Archive from 'Latest News' page
Our old 'Latest News' posts!
Cirrus G7 Visit to Scone Wednesday 30th October
Earlier this year, Cirrus released their latest Generation SR22, the G7. This has an entirely redesigned interior and glass cockpit avionics setup with the Garmin Perspective Touch+.
Cirrus are flying a G7 to as many airfields as they can before year end. They are keen to meet with training organisations and local flying clubs and will have all the information you might ever need to know about Cirrus. They will also bring a small ground power unit to fire up the aircraft and allow you to get up close and personal with all of the new avionics. News about the Cirrus referral programme will also be available.
If this is just what you’ve been looking for, then come along on Wednesday, details will be available at the ACS desk on the day.
[posted 29th October 2024]
The Duxford Warbirds and Display Flying - talk by Dave 'Rats' Ratcliffe Wednesday 23rd October at 7pm
Due to circumstances beyond our control this event has been POSTPONED.
A new date will be announced as soon as possible!
Ex-RAF Pilot Dave ‘Rats’ Ratcliffe will join us to present a talk on The Duxford War Birds and display flying. Rats served in the RAF where he was an instructor for our very own Russell Myles!
Dave’s talk will be about the Duxford Warbird collection and display flying together with accompanying pictures.
This is an evening event and open to all.
[posted 22nd October 2024]
Royal Aeronautical Society's President's Conference Design, Build, Fly 15th & 16th October 2024
The following message has been received from the Royal Aeronautical Society. Anyone interested in attending this conference, which is being held in London, should contact Mary Doner. You can find Mary’s contact details below.
As a representative of a LAA local Strut, I’m contacting you from the Royal Aeronautical Society with a special offer to join us at our upcoming President’s Conference: Design, Build, Fly, taking place on 15-16 October 2024 in London.
The RAeS President’s Conference is one of our annual flagship events and will be hosted by our President, David Chinn FRAeS. The theme for the 2024 conference is ‘Design, Build, Fly’, which aims to address the skills gap in the UK aerospace sector of people with expertise covering all three elements of designing, building and flying/launching an aircraft or rocket. There is a focus on the GA sector with a number of great speakers joining us from this sector, as this seems a good place to start an initiative like Design, Build, Fly, including Simon Tilling, CEO of the LAA. You can view the full programme and speaker line-up on our website.
Therefore we’d be delighted to offer you a special discount of 50% off the booking rate as a representative of a LAA local Strut, as this conference would be a great opportunity to hear from experts in designing, building and flying light aircraft, as well as meeting and networking with a wider like-minded community to discuss the importance of LAA Struts and local clubs in advising and inspiring people into flying in a practical way.
Please let me know if this is of interest and I’ll set you up with the discounted rate. I hope we can welcome you to the President’s Conference.
Mary Doney (she/her)
Events Manager
Royal Aeronautical Society
4 Hamilton Place
London
W1J 7BQ
+44 (0)207 670 4344
Mary.Doney@aerosociety.com
[Posted on 19th September 2024]
Rescheduled SAC Annual Fly-In
20th & 21st September
The Annual Fly-In will now be held on the weekend of 20th & 21st September following the disappointment of the cancellation of our August date. We are also delighted that this will coincide with the AST Open Day and the arrival in Perth of the Goodwood Spitfire!
[Posted 19th September 2024]
Fly-in success - Despite the grey skies!
Although the weather was disappointing, a great time was had by all who attended our Fly-in on 20th & 21st September. The burgers and sausages were a huge hit, cheffed by our own Norman Sutherland and there was a steady stream of visitors throughout the day.
Not so many visited by plane however due to the weather! Nevertheless, the prize for the furthest travelled and best turned out fixed wing went to Bill Maziek in his home built Bristell. Bill flew in from Oldmeldrum with his wife, a much shorter journey than his flight to Oshkosh from Scotland this summer! Find Ed Hick’s Oshkosh interview with Bill on www.flyer.co.uk in the “Flyer TV” section.
One other aircraft did also fly in on the day and the prize for furthest flown and best turned out Gyro went to John Noble who flew in from Kirkbride with Ian Coates as P2.
