Portmoak
PORTMOAK: Gliding site (Aka BISHOPHILL)
Note: All seven of these pictures were obtained from Google Earth ©
Note: This picture from a postcard was kindly sent by Mike Charlton who has an amazing collection. See, www.aviationpostcard.co.uk
What intrigues me is why anybody in their right mind would produce a postcard showing such utterly dismal gliding conditions. Typically postcards are used to promote and encourage others to visit.
Operated by: 1980s to 2000: Scottish Gliding Union
2001: Scottish Gliding Centre
Location: W of B920, 0.5nm E of Loch Leven, 3.5nm ESE of Kinross
Period of operation: 1970s (?) to -
Note: This map is reproduced with the kind permission of Pooleys Flight Equipment Ltd. Copyright Robert Pooley 2014.
Runways: 1980s: 09/27 700x15 grass 10/28 900x15 grass
1990s: 09/27 900x15 grass
1997: 10/28 900 grass
2012: 09/27 800 grass 10/28 930 grass
NOTES: The Scottish Gliding Union, (now known as the Scottish Gliding Centre?), is claimed to be the largest gliding club in Scotland. Just a small point but on the map of the site provided by Pooleys, a third 'runway' for use by gliders is also shown but not listed - which seems rather odd. Is there a reason for this?
A COMMENT OR TWO
Visits by powered aircraft are (or were) permitted but, a warning is given that, “pilots of nose-wheel aircraft should exercise extreme caution”. I don’t think many any other UK airfields have two runways listed with at best ten magnetic degrees of heading separating them. (I have found one other example). I expect you’d have to be pretty expert to tell the difference unless they are very clearly marked out.
In 1976/7 it seems that four GA types were based here: G-ATPX (?), PA-18 Super Cub 150 G-AVPU of T Docherty Ltd, Slingsby T.61A Falke G-AYZW of the Portmoak Falke Syndicate and, the Cameron 77 hot-air balloon G-BDBI operated by Royston Cooper Design Consultants. When did hot-air ballooning become popular again in the UK? Was this one of the first?
A QUERY
Reading the AAIB report EW/G97/03/15 is interesting. This report states that the pilot, (with forty years experience of flying from PORTMOAK), of a Slingsby T61A G-AYZW was “positioned for a glide approach to land on the grass field in a westerly direction with 365 metres of landing run available”. The obvious question which the AAIB investigator seems to have ignored, is why didn’t this pilot use the normal 09/27 or 10/28 runways?
But of course, the AIIB just report the facts. They are not allowed to give opinions - except by reference to published advice.
A SOUVENIR
Mr Graham Frost, a great friend of this 'Guide', kindly sent me this picture taken with his trusty Instamatic during a visit in 1973. I may well be mistaken of course, but I think it is a Schempp-Hirth Discus B? Advice will be welcome.
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