Galway  

Date of Visit = 2000

Pilot: = Tom Mc Cormack

e-mail =

Field Report =

1) place to eat. get a cab into the city centre - you will end up in a large square, there are loads of restaurants on and around the square.

If you have bit more time - you might rent a car and drive out to Clifden, the site of Alcock and Brown's crash landing after the first ever atlantic flight. Not really a lot to see Just a small stone monument beside the road in the middle of a peat bog. Makes you wonder why they chose there - they could have just followed the Galway bay east to find the flat ground around Galway.

If you rent a car - think about driving down to Kinvarra - about 15 miles south of Galway on the south side of Galway Bay - where most of the Oyester beds are - and there are some excellent restaurants.

The reason I don't know the names is because I come from near there - and I only see them as I pass by - or hear about them from people I meet. I rarely eat out in that area.

The airport - very friendly and used to British light aircraft. In poor weather they operate a procedural separation giving ABSOLUTE preference to scheduled traffic. Back in April, I was at 5 miles with scheduled traffic at 35 miles and I was told to hold off. Since I was IMC and within 8 miles of a big mountain - this was not entirely welcome (perhaps I shouldn't have been IMC but there was this big cloud that wouldn't get our of my way!!!) If you are IFR you probably won't have this problem. Landing fee for a typical single is about 11 pounds (IIRC) Fuel is also competitive.

Car rental desks in the airport - but like most regional airports not manned all the time - allow 30 mins or so for them to get there and organise your car (if you time it wrong).

For really cheap fuel - call into Dublin Weston on the way back - Worth calling ahead to check prices. No real problem in flying anywhere in Ireland. Only thing to remember is that virtually all of Ireland is controlled airspace and fltplans are required for all flights.

15 mins flying west of Galway are the Arran islands - very very interesting if your into history Stone age castles and the like - and the whole island still living in the 1910's. Food also very good. Hard runways on each island approx 550m - but clear approaches and climb outs over the sea. Inshmoor and Inismaan are good for visitors - but Inisheer (the closest) is a little sparse on home comforts and facilities.

The most remarkable thing to see from the air is that the west facing coasts are all sheer vertical cliffs - and the east facing slopes gradually down to the sea. On the west side of Inishmoor, just below the stone castle, Below the surface of the sea you will see a perfectly square hole approx 30ft square, carved out of the stone. I've never found out if this was part of the castle that slipped into the sea - or was an underground pool when the castle was complee and covered its location.

Flt Plans - Some staff at Galway will try to insist on the 1 hour advance submission of fltplans (for your return). The plans go to Shannon - and a quick phone call to Shannon clears the (non existant) delay. (alternatively file it when you land)