Suggestions for UK aviation holiday

[Veryimmature]

Hello all.
A mate and I are keen to take an aviation related holiday in the UK around June/July this year (2012). He flies an MTO gyro, and I fly a Giles 202, in Australia. We are also both glider pilots.
We have our names down with a group who fly ultralights around Britain at that time, hoping to get passenger seats with them for the week but there are no guarantees we are going to get the seats, so we are looking for alternatives just in case.
We would prefer "hands on" hands on flying experiences, but are also interested in visiting some of the iconic aviation events like Farnborough, or going to aviation related factories or facilities.We have never been to the UK before.
Does anyone have any suggestions of things to do or clubs to visit or things to see?
Thanks in anticipation.

[mad_jock]

Some northern suggestions.

If your into gliding

Royal Deeside would be worth a visit.

http://www.deesideglidingclub.co.uk/

Land on the beach in Barra or Sola.

If you wanted to hire microlights there is quite a few at Perth and also Strathaven (xrayalpha runs it but won't be able to advertise that fact)

Microlight Schools and Clubs in Scotland (http://www.microlighting.com/clubsscotland.html).

[JOE-FBS]

You have probably already heard that, despite great efforts by AOPA, the CAA and the RAF to mitigate the problems, light aircraft bimbling in the south-east of the UK will be severely constrained from 14th July to c.12th August. Lesser restrictions are in place for other times and places. Something to do with a sports event apparently.

More positively, a couple of years ago I had some excellent flying renting in Northern Ireland from Ulster Flying Club. While for this year, we are planning a trip around Scotland which everyone who has done it seems to say is also excellent flying.

Museums to visit would include Duxford, Cosford, East Kirkby and Elvington.

There are places where, for a suitably large amount of money, one can fly historic types. Off the top of my head, Coventry, Kemble and North Weald are worth a look.

[mad_jock]

planning a trip around Scotland which everyone who has done it seems to say is also excellent flying.

Its far better than the south in my opinion. The scenery makes it. There are some issues with getting fuel, wx can be bloody horrible etc. But 30k+ viz and what mother nature gave us more than makes up for it.

[Genghis the Engineer]

Also this summer, for an unfeasibly long time, the Olympics and Paralympics will be substantially disrupting any attempts to conduct recreational flying in SE England.

Any wise visitor (and many locals) will stick to Scotland, Wales, and the further corners of SW and N England.

Farnborough is a trade show for "heavy metal" professionals and of limited interest to an amateur aviation enthusiast. The Royal International Air Tattoo at Fairford however, would be well worth considering. Go by road! Better still public transport.

There is a superb museum at Duxford, just on the edge of the Olympic restrictions, which you can fly into. Ditto Old Warden (the "Shuttleworth Trust").

I can't offhand think of any aircraft factories that you can visit in the UK (to be honest, we haven't got many left), although you could try contacting P&M Aviation in Rochdale to see if you can drop in, particularly if there's any risk of your considering buying a microlight in the near future. They don't have a runway there however, so again you'd have to drive.

The SW of England, and the W of Scotland have a lot of fantastic airfields and some spectactular flying. Wales isn't bad either! One of the joys of Britain is that it's also small enough that even at microlight speeds you can generally get from anywhere to anywhere else within 2 days.

I'm less clear about gyros, but it is possible to rent microlights in Britain; an Australian (ICAO) PPL(A) would permit this, although an Australian microlight / ultralight licence wouldn't.

G