Aberporth a.k.a West Wales

[jayemm]

Went to Aberporth (aka West Wales) yesterday and it was well worth it.

It has that Oban feel about it: A very warm welcome from John, who drove out to the runway to clear the birds as I approached then offered tea and cake, then showed us around, then provided a map to Aberporth and so on.

Thanks John for a very warm welcome, and a great history lesson on the site and surrounds.

A great coastline to fly along and an excellent lunch in the Ship Inn making a great day.

Yes you do need to phone PPR before departing, but that's all. It is a simple and welcoming place to fly into.

I recommend it for GA. Will be returning.

[vee-tail-1]

Keep a good lookout for UAVs on your next visit, some of them are quite BIG. :hmm:

[Molesworth 1]

Lovely bit of coastline. I flew over Aberporth en route from Swansea to Welshpool. They were very helpful and obtained clearance for the danger area for me in good time.

Slight misunderstanding which was quite funny:

I asked them if I could route over the airfield at 2000 feet, so I assumed they would know what I meant when I radioed:

"GXXXX - Overhead"

They asked:
"Overhead where and at what altitude?"

I replied:
"Overhead yourselves at 2000 feet"

Said they to an aircraft about to take off just below and in clear view:

"Did you copy that G.....?"

And to me

"Traffic heading north....."

Me:

"Traffic in sight"



http://i446.photobucket.com/albums/qq182/DavidHoul52/20090910_1482_edited-1.jpg
Nearby Cardigan

[jayemm]

Vee-tail-1:

And some of them are very small. The Black Widow is 15gms and flies for 20 mins. I believe that the biggest UAV is 26,000 Kgs and can fly for 22 hours (don't quote me though, I heard this second hand).

But the UAVs are no problem, most often, for GA provided you call PPR before departure. So I was told by both John in the tower and by a regular who was visiting and had never had a problem.

[Nigel Roche]

Hi Molesworth 1

That is a brilliant photo of where I live. Any chance of a copy of the photo?

Nigel

Ps - we are all friendly down here, just slighlty eccentric

[Molesworth 1]

Hi Nigel


Glad you liked my photo.

What a great place to live!

Here is a Flickr link where you can download photos (http://www.flickr.com/photos/davidhouliston/sets/72157622406414897/)I took in the area.


There is an option to show a larger size and download them. (Click the photo and then choose "All Sizes")

[Nigel Roche]

Hi Molesworth 1
Thanks for that. Yes it is a great place to live - a settlement called Gwbert, fantastic sunsets in summer and spectacular storms in winter - and a lot of house maintenance in between.

It is quiet now only the odd light aircraft and the jet trails of commercial traffic going out over St David's Head, we miss the twice daily sonic boom of Concorde that used to blow the attic doors open!

This area has always had UAVs - used to be jindvigs taking off from Harlech and escorted down to this range. We just duck.

Nigel

[Windy Militant]

Nice piccy I was just goint to point out that that's not Cardigan that's the bar between Poppit and Gwbert, but I was beaten by Nigel. :}
edited to add Aberteifi in Flicker set and should you be taking pictures of the OP, I'd forgotten how steep the road up to it was, you really need 4WD to get up there! ;)

I hear that the Tivy side is currently full of righteous indignation about a little take off incident Safety fears after UAV crash at Aberporth (http://4649103Safety fears after UAV crash at Aberporth)

[Molesworth 1]

Thanks for the correction.

OP = observation point?

No way of knowing what it was. Could have been someone's house. Photo taken by my passenger who has since left the country ;)

[Windy Militant]

Hi Molesworth,
IIRC Observation post, at one time I could have told which number that one was. There used to be a chain of them up the coast for the Cameras and Kinetheodolites that were used to track the trials. From what I've heard most of them have been abandoned as they now use auto tracking video cameras which are mobile and positioned where and when required. rather than the fixed sites although they may use the OP sites for parking the trailers.

[Molesworth 1]

Maybe Cadw could open it as a tourist attraction? Must be a lovely view from there.

[Windy Militant]

Maybe Cadw could open it as a tourist attraction? Must be a lovely view from there.
RAE legend of the seventies held that the OP at Llanrhystud had the best views. Apparently there were some very interesting film clips taken there of the nudist beach belonging to the caravan site. :E
Never did get to see either though. :(

[Infadel]

That is a great place I used to live not far from there in the late 1950's early 1960's when they were hurling all sorts in the air, mostly blue streak/blood hound if memory serves me.
We used to sit on the beach and watch, you always heard the siren absolute bliss for a 10 year old, and when back on the farm (outside Newcastle Emlyn) watch the hunters, bucks , and gannets do their stuff down the valley.