Scotland’s Youth Aviation Charity, Take Off, based at the SAC also ran a bookstall during the day where some of the excellent collection of Jim Allan’s library combined with various items offered by other club members raised a total of over £500. Jim was especially pleased that his signed copy of Douglas Bader’s book raised the excellent sum of £100 all on its own. Our thanks are due to Mark Hillier, the Head of Operations at www.spitfires.com. Mark was part of the on-site Spitfire crew and is an historic aviation specialist. He helped Take Off to price the items correctly, and indeed bought a few himself. There are still books left to buy – if you’d like to arrange to look through the collection, please get in touch with chair@scottishaeroclub.org.uk. We may also put some of the items in the shop on our website in the coming weeks.
To all of you who helped to make this event such a success, in setting up, cheffing, bar-manning, merchandise-selling, providing flight experiences, de-rigging and tidying up the following Sunday morning – A BIG THANK YOU!
[Posted 4th October 2024]
Ladies Day at the SAC
We are very happy to report that our Ladies Day held in conjunction with our training partners, Alba Airports, on Saturday 14th September was a huge success! Twenty-five women joined us and were wowed by their experience at the Scottish Aero Club. Unfortunately, the weather did not play ball this year, however everyone who attended will be back over the next few weeks to take up the offer of the air experience flight with their designated pilot.
A HUGE THANK YOU to all members, their spouse’s and friends who came along to help out on the day. A special thanks to the pilots who offered their aircraft and time to take our guests flying. This was the second Ladies Day held at the club and was another rip-roaring success which we should all be proud of.
We were also lucky to have a reporter and photographer from The Courier with us throughout the day. Please click HERE to read the positive and engaging article along with photos published in yesterday’s Courier, including a front page lead and a double-page article inside.
[Posted 18th September 2024]
SAC Ladies Day 14th September
In conjunction with our training partner, Alba Airsports, we are delighted to announce the SAC 2024 Ladies Day on 14th September 2024.
[Posted 22nd August 2024]
Runway Repairs
Runway Repairs will commence at Perth Airfield from 20th August for 2 – 3 days. There will be various disruptions to runways to allow for repairs to the surface. Please check with tower and NOTAM’s for details.
NOTE: This will also apply outside normal operating hours.
[Posted 19th August 2024 – runway repairs are now complete]
Visits to the Aero Club
The Club recently hosted Dollar Academy Air Cadets and Dunning Cub Scouts at the Club where they were able to explore and learn more about all operations at Perth Airport.
Dollar had the best of the weather for their visit during the afternoon of Monday 10th when they were able to take a detailed look around the SCAA helicopter along with the inside the SAC hangar and the ACS operations. For Dunning Cubs a wet and cloudy Thursday night knocked evening flying on the head, nonetheless they had a great time, asked lots of questions were amazed by our CCTV coverage of the hangar. Special thanks to Keith Boardman for his engaging hangar tour and access to his RV12.
If you would like to add your name to a list of folks willing to come and inspire young minds (talking points and a “steer” about touring the hangar readily available) please drop a note to chair@scottishaeroclub.org.uk.
[posted 15th June 2024]
Postponed Scottish Aero Club Fly-In
Due to high winds, we took the decision to postpone our Fly-In planned for 9th & 10th August.
Pending Risk Assessment, we hope to reschedule the Fly-In for 21st September.
Please check back here or on our social media pages for further information. Apologies to everyone who had planned to attend and we hope to see you in September.
2024 SAC Annual Fly-In 10th & 11th August - Save the Dates!
The dates chosen for the 2024 SAC Annual Fly-In are 10th and 11th August. The event is still in the planning stages but please Save the Date and more information will be released as soon as possible.
The UK flying calendar is a busy one over the summer, so deciding upon a suitable weekend was not an easy task. We are hopeful, however, that as many of our members, family and friends will be able to make it. Watch this space and our e-newsletters for further information.
Longside Fly-In 15th July
Please note that the Fly-In scheduled to take place at Longside, Near Peterhead (Buchan Aero Club) this weekend has been cancelled due to the unseasonal weather.
