A few months ago i toyed with the idea of flying an interesting aircraft as i had few days off work in September . My initial idea was to Visit the Isle of Man as i have longed to visit this unique isle , the interesting aircraft would the Manx2 Let from Belfast to IOM and onto to Blackpool . Or IOM - GLA direct with Loganair on the Saab 340 . Fares were not too pricey but with accommodation etc it adds up so i thought maybe its best to save that till next year . I'm just too spontaneous ops: , so I felt i just had to do something   So i booked a one way to Campbeltown at the lowest fare , same price as a 'Young Scot Card ' discounted ticket i bought in late 2006 8-) A £4 coach ticket on West Coast Motors was bought to whisk me back to the Civilisation of Glasgow Town. Last time due to weather we didn't make it to Campbeltown

Alarm woke me up about 545am   and as no one could offer me a lift nor i wanted to give in to a taxi i got the erstwhile 31 bus to St Enochs then via McDonalds for a cheeky wee bagel . A swift walk up Glassford St where i waited about 30 seconds for the Glasgow Flyer bus . Bobs your Uncle 

Glasgow Flyer bus was well populated this morning . A few American voices were heard too.



Kingston Bridge and M8 westbound were fee flowing in this direction in the morning so we made the airport in respectable 15 mins . 60mins from East Kilbride to the Airport is good going via Town.

On arrival this trio of 757s greeted me . Jet2 looking splendid in the original colour scheme . Thomas Cook looking 'Trigtastic' and Continental 757 ahem United peeking through.



Crowds of passengers were pouring out the arrivals this morning , no doubt feeling the cold wind .

The Glasgow Flyer , the couple were heading back to North America i presume .



Once inside from the cold i checked the FIDS like i always do .



All status quo   Note the flight Cancun.

Check in Area is bustling this morning . Not sure what type of 'buzz' is being emitted :?




The Flybe Check In desks at the far end . As i couldn't print off my boarding pass i asked kindly for one . Seat 3A !

Security was quick and the automatic boarding card gates worked a treat . Although i was Frisked , always me 

Boots got my custom for a refreshing Peach Ice Tea , that will be my inflight beverage i suppose ... :P

Not sure if this is unusual but here is a Thomson 757 and KLM Embraer on stands 35 and 26 .



Poor shot but a Thomas Cook A330 is making its move . And a FCA liveried 767 on the Intl Pier .



US Airways 757 which will leave shortly to Philadelphia .



Why do i always get couples in my pics ? :lol: Busy shopping area .



Dash 8 Tag team on the Domestic Pier. The Campbeltown flight used to use this pier im sure .



Loganair Saab 340 to Islay . Need to fly on one of these .



Loganairs whole fleet of Twin Otters ! Look like insects but which one will i fly?



Numero Uno . G -BVVK.



Numero Deux . G -BZFP.



Northern Isles and Hebrides flavour FIDS in this gate area .



Wonder how long she will last at GLA ?



Made myself comfy in the gate area as 'Eamonn Holmes' informed us of the dreadful weather across the country . At least Loganair flights are not affected ' touchwood'.
Eavesdropping on other passengers i cant not resist to do , i learn there is 3 Engineers on there way to Barra , a businesswoman on a trip to an Islay Distillery , 4 Glasgow Dental Students going to work in Campbeltown and an old dear with a bottle of 'Glenmorangy' to Barra   And of course there is me going for the hell for it , oh they needn't need to know :P

Gate 3 . BA still have a code on this flight.

Fybe operated by Loganair.
GLA - CAL
De Haviland Dash 6 Twin Otter
G -BZFP
0850 -0940
25/09/2012



After that oh so familiar ' airport printer noise ', Boarding is called and 8 passengers came forward including me ( 6 more than the last time   ) , a Menzies Aviation despacther dude leads us to ...... G - BZFP second aircraft along . Wonder what goes in the 'Nose Hold ' :?:



Aer Lingus ATR to Dublin after a speedy turnaround .



Time to board the wee machine.



View from seat 3A . Engine kinda obscures the view . I can live with that .



View from 3A , excellent view of the cockpit .



Trudy the Captain i presume, gave a short safety demonstration . Cant remember the First Officers name .
She answered any questions and one fellow passenger asked the all important one . Fellow Passenger/Nervous Flyer 'Is it going to be Bumpy Flight?' ....
..... Trudy ' Well its not as bad as we feared but it certainly wont be the smoothest flight ' Ach well that puts my mind at rest .

Engines were started . Starboard First. And no tug needed on these , own power on reverse  
Off we go to RWY 05 . BA A321 fresh from LHR.




Sneaka Peek FCA 767 to Cancun.




'F' grade shot of this birdy heading to EWR.Hope she avoids us 

Hello Miss Jet2 G - GDFJ . I had a nice ride to Rome in June with you xx



All action stations on the flightdeck . Roof Throttles :lol:



Time to 'rock' and 'roll' , well not literally   Was kinda brickin' it  ops:



Up up and away ... fly so beautiful ... Heres Erskine.



River Clyde and i think this is the Titan Crane.



We took a sharp left turn to head west , stomach churning stuff and the seat in front was well gripped i can assure you . You feel every bump , every change in altitude and every gust of wind in your stomach , sure i winced with my eyes closed and muttered ' oh jesus ' .

A look back at GLA , looks kinda small .



And into the cloudbase. BOO.



They certainly flew manually and noted our postion on the GPS in the cockpit .

A few pokies of the land and sea below. A calmac ship to Rothesay and the Isle Of Bute .



Slowly we neared the northeast tip of Arran and noticed amber lights flashing in the flightdeck . Thought it was a routine check or something but it did get me worried . :shock:

So we banked left on course to CAL but wait a minute this is Hunterston Nuclear Power Station.  

Surely not , surely not again   I wondered if its the weather and even thought we were gonna divert into PIK :lol: Nah pal , looks like we heading back to Glasgow !
Turns out we have a technical issue and need to return to base . :shock: Heart Pounds :shock:

Bad shots but demonstrates how bumpy it was .  This is Lochwinnoch i think...



And Jolly Johnstone ...



The Approach was' rough as a badgers arse' . Windshear , crosswinds tested trudy and co's abilities to the max . I looked ahead through the flightdeck and we were off centre for sure . S**tin in yer pants stuff.



Eventually we crossed over the M8 we still had to kiss 'terra firma' As the FCA 767 watches us on the threshold.

'Plonk' We made it ......oh no we are veering to the side     A last gasp gust of wind dragged us way left :shock:



Phew .... eee   We made it . Out of Danger .



Enroute back to the stand , Mr BAA321LHR is still here.



And so 'Philly Cheese Steak' and certain Canadian . Nice to the A310 , don't think ive ever seen one live .



Back to base . 8-)



Trudy apologises and i ask her what is wrong . ' fuel pump warning light came on and we cant take that risk so we have to return to GLA .Must of been them flashing warning lights i saw   Better safe than sorry , canny take risks in aviation   Took this shoot yet i was told ' no pictures are allowed at Glasgow Airport ' :lol: Come on I'm innocent pal  

So while the other passengers wonder what to do , the 2 nervous flyers are adamant on driving a hire car to Campbeltown and vow not to fly the Otter again ,im fairly chuffed . Least ill be home earlier :lol:

I make my way to the Flybe Ticket Desk and the girl says the refund will come through in the next 7 days .

So Campbeltown remains elusive to me like they want keep me away , ach well a memorable flight . Next week GLA - LGW on EZY , not for pleasure nor exciting .

Thanks for reading.