Recommendations for a jolly?

[wildweeble]

A friend has invited me to sit in the right seat as he does some hour-building for his commercial ticket. Where will we be going? "You decide, home or abroad," he said kindly.

Only thing is, I'm so out-of-date with UK flying that half of the places I used to go to are now probably housing estates. The other half have doubtless become 'international airports'.

So, the question is, where might be worth a visit, nowadays?

Criteria may be:

Excellent cafe or pub for lunch/dinner
A decent distance from our London base
Do-able in a day
Something pretty to look at

He is IFR and the aircraft is a PA28 of some sort.

All suggestions gratefully received.

[Windy Militant]

As everbody else seems to have gone shy all of a sudden I'll start the ball rolling with first a question. Which side of the smoke are you based?
If Norff of the river then how about starting with Duxford! the Imperial War Museum collection is well worth a butchers. Enroute you could drop into Cambridge and view the Art Deco club house before it becomes a housing estate. If your man is not shy of a bit of grass how about Old Warden.
If you're Sarf of the river how about Sandown on the Isle of White the new club house is dead posh.
You could do worse than joining the Vintage Aircraft Club they hold Fly Ins at places you wouldn't normally get to visit or even know about as Club PPL.

[hobbit1983]

How about Swansea? Nice restaurant, excellent scenery in the Gower area.

Alternatively Kemble (fantastic restaurant – AV8 and friendly staff) but not sure if that’s far enough from London for you.

[turniphead]

PA 28 and IFR for a day out/
Texel Holland for nice airfield and good lunch
Ostend for a train trip to beautiful Bruges
Grimbergen for gastro lunch in Brussels
Reims for cathedral and luch and bring home the fizz.
Fontenay-Tresigny for lunch in a Breguet
St Cyr l'ecole for a visit to Versailles
Deauville for some lunch
Any of the Channel islands

All easily doable in a day.
If hours building do them all!

[rotorcraig]

Northampton Sywell is nice if you're okay with grass runways.

Lunch onsite at the Pilots Mess, or at the Horseshoe pub (out of the main entrance, turn right, 5 minute walk to the roundabout).

RC

[wombat13]

We know not from where you start, so my suggestion:

Unknown field - Sleap - Warney Island - Ronaldsway - Newtownards - St Angelo - Knock - Abbeyshrule - Weston - Cardiff - Unknown field.

Make your overnight at St Angelo's and pop over the border to Blacklion for one of the best pints of the Black Stuff you are likely to find anywhere.

The Wombat

[wildweeble]

Thank you all

Gosh, thank you everyone. Very useful indeed. We're not off for a week or so but I'll let you know how we go on. I believe we're heading off from EGLM.

[airborne_artist]

By the reports to date, I'd go here!