Solentflight - Lee on Solent
 

I normally fly from Fairoaks but spend a lot of weekends in Gosport and when I came across an organisation on the internet called Solentflight, operating from Lee on Solent, they seemed well suited for me to maybe hire their aeroplanes.

Have had a couple of telephone conversations with them and agreed I'd make contact at the start of November. As I couldn't contact them by phone last week (answering machine) and my email was not answered, I visited Lee on S airfield on Saturday morning (as they had invited me to do a few weeks ago before their apparently temporary displacement to another airfield as a result of unexploded ordnance at L on S).

The security guard on the gate wouldn't let me on the airfield and told me that the organisation was not working at present and their offices were locked up.

Can anybody throw any light on this and let me know if I can expect them back in business in the near future.

Very strange. All of the unexploded bombs have been removed and Lee-On-Solent has been back to normal for the past couple of weeks as far as I know.

I'm not sure which other airfield they would be operating from. Their aircraft were maintained at Bournemouth however I have not seen or heard them at Bournemouth whenever I've been flying there (not often I admit.)

Has anyone else heard the "Saints" callsign recently whilst flying around Hampshire or Dorset?

SW

Their web site is still up & running so not sure WIHIH:confused:

Solent Flight
 

I understood that they were temporarily somewhere north of Fareham in the region of Bishop's Waltham, from a conversation I had with them about a month ago. The web site is indeed still running but seems a little out of date as some parts of it still refer to being based at Southampton. It also had reference to a fireworks night fly out ... which I am sure did not happen.

I just hope they re-appear soon as I am trying to avoid being the source of unfounded rumour just looking for info re somewhere to fly.

Whilst the pipe bombs were being removed they were operating out of Bembridge IOW - ferrying to and from Lower Upham - I flew with them on 12/10 when amusingly? Bembridge ran out of avgas (primarily because of Solent Flight activity)

At that time they expected to be back at lee from 23rdish.

lee is a superb location to fly out of and solent appeared to be very busy - I'm back in the south next week and hope to fly with them again!

Well they were nowhere to be seen last weekend, according to security at Lee on S. haven't been seen for some time but I sincerely hope they are back soon too.

:ok:

Seen last weekend at a private strip, Lower Upham, about 3 miles east of Southampton Airport. As with Lee its unlicensed, but with only a 600 metre grass runway, so not much training going on there. Still seem to be commuting to Bembridge for training.

I have a mobile number for them which I know works. PM me if you need it.

TA for the PM .. have replied

Ive just joined Slolent Flight and they are currently operating from Lower Upham just outside Eastleigh in Southampton. Solent are normally based at Lee on Solent but due to essential work (removing pipe bombs!!!) they relocated temporarily to Lower Upham.
Andrew Temple, the owner, has been braking his back to try and keep all the regulars and new customers happy and ensure that training goes on as normal. This has resulted in Andy providing ferry flights to Bembridge so the lessons can commence.
I dont know all the ins and outs but Andrew has been waiting to get back to Lee for some time.
My advice is keep trying to get a hold of Andy if you want a lesson or continue your PPL. The FI's are great, the take off from Lower Upham is quite exciting and the school is really welcoming. I got a 45 minute post flight breifing from one FI which was really helpfull.
Good luck.
TGB:}

TBG

Glad to hear they are still operating. Andy and his team run a superb school and I have nothing but good things to say about them. It was such a shame that Southampton airport couldn't manage to accommodate their 4 to 5 aircraft. It's also a shame that no sooner they settled in at Lee-on-Solent. they had to move away whilst some bombs got destroyed. Still I guess they’ll soon be back at Lee and everyone will be able to enjoy flying from Lee again.

SW

The other flight school there, Carill Aviation, has been operating out of Lee normally for weeks now. The ban on Solent Flight affects them only.

What I have heard today is Solent Flight may be allowed back in next week, but with limited numbers of aircraft and restricted movements.

I heard rumours of why Solent Flight haven't been allowed back from many sources and it has nothing to do with restrictions on aircraft movements or total numbers of aircraft.

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What a tease. Since this is a rumour network perhaps you could spill the beans.

SW

I live about five minutes drive from Lower Upham, and thought I saw some familiar aeroplanes on the grass as I drove past the other day.
Isn't there another strip somewhere in the area?

There are several other strips in the local area, one of them very close.

In the nicest possible way, please can you all stay away unless you really need to come to this part of the world. We have operated without a single complaint for over 20 years until Lower Upham got busy during the Lee-on-Solent horlicks. Sadly, the last few months have not been so happy for us.

It's a harsh truth, but our worst enemies seem to be other pilots!


