callum

Hi Guys,

Are there any strips near by? The closest place i can find is Welshpool but that is about 40 miles away.

Thanks
C

2high2fastagain

Aberporth down the coast, is probably closer than Welshpool (about 30 miles). Check with them first about UAV activity though.

Talybont is just north of Aberdovey, but it is surrounded by hills and you will need a briefing. About 35 miles to Aberystwyth.
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magpienja

Talybont about 20mls north by road...approx 450mts grass,

N52 36 747
W004 04 545

Shaggy Sheep Driver

There's a direct and pretty quick train service between Welshpool and Aberystwyth. Fly into Welshpool and get the train from there.

abgd

I asked a similar question a little while back, being based in Aberystwyth.

Welshpool is 56 miles away, which takes about an hour and a half by road or rail. Aberdovey is 35 miles away, which should take fifty minutes to an hour. Unfortunately, Talybont is the wrong Talybont (there's another that's much closer) and whilst it's only about 20 miles away, it's 35 miles by road and will google maps reckons it will take 1 hour 8 minutes to drive.

The website for talybont airfield is Home Page (Peniarth, Gwynedd).

I fly from Welshpool - primarily because the public transport links are much easier. There are trains every 2 hours, and the journey takes about an hour and a half. The airfield is within walking distance of the railway station, though it would be more sensible to take a fold-up bike or taxi. Book taxis in advance - the last time I took one I had to wait for half an hour (Sunday 14.00).

I have wondered whether Aberystwyth is the worst-served major town in the UK for airfields. Although there are places in Scotland that are more remote, airstrips and air ambulances have a much larger role to play there, or such was my impression doing my PPL in Inverness, and quite nice airstrips seem to be scattered around relatively liberally. I enjoy playing 'fantasy airstrips' as I fly around the area.

2high2fastagain

It would certainly be fun if there was a Barra-type strip on the beach at Ynyslas, or a seaplane base at Nant-y-Moch.

And if you read Malcolm Pryce's novels, you'll find out that the Druids managed to get a Lancaster out of Aber.

abgd

Sand at Ynys Las is very soft and at least one aircraft has come to grief as a result. There used to be a house made out of Spitfire packing cases at Borth though.

STATSMAN

2high2fastagain

Just love Macolm Pryce's books there is some truth in his story about the Lanc flying off Plascrug.In the early 1920's my father saw what was the first plane to land at Aber on Plascrug.
I have also used Welshpool but pick up by family.

2high2fastagain

statsman - I can well believe that. Just measured it on Google Earth. If you could take out four or five inconvenient trees, you'd get a good 850m runway at Plas Crug. Now all we need is for someone to apply for a Welsh Assembly Government Grant!

Mind you an EFATO after runway 29 would be pretty ugly

abgd

An airstrip at Plascrug would have made primary school a lot more fun.

Realistically, there are safer places on all of the river valleys upstream on the Rheidol, or towards the Dyfi estuary. I haven't looked at the farmland behind Pendinas with pilot's eyes. There's a lovely flat field there, but I don't recall how good the go-around options are, and I'm not sure how sensitive it would be to wind direction. Probably the Dyfi would be best for safety and suitability for different wind directions. It's close to some environmentally sensitive areas though.

I think there would be takers for some small daily flights to and from London - at present it takes about 7 hours each way, and could be brought down to 2 with a light twin.

The chances of such a thing getting planning permission seem to me close to nil. Aberystwyth is, after all, a place where people come to get away from all that sort of thing. Secondly, I'm broke.

STATSMAN

When I was a kid in the 1950/60's at Ynyslas there where concrete blocks inbedded in the sand with a metal rail on the top. I was told these were for rocket tests like the V1.
By the way a EFATO on 29 would be ok now that they have knocked down the King's Hall!

2high2fastagain

abdg, you are spot on. Aberystwyth (South) International Airport would fit in beautifully there (see pic). A nice 1.3km flat strip. Obviously we'd need a second grant from the Welsh Assembly to get the extension out into the sea so that we could get 747s in. It would even give the commercial pilots that nostalic Kai Tak last-minute turn on late final into 31 to enoy. Just think, all we need is a pile of cash and a few decades of public inquiries!

http://i.imgur.com/O6gSi.jpg

abgd

My old piano teacher lives in Rhydafelin so I think we'd get some noise objections.

I think the best bet is to build a runway out to sea along Sarn Gynfelyn, which lies a mile or two to the North of Aberystwyth. The Sarn is an underwater causeway made out of boulders that were carried by a glacier, which deposited them in a line leading out to sea when it melted at the end of the ice age. Allegedly you can go 10 miles out to sea, get out of the boat and stroll around on the Sarn at low tide.

You could land on an airstrip in the middle of Cardigan bay, then be ferried to shore by a boat. The extra material could be provided by dredging the Rheidol, which would deal with the local flooding issues. I've once seen dolphins that seemed to be herding fish against the side of the Sarn. If the Sarn came completely out of the water, the fish wouldn't be able to swim over it and the dolphins would benefit. And it would be less of a hazard to shipping if it was made into a runway, because then sailors would be able to see it. There would be few noise issues, because you could fly the whole circuit out to sea, and you wouldn't need a fire service because if you ran off the runway you'd end up underwater.

Sarn Gynfelyn - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia