Passing a few hours in Sarfend??!!
 

Due to a work trip, I will be in Sarfend-onSea on Weds 18 Feb 04 and will probably be finished with the work aspects by around lunchtime. As I am not flying out of Stansted until just after 1600, it looks like I'll have a couple of hours to kill.

Keef (or anyone based in the Sarfend area) - is there much to see or do at Sarfend Airport, or any good places to go watch hairyplanes??!! I would say that I'd try a trial lesson in something new to me, but I'm likely to be in suit, etc and travelling light, so won't have scruff flying clothes with me!

Cheers
CB

Hmmm... You're not from around here, are you.

If you're callling 'lunchtime' around 13:00ish, and you're flying out of Stansted at 16:00, and you've got the road system of the South East of England to deal with......then you'll only just make it if you set off right after the meeting.

I was there t'other day, the flying clubs are all over one side of the airport, and there is a splendid new clubhouse/cafe/bar just close by - you might get some aviation chat in there as you wile away your spare 10 minutes.

Steve R

SteveR - for my sins, I spent 3 of my formative years (1972 - 1975) full time in the Hornchurch / Romford area, plus around the next 10 yrs visiting there on a part time basis, so am fairly au fait with the area!! Last (and first!!) visit to Stansted was earlier this year - had hoped never to have to go back, but hey ho!!

I was allowing an hour - 90 mins for the journey between Sarfend and Stansted - flight is 1620 with 40 min check in time and I'm hoping to finish in Sarfend around 1200 - 1230, so had been thinking in terms of 90 mins to squander on looking at Sarfend airport (memories form years back were that there was a collection of old aircraft which they claimed to be a museum, but that may well have gone by now)!

Thanks for the info, anyway!

Hi CB, the flying clubs are friendly, and the club/diner on the eastern perimeter can be recommended, but don't neglect the terminal - good views over the airfield and the cafe is under relatively new management, with bacon butties like doorstops and not at 'airport' prices either :ok:
might be there myself if not busy :cool:

You don't mean Shoreham, do you?

:mad:

C B,

Unfortunatlely the Museum is long, long gone :(

There are no commerical flights either to watch and if the weather is like it is today, grey with light rain, there won't be much else moving.

Are you driving from SND to Stansted or experiencing the delights of Network South-East? An hour by car is about right, maybe a little on the tight side though.

Kolibear - thanks for that; I'll be driving, so have the joys of the M11 in front of me (thinking 'How much further is STN - should be Cambridge Stansted, not London Stansted!!??' every time!!).

Thanks for the suggestions - maybe I'll just go via Shoreham!! ;) :D

CB

From EGMC to STN its quicker to drive via the new A130, up to the A12 at Chelmsford, north 2 junctions then back on the A130 to Dunmow and the A120 to STN.

Less than an hour with a good set of pedals.

Not too sure if I'd agree with that route, barshaker, new A130 sounds OK, but I'd not want to negotiate Chelmsford town centre, then the A130 and the roadworks on the A120.

Personally i'd go A127, M25, (wave at Stapleford on the left), M11, (wave at North Weald on the right), and the next junction is Stansted.

Alternatively, A127, new A130, A12, M25, M11, they are all fairly fast roads.

Kolibear

I agree about avoiding Chelmsford town centre, although its normally very easy to get through.

My suggestion was to take the A12 to Boreham and then continue on the A130 to Dunmow.

From Dunmow, the new A120 dual carriageway is open, all apart from the first 2 miles. The road now takes you straight into the airport.

I did South Chelmsford to Stansted in 20 minutes a couple of weeks ago and EGMC is less than 20 minutes from Chelmsford.

Fair enough!

I live south west of Chelmsford, so the A130/A120 is not my normal route.

so Circuit Basher, what DID you end up doing?? The weather wasn't too bad after all

As I had spare time on the way down (due to Sleazy Jet being early for once!! :D), I tried the A130 / A120 (as there were reports of delays on the M25 / A127) - nice road and will be even nicer when all the roadworks are finished! Managed to get to a big Tescos in Sarfend in 1hr 15 mins for a bacon sarnie, which wasn't bad for travelling during rush hour! On the way back, after the meeting, I finished up lunching there and didn't leave Sarfend until 1400, so routed direct back via the A130 / A120 again and made it back quite comfortably. Didn't get a chance to divert via the airport!

Thanks for the help and suggestions - wouldn't have tried that route otherwise! May finish up doing a lot more driving in that area in the near future, so it's useful to know about!

Well as you found Tesco's in that time, you could have had your sarnie at the airport, it's only a stones throw away, and I haven't tried Tesco's, but I bet the terminal cafe one is a lot better!

Are you looking at working in the new building opposite Tesco's?

But wouldn't it be a lot easier if someone would fly EDI to SEN!!

Didn't see this till after it was all over!

The Historic Aircraft Museum was excellent in its heyday, but that was a very long time ago and there's no trace of it now.

I flew (briefly) this afternoon to check G-UTSY after the annual. Wind was 06015G25 at the time - she went up like a lift!

There was a Nanchang playing, and Dave off to scare the seagulls in his Yak; BBBN coming home from Calais, and something turboprop and commercial-looking running up as I left. Pretty quiet, really.