Lydd [Archive] - PPRuNe Forums

Fly Stimulator

4th Mar 2004, 19:17

Lydd can be a slightly bleak spot on a windy day, but I like the field itself.

It is notoriously hard to spot from the air, so have a look at some of the pictures of the following sites to get an idea of what you're looking for. There's an exclusion zone around Dungeness which comes very close to the circuit, so you need to take a little care.

Two useful web sites are the ones for Lydd Airport (http://www.lydd-airport.co.uk/) and the Lydd Aero Club. (http://www.lyddaero.co.uk/)

The club is a friendly spot and any visiting pilots are welcome to drop in.

One very good reason for stopping at Lydd if you're on your way to France is that they will sell you fuel VAT-free if you're leaving the UK. Comes to the same in the end as doing the fuel drawback yourself, but saves all the paperwork.

By the way, if there's a strong crosswind you can simply request the use of the unlicensed runway 14/32 - it is not often used but remains available if you want it.

scubawasp

4th Mar 2004, 19:21

Thanks for the info guys, I have'nt heard great things about Lydd (a few years ago) from vbarious people. But I think that was under a different management. Had a look on the website (thanks) and it seems like a lot of work is going on there? Is it quite busy like Shoreham?

FaPoGai

4th Mar 2004, 19:25

It's an even better place to stop over when you are half way to Le Touquet and are refused landing for a couple of hours!

But the all day breakfast alone is worth the visit. It's on a par with Henstridge, see theBacon Buttie thread for more info.
Rgds. FPG

Fly Stimulator

4th Mar 2004, 19:35

Not nearly as busy as Shoreham.

Some had problems with one of the people who used to man the radio at Lydd in the past. Personally I liked his style, but there you are.

FaPoGai,
half way to Le Touquet and are refused landing for a couple of hours!
Ah, the somewhat last-minute NOTAM for their airshow last year perhaps? I was amongst the people waiting at Lydd that day too.

Kolibear

4th Mar 2004, 19:43

Lydd - it' s down there somewhere, but I'm :mad: if I can see it ! ;)

Genghis the Engineer

4th Mar 2004, 20:13

The bratwurst and chips with mayonnaise is good.

G

Can't see it either.

Tango Oscar

4th Mar 2004, 20:15

Personally, I'm not a fan of Lydd. I went there on my QXC, and got a b**locking from the bloke in the tower because I didn't call downwind, when I definately did.

I cross the channel fairly regularly now, and use Lydd for traffic information and have had a very good sevice recently, so maybe the personnel has changed.

It's not worth stoping at Lydd for fuel if you pay a wet rate. Much better to pay the duty, and claim the drawback, so you get the money yourself rather than the group/club.

S-Works

4th Mar 2004, 20:35

Tango Oscar,

I am not sure that is the case. Every club I have rented from (which is quite a few!) and filled up tax free has refunded the fuel at there own pump rate. The few times I have been via Lyd in rented aircraft rather than my own I have paid tax free but been refunded club pump price.

I also travel to Guernsey in the twin on a regular basis and we fill up there tax free and always get refunded at local pump prices. Makes a lot more sense than the time waiting for C&E to process the paperwork and cough up the lolly!

Tango Oscar

4th Mar 2004, 22:47

Bose-x

You may well be correct. I've only rented from one club, and only been a member of one group (my current group). I never went cross chennel with a club aircraft, but I definately remember other members filling out drawback forms. My group only reimburse what the receipt says, so I always go for the expensive stuff, and have the hassle of claiming back the money from C&E.

I agree it's better to get the duty free stuff if you can get reimbursed at the 'normal' price.

IO540

5th Mar 2004, 02:45

Tango Oscar

Much better to pay the duty, and claim the drawback, so you get the money yourself rather than the group/club.

This is a VERY BAD thing to do; at best it betrays the trust the plane owners/operators have in you (because you are returning the plane with some fuel on which the reclaim cannot be done again until sufficient UK-purchased fuel has been put in to displace all the fuel with which you came back), and at worst they will in honest ignorance do the reclaim again and risk getting turned over by HM Customs.

I had two people (both instructors) do this to me before I discovered its popularity :O Fortunately nothing happened.

Any owner/operator with half a brain will have a rule prohibiting renters from doing their own drawback claims. He should of course pass on the saving - few if any schools do this because it's handy extra profit....

