Leg #12 Stornoway to London City

My first night flight was on this leg, 458 nautical miles from the outer Hebrides, Isle of Lewis to Great Britain, and the big bustling return to civilization: London! My decision to fly entirely through the night was partly because I could - should I have had any difficulties there were plenty of airports along the way, but the other reason was I was worried about a low pressure system getting too organized and heading inland.



First step was to refuel at BAI Flight Group in Stornoway (bought 48.420 gallons of 100LL at $3.40/gallon) which had good service and pretty good prices for way out here I thought). I did have about an hour of light and then 30 minutes of twilight, and then the moon was slightly in my favor.



The rest of the trip was pretty much uneventful, but darker than I had expected as I crossed over large swatches of darkness across Scotland. The first glimmers of light from London made up for all of that though as after hours of flying the city's lights looked like jewels.



My plan was to look for the Thames and then follow the river to London City Airport. All of that was easy enough but landing at night at EGLC, with it's notorious crosswinds and metropolitan hazards was a bit trying after five hours in the cockpit of Six-Five-Mike.



After landing I rolled to a stop and then taxied over to London City Airport Jet Centre to let them know I was tying down for the night and where was the closest pub, which was Royal Standard, though it was not recommended. Instead they suggested the Royal Oak, which turned out to be rather a sparse affair, but they at least served me Young's Bitter and that was quite decent indeed. Total miles for the day: 459. Total time: 4h 57m. Fuel used: about 37 gallons. Average speed: 92.7 knots. Average fuel usage: 7.5 gallons per hour.