airfield commutable from waterloo, london

[eo777777]

Friends,

It was about 6 months ago when I took a trial flight at the compton abbas airfield when I knew I wanted to learn flying. I have now moved to London and settled, the time has come to start looking for the right training school.

I spent a lot of time searching on the forums yesterday to find an ideal commutable airfield for me, but as I am new to London, I dont really know what it is really like to travel.

I live in central london (waterloo) and have a car. I have seen a lot of names mentioned for north / west of london, but am not sure which will be right for me. Although I am bang in the centre, there may be some direction which is easier for me to travel (based on which motorway is closed to me) - can anyone help me in locating the right school? Prime consideration really is travel time, on weekends.

I am hoping to check some of them tomorrow based on the recommendations.

Thanks a lot..

[Martin @ EGLK]

If you go west on towards the M3, south on M25 for a jctn you'll be pretty close to Fairoaks. There's 2 schools there.

Alternatively, go south on the A23 & you'll soon find Redhill. I believe there's a couple of schools there. Biggin Hill's not too far from there either & there's a few schools there to choose from.

Enjoy,

Martin

[foxmoth]

I would go for White Waltham - good aviators field with some real flying going on

[fman]

try the Pilots Center at Denham. It takes just over 35mins to get there from SW6 on a sunday morning. Coming back on the other hand is well over an hour.

[GWidgery]

White Waltham, great place, and only a short hop down the M4

[eo777777]

thanks for all the replies.

white waltham - i have read so many good things about it. problem is that it takes an hour just to reach m4 from waterloo, it may be too much travelling.

i am trying all the locations on google map and it seems that it is quicker to reach rochester compared to fairoaks & redhill, although rochester is like twice the distance. Is this true practically or not, I am not sure..

let me see how others fair on the map...

[pistongone]

Without a doubt, the quickest airfield from Waterloo is Stapleford. Head over Southwark bridge, turn right and straight along Upper/Lower thames street, the highway and through The Link at Canary wharf, enjoy the veiw as you pass right over the threshold for 10 at City airport. Straight up the 406 and continue onto the M11, J5 and your almost there. Average traffic you should do it in 45mins. I have many times Not the cheapest place though! If you have a license then continue up the M11 for 10 minutes to J7 and go to North Weald and see Simon Bowman who has 4PLanes at really good rates! Happy flying!

[eo777777]

great! stapelford indeed looks the closest on the map! I am going to try and drive to stapelford tomorrow to see how it is, before trying any other place. please keep giving me your valuable advise, as I would like to try others as well that will be close to me.

cheers..

[AC-DC]

Other than Staoleford Elstree is the only other option. I think that all other fields are further.

[MikeJ]

Waterloo to Woking is 24 mins by fastest train. Taxi to Fairoaks, less than 10 mins.
Possibly less cost in real terms than driving!

MikeJ

[Farrell]

North Weald and Stapleford.

And doesn't Luton Airport have a flying club?

Wycombe Air Park (Booker to the oldies!) - now getting a Cabair badge I think??

Kidlington in Oxford is an hour away.

Panshangar I heard is nice too - and has one of the UK's best instructors, George Spanner!

There's loads! Get yerself a VFR map and have a lookie!

[possel]

I live quite close to you in Southwark. I fly from Headcorn but want somewhere closer, so recently went to Redhill. Mistake! Takes ages (like 2 hrs to come home and it was 28 miles) and I didn't like the FISO controller either (that's another story). Then drove up the M11 yesterday and realised that Stapleford is only 30 mins away, so that's where I'll try next. NB You actually turn north on the A12 after Canary Wharf - it's quicker than the 406.

[eo777777]

thanks to all the replies again. i drove upto stapleford, took me about 50 mins on saturday, i can cope with. then decided to see white waltham as well as i have read a lot of praise for it. driving back from ww to waterloo was a nightmare, so have decided to stick with stapleford. i have booked my trial in a pa28 for the coming saturday to get started!

thanks everyone!

[pistongone]

Possel

I was born and bred in Southwark, where did you learn to fly? How is life in the congestion zone these days? Do you get totally frustrated with the whole of the Borough being closed off to traffic? Back to the thread! The reason i go up the 406 is the time taken to pull off the dual carriage way and negotiate cotton street, a bit of East India Dock Rd and then sit at the lights to get on the A12, you would already be down Silvertown. Plus where the A12meets the 406 is another potential bottle neck! I have driven it many times and checked my ATA and it is usually quicker, Plus you get to drool over the jets at the jet centre at City Airport as you go past.