Newquay or Peranporth?

[Aussie Andy]

Hi folks,

I'm planning a trip to Cornwall with 3 pax over a weekend in April, weather permitting. One person will be staying with friends in Newquay, and the rest (myself and my mother and brother) are flexible, but thinking of staying in Padstow.

Newquay airport (RAF St. Mawgan) seems the best bet. Landing fees + parking + MOD insurance waiver + VAT will come to about £30 I believe. Has anyone been in there? Any thoughts?

Alternative would be Peranporth - which looks like a nice airfield, but would be too far for taxi to Padstow, and probably not as interesting as Padstow for the visitors from Australia..?

Any reports of either Peranporth or St> Mawgan / Newquay would be of interest...

Andy

[Fuji Abound]

Took at trip to Mawgan this weekend - Mawgan as it seems to be known locally. Very friendly, and very helpful. The charges however came as a bit of a surprise which are at the top end, made worse by the passenger handling charge and parking fees. No problem with the Avgas. There are four commercial flights in a day on the Gatwick, Exeter, Mawgan circuit. They seem to like you to avoid returning to the aircraft whilst they are dealing with these flights and are determined to put "you" through the X-ray screen. Check you have an MOD waiver or pay another fee. For others interested a good point from which to visit the Eden project about half an hour by car, with car hire easy to arrange from the airport. Consider as an alternative Bodmin, which also seemed very friendly and significantly less expensive subject to your acceptance of a much shorter grass runway. Nice bit of kit at Mawgan though to keep the old hand in with the ILS and a PAR talk down both on offer and in inbound LARS service after hand off from Exeter if you are routing along the coast.

[Rusty Cessna]

Speaking from a tourist point of view, Perranporth is lovely, I think its a spectuacular little town, but it is that, a little town. If you want to be able to see a few things and do something, newquey is the place, bit supermarket, lots of shops, lots of surfers (Oz link) and a good night life.

If it were me flying in as someone who hadn't seen either, id pick Mawgan, and if you want to see Perranport while your there, its not far at all!

Hope it helps, . .Rusty.

[BozoUK]

I've flown into St Mawgan quite a few times in the last year, and always find the staff very helpful - in fact we landed in the rain last time, and one of the ground support guys came and picked us up in his van <g>

Be aware it is staffed by Military controllers, so the terminology is slightly different on occasions - I'd never been asked for 3 greens before on a C150!! But saying that, they are the most helpful ATC unit i've flown with, even to the extent of passing the crosswind factor on landing.

They are very keen for prior notice, and weekend flights have to be PPR by 1830 on a Friday. Always worth checking before hand of any Mil Exercises...Harriers, Hawks, Hercs and P3s are a speciality.

Bodmin can get quite boggy, but we got a PA28 with 2 largeish guys out yesterday...admittedly 25 knot headwind.

[Courtman]

Perranporth is excellent. We based a PA-28 there for a week and the service was excellent. We uplifted fuel no worries, and were okay-ed to operate out-of-hours as well. Interesting approach over the cliffs - it was fun to see a couple of people on the cliff path gawking up at me as I came over their heads at about 20' fighting the turbulence!!! We used Perranporth as a base to visit Scilly Isles (a hilarious approach/runway - got to be done - nice island), Bodmin, Plymouth, Henstridge and Dunkeswell. Never got to Lands End though, flew over it en-route to Scillies, planned to make a visit the following day but the localised weather meant CAVOK at Perranporth, 200' at Lands End Aerodrome and CAVOK at the visitor centre at Lands End we eventually drove to.

Enterprise-rent-a-car in Truro provided me with a motor for the week, they even picked us up at the airfield and we left the car keys at the airfield when we left and Enterprise picked the car up.

Loads of bed-and-breakfasts around Perranporth too.

Edited to include more information.

[ 23 February 2002: Message edited by: Courtman ]</p>

[Whirlybird]

I flew to Perranporth for the total eclipse of the sun in 1999. So my experiences probably aren't typical, but anyway, I just loved the place and would go back any time.

[Aussie Andy]

Hi everyone,

Well yesterday (Saturday) morning I loaded up the Dakota with Mum, brother and mate from work and we set out early from Wycombe for Perranporth.

Due to the easterly gales, I was unable to consider Mawgan where surface winds were TAF'd at 080/25G38 (I think) so XW factor too great for RWY 13, so decided we'd head for Perranporth where they have a RWY 09 which better oriented and long enough for the Dak.

Other than the high winds (090/40@2000') and XW issues to consider, the wx seemed pretty good. Blue skies and, according to F215, generally 15KM vis. in the region. At the time of departure though it was about 6km, but seemed to be improving...

Made our way down the Vale of the White Horse, working RAF Fairford Radar. Hadn't been down that way before, but I must say the white horses carved in the chalk are a great help when identifying towns on the map! We routed to Bath where we made a few orbits for photos - a great town both on the ground and from the air, despite the worsening visibility.

