Lee-on-solent

[IMC1]

What's the current story regarding flying into Lee-on-solent? It used to be Police only, I think. I know a flying club recently moved in there. Interested to know if so, also landing fees etc. Thank you.

[MEON VALLEY FLYER]

Sadly not really open for visitors, just based aircraft. Yes Carill moved there, but it's unlicenced for std ops. so guess they have to pass somewhere else to start the training.

But if anyone does get the opertunity to visit. Best get in quick (2-3 yrs) cos barrat's are on the way in.:{

[flying sub]

This from the Portsmouth News 07 May 2005

"Coastguard plans new HQ at Daedalus
THE future of the Solent's rescue helicopter is set to be secured with plans for a new multimillion pound HQ.
For months bosses at Solent Coastguard have been uncertain whether they would be able to remain on the former HMS Daedalus site in Lee-on-the-Solent.
The 485-acre site is to be sold off by the government department Defence Estates.
The coastguard is in negotiations to buy 175 acres of the old naval base, to include the runway.
The deal is hoped to be completed in the next few weeks.
In the meantime the coastguard has unveiled plans to build a new helicopter hangar, more buildings to house the operations and better airfield fencing.
There had been fears that lives could be put at risk if the coastguard had to move its base.
But the latest news will be a big boost to the sailors who use the Solent, as they can be assured help is close by if anything goes wrong.
Work on building the new HQ is hoped to start at the beginning of next year."

There will also be (apparently) some married quarters for the military and some house building. :{ but at least the powers that be have been disuaded from building a detainees centre there.

I have no idea what the future for GA is although it is currently very popular for gliding. At least they are keeping the runway..

[IO540]

It's a shame, in the USA the place would be a luxury air park, with its own VOR/GPS approach and a STAR

http://www.airnav.com/airport/P19

[Sleeve Wing]

Yep, in my humble opinion, IO540 is dead right ; perfect place for an Airpark.
Trouble is it seems every time someone tries to get planning permission in UK for such a development, it's turned down. Henstridge is a prize example, for one.
Local Planners don't seem to have much of a clue when it comes to light aviation in general, do they ?
Anyway, must own up to vested interest here. Lee was, of course, Fleet Air Arm Headquarters for many years.......that was when we had a Fleet Air Arm, before it was wiped out by bureaucratic bungling, political interference and petty jealousy from the Light Blues !!!!! Do you reckon we'll be able to hang on to the Isle of Wight ??
Sleeve.

[chevvron]

And now even the nearby (just across the road) Fleetlands Navy Yard heliport is to be civilianised; how long before the Rescue choppers move there and Lee closes completely? It'll be yet another sad loss to our heritage, not that the present government cares about that of course, they just want MONEY for their pensions and expenses and and to give to illegal immigrants and sod everyone else.

[MEON VALLEY FLYER]

A rumour from my brother who is still part of the senior service:
Where as a year or so ago the powers that be did look over re-opening Lee on Solent and moving the AE training and a flight unit back there.
The talk now is that they may actually close the AE school at Sultan and move it all to St. Athan, with an attached rumour of some of the fleetlands work heading there as well (as part of some tri service heli repair and teaching facility).
I understand Fleetlands has lost the surface fleet gas turbine work, so what future does it have.
Anyway Lee on Solent is over for the MOD, hence the release of land for sale.
Another part of the labour debt machine to keep in power, fund schools, hospitals and wars by putting us well in the red and selling all the china.
But for some reason all the press go on about is personal debt of the nation.

[IO540]

The basic problem is that there is no money running a GA airport (look at the people moaning here about landing fees), and there isn't enough interest in developing such a location as an airpark.

Even the hugely publicised airpark in Murcia, benefitting from super weather

http://www.airpark.info/english-Dateien/Murcia-Fly-In-Community.htm

has had to scale down its housebuilding projections by an order of magnitude since I first saw it a few years ago. Mind you, if you wanted to live in Spain that place is the last you would pick...

So, if available, any UK location is going to go to the highest bidder: a house builder.

[MEON VALLEY FLYER]

and lets not forget all this MOD land is brown field classed. So the best for getting planning permission. In the south / southeast this will fetch over £ 1.25 m per acre in good sized plots.
Yes the locals may object, but then you dangle to asylum centre carrot in front of them :ok:
Hence before long all our services will be based north of London or in Wales.

