Hi Phil
I've flown Shoreham to Blackpool a few times now. Its quite an exhilarating trip to make. Expect to be pretty tired by the time you get back, particularly if you do the ILS at BPL (which is not charged for). The TWR and OPS (the fire brigade) are very helpful and fuel is comparatively cheap there.
As far as advice goes poetpilot & long final have given good advice. My comments would be:
(a) At weekends expect Warton and Shawbury LARS to be closed. Hang on to Brize 'til they can't help you any more, call Birmingham APP for FIS but don't expect to hear much from them. If you go the coast route call Hawarden APP then Liverpool, Woodvale, then BPL APP.
(b) The coastal route from Point to BPL is quite a significant water crossing with little chance to glide to a safe landing place if you have an engine failure. (Remember the class A 2000' upper limit due to am airway into Liverpool).
(c) If you use low level corridor expect it to be quite bumpy.
(d) Be careful around the North of the Oxford area - It gets busy with several types of activity (parachuting, gliders etc), in addition there are a few restricted areas you'll need to navigate around. Once you get clear of here though, the trip becomes more relaxing.
Good Luck, take care
Fujiflyer