We then took a service from Bristol LARS and headed south towards Taunton, before turning towards the coast looking for Minehead. By now we were in touch with Exeter Radar. The visibility had continued to deteriorate. When we reached the coast, instead of seeing the pretty coastal scenery I had anticipated for this trip, we had a murky view of the world below and a very rough looking sea.

I had descended to around 3000' for a better view. The plan was to track the coast alongside Exmoor towards Foreland Point (near Lynmouth). Shortly after we'd passed the town of Poorlock, I noticed the tops of what looked like a bit of fluffy Cumulus - the first cloud I had seen all day - maybe 2~3 miles ahead and just slightly below my level. I decided I didn't want to fly over them as I did not want to risk losing sight of the surface.

So I descended and headed between the two "Cu". By the time I was within about a mile (?) of the "clouds" I realised to my horror that they extended all the way down to the surface. I instantly decided that I did not want to be here, so decided to add power and leveled at about 2000' I suppose, and commenced a 180 degree turn. I found myself having to do this by reference to the AI because, although I had glimpses of the ground and sea, by now the "clouds" - which I admit by now I had realised were in fact some sort of sea mist with lumpy tops - had obscured my horizon.

I'd like to pause at this point to pay homage and give thanks both to those that decided to put the basic instrument training into the UK PPL curriculum (which essentially is just to make a level turn through 180 degrees on the AI) and to the instructors at BAFC who taught me - thanks guys, the training works..!

I made the turn alright but was extremely perturbed by the scene I found ahead of me once I was on the reciprocal heading... the mist seemed to have come from nowhere behind me as well. I could see the coast and I could see some blue perhaps a 1000' above ahead of me, so put the Dak into a steep climb and headed for the blue bit, using the AI to maintain wings level until I'd climbed safely over this immediate hurdle.

I had a real sinking feeling and for a moment thought I would lose control - not of the aircraft, but of myself. I though "Jeez, I've read about situations like this...". And I had a horrible feeling for a moment that it might not turn out OK. But this only lasted a moment. I don't think pax in the rear noticed that I was worried - I just explained that I was sorry we might not make it to our planned destination - but my brother next to me understood and was a great help, re-folding the map and helping to find approach plates etc. when needed, so at least I didn't feel totally on my own...

I leveled above the "clouds" (mist) again back at around 3000'. The vis. was still pretty murky, but I had an horizon and climbed a bit higher to 4000'. I found a moment to speak to Exeter Radar and he advised me to contact Cardiff Radar as they were closer and would be able to give me a better service.

I explained to the very nice man at Cardiff (and I might add he was very busy too handling a stream of IFR inbound and departing traffic throughout) that I was having "difficulty maintaining VMC". He was very reassuring, calm and professional. He gave me a squawk code, told me there was no traffic to affect me nearby and that I could climb as high as I liked. I got to around 5000' and decided not to climb further as it was already difficult to see the coast.

I said I would like vectors for an alternate destination. I think if I had felt better within myself I could have diverted inland, away from the coastal weather, and most probably would have been able to reach the planned destination... but I had had a fright and just wanted an easy way out and a safe outcome. Anyway, whichever way I looked appeared hazy and murky and I was also a bit concerned about fuel endurance if I did reach Perranporth and found mist there too...

So, the nice man at Cardiff asked me whether I preferred Bristol or Cardiff. He said Cardiff was closer and only 10 NM away over the water. This sounded OK to me. By now I was back east of Minehead - perhaps abeam Williton - so he told me to turn left onto 360, and a short while after to 020 (to correct for the drift). After a few minutes we could see the Welsh coast - the power station just to the West of the airfield is a great landmark - and soon we were approaching his overhead "not below 4000'".

Nice man had given me the option of approach to land at Cardiff, but I had also been told that conditions were much better further east, and was familiar with Gloucestershire airport - having been there once before - so asked for wx for Staverton, which was reporting 15km vis. and told nice man that I would be happy to track the estuary from the bridges to gloucestershire. I resumed my own navigation by following the coast.

I reported abeam the rugby stadium at Cardiff, and he suggested I follow the M4 from there, which worked out great. By the time we reached the new (more southerly) Severn river crossing, visibility was a bit better, but we were still not able to see as far as the old bridge a couple of miles further north. From here I said goodbye to the very nice man at Cardiff and tracked uneventfully up the estuary to Gloucestershire airport, aside from moderate turbulence as we descended through 3000'.

We landed safely and went into Cheltenham for a fabulous lunch at the Queen's Hotel, which I can heartily recommend, and a walk around this lovely town. This helped me calm down sufficiently and compose myself for the flight home, which turned out to be very pleasant in tyhe late afternoon sun: 25km vis. at FL50, overhead Brize, some orbits of the city of Oxford, which was gleaming in the sun below, and then back home to Wycombe.

The flight and diversion to Gloucestershire had taken 2 hours exactly, brakes off to brakes on. Although it gave me a bit of a fright, I feel it was a really good learning experience - a chance to add a little bit more to the cup of experience before the cup of luck runs out! What have I learned?

