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The New Year is always a great time for making plans and sharing dreams. We met up with our friends and fellow pilots in January 2009 and planned a trip to the Scilly Isles. Knowing that St Mary's 'International' Airport closes on Sundays, we decided to fly out on a Saturday, enjoy a day's boating and island hopping, then fly back on the Monday. So we booked B&Bs for 2 nights in June. We had to book that far in advance just to be sure of getting accommodation during the peak summer season. All we could do at that stage was to keep our fingers crossed for flyable weather.

There is no fuel on the islands, so we arranged to meet up at Perranporth on the north Cornish coast to re-fuel before flying on to St Mary's. On the day, the weather had other ideas. Inbound to Perranporth, having made all our radio calls, a large black cloud forced us to divert out to sea. Once clear of the cloud and with the field now visible on the cliff top, we called again to let people know we were approaching from a completely different direction.

We landed, met our friends, refuelled the aircraft and refuelled ourselves with tea and cakes. Then putting on our life jackets we all set out to Lands' End and beyond, crossing the 28 miles of sea to the Scillies. We were in constant radio contact with ATC of course, reporting at regular intervals. Fortunately the compass was spot on, the GPS behaved as expected and at last we saw cloud on the horizon. Finally the islands came into view. (Otherwise, it could have been next stop America.) We were also lucky with our timing. St Mary's ATC has a highly civilised habit of closing for afternoon tea between 5 and 5.30 every day.

Reporting at St Martin's VRP was interesting. We later discovered that the red and white marker is clearly visible from the sea, but looking down from above, it's simply not there. We reported at the point where (according to the map), it ought to have been. Then we flew over to St Mary's to join the circuit and land.

St Mary's runway St Mary's runway

The views on approach have to be some of the best in Britain. The clear seas are turquoise, azure blue and purple in patches. The sandy beaches are white and gorgeous. The Scillies are extremely beautiful, especially from the air.

The landing can be quite an adventure though. 33 extends from sea level, over an outcrop of rocks at the end of the runway, then up a 1 in 12 tarmac slope. On this occasion, we landed in the opposite direction on 15 and did our best to make sure that the Eurostar stopped before we hit the downhill run.

Geoff and the Eurostar at St Mary's Wendy and the Eurostar at St Mary's

The following day, we took a boat trip to 3 islands. On Bryher, we climbed the look-out hill, and enjoyed a morning coffee afterwards. We went back on the boat to Tresco for lunch and the Abbey gardens, plus the unexpected excitement of a gig race. The pilot gigs are long, open boats rowed by teams of 3 men and 3 women plus a Cox. They used to be the lifeboats, but now they are used for highly competitive races which seem to involve a huge amount of effort and strength, a lot of shouting, highly vocal support from the people on the land and celebrations to match in the pub afterwards.

The Scillies have quite a different climate. The weather is always mild. The islands never have any frost so they can grow very exotic flowers and palm trees with ease. The hazards are fog, wind or persistent rain. But we were lucky. The sun shone. Tresco was glorious.

Much later that afternoon, we went on to St Agnes. It's a tiny island with great beaches for paddling. Just 4 children attend the school. A farm makes and sells their own ice-cream. And the pub is very busy thanks to boat loads of tourists and great views out to sea. They do a rather nice Turks' Head surprise which consists of a mug of hot chocolate with a large shot of brandy - ideal after a choppy sea crossing.

The next day we were due to fly back, but a severe weather warning with thunderstorms firmly settled all the way up the south west peninsula convinced us otherwise. So we made a few phone calls to work to say we wouldn't be back until Wednesday because of bad weather. With London enjoying temperatures of 26 degrees, our messages were met with some scepticism, but we knew it was the right thing to do. Luckily our landlady could extend our booking for another night. The weather passed us by before causing chaos in Devon and Cornwall, and behind it we enjoyed a reasonable day. We took the boat to St Martins to find the ruddy VRP marker that vanishes from the air. The northern side of the island is deserted and fabulous. They also have a café that has won an award for the best fish and chips in Britain. Sadly they only serve fish and chips on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

The return flight on Tuesday was a joy. St Mary's ATC gave us permission to fly all around the islands before crossing the sea back to Lands End. We reported at Pendeen lighthouse, then coasted in to St Austell to see the Eden project. After that we headed north and flew up to Eaglescott on Exmoor for a quick break and to decide whether or not to refuel before returning to Clench. There was a fair amount of turbulence, but it was a lovely flight back.

For a fabulous short break, and a fresh flying challenge, you can't beat a trip to the Scillies. But, it's highly weather dependent, so we were very lucky. We also have to thank Graham for helping us to make it all happen.

St Mary's Harbour St Martins VRP

Isles of Scilly Isles of Scilly

The island of Tresco On the way home - the Eden Project

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