Private flying West Midlands

[Prunella_Pye]

Hi guys,

I will be moving to the West Midlands area (near Coventry) in a couple of weeks time and i will be wanting to continue my flying whilst I am there.

Does anyone in the area know the best local airfields in terms of ac hire rates etc? I would ideally be looking for a share in something like a C150/152.

Also does anyone know of any local farm strips which have ac based at them?

Any info would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers

[Brooklands]

PP,

I'm not based in the area, but you ought to try Wellesbourne Mountford (http://www.wellesbourneairfield.com/), its a nice airfield, with a couple of flying schools.

I think that there are several at Coventry as well (Aerbabe may be the best person to tell you about those as she trained there).

Whereabouts are you going to be in relation to Coventry, and how far would you want to travel? There are several more airfields, which are a bit further away.

Brooklands

[Evil J]

Can't recommend Wellesbourne highly enough - it is, IMHO one of the nicest GA airfields I have visited in the UK (right up there with Oban).

Wellesbourne aviation looks very nice and have superb aeroplanes although I have had no interaction with them per se.

[Malcolm G O Payne]

You will have the choice of four fixed wing schools and one very active heli school at Wellesbourne. I must declare an interest as I do A/G in the tower from time to time. It is a very friendly airfield and the management have spent a great deal of money over recent years to make it an attractive destination. The airport cafe is very popular, not only with the flying side, but we regularly have members of the public and local police calling in for a cuppa. I am sure you would not regret at least checking it out.

[AerBabe]

Brooklands - I'm impressed by your memory!

Coventry used to be a great place to fly from, but I've not been there since Thompson moved in. However, if you're after cheap rates on a C152, you may find AWA (http://www.flyawa.co.uk/) (Armstrong Whitworth Aviation) worth a look at. It's a 'flying group', rather than a school or syndicate. You pay nothing up front, just a membership fee of around £100/yr and an hourly rate (around £70 the last time I looked), plus it's good availability.

[nick14]

Leicestershire Aero Club,

Recently completed my PPL with them in 7weeks

Very nice people, good trainin, good aircraft and a very nice bar,

The bar staff aint too bad either :ok:

Nick
Buckle up

[Fried_Chicken]

The two major Airfields in the area have already been mentioned, Coventry & Wellesbourne, both with several Flying clubs & schools.

As for local Farm strips, depending on yor location, there is a strip at Baxterley (Charity Farm) near Atherstone. (nice strip, very friendly) & another at Stoke Golding (near Hinkley), I think the latter has a website.

There is also a Gliding site at Snitterfield (no powered aircraft though)

FC

[tom775257]

Coventry is fun if you want to mix it with the jets. It is a pain doing circuits there though as the runway is long and the school I went to charged per touch and go.

That said it keeps you on your toes flying from Coventry, ATC can sometimes be interesting (5 people orbiting in the circuit etc hmm...safe.) Some days you really have to get to grips with your cross-wind landings too!

I did my hour building from Cov, and got a cheap rate from Almat for a 172. I think they also have 152/ PA-28 perhaps a Seneca.

G-BOMS is nice if it is still there, good kit, leather, GPS etc.

[aerobat 1971]

I'm training with Almat at Coventry at the moment. G-BOMS is still there, and still in great shape. There's also 2 x 150s, a few Pipers and plans to purchase a couple more (type tbc).

Almat also offers some very competitive rates - far lower than Wellesbourne Aviation - and has some really great instructors. All in all it's a very friendly club.

Cheers,

David

[BEagle]

Wellesbourne Mountford is indeed a very friendly and efficient place from which to fly!

We are having to relocate our aircraft whilst the runway at our own aerodrome is being resurfaced - everyone at Welly M has been exceptionally helpful and we'll have a couple of aircraft there for a while.

Plus I might get to taxi the Vulcan again soon, perhaps..:ok:

[Prunella_Pye]

Thanks to everyone who has replied - you've all been great!

I'll be popping into Wellesbourne then, hopefully find a friendly group there!

I visited Coventry flying school last week and I thought it was a tad on the expensive side - the only ac I could have feasibly gone flying in was a c172 but the hourly rate was still very high, plus the membership fee!

thanks again for your help guys

PP