The shortest flight in the world.

[martin-w 3,235]

53 seconds on a good day. Now that will take some beating.

Westray to Papa West Ray.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westray_to_Papa_Westray_flight#:~:text=The Loganair Westray to Papa,fastest flight is 53 seconds.

"The Loganair Westray to Papa Westray route is the shortest scheduled passenger flight in the world. Flights on the route are scheduled for one and a half minutes, and actual flying time is closer to one minute. The record for the fastest flight is 53 seconds. The route is flown by Loganair, a Scottish regional airline that serves Scotland's Highlands and islands. It is also part of a connector flight that links the island of Westray and the town of Kirkwall, the central and most populous town of the Orkney Islands."

Edited January 9, 2022 by martin-w

[harrry 322]

who cares about little puddle jumpers with fans in front.  

Try these for size

https://www.businessinsider.com/shortest-airline-routes-in-the-world-2020-4

[CW46 101]

Like the man said, it's about the shortest flight in the world. Why would anyone in their right mind go through a two hour show time for the flight, which will probably be cancelled anyway because some crew is sick. Or you might get in a fist fight over wearing a mask and they will lose your baggage anyway. Let alone you could drive to the destination in your car in one hour. I think I would stick to the puddle jumper if I had the choice..

[Fielder 3,673]

flightsim.to has scenery:

https://flightsim.to/file/7834/westray-papa-westray-pack

 

[Fielder 3,673]

 

[martin-w 3,235]

Actually, when I was 17, I flew on an Britton Norman Trislander,  - one more engine in the tail -  from Jersey to Guernsey in the Channel Islands. Great flight, I was just behind the pilot and was fascinated that we approached crabbed. 😁 This was my first experience of the concept of a crabbed landing and then kicking in the rudder just before touchdown.

Incidentally, It was the same aircraft type that I flew in, Aurigny Britten Norman Trislander, that had the famous UFO sighting. Flying from Southampton to Alderney in the Channel Islands.

May even have been exactly the same aircraft for all I know. 😧

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_Alderney_UFO_sighting

 

 

Quote

 

On 23 April 2007, Captain Ray Bowyer^{[n 1]} was flying a routine passenger flight for the civilian airline company, Aurigny Air Services, when he and his passengers gained progressively clearer views of two UFOs during a 12-^[1] to 15-minute^[2] period. Bowyer had 18 years of flying experience,^[3][4] and the 45-minute flight was one that he had completed every working day for more than 8 years.^[3][5]

Their 80-mile (130 km) journey of 45 minutes took them from Southampton on the southern coast of England, southwestwards to Alderney,^[3] being 10 miles (16 kilometres) from France, and the northernmost of the Channel Islands.^[4] Their particular flight path had them converging on two enormous, seemingly stationary and identical airborne craft, which emanated brilliant yellow light. A pilot of a plane near Sark, some 25 mi (40 km) to the south, confirmed the presence, general position and altitude of the first object from the opposite direction.^[6][7]

Radar traces also seemed to register the presence of two objects, which Ray Bowyer believed to be correlated with the position and time of the sighting.^[4] A study by David Clarke,^{[n 2]} however, could not establish a definite link, as the radar reflections of cargo or passenger ferries may have affected at least some of the readings.^[3] Bowyer disagreed with Clarke's team on the supposed link between the radar traces and ferries, and proposed that two solid airborne craft, which were not and could not have been manufactured on Earth, were working in unison that day, as suggested by the evidence that their sortie was coordinated in both time and space.^[8] Captain Patterson, the second pilot witness, posited some type of "atmospheric phenomenon" as explanation.^[9]

 

 

Edited January 10, 2022 by martin-w

[birdguy 3,943]

Spend more time taxiing than flying.

Noel

[martin-w 3,235]

2 hours ago, birdguy said:

Spend more time taxiing than flying.

Noel

 

If its used like a bus service they cant be charging much and  there's the maintenance cost, it makes me consider the economics of it and if its actually cost effective. I guess it must be or the service wouldn't have been around for 50 years.

[n4gix 4,947]

2 hours ago, martin-w said:

 

If its used like a bus service they cant be charging much and  there's the maintenance cost, it makes me consider the economics of it and if its actually cost effective. I guess it must be or the service wouldn't have been around for 50 years.

From what I've been reading, I get the impression that they are partly subsidized by the Council.

[martin-w 3,235]

15 hours ago, n4gix said:

From what I've been reading, I get the impression that they are partly subsidized by the Council.

 

Yeah I think they must be. I guess its a vital service, makes sense for it to be subsidised. 

[ckyliu 1,749]

Tom Scott (with help from Sam at Wendover) explains some of the finances and method of operation. It is very much like a bus service, it goes around in a circle hopping from island to island, the cabin doesn't empty after every landing. Some kids use it to get to and from school. There is some subsidy as it's operating under PSO (Public Service Obligation) as it's a lifeline for these isolated communities.