Happy Retirement Russell Myles!
It’s hard to believe that Russell is old enough to retire … but he is! After 1200 emergency flights with the Scottish Air Ambulance, not to mention an illustrious career in the RAF and commercial aviation, the time came for Russell to step down and enjoy general aviation flying as and when he feels like it!
The team at the Scottish Air Ambulance wanted to give him a bit of a send off and asked the Club to host a leaving party for him which we were very happy to do. Russell is an active member of the aero club as well as serving on the Committee. We think he had a good night!
7th June 2024
Take Off Gets Airborne on June 4th
Take Off, the preferred charity of the Scottish Aero Club has been hard at work recently organising The Bertha Park High School Aviation Day which will take place on 4th June 2024.
Take Off has acquired ‘backdrops’ of an ATC Tower, a 737 Cockpit Interior, a Airliner Cabin Interior and an aircraft “on-stand” as used by the Fly2Help youth aviation organisation based in Gloucester www.fly2help.org.
The backdrops serve as a “mobile airport” and will form the backbone of a new initiative focused on delivering the education objective contained in Take Off’s Mission Statement. Presented effectively, this should allow new and significant funding sources to be secured and will help to underpin the ongoing ability for Take Off to offer flight training as a personal development opportunity for deserving pupils locally and across Scotland. The Bertha Park High School Aviation day will see the inauguration of the mobile airport.
Take Off will also be supported by:
• The RAF with VR Goggle Flight experience
• AST Engineering with engineering careers advice
• Cairngorm Gliding Club – fully rigged glider.
• Glenrothes Model Aircraft Flying Club.
• Skills Development Scotland – small drones aerial activity.
• Dave Muir with Force Feedback flight simulator
• Perth & Kinross Council Education Department VR Goggle SIM experience
• ACS Ground Operations – Fire Fighting and Emergency services input with a real fire extinguishing experience!
• Air Traffic Controller from Edinburgh.
There will also be support from 6 to 8 University Air Squadron students on the day across the various stations.
Throughout the school day the whole of the S2 year group (ages 12-14) will visit each of the 8 aviation stations positioned throughout the school in groups of 10 to 12 pupils at a time accompanied by a teacher.
Take Off also would like to offer the opportunity for any members of the Scottish Aero Club with an interest in helping to develop this youth engagement activity to come along and enjoy the day too, representing the Club and helping out where possible. There are also opportunities to help Take Off to run future events with their mobile airport.
SAC AGM Saturday 18th May at 3pm
Notice is given of the Annual General Meeting of the Scottish Aero Club which will take place upstairs at the Club Room on Saturday 18th May 2024 at 3pm.
Scottish Aero Club Annual Dinner - Saturday 4th May
The Scottish Aero Club Annual Members Dinner will be held on Saturday 4th May at The Royal George Hotel, Perth.
The evening will include a three course dinner followed by prize-giving and the opportunity to vote for your favourite photograph in the Club’s photographic competition.
We would love to see you there along with your family and friends.
Unleaded Aviation Gasoline UL91 now available at Perth Airport
ACS now have UL91 available to SAC members.
The fuel will be price-matched to Avgas until June this year in order to assess usage. If usage is high enough, ACS hope to strike a better deal with the supplier and will consider installing a larger fuel tank.
For further information on Perth airfield fuel prices, please go to Perth Airport’s Website HERE.
SAC Welcomes G-FSKY!
The Club is delighted to announce the acquisition of a Skyranger Nynja G-FSKY. The aircraft is a great partner to our EV-97Eurostar and will be used for self-hire and for training by our training partner, Alba Airsports.
The aircraft features increased weight capability, easier cabin access, modern digital cockpit instrumentation and a low hours airframe and engine.
For more information on self-hire please go to our Aircraft Hire page HERE or for information about training, please go to our Learn to Fly page HERE.
G-FSKY replaces our EV-97 Eurostar G-MOLA which was sold last month.
Posted 17th March 2024
G-Mola for sale as the Club moves up to new level - Now Sold!
