Aircraft rental / share near East London

[rikesh]

Hello,

I've recently moved down to Stratford in East London and I'm looking for a way to keep flying. It has to be within reasonable driving distance of E15 and as affordable as possible.

I've found these airfields on UKGA:

- Gerpins Farm
- Damyns Hall
- Stapleford
- Noak Hill

Anything which might be suitable at the above - or indeed another airfield I've not mentioned?

Thanks

[Baikonour]

Stapleford and Damyns hall probably your best bet for rental or groups. You may also want to have a look at North Weald - it may not be that much further (time wise) than Stapleford for you and there may be a better selection of aircraft there. (Shame the old Central line isn't running anymore...)

And you might want to look at taking the train from Stratford to Southend airport (44 minutes, quite regular service) - there is some GA there and public transport could avoid getting stuck in traffic. Not sure where you've come down from, but driving in London it is very difficult predict your journey times - the first 20-30 minutes of any trip (i.e. getting out of the place) can easily become an hour or more, even on days where you would not expect it.

Good luck - enjoy.

B.

[Scoobster]

I live relatively close to Stratford and can reel off the number of groups off the top of my head in the local vicinity.

I think Earls Cone would be a good bet also..last time I checked £65 a month to fly C172 and C150 (under 100 hours) and then add the PA28 Archer 2 (over 100 hours P1)- but you need a car to access it - there are a number of groups/individual operators based there.

Stapleford has a share in an AA5 for sale (not for me) but maybe for you and they are replacing their fleet with new Technam's at £136 per hour (if I remember correctly - been a while since I been there).

Southend has "Seawing" Airclub which is a private members owned club. Not sure about commercials. Southend Landing fees are a bit steep... £23-26 from memory.

FYI - I do not belong to or sell any of the services of the above but it is important that you find something which works for you.

I am planning on making a visit to Damyns Hall so would be interested myself also as to what is based there..

Hope this helps.

Scoobster

[ifonly]

As previously mentioned North Weald may be a possibility:-

North Weald Airfield Flying Group Essex | Air Experience Flights (http://northwealdflyinggroup.co.uk/)

There may be others - not been there for a while.

[rikesh]

Thanks for your replies.

In terms of looking for groups / rental, how do I go about doing this? I've tried searching online (e.g. 'Damyns Hall flying group' or 'Damyns Hall aircraft rental') but I'm not finding many results - other than flying schools. Is it just a case of calling the airfield directly and asking, or paying them a visit? Apologies for this basic question - I've only ever flown with a flying club and a chap in Bournemouth who had a website, which is how I found him.

Earl's Colne would be fine, I can drive there. Any more info on the groups / operators there?

North Weald would also be fine - but the costs add up (£65/month group membership + £60/year insurance waiver + £160/year club membership + £200 deposit), not forgetting the actual wet hire costs, which aren't cheap. Are there any other groups there?

Thanks again everyone - appreciate your help.

[Baikonour]

I'd suggest you went to visit each of the potential ones. Go there on a good flying day (like today!) and ask around. Count on spending a morning or afternoon there, get to know the place, look at the notice boards, talk to as many people as you can. Also gives you a chance to find out how easy it will be to get there, whether their caff is any good etc. etc. You may even get a flight!

B.

[G-APDK]

Gerpins Farm, only has a couple of microlights based and its pot luck to find anyone there.

At Damyns there are a number of Jabiru, Flight Design CT, Vans RV- and other GA and microlight types based. Not sure how many are group operated.

If you are prepared to consider Earls Colne then Andrewsfield should added to your options to consider. Its only 15 minutes from the M11. I have found it to have a good social feel to it when visiting and there are a variety of groups there.

G-APDK

[rikesh]

Ok thanks for all your advice. I'm tied up for the next couple of weekends but plan on spending 6-7 June on this (assuming nothing else comes up).

Anyone who lives nearby and wants to join is welcome; I'll post back when I've done my rounds.

[PSG95]

Hi scoobster

i'm a young ppl in essex and looking to do some hours buiding in east london/essex and i saw that you know may be few groups in earls colne.please i need some help as in need to do about 50hrs SEP with a cheap price,i'm flying usually on C152/C172.so if you know any group that would be awesome if can you can help me.thanks mate

Regards