Distance you travel to Fly

[jonnoboy]

Merry Christmas all!

I am curious to know how far you all travel to get to the airfield you most frequently fly from?

The reason i ask is that i am looking to join a syndicate and at present am only only half an hour away (23 miles) from the airfield in question which is fine, but i will be moving further away (50 miles min, therefore 1 hour min) in 6 months or so due to a job change. I am still keen but can't help wandering whether it will be too far to travel on a regular basis.


Thanks

Jonnoboy

[Rupert S]

about 15-20 miles for me - takes 20-30 mins to get there

[undertheweather]

86 miles each way, door to door, a total of over 170 miles. A bit of a bind at times, but worth it to fly at a nice, friendly grass airfield close to lots of uncontrolled airspace

[Shaggy Sheep Driver]

Get a bike:)

Enjoyable and fast blast to the airfield, go flying, with the blast home to enjoy as well:ok:

SSD

[Chilli Monster]

I live 2 hours / 135 miles from where my aircraft share is based. I'm in a job which requires me to work some weekends.

End result - I've not flown it since the 10th of October (IMC renewal)

Draw your own conclusions :{

[S-Works]

I live about 300 metres from mine (and a 1000m tarmac runway and another 700m grass half a mile away) during the summer generally, in the winter it lives at its permanant hanger which is about 15-20 mins drive (car or bike!). When we get a hanger here it will be here all year round.

We also have another airfield about 2 miles away that has both tarmac and grass and POL which I am able to use.

The best part of looking out the window on a summers evening is the opportunity of walking up to the plane and off we go!

We are very lucky I have at least 6 airflields and strips that I am able to use within 5 minutes of home and a further 4 that are within 20 minutes.

I am impressed by the dedication of you guys who drive a couple of hours each way to fly. I could not imagine being that far away from mine as it would ceratinly curtail my flying hours.

[Rod1]

I have found my limit is 1 hour. I tend to fly most of the day touring, so 1 hour to the airfield works well for me. On the two occasions I tried for more I was very tired on the way home and if the weather was marginal I tended not to go, with the result my yearly hours fell by 1/3.

Rod1

[englishal]

40 odd miles, takes between 50min - 1 hr, which can be a real bind......

Hoping to get onto a farm strip 4 miles from my house though :D

Cyer

[FlyingForFun]

About 10 miles - 15/20 mins - from my home airfield.

However, I am currently in the process of choosing a school at which to do a Flying Instructor Rating. I seem to have narrowed it down to two. One is at my home airfield - very close and convenient. The other is about 90 miles - an hour and a half - away. I'm not sure whether or not the advantages of the second school are sufficient to warrant travelling such a long way.....

I am extremely jealous of anyone who answers this question by saying that they live at their home airfield!

FFF
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[Deano777]

I do a 75 mile round trip to mine (Bristol International) it takes 45 minutes each way, why I do this I will never know lol, Filton is only a 15 minute drive for me, and Gloucestershire Airport is only 30 minutes but is further than BRS, ah well, I blame the missus for buying me the trial lesson at BRS a few years ago :)

Dean.

[Dop]

It takes me just over an hour. But that's because I don't have my own transport.
So there's a 20 minute walk to East Croydon, then a tram ride to the end of the line at New Addington, a 10 minute wait for the bus service that only runs every half hour, then a short bus ride to Biggin Hill.

Coming back is usually longer as I have a tendency to leave just five minutes too late for a bus, with a long wait for the next and nothing to do in the meantime.

[Dusty_B]

About 15 minutes for me.
Generally the decider about whether to go flying or not boils down to can I be arsed to spend 20 minutes each side of the flight getting her out, in and the paperwork completed!

I don't mind that sort of thing, but my pax get agitated once the fun is over... and I can't get her back in the hangar by my self.

[dmjw01]

I live about 30-35 minutes' driving time away from Redhill, which isn't too bad but I really envy people who can walk to the airfield or drive just 10 minutes. Fairoaks is probably a smidgen closer to me, but the roads are slower so it still takes about half an hour.

[Max AirFactor]

15 minutes for me at present. Come the summer I may be looking for for a share somewhere but will restrict the choice to within 45 minutes. I know how depressed I get driving just 15 mins to find the aircraft 'unavailable' or the weather turned.

[AIRWAY]

Hello There,

About 45-50 minute drive each way to get to the Airfield where i fly, which is Stapleford.

JP

[jonnoboy]

AIRWAY,

The syndicate i am looking at is based at Stapleford. I currently live in Hatfield and is not too far, but will be moving to Cambridge soon. I would have thought that the time taken from there would be about 50 mins also. How do you find driving that distance? looking at some of the replies, it seems not far from average!

[AIRWAY]

Hi jonnoboy,

driving from London to Stapleford sometimes can be quite a challenge traffic wise, but i tend to fly early morning the weather is more stable. Has for the 50m drive it´s not a bother at all if there´s no traffic.

I have a friend who also live´s in Hatfield who is doing the PPL at Stapleford as well nice area.

Good luck with the re-location :ok:

[TheKentishFledgling]

By public transport, about 50-60 minutes.