1) Turn back early, as soon as possible IMC apears. I think I did, but will be even quicker to elect to orbit and pause for thought when next I am unsure of what exactly lies just ahead;

2) Get an IMC rating - as soon as time and funds permit - as this would obviously make me (and pax!) safer in this kind of situation;

3) Learn more about meteorology. I have gone back to the F215 that I studied that morning before departure... the only hint, in hindsight, was "ISOL SEA / WINDWARD COT SW 3000M MIST" - but then this wasn't the windward coast!? I think I shall drop a line to Irv Lee to see if he can help me unravel the clues in the rest of the forecast material that surely must have been there, but which I did not interpret, which might have led me to expect this.

Any other suggestions appreciated!

I hope others might find this interesting to read - and if you are not from the UK and unfamiliar with the territory described, click on the link below to for a map of the area:

Map (http://www.multimap.com/map/browse.cgi?client=europe&X=310000&Y=140000&scale=200000&width=700&height=400&gride=&gridn=&coordsys=gb&db=hcgaz&overviewmap=ap&scale=200000&out.x=18&out.y=17)

[1013.25]

Andy,

Can't fault anything you did - you "flew the aircraft" first, was safe and kept your head! You also talked to ATC who were there for you to help out.

I've just come to the end of my IMC (just got the exams to do) and was under the hood (with simulated loss of AI and DI - which really makes one sweat) while you were doing it for real! I have found the IMC really improves the accuracy of my flying and gives that little extra confidence in flying in less than ideal wx conditions. However, if I had PAX while I was in IMC, then I probably would not have the "bandwidth" to look after them - especially not doing ILS approaches or holds! I also appreciate that I will need to practice practice practice for when I come need it for real.:)

[SteveR]

Aussie Andy:

Your tale could've been subtitled 'how to get into inadvertant IMC' - which is a condition that I used to fondly imagine was not really a risk, and only happened to eejits or people who were conciously flirting with instrument flying, but it happened to me two weeks ago and I wasn't doing the latter and (despite the incident) don't regard myself as the former.

I got further into it than you by the sounds of things, and also had cause to thank the syllabus setters while I was executing the 180 degree turn. Mind you, I didn't do it too well and less than halfway through was still looking out the window when I should've been glued to the AI - the speed built rather dramatically and the engine note alerted me to the dive I was already in.....

In my case it was Humberside whose cool calm voices lowered the nav workload and plomped me onto their runway, but they still charged me the full landing fee, resolutely staying out of the 'free landings for geniune weather diverts' scheme.

My next purchase was the IMC confuser, and the next call was to an instructor to start arranging the IMC course, which will start as soon as my group's a/c is back in the air (she's not grounded due to anything I did, I hasten to add). Basically, I'm not going for (m)any more jollies until I've got it under my belt.

Steve R

[sennadog]

Andy, well done on completing a safe flight - it sounds like you did everything correctly. I've had a couple of "frights" already doing my PPL so I know what the feeling of relief is like when you have landed!

So, when are you planning to go to Perranporth now?:D

[Aussie Andy]

Thanks everyone for your input - much appreciated,


Andy :cool:

[tomcs]

Hi! I flew there about a month ago and it seemed fine. The runway is good, but its a bit dead. We got there and we were the only aircraft there and there were two people on the whole airfield. However, our experience was excellent and the approach was over the cliffs and reasonably bumpy. It gets really bumpy when the wind is from the west as it comes up over the cliffs. The good thing is that the landing fees are much cheaper than Mawgan, and the taxi to St Agnes was only about £6.

Good luck

Tom:cool:

[Don D Cake]

Andy

I don't think there's any problem with your met skills, you've just experienced the very local nature of Exmoor weather. I spend a lot of time in the area as my mother lives near Williton. You can leave the Minehead area in glorious 28C sunshine, hit the Somerset/Devon border and all of a sudden be shrouded in fog. Lynton & Lynmouth will be overcast and foggy but get a few miles further down the coast and the sunshine will return.

I suppose it's not surprising considering the moorland's close proximity to the Bristol Channel, which has it's own weather perculiarities. When I used to sail in the channel, even if the weather forecast stated force 1-2, 30C and sunny, I'd still pack three sweaters and my oilskins.

[bertiethebadger]

I am planning a similar trip for this summer. Is the weather a bit tamer inland or S. Devon

BtB

[RW05]

Like Don D Cake I know the area well as I live & fly there. There is lots of localised weather due to the proximity of plenty of bits of high ground, Exmoor being just one, and the sea all the way round the edge. A southern route could be even worse. Dartmoor is higher and nastier than Exmoor and the coastal strip can be a bit dodgy too, and far too close to high ground for comfort. I'm afraid you just pick the best day possible and hope for the best. BTW when the sun does shine here it's spectacular.

[Aussie Andy]

Don D Cake, RW05 - thanks guys, thats really interesting to hear about the local conditions. I was really miffed that I hadn't anticipated this as I had spent a reasonable amount of time looking at the wx on the day.

But I will definitely give it another go this season when able as I think it must look really beautiful from the air on a good day :) I'll be more prepared for this type of situation to arise, and so will be more "emotionally" prepared to divert around the localised wx and then to continue enroute.

Cheers guys,