Well, Welshpool is an R/G airfield.. there are no clearances to land, line-up etc. 'Your discretion' is the phrase. If something went awry, then an ASR is the way, as WWW pointed out. And, Pandora, landing on an occupied runway is perfectly acceptable in certain circumstances.. 'land after', during day VMC ring any bells ??!!
I did a PPL there quite a while back and loved it. I started in March which, with hindsight, wasn't the cleverest of moves due wx, but when we weren't flying the instructors were keen to go through the books, exams etc, or even just talk over an (overpriced !) sandwich and cup of tea about various procedures.
The accomodation was friendly and basic - I got three weeks thrown in back then in 1994, I think, for £2500. Extras were club membership and equipment (maps, whizz-wheel etc). Took me 4 weeks - had to pay for an extra week's accom., but I got to jam guitar with the guy who owned the place and chat up his daughter, so no complaints !
As someone has said, Welshpool doesn't really have much of an 'atmosphere', but if you want to spend your evenings listening to some airforce-flying-suit-clad C152 warrior tell you about the time he nearly (if you buy him/her a beer).. blah blah.. then there are plenty of other choices. If you want to do the course then I couldn't fault the place.
WWW makes the point about R/T and uncontrolled airspace; I found myself a little unprepared for wider forays soon after the course but even when they weren't being paid, the guys sat down and went through it with me. That was then - depends on who is there now I suppose.
The aircraft were serviceable, clean, but ermm 'used'. At that price, what do you expect ? If you want to go touring airways or down to Jersey (as I did soon afterwards), you'll be stretching the limited capabilities of the kit. Some have ILSs, some don't. Some have working VORs, NDBs, some don't. Possibly not the best place to choose an aircraft for a weekend away if you think the wx is going to be lousy, but the emphasis is really on training and local touring in good wx.
Local geography is horrific. If you don't get good initial map and compass training, you're in trouble. 50%+ of calls to D&D by light aircraft are made by aircraft going into Welshpool. One mountain looks like another I guess and I have to admit I dialled up 121.5 on one occasion.
Short runway, challenging topography, lots of crosswinds.. nothing too difficult but it's stuff that sticks with you. The first 30 hours make or break you, they say, as a pilot, and I fly 757s now, 7 years on.
Lucky me.
Thank you Welshpool.
(Tony tried to sell me that Baron, WWW, when I was in the market for a light twin. He ermm forgot to mention its history which I later discovered and I ended up with something else as you know. Just a mild warning to my otherwise positive comments.. it's a business, like any other and they're out to make money, not be nice to you. Use the credit cards as WWW suggests, just in case
)