The exception to the above might be if you are doing a long enough trip abroad to use up the whole tank contents out there, and the owner agrees.

Also the current drawback rate is 0.281 which gives you a better return than simply not being charged VAT.

Chilli Monster

5th Mar 2004, 03:20

Also the current drawback rate is 0.281 which gives you a better return than simply not being charged VAT.

Not to mention another, simple economic fact which no-one has mentioned.

If you fill up at Lydd you only get VAT free fuel on what you put in (which will possibly cover the landing fee).

however

If you claim back drawback you claim it for the capacity of your tanks if you departed full (and you'd be a schmuck not to).

More money back, plus no extra landing fee paid out :D

ACW 335

5th Mar 2004, 03:30

There was some french dude on the Lydd radio in the summer :ugh: The english guy had to take over...!!

Lydd is lovely - restaurant is nice! Make sure you are familiar with the airfield and how to join..its rather unusual and there are quite a few danger areas close by. Lydd can also be hard to spot on some days coming from the west.

parris50

5th Mar 2004, 06:30

Did my PPL QXC landing at Lydd a couple of years ago. Everything and everyone was fine.

On another occasion, on a choppy day, I had to land there after a passenger had puked. I call up on the radio, explaining the situation (I didn't have PPR), and they did everyhting could to help, even providing me with a bucket, sponge and disinfectant to clean out the plane.

As for the tower, they have always been friendly.

Watch out for the non-standard join into the circuit though and , yes, keep well away from Dungeness power station.

5th Mar 2004, 08:59

Chilly Monster is right, of course, about the drawback. Im afraid there is a lot of "duff gen" in the earlier posts!!

If you refuel you will ONLY get the "duty free" on the quanitity you buy and NOT the whole lot.

I suppose there is some convoluted way that you can claim the balance from HM Customs, but god knows how!

The simple way to get it all is, of course, to claim it all fom HM Customs. It is simpler than you think, and it always comes in a few weeks.

UV

Tango Oscar

5th Mar 2004, 15:59

IO540

In our group, we always assume the last person to cross the channel has claimed the drawback, and we keep an accurate record of fuel uplifted. So its easy, you just claim on any fuel that has been uplifted since the last foreign flight(upto full tanks). Our Robin holds 242 litres - which makes full drawback £68. Over an hour's worth of free flying !!:ok:

Papa Charlie

5th Mar 2004, 16:16

I have never had problems with anything about Lydd - other than finding it of course! (Would make it a lot easier if the LYD VOR was on the airfield!)

A couple of year's ago I flew there on a grey, miserable Sunday lunchtime. I was probably the only plane flying that day. Went into the "Biggles Restaurant" and it was packed out. Full of ex-RAF WWII peeps by the looks of their moustaches! They were having a reunion WWII get together. Great atmosophere!

There are some great photos of the cross channel car-carriers from the 60's flying to Le Touquet.

MikeJeff

5th Mar 2004, 17:45

It's a complete and utter dump!!

IO540

5th Mar 2004, 17:49

Lydd is an odd place. I remember going there 2-3 yrs ago and they were saying it would close for 2-3 months in the following December because some cheap airline would use it as a base, and use coaches to ferry passengers to/from Gatwick, and it was going to be rebuilt, ILS put in, etc. Nothing has happened though, possibly because the place is so hard to get to by land.

I gather they used to have an ILS until fairly recently and then sold it. That's a shame because the absence of terrain would make it an ideal south east coast bad weather diversion; now one has Southampton / Bournemouth only.

Re the fuel drawback, it is difficult to make it completely fair. Certainly, the last overseas-flight pilot pocketing the whole drawback is great for him (the drawback can pay for the whole flight!) at the expense of subsequent flights.

ESSEX BOY

5th Mar 2004, 19:32

London Ashford :mad: hole International !

It is a bit of a dump ... especially if your thinking of flying in for fun, the restaurant is ok, but fairly average.

But the landing fees are a bit of a rip off, if you ask them why i think they said something about maintenance of the High Visibility PAPI's ??? (It was CAVOK)

grass growing through the tarmac ... and generally not all that nice !

But other than that its GREAT !

