VFR Club
| Briefing | AUGUST 2021 |
| Overview | The Shetland Isles of Scotland are served by 2 Airports; 3 Airfields and 4 airstrips. There are grass, dirt and gravel runways, and some with some VERY rough ground. They need regular visits from Aircraft, providing a variety of services, from scheduled passenger/light freight to emergency CASEVAC and other medical services. (most bulk freight services are provided via a small fleet of mixed traffic and freight shipping vessels). Some of the most important flights are the mail-runs and delivery of medical supplies. Usually an Aircraft with STOL capability is required, as well as some limited passenger accommodation. If you carry out this task as realistically as you can, It will test ALL of your planning skills, from A/C selection to fuel/freight load per leg. - Fuel is only available at Sumburgh, in the Shetland Isles, and the starting point of the flight, and at other Shetland Airfields listed below. |
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| The Airfields and Airstrips of The Shetlands | EGPB Sumburgh; XFOA Foula; XPST Papa Stour; EGPM Scatsta; EGPW Unst; X6FT Fetlar; OUK Out Skerries; EGEH Whalsay; EGET Tingwall. . | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Scenario |
A consignment of
Medical supplies, this year comprising Covid test kits;
Vaccines and Personal Protection kits, requires urgent
distribution across all the Shetland Isles.
Your Aircraft is based at Sumburgh EGPB. The supplies should arrive by container ship at Sumburgh on the 2nd August, available at the airport on the 6th. Each sealed pack weighs 10 Kg. You will need to take a Nurse with you who will require a 20 minute stop at each of the larger Airfields, or 10 minutes at each of the smaller Airstrips, to check and hand over the consignments. The sprightly nurse weighs 70 Kgs. You must then deliver the supplies to all of the Shetland Islands which are served by an airfield or airstrip (see table below for quantities and destinations) as soon as possible, finishing at Sumburgh. Note: fuel is available ONLY at Sumburgh EGPB, Scatsta EGPM, and Tingwall EGET. Emergency fuel (enough to get your A/C to the nearest main supply) is available at Unst EGPW. Fuel is available at Kirkwall in the Orkneys, if you are desperate!. So plan your flights carefully. Also be aware that most of the strips only have safe parking for a single aircraft at a drop-off/pick-up point. Approximate minimum distance round all airfields is 139nm. (plus taxiing and shut-down / restart). |
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| Start Time and Place | Start at Sumburgh EGPB. For realism the eleven flights of the tour should be made on one or two days. However, as many members have limited time for flying, flights may be made between Friday August 6th and Friday August 27th. (21Days). | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Flight Planning:- Plan-G/ LittleNavmap |
The flights should be done on VATSIM. Although a suggested route is provided here, you may set your own route, starting and finishing at Sumburgh EGPB. Most of the strips are unlit, so daylight only flights are recommended. Data sheets for all the airfields/strips are available.
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| What Aircraft can I fly | You may use any two aircraft classified as a General Aviation type, but the second aircraft, which may be a helicopter if you wish, is based at Scatsta EGPM, in the Shetland Isles. Bear in mind any aircraft you choose will need to be able to carry a minimum of 250Kg of freight and land and take off on short rough runways. Low wing aircraft are not recommended due to the possibility of 'prop-strikes' on rough strips. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weather... or Not | Before starting we will check the weather. If it is unsuitable for our trip as planned, then we will fix it. Something we can do in the simulator - wouldn't it be nice if we could do it in real life! | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ATC | Check the VATSIM connection software for any ATC online when you fly. If there is no ATC available, don't forget to announce your intentions to other aircraft, e.g."Whalsay traffic, G-RKNM inbound to land, 5nm East." | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Radio Discipline | Take care not to let our Teamspeak chat cut across ATC. Stop any conversation immediately the R/T comes alive, then continue if "he wasn't talking to us". This is difficult because when transmitting on Teamspeak you can't hear the R/T. So be brief on Teamspeak, and be aware that ATC might be trying to get through. If anyone hears an R/T message which seems to be being ignored, just say "ATC is calling G-CIXN" if you have identified the callsign, or "ATC is calling us" which is a cue for everyone to be quiet on Teamspeak until ATC call again (which they will). Remember too that if asked to "Stand By" by ATC, you do not reply - not even "Roger", but simply wait until you are called again. Remember also that there may be several different ATC frequencies in use, and you may not be able to hear when communications are taking place. Make sure you have set and know how to use a Teamspeak mute switch. (See note re ATC above.) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Club Star Award | All CIX Club pilots who complete the event within the time stated above will receive a Club Star award. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Acknowledgements | Event planning: Neville
Munro Briefing: Neville Munro/Peter Dodds |
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Version 1.0 - 23:25 ZULU 14/07/2021 |