The roots of aviation history in this region can be traced back for over 80 years, to the days of the Royal Flying Corps. The original Galway aerodrome, Oranmore, was one of the eight sites selected in 1917 to provide for a massive extension of flying training to feed the ever growing need for operational pilots in France. In the event, Oranmore became a Royal Air Force base for four years between 1918 and 1922, hosting elements of 2, 100, 105 and 106 Squadrons equipped with Bristol F.2B Fighters. Later, in the 1930s, it was one of the venues for displays given by Sir Alan Cobham and his barnstorming Flying Circus, which did much to popularise flying throughout the British Isles. During the Second World War, it was listed as an emergency landing field for USAAF aircraft encountering difficulties on their way to the European theatre of war.

At the western extremity of the county, at Clifden in Connemara, one of the bravest of the pioneering flights reached its successful conclusion, when on 15th June 1919, at 08.40, the Vickers Vimy piloted by John Alcock and with Arthur Whitten Brown as the navigator landed in Derrygimla Bog. They had achieved the first non-stop flight across the Atlantic from St. Johns, Newfoundland in a time of 15 hours and 57 minutes. A monument in the shape of a wing commemorating this achievement was erected on a nearby hill and stands to this day.

The largest airport now serving Galway is at Carnmore, some five miles to the north-east of the city. Galway Airport (GWY) opened in 1987 and is on the site of a private airstrip formerly owned by Steiner Ltd., who laid the original short runway in 1978. The current runway 08/26 is 1350 metres long. From 1988 to 1992 services were maintained by Ryanair to Luton, using firstly HS 748s EI-BSE and BSF; from June 1988 a Convair 580 was leased for four months pending the delivery of three ATR 42s between September 1988 and November 1989. Aer Lingus also began a Dublin operation at the same time, firstly with the Short 360, followed by SF 340s and currently Fokker 50s. Numerous companies have flown summer charter flights, including Brit Air, Denim Air and for 1998, a British Midland service to Jersey with the SF 340. The largest aircraft to have used the airport was a CityJet BAe 146-200.

Plans are currently being developed to upgrade the facilities at the airport, chiefly concerning extending the runway to 1500 metres and installing new navigational and lighting systems to Cat 1 ILS standard. Direct flights from Britain and Europe are the aim, with the capacity to handle aircraft up to the size of the BAe 146-300 being planned. Scheduled services may possibly include Birmingham, Liverpool or London, with potential operators being BA Express/British Regional AL, CityJet or Emerald AW. As well as the 146, new types could be the Saab 2000, the Embraer RJ or the CRJ. More direct charter services from Europe could be attractive to tourists from Holland, France or Germany, seeking the fishing, golf or sailing or simply exploring the magnificent scenery. Galway is a thriving, fast growing, university city with plenty of industrial development evident and as the airport manager, Ed Moran, says, "When potential investors come looking at an area one of the things that shines high up on their list is air access, enhancing the whole region and making it more attractive to the businessman." If the improvements to the infrastructure are completed by 1999 as intended, then it is very likely that the airport will significantly increase its passenger traffic from its current annual level of 56,000. Indeed a start has been made with the launch on 27th April of a daily return to Manchester with Air Kilroe using eighteen seater BAe Jetstream 31 aircraft. The response to this venture has been so encouraging that it can be seen as the herald of a new era for the airport.

I spent some time at the airport talking to Tony Gibson, the Senior Air Traffic Controller. He said that the airport currently handled some 10,000 movements a year, 90% of which were General Aviation - either generated by the Galway Flying Club or by visiting aircraft. With fly-ins from Britain and rallies becoming very popular, up to 30-40 light aircraft may visit at a time. As procedural approaches are mandatory in non-VFR conditions, after handover from Shannon at 20 miles from touchdown, this could at times make the controller's task reasonably demanding. This meant that Galway was a good first posting for ATC trainees. Other regular visitors included the Dauphins, Alouettes and Cessna 172s of the Air Corps, business jets up to the size of Gulfstream IIIs and helicopters associated with oil exploration. Present at the airport on the morning of my visit were: Cessna 421 Golden Eagle H-BLHP, Beech Baron N7219L, Stampe SV4A EI-CJR, Cessna R172K EI-BJO, Cessna Skyhawk EI-GWY, Cessna F152 EI-BIB, Piper J3C-65 EI-CUB, Aeronca 11AC EI-CCF, Piper PA-19 EI-BID, Mooney M20C EI-CIK and Shadow Series BD Microlight EI-CMF.

Some fifteen miles to the west of Galway, along the R336 coast road is situated Connemara Airport at Inverin (INV), the home base of Aer Arann. Services are maintained throughout the year to the three Aran Islands of Inishmore (IOR), Inishmaan (IIA) and Inisheer (INQ), which lie some twelve miles off the coast. A family return ticket for two adults and two children costs only £IR99. We boarded our Britten-Norman Islander EI-BCE on a beautiful fresh morning, having arranged to sit by the pilot - I had a splendid view. The twin 260 hp Textron Lycoming piston engines burst into noisy life at the touch of a button, we taxied the short distance to the threshold of runway 05/23 and were given a fine demonstration of the short take-off qualities of the Islander, as it hopped into the air, using little of the 570 metres available. It was interesting to note the frequency tuned in on the radio, 123.0 - the common channel for the islands, Aer Arann and its base, it is unmanned and works by pilots announcing their position and intentions, whilst keeping a listening watch for other traffic. On the horizon, the low lying islands came ever closer into view, as we buzzed over at 700 feet and a steady 110 kps. Soon the famous landmark of the freighter Plassey, wrecked on the rocks and washed ashore for ever on the eastern edge of Inisheer in 1960, came into view. We banked steeply and made a straight in approach to land very smoothly on runway 31/13, a 580 metre tarmac strip tucked away on the sand dunes, two minutes walk from the beach.