:ok:

SteveR

5th Mar 2004, 19:59

Lydd is, in truth, a bit of a dump - and not a particularly good stop off for X-channel trips:
* Manston is a better radio service - most of the time you can get radar info so they can at least see all the other traffic (who might be working other frequencies) - Lydd can only tell you about people working them.
* Take off from Lydd, and you're faced with a dog leg towards Dover for the climb-out, or full power climb out over the sea.
* All that has been said about drawback is true. Their tax free fuel is all well and good, but you get 28.1 pence per litre back from the Chancellor if you pay full price.
* The landing fee makes your eyes water. (Hint, you can get a reduction for a training flight).
* Mobile phone coverage is lousy - you have a hell of a job using orange to call ahead for weather reports.

(Depending on where you're coming from.) Rochester on the other hand has cheap landings, cheap fuel, easy flight plan filing, broadband access in the caff, fantastic catering, is handy for Manston and is far enough away from the coast to get to flight-level-oh-my-gawd in time for the crossing without straining the engine overmuch.

Steve (bacon sarnies'r'us) R

ACW 335

6th Mar 2004, 00:00

I paid £9 to land at Lydd...got student discount because i was 18 and under! ;)

FaPoGai

6th Mar 2004, 01:44

Greetings all

FLY Simulator
Yes I cannot deny it; it was moi there at the same time as you. But the wait was worth it for the fantastic week-end in Le Touquet.

Pannis50
Thanks for the info on the Power Stn. I did notice that but whilst avoiding it flew straight thru the ranges. Fortunatly, they have very poor aim!!

Mike Jeft
Unfair.

Rgds. FPG

Thirty06

6th Mar 2004, 07:36

Does anyone know what became of the flying school at Lydd called soemthing like Skyflight academy ?

They advertised a really low rate (about 75GBP per hour in a C150). I phoned up and was told to try again in a month beecause the Cessna was in for an engine rebuild. I tried to locate them again and had no joy.

ISTR that a bunch of planes came up for sale at about that time, possibly they'd got the maths wrong.

2Donkeys

6th Mar 2004, 15:43

IO540 wrote:
I gather they used to have an ILS until fairly recently and then sold it. That's a shame because the absence of terrain would make it an ideal south east coast bad weather diversion; now one has Southampton / Bournemouth only.

"Kirstie" is something of an expert on Lydd, but even I can fill in on this bit of detail.

There was an ILS with associated instrument approach procedures during the 1980s when SECOAT (South East College of Air Training) was based there and Instrument Rating Tests were routinely flown from Lydd.

Times changed, SECOAT disappeared and the ILS was sold to another well-known field. The current management are still attempting to make a go of Lydd, from an admittedly low base. This has included the installation of the "new" tower and the purchase and installation of a new ILS. The trouble is, in the intervening years, the Lydd Ranges have grown in vertical extent, the power station TRA has appeared, and the surveying of instrument approach procedures and associated airspace has become much more accurate.

The net result is that a conventional ILS approach procedure cannot be accommodated within the constraints of the airspace.

Doubtless the management at Lydd are working with the powers that be to fix that problem, but it all costs time and money.

2D

Static Thrust

6th Mar 2004, 17:07

Lydd is a very friendly field with an excellent Restaurant for either a cup of coffee or a meal when you are in the area. Don't let the external appearance of the place put you off! Been there many times in the past myself.

ST

:ok:

kissmysquirrel

8th Mar 2004, 14:35

Lydd is a strange place. One radio operator last year was difficult to understand but arriving by helicopter is easy enough if you come in over the golf course and depart that way.
I haven't tried the cafe but the best part for me was having to go and pay the landing fee. Just seeing the girl behind the desk makes the trip worthwhile but maybe I shouldn't say that. (very petite and quite cheeky, with dark hair and fantastically painted fingernails!) Don't know her name.

Airport itself looks pants from the outside.

CSX001

8th Mar 2004, 14:56

Lydd

Very enthusiastic management I'm told, but very slow when it comes to getting things done. The ILS has been there for ages, but where are the procedures, the ATCOs, the improvements to the terminal etc etc etc. It can only be a matter of time before the whole lot just implodes on itself.

As for the girl... I know exactly who you mean, I was there with a student last year. Maybe it's a woman thing, but I didn't see the attraction. She just looked bored out of her tiny mind. We were treated with total indifference.

Charlie
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