Loch Lomond Seaplane Trip

Earlier on in the year some generous family members clubbed together to buy me a fantastic ??th birthday present; It was a seaplane trip from Loch Lomond flying over parts of the west coast of Scotland.
Despite several attempts to book this flight (which were all cancelled due to bad weather) I haven't been able to get up in the air until now. It was however worth the wait and here is the photos and video clips to prove it.
It was a calm but slightly cloudy day when we left to go to Loch Lomond, but it cleared up a little when we got there:

A Calm Loch Lomond

Preparing the Plane

Boarding the Plane

Ready to go

 The plane taxied (is it still called taxi-ing on water?) out to deeper water and then revved up for take-off. Moira did her best to capture the take off from the shore-line although it was a bit far away for her little camera:

Seaplane comes past headland

Travelling along the watery runway

Just airborne

Banking to the left

From inside the plane I managed to video the point of take-off:

The take-off was so smooth I barely noticed that we had left the water. We hadn't been airborne for long before the pilot banked to the left, flew over Inchmurrin island then headed over the west shore of the loch.

Inchmurrin Island

West Shore of Loch Lomond

We flew over land towards Helensburgh and our trusty pilot highlighted the sights that could be seen out each side of the plane, such as the Arrochar Alps:

Our Trusty Seaplane Pilot

The Arrochar Alps

We then headed west down the Firth of Clyde ............. or "doon ra watter" as they say in the local parlance. Here we passed by many of the sea lochs that make this a very popular firth (or estuary) with the boating fraternity............and also popular with the Royal Navy, etc.

Faslane on the Gare Loch

Coulport on Loch Long

Gairletter Point Caravan Park

Loch Striven

We also passed the inland Loch Eck, before heading to the Kyles of Bute:

Loch Eck

Approaching Kyles of Bute

The Island of Bute is surrounded on three sides by fingers of the mainland with only narrow channels of water separating them; on a map it looked like the island is being pinched by the mainland (sounds painful). The channels of water are known collectively as the Kyles of Bute, with Loch Riddon being the northern body of water.

Loch Riddon and the Kyles of Bute

Colintraive Ferry to Bute

Heading towards the Kintyre Peninsula we passed over the pretty villages of Tighnabruaich, Portavadie and Tarbert:

Tighnabruaich on the Kyles of Bute

Portavadie at the mouth of Loch Fyne

Tarbert on the Kintyre Peninsula

Tarbert sits on a narrow strip of land which joins the Kintyre Peninsula on to the mainland. On its east side lies Loch Fyne and on the west side lies Loch Tarbert, with no more than a mile of land between the two.

Loch Fyne with Tarbert in the foreground

After we crossed the Kintyre Peninsula our thoughtful pilot circled over the area known as the Sound of Jura, affording us spectacular views of the islands of Jura, Islay, Gigha and Arran.

Here are some of the photos I took as we circled round the islands.

Jura in the clouds

Islay (left) and Jura (right)

Towards Gigha

On our return journey we passed back over the Kintyre Peninsula and had a good view of the Isle of  Arran. I also managed to capture the ferry to Islay as it was leaving Kennacraig on the shores of Loch Tarbert:

Looking down the Kintyre Peninsula

Isle of Arran off the Kintyre Peninsula

Kennacraig to Islay Ferry

I was really enjoying this flight, not just for the spectacular scenery but also for the close-up views of remote places that you don't get from a road trip:

Low Stillaig

Ostel Bay

Rhubodach (Bute) to Colintraive Ferry

On the way back the pilot took us up the steep-sided Loch Striven which has quite a bit of WW2 military history as it was the place they trialled the midget submarines used to attack the Tirpitz as it lay in a Norwegian fjord and it was also used as the testing ground for the famous Dambusters bouncing bomb (without the explosives of course).

Loch Striven

After Loch Striven we continued our return journey heading East, passing by some of the sea lochs I saw in our outward journey, but with a slightly different perspective:

Dalinlongart and the Holy Loch

Holy Loch

Looking South down Loch Long

We continued East along the Firth of Clyde passing places like Rossneath, Rhu and Helensburgh:

Rossneath, with Gourock and Greenock on the other side of the Clyde

Rhu and Helensburgh

Travelling overland from Helensburgh we reached Loch Lomond, then the pilot headed North to give us view of the Eastern shore and also Ben Lomond:

Loch Lomond East Shore and the Island of Inchfad

Ben Lomond and the Island of Inchlonaig

The video clip below probably provides the best views of Loch Lomond and Ben Lomond:

After this we flew past Loch Lomond Golf Club before coming in to land on the loch.
The landing was as smooth as the take-off; and without the tell-tale spray coming from the floats you would never have known that we had touched down.

Moira had left the swanky bar in the Cameron House Hotel just in time to capture the seaplane landing:

Seaplane touches down

Heading to the pier

Arriving at the pier

Once at the pier I disembarked from the seaplane, thank the pilot for a most enjoyable flight and got the obligatory photograph with the plane:

Disembarking from Seaplane

A Happy Seaplane Passenger

I can only say that if you get the chance to do this then grab it with both hands as it was a great experience.
Thanks again to those family members who generously gave me this seaplane trip as a birthday present...........it was indeed a trip of a lifetime........... I one won't forget!

Take Care

TeddyEdward