Keeping with Boscomantico’s encouragement to do more trip reports to keep up the GA content here during the winter, here is one from me.
It was a simple trip and regular readers will recognise most of the sights.
I’d last flow on 1 October, so 2 and half months ago. Our aircraft only recently came back from its annual inspection and my two attempts to fly since then were thwarted by the weather. Work is slowing down now in the run up to Christmas and the weather looks like it will get wet and rainy from the weekend up to Christmas. After Christmas we are going to Austria for a few days. So this week was likely to be my last opportunity to fly before the new year. So I took a day off work to make a nice day trip.
Given that I’d not flown in 10 weeks, and the days are short, I kept it fairly simple. A trip from my home base Weston (EIDW) near Dublin to Sligo (EISG).
We are having an unusually cold spell at the moment, and the METAR on departure was giving a temperature of -4C. That’s why I felt so cold!
Interestingly I came across a phenomena for the first time that I’d only read about previously. Our aircraft is hangered now (used to be outside). So there was no frost or ice on it. But by the time I was ready to call for start up I noticed a very think layer of ‘frost’ was forming on the windscreen. I could wipe it off with a dry cloth, but that prompted me to check the wings again. Yes, the cold soaked wings were now developing a thin layer of frost! Thankfully I could rub it off with a cloth from the leading edge and stopping in the sun for a few minutes solved the rest of it. But it’s interesting how reading about something can make you more aware of it when you come across it. It was only because I read about it before, that the freezing on the windscreen prompted me to get out and check the wings.
Anyway, these are a few photos of the country side covered in frost & ice. It’s really beautiful to see everything looking so white and pristine.
This is Fore Abbey.
Fore Abbey History
It’s the ruins of a Benedictine Abbey founded in 630 AD.
A small fire. Interesting to see how it spreads out in the cold clear air.
Sheemore Cross. It’s built on the top of a small hill.
A bit about Sheemore Cross
Kilronan Castle.
It was originally constructed around 1820 and was considerably expanded in the 1880s to form the current building. It’s now a very nice hotel.
Kilronan Castle on Wikipedia
Some snow on the mountain tops.
Markee Castle
Another picturesque castle which now serves as a luxury hotel.
Markee Castle on Wikipedia
Some snow on the mountin tops
I didn’t have a huge amount of time in Sligo. My home base closes at 4pm (no out of hours landings) so I needed to be airborne by 3pm absolute latest. Preferably a bit earlier. I could just go for some lunch but I would have been early for that, and it seems like a bit of a waste. So instead my plan was to hike up the Queen Meave Trail up the hill called Knockarea and bring a packed lunch to eat at the top. I’ve done the trail before, and posted about it here on EuroGA. It’s a very nice, if short, hike. It’s a lot of uphill, so you’ll either need to be fit or take it slowly.
Here is a link to the trail
The trail guide
I was a bit delayed leaving my home in the morning, and this cut into my time. So I hiked quickly!
Some of the steps on the way up the hill.
A nice warm cup of tea at the top.
Sligo Airport from the viewing point near the top of the trail.
Some photos on the way back down
It took me 1 hour 10 mins to get from the airport exit to the top of the hill. Well almost the top. 1:10 to the viewing point. It’s about another 5 mins to the very top and you can walk for another 5 mins or so along the top to the grave mound. But the best views are from the viewing point anyway. I’m fit and a regular hiker, and I was tight on time. You should probably budget on it taking a bit longer and maybe twice as long if someone in your group isn’t fit. But there isn’t anything difficult about the hike other than the uphill element. So anyone can do it if not in a rush.
This is Black Rock Lighthouse just after departure. It’s on the circuit at Sligo Airport.
A bit about Black Rock Lighthouse
Parke’s Castle with a history dating back to 1546 (according to Wikipedia!)
Parke’s Castle on Wikipedia
Some lakes with some partly frozen water.
This is Belle Isle Castle. An 18th castle that again has been turned into a luxury hotel.
Belle Isle Castle on Wikipedia
Crichton Tower
A tower in the middle of the lake Lough Erne, built in 1847.
A bit about Crichton Tower
Some more frozen countryside
Weston Airport, my home base.
