"There is an M20J based at Booker and it doesn't seem to have a problem operating from there off the hard and another one comes in for maintenance no probs."
Well good for them! and good for the PC-12 crew! Mine is an M20R (long body). I have been in to places with short runways before but would need to be pretty light to get in and out. I am also very spoiled having flown in to Oshkosh a couple of times and sun'n fun and been at Friedrichshafen this April and heading for Paris Airshow later this month.
I would need all of 700m and having 35m as a fall back is just too tight a margin for me - it's just my personal preference. I understand that Fairoaks (which has more runway than Booker) has had 2 Mooney overruns in the last few years (they told me after I landed).
With short (less than 800m for my Mooney) or grass runways I much prefer the chopper but there is no autopilot and over an hour each way would have been a little wearing.
I went to Polzeath instead on Sunday (with the family in the R44 landing at Roserrow). We did the Royal Cornwall Show at Wadebridge on Friday afternoon using the private landing site there so I have been pretty busy basking in the sunshine at this end of the country.
I hope the show was good.
Happy days
SB