The Gaelic speaking island of Inisheer proved to be a fascinating place to visit, unspoiled, with dramatic scenery and extremely comfortable accommodation, booked for us by Aer Arann. A company Landrover took us from the quaint terminal building up the hill to our guest house under the shadow of O'Brians 15th century castle, built within a cashel dating from hundreds of years before. The afternoon was spent on an invigorating six and a half mile, well-signposted walk. It was very relaxing afterwards to sit in our room with the scanner tuned to 123.0, listening out for the late afternoon arrival of Islander Charlie Echo announcing his intention to land on 31, followed shortly by the sight of the aircraft growling past the window on its base leg. After the exercise and fresh air, we felt we deserved the excellent evening meal provided by Mrs. Brid Poil.

The following morning the scudding clouds and white capped waves looked marvellous, while the wind sock at the airport could be clearly seen in a decidedly horizontal position. When I asked Mrs. Poil if the flight might be cancelled, she replied that the aircraft continued to serve as the island's lifeline even when it was impossible for the ferry boats to moor at the jetty. Since the first grass strip was laid on Inisheer in 1976, she believed that the air service had been a vital factor in maintaining and improving the quality of life on the island. Watching Islander EI-AYN turning for finals, there was time to consider the history of this remarkable success story, that began on 13th June 1965 with the maiden flight of the prototype G-ATCT, flown by Desmond Norman himself at Bembridge, Isle of Wight. Since then some 1300 have been built and have demonstrated the Islander's qualities of ruggedness, reliability and economy with over 300 operators in more than 125 countries. The best replacement could only be another Islander, no other aircraft was suitable for Aer Arann's needs.

Take-off from Inisheer was most interesting. With a 30 knot crosswind blowing from right to left, the captain turned the control yoke fully to the right, in effect applying maximum right bank (raising the right aileron and lowering the left) to counteract the wind force. The result was an immaculate departure, though as we turned in the direction of the mainland it felt as if the aircraft was hovering momentarily against the onrushing wind. The captain had been using all of his 7500 hours of experience on the type, as our take-off had been at the margins of the performance envelope. I later discovered that Captain Hayden Lawford was one of the company's original pilots when it was founded in 1970 and that he had surveyed the islands looking for suitable airfield sites. Services had commenced on 8th August (with the official opening one week later) from Galway's Oranmore airfield with Islander EI-AUL. Shannon and Kiltullagh were subsequently the company's base until an eighteen year spell at Carnmore began in 1974. Since 1992, Aer Arann's home has been its own purpose built airfield. Some seven Islanders have been operated over the last twenty-eight years, with a maximum fleet size of four. Services from Carnmore to Dublin, Dublin to Shannon and Dublin to Derry had been attempted in the 1980s but all had been short-lived. In 1976 and 1977 a link was made with a by-gone era, when the Short Sandringham VP-LVE under the command of noted aviator Charles Blair flew a series of summer, scenic charter flights using the Aer Arann licence. It was also fascinating to discover Hayden's own link with a famous landmark in aviation history, as the son of Lieutenant E.H. "Bill" Lawford, the pilot of the world's first scheduled international service from Hounslow to Le Bourget on 25th August 1919 (complete with its famous payload of a reporter, Devonshire cream, leather, newspapers and grouse).

Back at the Aer Arann base, I found out more about the company's current operations and future plans. A licence had been obtained to operate the Donegal (Carrickfin) - Dublin route vacated by the collapse of Ireland Airways, using a Shorts 360, which started on 6th March 1998. While awaiting the delivery of the aircraft, the route has been operated on behalf of Aer Arann by a Jetstream 31 of Air Kilroe (which in itself is an interesting connection, as Tim Kilroe was the major shareholder of Aer Arann between 1981 and 1994) and also by 360s wet leased from BAC Express Airlines. Donegal may well be the location of a further island service as money has been allocated by the government for the construction of an airstrip on Tory Island. A Cessna service centre had been established at Connemara by sister company Galway Aviation Services Ltd. and two aircraft were undergoing maintenance at the time of our visit, Cessna 210D EI-CAX and Cessna 177RG EI-BHC. Also on the ramp, was a very unusual shape, EI-CNG, an Air & Space 18A Gyroplane, two seat autogyro.

Looking further ahead plans were under serious consideration to establish airstrips in Western Connemara, at Clifden (on the famous Derrygimla Bog) and on the nearby islands Inishbofin, Inishturk and Clare, thereby creating a second strategic link to promote employment, business development and tourism in this beautiful, wild and unspoiled region. The proposals have generated a measure of local debate between those who wish to preserve the area as it is and those who see some change as vital to reverse the decline of population. It would appear to me that small airstrips would do considerably less harm than the creation of major roads and would allow progress to be gradual. Certainly, Mrs. Poil felt that without the airstrip, Inisheer would not be thriving as it is today. If all these plans come to fruition, with Galway Airport encouraging increased traffic from the UK and Europe and with eight local airstrips established in Connemara, the future looks very promising.

Guy Warner