shops and services
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around Salen
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markers refer to locations on the
Mull map Red is for attractions
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Glenforsa Airfield |
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Built to complement the small cottage
hospital in Salen, its main reason was to act as Mull's
only fixed-wing air ambulance evacuation facility. Since
its inception, David Howitt and his family, who then
owned the adjacent Glenforsa Hotel, have operated it
first of all for the Argyll County Council, then the
Strathclyde Regional Council, and at present, the Roads
Department of the Argyll & Bute Council.
Since its being built, an average of one patient a month
has been airlifted from the strip, mainly by
Britten-Norman Two Islander aircraft operated by
Loganair pilots, and daytime Scottish Air Ambulance
helicopters. Night time evacuations by Navy Sea Kings
have occasionally taken place, and in all, over 400
patients have been airlifted from Mull.
For twelve years the airfield was licensed by the Civil
Aviation Authority when Loganair operated a daily summer
service from Glasgow to Connel (Oban), Coll, and Mull.
The improved ferry sailings from Oban to Mull - six
daily - probably contributed to the termination of the
air service in 1980.
Many people, however, still remember that half-hour trip
to Glasgow over the most beautiful countryside in the
world, in the ultra-safe hands of Captains Duncan
Macintosh, Jim Lee, Geoff Rosenbloom, Ken Foster, and
Ben Thomas. Aztecs gave way to Islanders, then Skyvans
and Trislanders, with the occasional Twin Otter, but the
old BN2 outlasted them all for sheer rugged efficiency
and safety in all kinds of weather.
With an average of some four hundred visiting light
aircraft yearly, the highlight is the annual Mull Air
Rally - its 36th in 2002. Sometimes as many as 150
aircraft arrive over that Bank Holiday weekend at the
end of May when Glenforsa operates a ground-to-air
advisory radio on the ubiquitous microlight frequency of
129.825.
As for name-dropping, some of the famous (and
discriminating) air visitors to Mull have included Ted
Dexter, Russell Harty, Robert Wagner, David Coulthard,
Winnie Ewing, Donald Sutherland, Dave Gilmore, Phil
Collins, and Tom Cruise, to name but a few. For more
information on the airfield including flight information
and standard landing fees
click here.
© David Howitt, 2002 |
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Click here for the Glenforsa Airfield webcam |
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