Prior Permission Required and "Private" Airstrips

[JWilliams]

I am a commercial Aviation student and almost ready to fly my CPL Flight test (~140 hours) here in Australia. Throughout my training there have been a number of airfields which I have had to obtain permission to land at. I have no problem with asking and I have never had a problem with anyone letting a training flight land at their field.

Until now.

Mason Field (YSPT) is considered a "Private Field", it is listed in the ERSA and has on it that Restricted OPS: PPR FM AD OPR. Fair enough- seen it before. I do the right thing and call them up only to be denied permission outright because I am not a member of their Aero Club.

I understand why they want to have people ask permission to land there, being so close to Gold Coast airport (YBCG) there would be smaller commercial operators trying to escape landing fees. But a student? Is this considered rude in aviation or have I just had a magic run of airfield operators who don't mind? Are there many airfields like this around? I would understand someone's backyard airstrip or one that is used only by residents around the airfield but this is used for flying training.

I would love some input on this being a rookie to the aviation world.

[Wessex Boy]

There could be many reasons:
The airfield could be a bit tricky for a student
They may have restrictions on the number of movements
They just don't want other people ripping up their strip
Noise abatement

after all if it is a private airfield, it is just that and it is their perogative.

I fly from a private strip and we jealously guard it's use so as not to upset the locals

[Genghis the Engineer]

I've never flown in Australia, but here in the UK this is quite normal.

Indeed, if somewhere is tricky, has easily offended neighbours, or difficult approaches (all three of which apply to many small private strips) you might be *particularly* concerned about student pilots who aren't flying with a local instructor.

Also some private strips have local permissions restricting them to their own pilots only anyhow for all sorts of commercial reasons.

So no, don't take it personally, it's almost certainly just their local rules. It'll probably happen to you again, on the other hand other private strips may well welcome you and have the kettle on when you arrive.

G