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Roger Mackay

Some time back in the 1970's, I walked into the hotel to find a newcomer behind the bar. He was Roger Mackay, whose occupations are pilot, big-game hunter, and safari guide in Kenya. One of his exploits was playing the pipes on top of Mt. Kilimanjaro. The reduced air pressure up there at 12,000 ft., he said, made them sound even worse than usual. He had been ferrying an aircraft over from the States, run into difficulties over Mull, and not knowing of the Glenforsa airstrip, made a tolerable emergency landing on the hill nearby (we prefer not to use the term 'crash' landing). Anyway, he walked away from it, and was working for his keep as a barman at the hotel. Needless to say, having a character like Roger around for a few weeks while the insurance was sorted out did much to enliven our winter social life. Recently, I saw that he is writing occasionally for Pilot magazine. If you happen to read this, Roger, more power to your elbow and good luck to you wherever you are!

Tough Guy Roger

More about the Glenforsa Hotel

Here we see an old Valentine's postcard of the original Glenforsa Hotel, which David found after some rummaging. This was unfortunately burnt down in 1968, and the Howitt family replaced it with the present log-cabin-style building, which was imported in kit form from Norway and assembled on site. It is very well insulated, as one would expect from Scandinavia, and must be one of the most comfortable buildings in the island. The timber is thoroughly fire-proofed.

Here we see the Glenforsa Air-Sea Rescue Squad in action, towing the aircraft ashore with their rowing-boat. Amazingly, the man cleaned it up and flew it home. We are pleased to report that in the entire history of Glenforsa to date, there have been no fatalities or severe injuries actually on the airfield; though there have been several tragedies involving aircraft on their way to or from Mull. In almost every case, the weather was responsible. Let us hope that this record can be maintained. The general availability of GPS is a great contribution to air safety.  For the record, we have compiled a page detailing the more serious incidents which have taken place at Glenforsa. Click here to see it.

Then in another case of running out of fuel, the pilot managed to find a fairly flat but very rough bit of the hill, and got it down somehow. This is a dear old Tiger Moth such as I used to fly.

A local landowner once decided to try landing on one of his own fields. Unfortunately, he did not check the state of the surface beforehand. It must have been after a spell of exceptionally wet weather:

Just look at those ruts! This must have been a record short landing distance for the type, but take-off in those conditions ...

The same man made another landing elsewhere in the island, and this time merely succeeded in bending his stabiliser:

He flew it back to Glenforsa in this condition.

Serious Incidents

Dec. 1975: The Peter Gibbs mystery tragedy.

Apr. 1989: A PA32 towed 100 metres of barbed wire back to Edinburgh after miraculously getting airborne having ploughed through the north fence when departing 07. On the end of the wire a bit of broken fence post churned up the Sound of Mull for at least 500 metres before the aircraft seemed to be brought under control. It left the circuit bound for EGPH at 1000 ft. venting fuel from two ruptured fuel tanks. Crisis, what crisis?

May 1990: A TB10 en route to the Glenforsa Fly-In crashed in beautiful weather on take-off from a farm strip near Stranraer, killing all four PPL's on board.

1991: A TB20 clipped the top of Glas Bheinn on Jura in very bad weather while en route to Mull, in very bad weather, killing all four on board.

1992: Locally-owned C172 G-MUIL with four on board was bound for a lunch party on the nearby island of Tiree. The aircraft had just rotated and was lifting off at about 70 knots on 07 when a large, black mongrel dog, that had been making a nuisance of itself for some time on the airfield, hurled itself at the left mainwheel. With considerable skill, the quick-thinking pilot immediately closed the throttle and brought the a/c to a stop a few feet from the fence at the 07 stop-end without more damage than a broken spat. Sadly, the dog died shortly afterwards from its injuries.

Other Incidents

Three a/c have weathercocked through the north fence: a Beagle Pup, on take-off from 07 (subsequently rather cruelly referred to as a "Beach" Pup) - was rescued by a tractor moments before the rising tide reached it.

Not quite so flamboyant - but 8 out of 10 for dramatic interpretation - in March 1993 a Grob 119 parked somewhat carelessly on the beach having weathercocked through the fence whilst landing on 07.

A PA32 Arrow weathercocked through the fence of what was then the Isle of Mull Rugby Football pitch whilst landing on 25. Fortunately there was no game in progress, and the aircraft did stop commendably short of the goal line with no damage to anything other than to the fence.

Two aircraft have landed in the field at the stop-end of 25. An Airtourer stalled and flipped over when the engine cut half-way along the strip at 100 feet, and a Jodel's engine stopped in similar circumstances. The pilot, now a senior airline captain, was very relieved that the fence stob he stalled onto penetrated the underside of the fuselage three feet behind his somewhat flimsy seat.

A C182 from Berwick tried a go-around after the nosewheel collapsed and its propeller had turned into a curious bow-shape after ploughing up 100 metres of the airfield. Fortunately it failed to get airborne again and came to rest near the north-side fence in a very nose-down attitude. The four, uninjured, occupants must have set some sort of world-record in speedy aircraft evacuation.

D Howitt