Flew in last year with mate for the Devon strut flyin and stayed the night before. Fantastic place, camped under the wing, Pub
and beach only a few minutes away, not too many tourists as it's not that accessible, my idea of a perfect weekend away, we are all very lucky to have something like this in the UK and lets not forget it!
Now the exciting bit. We took a Cub in, they ground is fairly rough but not as bad a some would have you believe but its no bowling green for sure! The strip is humped with the crest in the centre and numerous undulations, it had been cut for the fly-in but the grass was still fairly long and the cut section narrow, this really helped to define the strip and was a sensible idea for the fly-in. Because of the cliffs there can be a certain amount of turbulence and you do need to be up on you STOL skills, nail the approach speed, no float and land, no problems if you are used to short rough strips, short being less than 300yrds and unprepared, not the 400yrd bowling greens that people think is STOL
.
The vast majority of crates that flew in were vintage taildraggers and microlights for good reason, nose wheels will take a hammering. I did see a 152 on the ground but missed the landing, likewise we had left early so missed the take off, assume they got out alright and were not remotely phased by taking a 152 in, each to their own
! Looking at the AAIB Lundy has had its fair share of incidents, last two I think were a C172 and RV, thankfully the occupants were ok. If you have any problems or go tech you will have to sort yourself out, hate to point out the obvious but Lundy is effectively a field in the middle of the sea, it's airfield engineering facility is limited!! Also don't forget about the fickle weather, the forecast was excellent when we went and woke up in the morning to a sea fog that covered the whole island
it did clear quite rapidly though. My advice is so long as you have the skill and right aircraft go for it, it's a fantastic experience and plenty of fun, just don't sulk if it goes wrong!
