ISTR reading last week in one of the local papers a suggestion that BIH were looking at flying from a new site at St Erth, which, as I'm sure you're aware, is on the the main line into Pz.

It's here too.

And St Erth station is slap bang adjacent to the A30 ..... very good idea!

Not only adjacent to transport connections, but the RSPB bird sanctuary on the Hayle estuary.

Hayle Estuary is in the opposite direction to the Isles of Scilly though.

Good location right by A30 and mainline station.

I must stop agreeing with Phileas Fogg
I must stop agreeing with Phileas Fogg

x 100 times.

I agree GROUNDHOG, he speaks too much truth :(

That's alright then. Must pop round and watch the '61s doing downwind quickstops........

Just train the birds to only take off towards the ocean, much easier!

diginagain,

Where would 'downwind' actually take the helichopper?

Do you know what runway headings any new heliport may have?

Penzance has runway 08/26 but that's probably due to a road or two running alongside the field, and even once any new runway heading may have been decided upon a heliport can then designate left hand or right hand circuits to a runway.

i still think even if the Hayle option comes off that all MX will be done at NQY so the birds would return to NQY every night

cs

Wasn't the BIH plan to move closer to the Scillies rather than further away? This in order to be able to better compete with the fixed wing operator from St. Just?

Talking of birds is that all that flies in to Truro Airfield these days or is that an option? Granted it is not right by the railway but with a short transfer perhaps...?

i drive past truro airfield most days, theres the odd chopper doing scenic flights and some small fixed wings, however the road access is truely awful !

i would very much doubt that it would be an option to be honest with you.

however the more that i think about it the Hayle option sounds quite good, walking distance from the railway station, small terminal building, fire facilities and a hard standing/helipad. fly the choppers in first thing and then back to nqy every night for MX/basing

cs

The chopper's business is to provide road and rail transfers hence why this service has lasted for so long, along with providing 'awaydays' for the islanders to go shopping, hairdressers etc. etc. etc. in a mainland town, until now Penzance.

Between PZE and the Scillies there is no rail, insignificant roads and the only airfield is owned/operated by the chopper's competitor.

I stand to be corrected but I don't think Truro is a licensed airfield.

And why the hell would they build a new heliport facility, free landing/navigation fees, free parking, their own hangar etc, only to position, at great expense, the choppers to/from NQY every night?

Surely though if you had to return to NQY every night you would simply operate a w pattern using the first and last rotations of the day..

GROUNDHOG,

My previous post refers:

The chopper's business is to provide road and rail transfers hence why this service has lasted for so long, along with providing 'awaydays' for the islanders to go shopping, hairdressers etc. etc. etc. in a mainland town, until now Penzance.

The chopper doesn't, never has, nor does it want to operate a NQY route!!!

Phileas, wrt helicopter operations, runway headings are largely an irrelevance. Departure and arrival headings will be dependant on the prevailing wind.

Having said that, I'm sure that someone at BIH will have done an environmental impact survey when looking at the suitability of the St Erth site for their operation.

Phileas, I am aware of that you are preaching to the converted.

Groundhog,

What's going on here is similar to what goes on in other airport threads .... an over enthusiastic airport worker or few taking their work home with them whilst trying to preach that the world cannot survive without their little ol' regional airport. :)

The chopper operates the shortest reasonable distance between two or more suitable landing sites, namely Penzance, St. Mary's and/or Tresco ..... the former airfield of Royal Air Force St. Mawgan does not figure in this equation.

Well this is a Newquay thread after all but totally agree with you that there is no need or reason to operate the chopper from St Mawgan. There is no need from Lands End either. If the service survives it can only be from Penzance or very close to it. Sorry NQY but in the unlikely event it ever did happen it wouldn't last five minutes.

I promise not to repeat it again but NQY will only secure a profitable future by attracting ancilliary aviation related or other businesses. It will not please the spotters but that is the cold hard fact.

Spending millions on a new terminal, expensive consultants or re-arranging the deck chairs is not going to make it profitable.

I disagree Groundhog, NQY could become profitable if they turned it in to a camping & caravan site, holiday accommodation, theme park etc. :)

Obviously the chopper needs a mainland operating base but, even without a new heliport, I agree that operations to/from NQY would kill it, there are a number of airfields in Cornwall and several of them closer to the Scillies, and a railway, than the other side of St. Mawgan airfield.