By car, about 30 minutes.

tKF

[maggioneato]

65 Miles each way. There are airfields closer to home, but nothing as nice as the one I travel to. Worth every mile, good job I like driving. Just hoping for the weather tomorrow to take myself down there.

[PeterJfrancis]

I drive 50 miles each way (Gravesend to Manston) or at least I did before the £££ ran out for my NPPL :-(
I didn't find it too bad as the drive down helps me get into the right frame of mind exercise(s) I'm going to do and the drive back helps me unwind.
Anyway the facilities @ Manston are so good it's worth the trip.

[Algirdas]

Hour and a quarter for me. Bit too far really - the drive is OK, the real problem is that a). if the weather looks marginal, I tend not to go, and b). if I get there, and the weather is marginal, the temptation is to err on the side of getting airborne, when it may be wiser not to.
I envy Bose-X!

[Kingy]

My field is erm.. 35.6miles away (once a geek...!) I used to have a place only 1 mile away, but with the presures of work I found I was only spending the odd night there so it was getting expensive. In truth, I quite enjoy the drive - once I get over the Severn bridge everything seems to shift down a gear.

I live in a very urban inner city area (alright ghetto) and it always makes me smile when I arrive back home that no-one has he faintest clue what I've been up to... He He

Kingy

[Tiger_ Moth]

About 80 miles on tube, rail and legs: takes about 2.5 - 3 hours each way. Worth it.

[djk]

Not sure on the exact distance, it's a 10 minute walk to the tube station, then about 30 minutes on the tube to Victoria from where I am in South London and if I catch the fast train it's another 45 minutes to Chatham and then a short bus ride to Rochester.

[AIRWAY]

bus ride to Rochester.

I do my nav exercises to Rochester, normaly Stapleford - Rochester - Southend - Stapleford to start off. Nice view from above :ok:

[CPilotUK]

I live in North West London which is about 26 miles from White Waltham airfield. I chose to train at WW because it is only 9 miles from where I work in Wokingham Berkshire. This is very convenient for training after work.

Elstree Aerodrome is about 6 miles, approximately 10 minutes from where I live and I have visited there a couple of times with the intention to join their flying club, should I decide to work in London again. It is a difficult decision because WW is an excellent club in my opinion and I have met some good friends there.

[SKYYACHT]

I do 70 miles each way to fly out of Shoreham. Its worth it because its a nice field, with Instrument procedures, and a hard runway for when its grotty. Floor of the TMA is FL55+ so room for manouevre. In the car after work, it takes me 75 to 80 minutes from LHR - mind you I leave work at 1430!

As Shaggy says - get a bike. I enjoy a good blast down to the field - arrive with flies stuck to my teeth, and then aviate, then blast back home.....rounded off with a curry, and a couple of beers........mmmmm!




What more can a bloke want?


Happy 2004.



Tailwinds and Blue Skies!

[camaro]

Only about 5 miles by road - less than ten minutes drive - from Netherthorpe.

[Charlie Zulu]

Hi All,

Since passing my driving test and buying a new car a couple of months ago, the time to travel the same distance to the airport has reduced considerably.

My routine used to be thus:

Five minute walk to bus stop. Then a 45 minute bus ride into the City Centre.

Depending on when I got to the bus station, the bus could have been there or there may have been an hours wait for the next airport bus. Then it would have been a 40 minute bus ride to the south side of the airport and then a five minute walk to the flying club.

So Monday to Saturday it would have taken anywhere between 1.5 hours and 2.5 hours (if I was uncluky and missed the hourly bus to the airport).

Sunday was worse as the airport bus was every two hours!!! Just like someone else on here I've had many a long wait for leaving the flying club 5 minutes too late and seeing the bus pass me by.

The routine now:

30-35 minutes by car from my house to the flying clubs restaurant with a hot chocolate on table in front of me.

A lot better!!!!!

Oh yes the distance is around 20 miles mostly dual carriage way / motorway or 50 mile an hour roads if by car, but by bus would have been via normal 30 mile an hour roads to and from the city centre.

Best wishes,

Charlie Zulu.

[AerBabe]

Currently I'm 2 hours drive from my home airfield (Coventry). I'm considering Popham now, which is 1 hour away, so I can fly slightly more frequently.

[Tall_guy_in_a_152]

I normally fly in the afternoon as both my 'home' airfields are liable to mist lingering in the morning, so I go from work. Redhill is about 10 miles and takes 20 minutes, Shoreham is 30 miles in under 30 minutes, with fast roads all the way. The drive home from Redhill is only 15 minutes, but Shoreham is 45 minutes.

Not too bad really.

TG.

[Saab Dastard]

Currently flying from Fairoaks, which is about 20 miles from home - usually about 20 - 30 minutes, depending on time of day / week.

It's even closer to work (Woking) - 15 minutes desk to apron! That is the reason that I did all my training at Fairoaks (and long lunch breaks) ;)

Seriously thinking about moving this year, so I don't know where I'll be flying from (or indeed what!).;)

SD

[VFR800]

Sunny Bristle to Kemble, 'bout 45 miles, takes an hour if no tractors get in your way, but well worth it! :)

[Shanwick Shanwick]

750mn to fly for work and about 5200nm to fly for pleasure depending on the routing we use to get there. I only fly in Torrance for pleasure as it's so much cheaper!