Isle of Wight. Which airfield

[stuartforrest]

I am taking the kids to the isle of wight on Sunday in our Bonanza A36. I am wanting to go to Shanklin I think and Isle of Wight/Sandown is seemingly the nearest strip but is grass. It looks very near to the town though.

The other option is Bembridge which is a longer taxi ride it seems. Does anyone have any experience of visiting the Isle of Wight and leaving the airfields and any advice of where is good to visit (Beaches, amusements etc) and which airfield I should choose.

Advice appreciated.

[will5023]

Sandown

Hi . Yes I would recomend Sandown for the kids, when you call up you can ask them for a taxi so when you land it will be on it's way, or you can walk in, about 10-15mins. Plenty of beach things and a good pub on the sea front. If you prefer the Nautical then Cowes is good, a bit more up market a slightly longer taxi ride. If you have got 5 or 6 on board then Bembridge has a hard runway, although the grass at Sandown is long enough .

Will.

[stuartforrest]

Thanks. We will be six on board but three of them are little people. We went in and of course out of Mull last year with the same load (a year younger of course) and that is 150 metres shorter so I suspect we will go for Sandown for convenience.

Cheers.

[CPilotUK]

I took my wife to Bembridge for lunch on Wednesday and decided at last minute, to re-visit Sandown after 11 years. The 8 mile round trip cost us £16 plus tip.
CP

[Life's a Beech]

I have operated a lot into both, and would recommend either as a helpful, pleasant small airfield. Sandown's surface is generally excellent, smoother than most grass strips. It has a lovely feel to it and a good new bar/cafe.

[IO540]

Bembridge airport is nice; the taxi ride is not an issue. It's a very small place.

I don't think there is any other hard runway on the IOW, and Sandown (which is grass) is only a short distance from Bembridge. I would not land any decent plane on grass if there was tarmac nearby.

[bunnywabbit]

Two weeks ago a big single (saratoga or something) did a heavy at Sandown and shut the airport for a few hours. I think its dependant on your personal experience back to basics and how your instructor told you to protect the nose wheel. Both airports are within the same distance of your final dest.

[stuartforrest]

Just an update, we went into Sandown and walked to the beach but because it was slightly uphill on the way back we got a taxi as I couldn't stand any more of the kids whining.

Sandown was a very nice airfield and very busy but it was a little rougher than I expected. I have been into about 10 grass strips and it was the roughest yet but still perfectly fine for the Bonanza.

I would go back again undoubtedly.

[IO540]

There is no "problem" taking a decent plane to a grass field; it's just that if you keep doing it, it soon ends up looking like an old dog rented from a flying school.

In due course, this will translate into higher maintenance, not just on landing gear (even on fixed gear, the cowlings get cracked/broken and get grass stuck up them) but also through everything getting vigorously rattled.

Some grass fields are OK and some are dreadful.

[GWYN]

Went to Sandown in a TB20 nearly 3 weeks ago. Clearing the runway onto the taxiway was like taxiing through wet concrete. Eventually gave up and shut down as I have seen others ground the prop in similar circumstances. We were therefore blocking the runway, but only for about 20 minutes. I am not sure if this is the incident reported above. The ground actually felt quite firm underfoot but was obviously soft enough for the aircraft to get bogged, and there was no visible indication that the ground was soft in that area. The friendly and helpful fire crew towed us onto the taxiway using their 'mule.'

I would certainly not say that Sandown is the smoothest grass airfield; in fact on that day the runway felt like one of the roughest I have used!

Taxi was £5 each way into the town and back.

I have nothing against Sandown and think it is a very pleasant grass field but maybe Bembridge is more suitable for an aircraft like the Bonanza. The wind at Bembridge was exceeding crosswind limits on the day above otherwise that is where I would have been!

[stuartforrest]

Yes I agree that Bembridge would have been a nicer option but I don't think it was too much sweat for the Bonanza. The A36 has the same landing gear as a Baron which ways a huge amount more so it is pretty substantial I guess.

Knowing that the kids prefer taxis, I may as well have gone to Bembridge I suppose.

[IO540]

Hard runway every time if there is a choice. It's worth paying double the landing fee - unless it's like certain runways which are in a terrible condition.

I've done Bembridge many times in the TB20, no problem.

[jamestkirk]

Sandown

Sandown has a good many undulations (up and down ridges) on it's runway.

So for the more in-experienced, make sure your short/soft field T/O techniques are up to date. I have heard a few stories of people going off the end of the runway there.

I was demonstrating to a student how much speed you can lose when the nose wheel follows those ridges, when not using the correct technique. A loss of 10 kts. on avarage.

Couple that with the sometimes soft and wet surface can make an interesting take-off run.

[stuartforrest]

I am glad that people are saying it was rough because it certainly was rougher than any I have been into before.