All in, a really nice day out. It was exactly 3 hours from touch down in Sligo to takeoff again. So really nice to be able to make a nice hike, get some scenic views while enjoying my packed lunch in a tight window. And it’s not often that I get to seem my country from the air – covered in white.
Nothing special in this report, and as I said, many will have seen these sights already in previous reports. But nice to see some of them again, in a different light and a good example of how you can have a nice day trip on short winter days and still pack some stuff in.
It also helped me get comfortable again, having practiced a load of PFLs, some steep turns (mainly just for fun! ) and some stalls as well as some touch and goes.
Lovely trip report, beautiful country
A few amazing photos there, dublinpilot. Brilliant. My favourite is the very first one. I mena, who gets to see things like this? Ireland with frost/snow.
I assume these photos are not not edited at all, right? And they don’t need it, when the light is like this. The only extra mile that I would go is to straighten out the horizon on the airborne shots.
dublinpilot wrote
Nothing special in this report
Maybe only if you live near Dublin 😀
Thanks for this, and the photos, and the background reading. What are the circular things on the ground in the bottom of the first two photos?
Super nice report – thank you 
I recognise a number of those places. And I recognise that wooden path – even though it may not have been the same one I walked up.
Sligo is a great spot (GPS Approaches, Lights, Good Food, Low Cost, Spouse Pleasing Location)
I know a few who have landed on the lawn at Kilronan Castle Hotel (photographed) in Fixed Wing microlights. Obviously, it’s easier to visit with floats or rotor blades!
By the way, @dublinpilot, or @WilliamF, why are these bog-standard licensed airports like Sligo or Kerry PPR? Is it just because the license says that all pilots operating there must receive prior permission? What is the thinking behind it, if there is any? If you call them up on the radio without PPR, are they really going to turn you away for no good reason? Somehow, I would expect a little more pragmatism in Ireland than in the UK…
Thank you all for the nice words.
I assume these photos are not not edited at all, right
Correct. One or two were cropped slightly to remove the storm window from the photo. That’s all the editing I tend to do.
What are the circular things on the ground in the bottom of the first two photos?
I wasn’t 100%. Had to look up my breadcrumbs and Goolge Earth. Turns out they are race horse training courses (Gallops) at a stud farm belonging to Gordon Elliott Racing.
Gordon Elliott Racing
There is a close up photo of them on this page
Facilities
They were only in my photo by accident
Peter wrote:
And I recognise that wooden path – even though it may not have been the same one I walked up
Different location, but indeed a similar design 
Maybe one to try next time you visit!
Capitaine wrote:
Maybe only if you live near Dublin
This is a good point that probably highlights the point that everyone’s trip reports are valued. To me it’s the ‘same old – some old places’. But to others, living in different places they are far away and interesting. Everyone here who posts a trip report of their ‘backyard’ probably thinks it’s boring to others, but actually we are all interested in other people’s local area as it’s different to our own and interesting! So everyone should try to post a short report of some of their flights as they are always of interest to others in other places
boscomantico wrote:
why are these bog-standard licensed airports like Sligo or Kerry PPR
The honest truth is that I don’t know for a fact. There are lots of possibilities. One being that anyone can land anywhere with the landowners permission. Perhaps this is the method to get that permission? Another might be legal liability. Without PPR the operator is probably responsible for ensuring that the runway is always clear of obstructions during opening hours. If there is a problem or they decide not to open on a particular day, then they could be held legally liable for an accident that resulted from a runway obstruction. Perhaps? I don’t know.
The more likely answer is that as a small English speaking country with a very close historical and cultural ties to our large neighbour, historically we tend to look over at them and see how they did something, when trying to come up with systems ourselves. This is less true in recent decades, but still is true to a certain extent. I suspect this is the reason why it was set up that way and nobody sees any need to change. It suits the airport operators.
Thanks for posting dublinpilot, very nice little trip report and its pics and jealous that I’m not able to see such lovely snow-covered fields over here..Your steed must also have performed nicely with these temps and just one aboard!
Keep them coming..
Very nice flight. Looks like we should come over to Ireland next year again.
