LoganTravel Monthly Award May 2025

May's Many Islands Tour

Light Aircraft and Helicopters Allowed - No Restrictions

The month of May is for many islands, and to start this tour you could, optionally, fly a domestic airliner down from our hub Glesga EGPF to Exeter EGTE where we begin Mays Monthly Award.

Props, TurboProps, Bizjets or even helicopters is the aim of the game on this one. Just make sure you know the destinations runway length, otherwise there will be a number for you to call for pilot deviation! Islands with lots of history, culture and tales to tell, let your passengers enjoy the beautiful and picturesque scenery.

From Exeter, head over to Sandown then to Alderney, Guernsey, Jersey, St Mary's, St Just and finally return back to Exeter.

Exeter EGTE 

• The airfield officially opened on 31 May 1937 and operated from a "tented" terminal before the permanent buildings were complete. Jersey Airways immediately inaugurated a summer service of eight flights per week from Jersey in de Havilland DH.84 Dragons. Railway Air Services ran connecting flights on to Plymouth and Bristol.

Sandown EGHN 

• Wight Aviation Museum opened in Spring of 2018, having transformed an empty hangar at Sandown Airport into an interesting and inviting exhibition which aims “To celebrate and educate about the aviation and aerospace innovations and heritage on the Isle of Wight”.

• One of our major exhibits is the "full-size replica" of the Black Arrow rocket, which now stands proudly at the front of Sandown Airport. This was indeed designed, built and tested on the Isle of Wight (at Cowes and at Highdown, near the Needles).

• Black Arrow R3 replica info... • The replica stands just over 13m ( 40 feet ) in height, when displayed vertically. This will be the only vertically displayed Black Arrow in the UK. • The replica weighs approximately 500kg. • The rocket livery matches the R3 which was the final rocket to be launched in 1971, just days after the program was officially cancelled.

Alderney EGJA 

• Built in 1935, Alderney Airport was the first airport in the Channel Islands. The terminal building, erected in 1968, contains an arrivals room and a departure lounge, with a check-in desk for the airport's only scheduled airline, Aurigny. Also it has its own non-directional beacon, with runways 08 and 26 utilizing this for instrument approaches during Instrument meteorological conditions. Both runways also have an approved GPS (satellite) approach.

Guernsey EGJB 

• The airport was officially opened on 5 May 1939. However, regular air services only commenced in October 1946. By 1948, BEA were operating a daily service to Southampton using Douglas DC-3 aircraft. From 1951, Jersey Airlines flew BEA associate scheduled services to Southampton at weekends using Rapide eight-seat biplane airliners.

Jersey EGJJ 

• Air service to Jersey before 1937 consisted of biplane airliners and some seaplanes landing on the beach at Saint Aubin's bay. Jersey Airways and Imperial Airways were among those who operated to the island before the Second World War, but conditions were difficult as tides governed timetables. It was also difficult to prevent public members from walking across the landing area, and any aircraft that had mechanical problems had to be dragged up the slipways until the tide receded. The States of Jersey decided to build an airport which opened on 10 March 1937 with four grass runways, the longest being 2,940 ft (896 m) with a concrete centreline.

• Early March 1940 the Admiralty took over Jersey airport, to use as a Naval Air Station, known as RNAS Jersey. 755 Naval Air Squadron, a Telegraphist Air Gunner Training Squadron and 763 Naval Air Squadron, Torpedo, Spotter, Reconnaissance Pool No.1 arrived on 11 March 1940. On 21 May 1940, 826 Naval Air Squadron arrived for one weeks operation, departing on 29 May. However, due to the German occupation of France and the proximity to the Channel Islands, the Government concluded the Islands weren't defendable and both 755 NAS and 763 NAS were withdrawn on 31 May 1940 with RNAS Jersey closing on the same day. 816 Naval Air Squadron briefly used Jersey Airport between 6 and 11 June 1940, however, on 1 July 1940 the Island was occupied by German forces.

St Mary's EGHE 

• On 15 September 1937, Olley Air Service's subsidiary Channel Air Ferries started the first scheduled service between Land's End and St Mary's, flying de Havilland Dragons. Initially, however, the planes landed on the St Mary's golf course. St Mary's Airport was first opened in August 1939, after being converted from High Cross Farm. In 1938, Great Western and Southern Airlines took over Olley Air Service and Channel Air Ferries. It continued the service throughout World War II, during which it replaced the Dragons with de Havilland Dragon Rapides.[5] On 1 February 1947 this operation was taken over by British European Airways (BEA). In August 1949 a control tower and a passenger waiting room were completed at St Mary's. On 2 May 1964, BEA replaced its Dragon Rapides on the Land's End route with a single Sikorsky S-61 helicopter, operated by BEA Helicopters. From 1 September 1964 the route was to the new Penzance Heliport. BEA Helicopters later became British Airways Helicopters, and subsequently British International Helicopters. A second helicopter was eventually added to the service in the summers.

• Mayflower Air Services started services to the airport in 1961; this operation was taken over by Scillonian Air Services in 1963, itself taken over by British Westpoint Airlines in 1964. Scillonia Airways operated services to the airport from 1966 to 1970. Westward Airways, not to be confused with Westward Airways (Lands End), operated services from 1967 to 1970. Brymon Airways operated services from June 1972 to March 1991, initially with Britten-Norman Islander aircraft, and two years later, de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otters. In 1984, Isles of Scilly Skybus started flights to St Mary's from Land's End, initially freight and charter. Scheduled services started on 1 April 1987, flying Islanders and, later, Twin Otters. The current 600-metre (2,000 ft) asphalt runway, 15/33, was built in 1991. After being in operation for 48 years, the helicopter service between St Mary's and the mainland UK ceased operations in October 2012, leaving Skybus as the sole remaining air link for the Isles of Scilly. A helicopter service operated between Land's End Airport and St. Mary's in summer 2018.

St Just EGHC 

• Cobham Air Routes started to plan the route linking the Isles of Scilly to the mainland in 1935. Cobham was subsequently acquired by Olley Air Service, whose subsidiary Channel Air Ferries developed the Land's End airport and started a service to the island of St Mary's on 15 September 1937, flying de Havilland Dragons. A hangar was brought from Squires Gate Airport in Blackpool. On St Mary's, until its own airport opened in 1939, the planes landed on the golf course.In 1938, Great Western and Southern Airlines took over Olley Air Service and Channel Air Ferries. It continued the service throughout World War II, during which it replaced the Dragons with de Havilland Dragon Rapides.

• On 2 May 1964, BEA replaced the Dragon Rapides with a single Sikorsky S-61 helicopter, operated by BEA Helicopters. On 1 September 1964, the helicopter service was moved from Land's End to the new Penzance Heliport, although BEA occasionally chartered Britten-Norman Islanders to fly from Land's End when the helicopter was unavailable.Between 1966 and 1970, Scillonia Airways operated from the airport, flying Rapides. Westward Airways was founded at the airport in 1970, and operated a flying school there from 1971 to 2009. In 1984, Isles of Scilly Skybus started operations at the airport, initially freight and charter, then scheduled services from April 1987, flying Islanders and de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otters. Skybus became the sole remaining air link for the Isles of Scilly from October 2012, when the helicopter service from Penzance ended.

Good luck seasoned islanders, hope you enjoy what these superb islands have to offer!

LoganTravel Management Team