The Scottish Aero Club are looking to move up to the recently introduced 600Kg MTOW Microlight class, up from the previous 450Kg. An unexpected opportunity to secure a second-hand aircraft has come up. Used factory-built aircraft are very rare as this category is so new.
As a consequence, one of the club’s Eurostars, G-MOLA is now for sale. This could be your opportunity to pick up a well-cared-for Eurostar with known provenance.
G-MOLA has now been sold.
2023
Ken's generosity featured in the Press!
The generous offer by local author Ken Bruce to donate profits from his book, ‘Aviation in Perthshire – People, Places and Planes’, to the Take Off charity was featured in articles recently published in the Perthshire Advertiser and Daily Record.
To read the article, please click HERE for a link to the Daily Record.
If you haven’t bought your copy yet, you can purchase the book from Amazon by clicking HERE.
Proceeds from book sales will go to the SAC charity of choice, Take Off. To discover more about Take Off, please go to our page HERE.
Surprise award for SAC
It was a big surprise when Scottish Aero Club Chair, William Scott, was called up to receive an award for Services to the Local Community on behalf of the Club at the Perth Airport and ACS annual awards event on Friday 3rd November. To read more, click HERE.
Halloween Family Event 11th November
The new date for our postponed Halloween event is 11th November. We’re looking forward to seeing you there!
The James MacIntyre Navigation Trophy Winners 2023
Big congratulations to Ian and Kathryn Ferguson flying Skyranger G-CDBO, winners of the James MacIntyre Navigation Trophy for 2023!
In case you skipped the home page where the winning entry is detailed, click HERE to go back and read all about it!
Nomination for Club and Committee Member, Russell Myles!
We are delighted to announce that our club and committee member, Russell Myles, is one of three nominees for the Pilot Of The Year in the Air Ambulances UK Annual Awards for Excellence 2023. The ceremony will be held at Reading Football Club stadium on 30th November.
Russell is one of the keenest and one of the most modest aviators we know. The fact that he has been nominated for such an award is an indication of the man behind the modesty! Good luck Russell!
We will let you know how he got on. In the meantime, if you’d like to learn more about the awards, their website can be found HERE.
For information about the invaluable work of the Scottish Charity Air Ambulance, please visit their website HERE.
New - Members looking to Buy/Sell/Syndicate
We are very pleased to announce an area under The SAC section of this website where members of the Scottish Aero Club can post details of either their aircraft for sale, aircraft they may be looking to purchase or syndicates they may wish to sell or buy into.
If you have any aviation related items you wish to add to this page, please download the form and send it back to us and we will get it posted as soon as possible!
Click HERE to have a look!
Ladies' Day at the Scottish Aero Club makes the news!
Following our very successful Ladies’ day at the Scottish Aero Club in August, we were delighted to welcome Dani Garaveli, from the Herald Newspaper, who wrote a fantastic article about the event and those involved. If you haven’t seen the article yet, please click here to read it – Herald Newspaper.
Please note that you may only be able to see the article once due to the newspaper’s online regulations. A copy of the paper is also available in the clubhouse.
Scottish Aero Club Annual Fly-In
1st - 3rd September
A busy Friday afternoon opened this year’s event with representatives from the both LAA and the CAA present to meet and greet our own members and those who flew in to visit.
Invited guests for the Friday evening BBQ saw representatives from the Morris Leslie Group, ACS, AST, and MSPs who sit on parliamentary committees for Aviation and Tourism all joining in the fun. The Swiss held their end-of-tour briefing and were then Piped out from the clubhouse much to their surprise and fascination. A particular highlight of the weekend was when our youngest SAC Junior Member took his first flight in one of the club’s Eurostars with SAC’s youngest pilot, Adam on Saturday. He was duly awarded his SAC Wings on landing!
Numbers were up on last year with 11 aircraft visiting on Friday and 31 on Saturday. The Stovies and Chilli on Saturday were well enjoyed as were the pie and peas or beans towards the end of the dance. There was a good number on the floor, including the LAA Chair Eryl Smith and Chief Inspector Lucy Wootton (Eryl lived in Banchory for 5 years and loves a ceilidh). Go to the events page in Galleries to see a few photos of the event. A big thanks to everyone who participated, particularly to those who volunteered to help and to Elaine our office manager.
