Hello I am wanting to get back into flying after a 3 year break, recently moved down to the Leicester/Nottingham area and trying to find the best place to fly from.
Had a look around at Leicester Airport and it looks very impressive, also went to Nottingham which was hard to judge as they were shutting up for the day, would flying from EMA be more hassle than its worth?, does anyone else on here fly GA from here, does it take ages taxiing about and having to give way to the big boys? The prices all seem similar between the 3 and im after some local knowledge really if anyone can help?

Leicester is by far your best option!

Rod1

I've flown out of both Leicester and DonAir at East Midlands, and they're both great places that I'm happy to recommend. The main differences relate to the club aspect - Leicester has a really strong and friendly club atmosphere while DonAir is friendly with good people but isn't really a club.

The other big difference is the operating environment - big controlled airport or basic uncontrolled airfield. The former develops confidence from the start in dealing with controllers and big traffic, but can also mess up lessons with delays and long taxi times, plus you're spoilt with a huge runway. The latter is much more dependent on you making your own decisions, circuits can be nice and tight if necessary and you'll be much more confident going into smaller strips, however you might be less confident with dealing with controlled airspace. None of these issues are insurmountable...

I don't really know Nottingham that well, it always seemed pretty quiet when I've been in there. It's probably worth a look to get a feel for yourself. There is also Tatenhill to consider, again not flown there but I have flown with the guys from Central Flight Training and they seem to be very professional in their approach to aviation.

I'm biased, since Leicester is home turf to me. But I've tried to be as fair as possible. Bear in mind your commuting distances too.

Welcome back to flying...

I don't know what the instructors are like at Leicester, but the airfield is pretty decent...have flown in many times - The breakfast is topnotch!

If not Leicester, you could try Nottingham City Airport (Tollerton) or Tatenhill.

I fly from Tatenhill and there is a good bunch of instructors there. Taybird, I think CFT are only doing post-PPL training.

Leicester is suberb. I have been a member for a decade and even though I am based at another airfield I still maintain my membership.

The CFI Dave Biddles is a cracking Instructor and a nice guy. Give him a shout.

Scott C, thanks for that! I thought they did both pre and post. I guess the point still stands that Tatenhill seems to be a place worth considering, although I don't have any relevant personal experience to go by.

I can give you a first hand experience of GA at East Midlands, although bear in mind my current experience levels are that of someone approximately half way through the PPL.

I've had to hold for a max of about 10 minutes, and that was during the lunchtime rush so it really is quite bearable. During circuits I would average about 6 in an hour. Once I only got 3 in, and once I managed 7.

Everyone I come across is very friendly, but there doesn't seem to be much of a club. Having said that I have very little to compare it with other than a trial flight at Derby and Tatenhill. I picked Donair because it was fractionally cheaper, fractionally closer to home but more important to me was that I got on well with the instructor.

Obviously I have no idea how much it would be to base an aircraft there, or if any shares, etc. are available.

Another place to consider would be Derby Airfield at Egginton.

Well I learned to fly In New Zealand at an airport slightly smaller than East Midlands so dealing with ATC etc isnt really a worry, actually found it helped my confidence much more, It's really somewhere just to fly from im after rather than a club I think so will pop up to Donair and have a look around, I was actually suprised to see that the prices there were slightly cheaper for C150 hire, plus the membership fee at Leicester seems a little on the steep side!! Thanks for the Info!

Good man!!

We look forward to welcoming you. :ok:

If your looking for a flying buddy then check the flying buddy book, plenty of experienced guys willing to offer some advice and company!

Is Jim Marren still at Tollerton?

No - now working for the Campaign Against Aviation as an inspector.