Nottingham (Tollerton) EGBN Weekend Closure

[fireflybob]

The operators of Tollerton (EGBN), in their wisdom, issued a NOTAM that the aerodrome is closed to all fixed wing operations for the whole of this weekend.

I was wondering how many other general aviation aerodromes had also taken such steps?

Whilst there is a certain amount of snow on the runways and manoeuvring areas I would have thought limited operations (ie no touch and go), even in an unlicensed capacity, might have been possible.

The aerodrome operators obviously have the right to close their airfields but at a time when many organisations need every bit of revenue it seems somewhat shortsighted, not to mention the alternative of travel by air when the road/rail system seems unable to cope.

[mrmum]

Carlisle (EGNC) has been closed to f/w since Saturday 27th November. They did the same for 3-4 weeks last Dec/Jan as I recall.

[Vick Van Guard]

It was closed due to the ice rather than the snow, and to be fair it was pretty dicey. I was up there today to pull my machine through a few blades and nearly ended up on my @rse walking down to the hangar.

[Sir George Cayley]

A couple of days a year closed due to inclement winter weather ain't that bad. Funny how, if it was blowing a gale across the runway, pilots shrug and order a another coffee. Same for a humungous CB sat on the climb out spitting lightning or a pea soup fog where you can't see the tower from the carpark.

So why is snow and ice not in the same bag?

And why, on brilliant flyable days, is the place deserted?

Sir George Cayley

[mrmum]

I wasn't intending my post to be particularly critical, just a report of the situation, in response to the OP's question. Generally I would assume that any airfield operators wouldn't close their facilities unless there were serious safety concerns. If there's a few inches of snow, possibly with ice underneath, or if it's frozen and rutted, then I wouldn't particularly want to go and try it out anyway.

However, you could say that TS, gales, or fog aren't in quite the same category as contaminated runways, for reasons to sit in the club drinking coffee. The former are all current, ongoing weather phenomena which we all know we can't do anything about, the same would apply to snow while it's actually in progress. What frustrates people is when it hasn't actually snowed for a while (and isn't forecast to), but the temperature remains below zero and the weather is great for flying, light winds, clear skies and good vis. but you can't go because the runway is covered with snow/ice. This might be considered to be something that an airfield operator could remedy. Obviously, I accept this would have cost implications, I don't know what snow clearing equipment costs and it might not be worth having, just to gain a few extra days flying a year.

[fireflybob]

Thanks for the replies.

A couple of days a year closed due to inclement winter weather ain't that bad.

Interesting thing is that we have had some wonderful days for (light aircraft) flying in the last week (including one at the weekend) but the airfield operator chose to NOTAM the aerodrome as not available for fixed wing over the weekend when, in my opinion, limited operation would have been possible, albeit in an unlicensed state. Obviously small airfields are not going to have snow clearance equipment standing by like major airports but I do recall the days a few years ago when the airfield in question had a basically equipped vehicle which was used to clear an adequate strip after snow.

I wonder what they do in Norway at GA airfields throughout the winter?