As for the airpark idea. Sadly IO540 is very right, there's no money in it. The main income is selling the land plots for buidling. These will be spread out, unlike your Barrat or Bovis devleopment that cram as many ££'s per acre as they can get away with.
Secondly there will be next to no income from flying activities. The residents will own a share of the runways and pay a mx charge. Bespite the love of aircraft, the people who live in these parks (US) do not want visitors flying in causing noise, just for the sake of the landing fees. It's amazing how nimby they can become when thet get what they want.

[chevvron]

I'm surprised the land has been offered to the open market actually; normally MOD land is offered to other government departments first, and the Home Office is searching for a site for a new high security prison to replace Reading.

[nipper1]

Some of the above is correct. Here are the facts (and one small rumour).

The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) have purchased the airfield - essentially the north-eastern part of the field that most of us would recognise as suitable for flying from. If you go to the site, there is a big fence which delineates the extent of their purchase. It includes most of the small hangars, the 05-23 runway, the taxiways and control tower. You can read the official release here: http://www.gnn.gov.uk/content/detail.asp?ReleaseID=192437&NewsAreaID=2&NavigatedFromSearch=True

The MCA recently announced their intention to replace the aircraft at Lee on Solent with two AB139s. See http://www.gnn.gov.uk/content/detail.asp?NewsAreaID=2&ReleaseID=181587 for the news release. There are also rumors of fixed wing MCA operations from Lee on Solent. Police operations are to continue, though they are no longer 'in charge' of the airfield.

The fate of the buildings, slipway and the other dross to the south-east of the fence is currently undecided. This area has been put into the hands of SEEDA (http://www.seeda.co.uk/) who have had preliminary discussions with the planners about a 'mixed development'. I must emphasise this is a rumour and in no way confirmed.

The really interesting thing for the aviation community will be how the airfield (and especially operations) are managed. My source suggests that the MCA's ideal objective would be for them and the Police to have virtually sole use of the field. They will try to argue that this is necessary for their operational effectiveness. The local councils (and Hampshire County Council) are a bit more enlightened and are trying to get more open use.

[IO540]

I hope the place opens up. It is in a very good location, in an area very short of GA airfields. An 05/23 runway is also good for the prevailing winds.

[chevvron]

Nipper 1: the only diagram I have access to is in the RAF Minor Airfields guide; from this I would guess when you said 'north east' you actually meant 'north west, because this seems to be the area containing the runway and helipad, presumably the ASU as well, although there appear to be a couple of large hangars just north of the slip on the southern boundary of the airfield.

[nipper1]

Sorry about the confusion. I have put a slice of google earth on my website with what I believe the current boundary of the airfield looks like. It was drawn from memory and without any reference to official sources. I may not have the detail around the control tower exactly correct but it's near enough for a rumour site....

View at www.peterbentleypictures.com/pprune/los.jpg

My feeling is that the 17-35 runway could (note: not will) be made useable but 10-28 is doomed due to the loss of taxiways. While crosswind limits are not of much interest to helicopters, the MCA's intention to operate fixed wing from the field could make reopening 17-35 interesting to them though the new housing on the 17 approach probably makes it unlikely. The brown splodge to the SE of the field is now new houses! That said, if the MCA do not plan to use 17-35, why did they buy it?

05-23 in abrisk north-westerly is an interesting experience.

[chevvron]

A colleague who lives nearby and who used to work there tells me (from the photo): Police ASU operates from the Control Tower on the south side; rescue helicopters from the hangars on the west side; the 'brown' patch to the southeast is now a housing estate; the area on the south east corner of the airfield has been demolished for new married quarters.
He reckons the photo is actually 4 - 5 years old in spite of its 2006 captions!
17/35 would certainly be a good alternate runway; the hangars to the east being (north portion) an HGV training base and (south portion) vintage aircraft storage!

[IO540]

The scenery in both Google Earth and NASA World Wind is several years old, usually. I guess that commonly looked at things like Washington landmarks might be recent but I have checked out some stuff around Europe (that I knew) and it was all about 5 years old.

I bet there are some security issues around this stuff. Some people are not happy about the imagery being available but many more would be seriously unhappy if it was 15 minutes old :O