Suggestions for Worthwhile airfeild visits in the UK

[fst13]

Ive just completed my PPL and im trying to think of some real fun places to visit, done my ppl from gloucester so i dont really wanna visit the normal cardiff, filton, shobdon, wolverhampton, etc. Moved up to wellsbourne for hour building. Just after some suggestions on fun places to fly to. With the time of year and the english weather being as it has im kinda iffy about grass runways at the minute, but all suggestions are welcome.

[captain_flynn]

Cranfield is nice and busy. Maybe thats one you can consider. :ok:

[Fright Level]

im kinda iffy about grass runways at the minute, but all suggestions are welcome

Depends what's under the grass. Some grass airfields on a chalk base are no problem all year round. Old Sarum (http://www.nats-uk.ead-it.com/aip/current/ad/EGLS/EG_AD_2_EGLS_2-1_en.pdf) is a good example.

How about Bembridge? Tarmac and feels like your first "foreign" flight as it's not attached to the mainland?

There should be some good flying this weekend but maybe take an instructor with you as it may be marginal VFR. You can fly in vis down to 3km and you'd be surprised just how low that is if all your training was done in +10km. It's worth getting confidence with weather below 10km just to avoid scrubbing flights because there is a cloud in the sky or <10k vis. I'm not suggesting you fly right to your own limits, but it's worth a "looksee" in say 5k's to see what the world looks like when you can only see less than two minutes flying time ahead of you.

[scooter boy]

St Mary's Isles of Scilly,
Guernsey,
Jersey,

There are plenty of interesting places to fly to in the Southwest, the biggest kick is making a journey that you just couldn't do in a car and that would be a huge pain using public transport, hence my island fixation.

SB

[BackPacker]

Duxford

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[tuscan]

If you are eventually going commercial you will need to get the long P1 route behind you and a visit to us up in Bonny Scotland wouldn`t do you any harm.

In the central belt weve got some great asphalt runways for winter flying like Fife, Kirknewton (a bit bumpy) or a wee bit further North to Perth and Dundee.

You could go wild and visit the Western Isles, Tiree,Coll,Colonsay the list goes on. Oban on the mainland is a cracking place to Visit.

Scotland can be great in the winter. Try stopping in Inverness and basing yourself there for a few days, then you can check out Wick and the Orkney Islands.Only an hour from Oban too.

[gsora]

Rufforth (York) home of the York gliding centre, good ashphalt r/w 18/36, and avgas, 129.975 ga radio.

cheers

[140KIAS]

If you're looking for something a bit longer then the smaller strips on the west coast of Scotland are a must.

Coll, Collonsay, Oban, Glenforsa & Plockton are all gems.

Depending upon what you are flying you might also wish to consider Bute and Gigha.

The are also the bigger airfields such as Islay & Tiree.

Spring is usually the best time for the weather.

Sorry Tuscan, just scrolled up and read you post after submitting this one. It not total repitition though.

[dwshimoda]

Cranfield is nice and busy. Maybe thats one you can consider.

Although it is stupidly expensive to land at, and the only thing to do is visit Cafe P - it's not one I'd put high on my list.

As mentioned, Duxford is fantastic - you can go round the museum, and there's bound to be something exotic flying.

Kemble is great (and has a good restaurant - AV8) although it might be a bit close for you.

Other good little airfields are Sleap, Tatenhill, and West Wales. This is all part of the fun of your new licence - enjoy it! (and congratulations - well done!)