Swiss AOPA Fly-Out
28th - 1st September
We were delighted to welcome 17 aircraft carrying 42 people from Switzerland on 28th August. The team was split into 2 x 6 and 1 x 5 aircraft each to fly three routes over three days. All of the routes are now uploaded to the Pilot’s Information page of the SAC Website – take a look! As might be expected, the Scottish weather meant that only the Campbeltown route was flyable on the first day. The other two groups, scheduled for Kirkwall and Plockton had a fall-back bus trip to East Fortune Air Museum. Fortunately for the rest of the week, the weather improved. Another coach day on Wednesday to the Falkirk Wheel, Kelpies, and Glenturret Distillery proved hugely popular.
Our very own expert aircraft photographer Wallace Shackleton has captured images of each of the aircraft and these can be found here. The feedback on the welcome received at the Scottish Aero Club has been very positive indeed. Thanks to all club members who made the group feel at home with us.
BWPA Announces 2023 Scholarships
The British Women Pilots’ Association (BWPA) has just announced its 2023 Scholarships.
For further information, please go to pilotweb.aero.
To find out more about the BWPA, please go to their website here.
* Applications close at 20:00 on 26 September 2023.
Scottish Aero Club Fly-In
1st - 3rd September
Visiting Pilots please use discount code SACFREE calling in to this weekend’s Fly-In at Perth – this will permit 1 free landing per day! We’re looking forward to seeing you.
Dornoch Fly-Out 19th August is Cancelled
(Posted Friday 18th August)
Due to the unpredictable passage of Storm Betty across Scotland, the Dornoch Fly-Out scheduled for Saturday 19th August is cancelled.
Update - Aviation Without Borders
(Posted Friday 4th August 2023)
Please note that due to the weather forecast for tomorrow, 5th August, the Aviation Without Borders event has been rescheduled for Sunday 6th August.
Dornoch Flypast - Restricted Airspace
Saturday 22nd July 2023
The Royal Air Force Battle of Britain Memorial Flight will be undertaking a flypast in Lancaster PA474 on Saturday 22nd July at approximately 1500 for around 5 minutes, centred around 500m north of Dornoch airfield.
A NOTAM will be issued for the event, but we have also been asked to notify airfield users that there is to be no flying into or out of Dornoch from 1445-1515 (or until the flypast is complete).
The Scottish Aeroclub enjoys a free landing card at Dornoch so if you plan to fly on the 22nd, please be aware of the above.
Wednesday 8th June 2023 - Fuel at EGPT
Message from The Accountable Manager of Perth Airport
The message below is targeted at visiting pilots requiring PPR but with relevant comments for SAC members on Avgas availability.
Please therefore give advance notice via the on-line PPR system if you know you will require Avgas for a future planned flight. This will help ACS manage fuel planning. We hope erelong that the supply situation will improve and not require this.
“It has been well publicised that the supply of Avgas has been interrupted across the UK over the past month. It’s been particularly challenging getting a regular uninterrupted supply of Avgas to Scotland, we continue to work closely with fuel suppliers to ensure that we can offer a reliable ongoing supply of fuel. We thank you for your patience and encourage you all to PPR in advance detailing whether fuel is required, as this will support our fuel planning strategy.”
June 2023 - Award for former SAC Chairman Ian Corse
Our former Club Chairman, Ian Corse, recently received an award from the Royal Aero Club. To read more, please click HERE.
Saturday 27th May 2023
Touch & Go - Revision to Section 2.1
Perth Airport SOP has been updated based on discussions at the Perth Airport Safety Committee Meeting. The revision is to section 2.1 and the added text is as follows:
It is recommended that not more than five aircraft carrying out Touch and Goes remain in the circuit at any time. This does not include aircraft in the circuit intending to land or vacate the ATZ.
The Tower will advise any aircraft intending Touch and Go circuit practise if the circuit is at maximum capacity at the time.
Tuesday 23rd May 2023
New Lost & Found Section
* all items listed in the section have been claimed or otherwise reallocated. The page this news item linked to has therefore been closed.
