Stapleford to Shoreham VFR tips?

[Adam S]

Hi all,

I want to plan a route from Stapleford (EGSG) to Shoreham (EGKA) VFR in a 152, probably via Bexhill.
Never been to Shoreham before. Any tips or important pointers?
Things I should know about the airfield?
Activities nearby? Nice places to see?
I will probably only have around 4 hours there before heading back.

Thank you!

[chevvron]

QE2 Bridge must be a good sight, but you've probably seen that. Beware all the 'Le Touquet for lunch' types as you near the south coast; many talk to Farnborough East on 123.225 but a lot don't. Don't forget Shoreham is ATC whereas Stapleford is (very diligent) A/G so you'll notice a difference in phraseology with 'instructions' being passed by Shoreham

[Talkdownman]

Brace yourself for the landing fee. £33 for a Cub last week.

[FZRA]

I've done this route several times. Route Brentwood -> QE2 Bridge -> Bewl Water -> Brighton Marina and you can't go too wrong airspace wise. They're all pretty easy waypoints too - Stapleford used to give it as their PPL QXC route.

Shoreham village itself is nice and quaint, and walkable from the airfield. The terminal building is also of interest, with a decent cafe and views of the ramp, and don't forget to look out for your own arrival/departure displayed on the screens in the terminal!

[chevvron]

Brace yourself for the landing fee. £33 for a Cub last week.

Must've been a Super Cub.

[Curlytips]

For a 152 it's still £33, unless you arrive before 10.30 local time AND uplift at least 50 litres of fuel (at £1.79 per litre). Still a nice place to visit, and all day parking of a/c is included.

[memories of px]

if youre coming in from bexhill, get the atis before you get to brighton marina, first call should be G-XXXX inbound, then when they say go ahead just the usual calls, if its rwy 02, they may give you left base and ask you to call the tunnels, they are on the A27, if not happy with that, ask to join overhead, standard 2000' descend deadside to circuit height 1100, the papis are set about 4 degrees cos of the high ground, beware of possible sea breezes on that runway, the upper wind may be northerly, but the sea breeze would be a reason for using 02.
nice cafe, bit of a stroll to the beach though.
park into wind on the pumps, southern pump for avgas, northern for diesel.
when you depart, get the atis and first call "g-xxxx outbound. "
ps wear a yellow tabard!

[Gertrude the Wombat]

Can be lots of aeroplanes along the coast, keep a good lookout (and you still won't see them all).

[Curlytips]

Should have said pre-10.30 (with fuel uplift) price is £20......

[Parson]

Beware the fog and pay particular attention to your diversion airfield.

[londonblue]

I've done this route several times. Route Brentwood -> QE2 Bridge -> Bewl Water -> Brighton Marina and you can't go too wrong airspace wise. They're all pretty easy waypoints too - Stapleford used to give it as their PPL QXC route.

Shoreham village itself is nice and quaint, and walkable from the airfield. The terminal building is also of interest, with a decent cafe and views of the ramp, and don't forget to look out for your own arrival/departure displayed on the screens in the terminal!

I took a photo of that when I last flew into Shoreham!

Shoreham is also a place with annoying runway numbers. They're 02/20. It's very easy to get them confused so be careful, otherwise you might end up flying against the traffic in the circuit.

[tmmorris]

Beware the fog and pay particular attention to your diversion airfield.

Unless the OP has a reason to take less fuel then diversion can be Stapleford. I do this regularly - diversion is return home.

Interesting thought - reduced landing fees with fuel uplift encourage pilots to set out with less fuel than they might otherwise take...

[Adam S]

Thanks very much for all the info and help everyone!
Fly safe.

[Downwind Lander]

Let us know when you are going and we'll give you points out of ten for your landing:

Live Webcam of the Runway | Brighton City Airport, Shoreham (http://flybrighton.com/live-information/webcam/)

They used to have a good cafe in the 60s and you could take your swimming trunks.

[IFly]

if youre coming in from bexhill, get the atis before you get to brighton marina, first call should be G-XXXX inbound, then when they say go ahead just the usual calls, if its rwy 02, they may give you left base and ask you to call the tunnels, they are on the A27, if not happy with that, ask to join overhead, standard 2000' descend deadside to circuit height 1100, the papis are set about 4 degrees cos of the high ground, beware of possible sea breezes on that runway, the upper wind may be northerly, but the sea breeze would be a reason for using 02.
nice cafe, bit of a stroll to the beach though.
park into wind on the pumps, southern pump for avgas, northern for diesel.
when you depart, get the atis and first call "g-xxxx outbound. "
ps wear a yellow tabard!

Left base from the East - wouldn't that be runway 20?

[alex90]

Does it HAVE to be Shoreham? It's very expensive, and last time I went there people (ATC and ground crews) were rude, unpleasant and it definitely ruined my day...

Albeit that was some time ago, I still had such a bad experience that I cannot recommend it to anyone....

[chevvron]

Does it HAVE to be Shoreham?

Well Pebsham, Hawkinge and Portsmouth are all closed so where else is there?

[surely not]

alex90, Shoreham, or Brighton City Airport as the new operators would like it to be known, has changed a lot in recent years. A good friend of mine operates from there now and is very happy with the helpfulness of the ground crews and ATC. If your visit was longer than 5 years ago I think you might find that you are doing the current staff a big disservice.

Yes prices could be cheaper at an all grass strip with glorified tents for hangarage and no ATC or approach aids, but that isn't comparing like with like.

[alex90]

surely not,
I was last there July 2015. So not that long ago. I understand and accept that people are people, and occasionally you just get received badly just because they're having a bad day. To have had this from ATC and ground crew however, is somewhat rare. (I didn't do anything wrong - just FYI). My experience is in no way representative of every day at Shoreham - but - it did ruin my day, and took over £30 out of my pocket for landing a C172.

chevvron,
I mean - sure, if you have to go to Brighton/Hove/Worthing, then it is definitely still the best airfield. But if not, you have lee-on-solent, Swanborough Farm, Goodwood all within reasonable distance. I think the most expensive is Goodwood, still £10 less per landing (but you might get to nose at some stunning planes parked there).

[memories of px]

well spotted ifly, i shouldnt post with my dyslexia!

[chevvron]

Shoreham is also a place with annoying runway numbers. They're 02/20. It's very easy to get them confused so be careful, otherwise you might end up flying against the traffic in the circuit.

On another forum some time ago, I discovered a satellite photo of a 'new' airfield in Ireland which had never opened and the runway was painted with '20' at both ends; would that make it easier for you?

[Downwind Lander]

Does it HAVE to be Shoreham? It's very expensive, and last time I went there people (ATC and ground crews) were rude, unpleasant and it definitely ruined my day...

Albeit that was some time ago, I still had such a bad experience that I cannot recommend it to anyone....

Another benefit of Shoreham is that, soon enough, maybe round about Crawley or Tunbridge Wells, when you look up, you will see on the horizon the chimney stack of Portslade power station. You aim a tad to the right of it.

[effortless]

Ah you yung 'uns'! When I were a lad you had two huge chimney from Shoreham B power station, smaller for Shoreham A and the gas works. You could see the vapour rising from them almost at top of climb from Touquet.

[Phororhacos]

You can now see the Home - British Airways i360 | Brighton (http://britishairwaysi360.com/)
i360 at Brighton from even further away.

and for the OP I think Shoreham is PPR for visiting a/c. see http://flybrighton.com/fly-with-us/airport-information-for-pilots/#tab-id-7