I flew into half a dozen RAF aerodromes last year on business, all without problem. Yes there are differences in r/t, and yes landing fees are expensive. But you may get ground transport thrown in if its a long hike to wherever you are going on the field. I never had any problems of conflicting with military traffic; the controllers were perfectly happy to slot a C172 in with Nimrods, Hercs and all sorts of hot jets.
This year I have been (for fun) to Yeovilton to see the RNAS museum. I was offered a PAR approach (sorry, recovery) and found it no problem. I was amazed by the size of the radar room, with talkdown, approach, lars, all apparently duplicated. Also been to Cosford, again to visit the Museum, on a brilliant VFR day. Very relaxed and friendly people at both sites.
24 hrs PPR is required, plus proof of Crown Indemnity insurance if you want to avoid the £8.50 + VAT.
However, awareness of other traffic can be a consideration. You can hear some controllers on VHF when they transmit on UHF (but can't hear the aircraft reply); in other cases you can't hear either side of the UHF r/t.
You can buy books of terminal charts used by the RAF covering military and the main civil airfields from:
No 1 AIDU, RAF Northolt. Telephone 020 8833 8209 to get a catalogue, or visit the website
[email protected]
Regards