CADPAT flying over Burns Country

**cessna152towser** · 15th May 07, 10:41 AM

Today's trip takes us from the border city of Carlisle near the Solway Firth, across Burns country in south west Scotland in a north-westerly direction to Mauchline, from where we enter controlled airspace to fly due west to Prestwick Airport on the Firth of Clyde.
(route marked by green line on map)

In the cockpit of the Cherokee Warrior which I borrowed for the trip (Freedom Cadpat kilt just visible in bottom of picture)
It was cloudy when I set off from Carlisle Airport but as I headed north-west into better weather the cloud soon began to break.

Here is a glimpse of the now closed nuclear power station on the old airfield at Chapelcross which was the subject of another recent photothread. The four giant cooling towers are due to be demolished by explosives next Sunday.

Lochmaben

**Dirk Skene** · 15th May 07, 10:45 AM

Man! that it breathtaking

**CelticRanger66** · 15th May 07, 10:47 AM

Awesome....simply....awesome pictures!!

**starbkjrus** · 15th May 07, 10:48 AM

Beautiful pics Alex but why the frowney face on your post?

**Splash_4** · 15th May 07, 10:48 AM

I really like the photo of the cockpit and the aerial photo on the bottom! More please!

**Splash_4** · 15th May 07, 10:51 AM

Hey Alex, one last question. I assume there was someone else in the plane with you while you took the cockpit photo? The artificial horizion shows you in a climbing left turn at the time....

**cessna152towser** · 15th May 07, 10:56 AM

Drumlanrig Castle

Over Mauchline we bank left to head due west for Prestwick.

Heading towards the Clyde coast. The distant hills of the Island of Arran in the background.

At Prestwick Airport.

As I only had the 'plane till lunchtime I was soon back in the air. The lump of rock in the distance is the island of Ailsa Craig, a seabird sanctuary.

Troon, and the Templehill peninsula which marks the north end of Ayr bay and the south end of Irvine bay. The Island of Arran is in the background.

Turning east towards Mauchline, a last glimpse over Prestwick Airport to Ayr bay. My co-pilot couldn't make it today so I was flying solo. With no opportunity to set up proper photos I was favourably surprised with the results of simply pointing the camera at the window and pressing the button, though this one is a bit fuzzy.

The views to the east near Lowther Hill shows the sparsely populated southern uplands to advantage.

**cessna152towser** · 15th May 07, 10:58 AM

Hey Alex, one last question. I assume there was someone else in the plane with you while you took the cockpit photo? The artificial horizion shows you in a climbing left turn at the time....

The cockpit shot was taken on the ground at Carlisle before start-up so the artificial horizon wasn't yet working.

**Splash_4** · 15th May 07, 11:39 AM

Originally Posted by cessna152towser

The cockpit shot was taken on the ground at Carlisle before start-up so the artificial horizon wasn't yet working.

Thanks Alex, I was wondering if that was the case! And I like the rest of the shots. I am a sucker for aerial photography!

**cessna152towser** · 15th May 07, 11:30 AM

Looking west with Criffel Hill in the background beyond Dumfries.

Lochmaben's four lochs.

Lockerbie, scene of Scotland's biggest mass murder when a Pan American Boeing 747 was brought down on the town by a terrorist bomb in December 1988.

A last look at those cooling towers, with the Solway Firth in the background

Gretna, where the River Esk (from Scotland -lower) and River Eden (from England - upper) come together to form the Solway Firth. The stadium just below centre of view is Raedale Park, home of Gretna Football Club.

Back to the home airport for lunch and as Riverkilt's dad served here with the RAF during World War II when Carlisle Airport was known as RAF Crosby-on-Eden, I'd promised to get some pics of the Cadpat kilt against a backdrop of the original wartime buildings. This is the control tower, although the cupola in which Air Traffic Control operate is a post-war replacement of the original.

I had lunch in the bar/restaurant in the ground floor of the control tower. During World War II this was the Met. Office.

Final pic of the day at the nearby Sportsman Inn. This would have been one of Riverkilt's dad's haunts, though in that era it would have been known as the Dog and Gun. It has since reverted to its original Sportsman name.