nearest GA friendly field to.....

[tu154]

I'm shortly to embark on an epic hour building trip in a trusty R22, and am hoping to meet up with various mates who live in the UK. I'm only familiar with the geography in the vaguest sense, and while i wait on the Pooleys guide and charts to be delivered, could anyone tell me the closest GA friendly airfield to: Portsmouth, Newcastle, Teeside, and Aberdeen.
Thanks!

[foxmoth]

Portsmouth would be Goodwood or Southampton, Goodwood is slightly closer and probably more GA than SOU.
(Lee-on-Solent would be closer still if you could get in there and go across on the Gosport Ferry).
All your others have their own airfields that can be used by GA, Newcastle and Teeside I believe are GA friendly though I have not been in by light aircraft myself for many years, don't know a lot about Aberdeen and GA.

[Bravo73]

If you're in an R22, why bother with airfields??? (Other than for fuel, of course!)

There are numerous 5 star hotels, pubs and other sites which are very helicopter friendly. John Frost's 'Helicopter Sitefinder' and Flyer's 'Book of Helicopter Landing Sites' are a couple of good places to start looking. (Both should be available to purchase from Transair or also should be available from most heli training schools).

But to actually answer your question (and following on from foxmouth), try Fishburn for Teeside (2.3nm NNW of Sedgefield, Co. Durham, according to Pooleys), Culter Helipad (5.5nm SW of Aberdeen Airport) might be better for Aberdeen than the airport itself (and 100LL is available), Newcastle City Helipad (2nm from the city centre - although not 100% sure if 100LL is available) and Goodwood are all alternatives.


Hope this helps,

B73

[Evil J]

Not sure if they take heli's as they are very noise conscious, but Insch is one of the nicest airfields I've ever been to and is not that far from Aberdeen (and certainly cheaper to land!!)

[Flik Roll]

Southampton has a landing fee of around 25quid and is no way comparable as a GA airfield to Goodwood. If you fancy sitting in a terminal having a coffee go to Southampton and if you would rather sit airside on a bench watching the action and enjoying the sun go to Goodwood!
Goodwood is heli friendly as well

[airborne_artist]

Could an R22 pop in to Lee-on Solent?

Edit:

No, not unless you've PPR from Coastguard or Bristows, and £27.5 M of indemnity insurance.

What a waste of a a good airfield.

More info here (http://www.fleetairarmarchive.net/Daedalus/Flying21stcentury.html)

[foxmoth]

Another place for a Helo might be Fleetlands, but I suspect they are even harder to get into than L-on-S.:(

[Grainger]

Hey, tu - you'd be welcome to drop into Cumbernauld on your way past. You can probably also pick up fuel at Kintore in the Aberdeen zone - pm me for more details.

When are you going ?

G :cool:

[BRL]

Goodwood is miles away from Portsmouth. I would get them to come to you at the airfeild. Otherwise it is a cab ride to the station then a crap train ride for half an hour or so each way. It would be far better if they drove up to you. Or go to Southampton!

[foxmoth]

then a crap train ride for half an hour or so each way.
Much the same from SOU - you just save the cab ride.

[airborne_artist]

Does the poster really want to go to Portsmouth, anyway? If his mate lives there he'd be glad of a day out! Can't think of anywhere much nicer than Goodwood at this time of year. If all he wants is a friendly patch of turf to land on, then PM me, and I can direct him to somewhere even more tranquil, and closer to Portsmouth, which will cost him a bottle of Scotch and no more.

The IOW is pretty close to Pompey, also, unless flying over the wet stuff is a no no.

[Flik Roll]

Bembridge is a lovely airfield, the old dude in the tower has the most interesting approach to RT:ok: and the cafe is ok and the walk to the beack ain't too bad.

[muffin]

Bravo 73

Where can you get the 'Book of Helicopter Landing Sites' you mention? I have had a look on Transair, Flyer and Amazon and can't find it. Do you have an ISBN number?

[tu154]

flippin 'eck, i go away for a few hour and this!!

I plan to be doing this probably between june 18th and 27th.

yep, pompey is a must. have to see what it's like dahn sarf. The bottle of scotch for a square of grass sounds good, will get in touch closer to the time, but talking to my mate it looks goodwood is 20 minutes drive from him.
The IOW has been suggested to be by someone else as a good trip though. No problem over water, perhaps that is due to inexperience on my part? Do also have a lifejacket in the package being delivered.

i also have the sitefinder in the post from pooleys, should get to look at it in a week or so when I get home, but local knowledge is always the best starting point I find.

Please bear in mind I have no idea where these airfields are when you refer to them by name, so 'close to so and so' would be appreciated.

Thanks,
TU.

[Bravo73]

muffin,

I certainly do. It's ISBN 0952789817. Amazon.co.uk reckon they can get hold of it (http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0952789817/qid%3D1117715773/202-6859788-8655038).

Although I must warn you, the copy that we've got was published in 1998 (pre-Multimap days) and is a little long in the tooth. It would ideally be updated but, unfortunately, I'm not sure if there's enough of a demand for it to be so.

I understand that you're based quite close to the folks at East Midlands Helicopters. Ask them - they should be able to help you out.


tu154,

re so 'close to so and so' would be appreciated. - I tried to give you geographic positions on all the sites to try and help you out. All distances are direct from the Pooleys guide. However, please remember that Pooley's is only a guide. Most of their info comes from the AIP, which can be found online at www.ais.org.uk. Register (it's free) and you can get all this info, online, direct from the 'horse's mouth', so to speak!


Regards,

B73


PS Aberdeen is a long, long, long way away from the rest of the world in an 80kts R22! I'd personally think about taking an Easy 737... :E

[EddieHeli]

quote
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PS Aberdeen is a long, long, long way away from the rest of the world in an 80kts R22! I'd personally think about taking an Easy 737
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He's hours building so that should rack some up. Did it myself in a microlight in the days of the Granite City Rally, nice flight.

Re Newcastle, the city heliport has no avgas, but Newcastle Airport is helicopter friendly, I did my H rating there as the first customer of Northumbria Helicopters.

Teeside is also OK, but Fishburn much friendlier (and cheeper).

[tu154]

thanks again for all the help.

[clearfinalsno1]

TU154,

Newcastle International (EGNT) itself hosts a busy helicopter flying school - http://www.northumbria-helicopters.co.uk/ who may be able to advise you on fees at the airport. From here you can get a train (the Tyneside Metro), bus or taxi into the city centre - 20 mins.

Also you might want to consider Elwood which is about 15nm to the west of EGNT http://www.northumbria.com - its a bit difficult to get into Newcastle - you'd probably have to get a lift a few miles south to Hexham and then get the train.

[Brooklands]

TU154,

Given the dates you're planning to do this on, and assuming you haven't already, you ought to check This Thread (http://www.pprune.org/forums/showthread.php?threadid=177215) about restrictions in the Solent area between the 22nd June and 3rd July.

Brooklands

[justinmg]

Whilst I`m sorry I cant remember who to credit for the original set of links, this may be helpful for planning. Just use control+f to search for places.
http://www.justinmg.karoo.net/sub_pages.htm

[tu154]

I am aware of the restrictions, but am unable to register for AIS as it requires a UK postcode for registration. Where I'm from we don't use them. I'm sure I will come up with one at some point.