Thanks

Nipper, please clarify. Do you want us to stay away from Lower Upham?:ooh:

Hmmm...those complaints seem to follow that fleet of red and white aircraft where ever they go! :E

and could this possibly be why they're not being allowed back at Lee? I wonder.......

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I've always found Solent Flight a very professional outfit. If something has happened that other people should know about then tell us and let everyone make up their own minds. Don't insinuate that there have been incidents or complaints if you can't substantiate them.

SW

Perhaps not everyone has found Solent flight quite so "Professional".

Ask yourself why most other operators have been allowed back at Lee,. but not Solent Flight.

Carill don't exactly have a distinguished history

I don't know that they haven't been allowed back. Do you? Who is stopping them returning? Is it temporary? Why?

Do they take off on taxiways, fly low level past the Coastguard helicopter, do aerobatics in the overhead?? Tell us what the problem is. From the information given we have no idea of what you are accusing them of. As for Carill, whenever I've been to Lee the place looks deserted and Carill aviation aircraft have their covers on.

I am accusing no-body.

I am speculating as to why other owners and operators ARE back at Lee. Solent aren't.. Curious is it not?

Not MY words, but I too have heard similar Rumours (this is, after all, a Rumour network).

Maybe the two ARE connected, maybe not.

BEX

The bashing GA is getting may result in the fullness of time that only airfields where the schools own and operate will survive, like goodwood etc. B'mth may opt out and Lee shut !

GA should be local, not a 60 mile drive etc.

lets stick together and ALL keep on flying.

all PA28's make the same noise whatever their colour.........

Yes, but then some of them backtrack when not allowed and also crash in to the new fences!

At last, we are getting some information.

Was this at Lee on Solent? I have to say having taxied next to that fence it was bound to happen. I suspect the only reason it hadn't happened previously was because they didn't have the amount of new PPL's using the taxyway. Are they allowed to send students solo from Lee on Solent? If they are then that increases the risk even more.

As far as backtracking goes most Solent Flight pilots renting aircraft would have done 95% of their flying from Southampton where ATC will tell them exactly what to do. They would have more than likely flown to airfields with at least an Air to Ground Radio operator who would also help out. Changing from that to an uncontrolled airfield where you self announce is a bit of a culture shock. Mistakes like these will happen with inexperienced pilots but the problems will reduce as people become more familiar with the procedures and as a new bread of pilots, trained solely at Lee-on-Solent start to rent Solent’s aircraft.

Just my opinion

SW

There appears to be an increasingly heard rumour that Solent Flight are moving out of Upham, could this be following one of their aircraft landing there last Saturday after sunset?

QUOTE
Are they allowed to send students solo from Lee on Solent?
UNQUOTE

As the airfield is unlicensed, that would not be legal.

What a stupid place to build a fence: right next to a taxiway used by 'vehicles' with wings either side.:rolleyes:

It was always interesting to taxy the twin along there whilst trying to keep on the centreline of the taxiway AND keep the wingtip out of the fence!:hmm:

TCAS it is certainly fact that the aircraft you mention had nothing to do with Solent Flight. It was a private aircraft there.

As to speculation regarding Lee On Solent - it is all speculation until all the necessary pieces are put into place. One must remember that Solent Flight were the last operators that moved into Lee and amoungst many other issues surrounding this situation, the phrase "last in - first out" has as much to do with it.

I wonder what the other issues were? Non compliance with the HPASU airfield manual perhaps?

???????

Nope, afraid not.

Locals complaining about noise levels?

If Solent had as many people fly with them at Lee as they did in Southampton that would certainly represent a significant increase in air traffic in the area.

It would be nice if someone in the know could shed some more light on the situation since the speculation could be doing Solent Flight a great injustice.

SW

CaptAirProx,

You seem to be very close to this. WIHIH then?

BEX

CaptAirProx

With a callsign "Saints 44", sounded like one of Solent Flight's!

Think you must be mistaken, was there actually at the field that day, Saints 44 landed well before sunset. There's lots of other whittnesses too. It was a private owner some time after that appears to be the cause of concern.

Andy, the owner, is being very upfront with everyone, explaining exactly what is going on, the reasons behind the problems and what the future is likely to have in store...... All you have to do is go down and ask. He's explained it to me and everyone else thats supporting Solent Flight. Yes, things arn't ideal at the moment but not thru any lack of effort from Andy and the Instructors who are busting a gut to keep everyone flying.

Sorry chaps, got the wrong day, it was the 12 th November, ie Sunday, local sunset in Southampton was about 1620, "Saints 22" seen landing around 1635on a return flight from Bembridge - well after sunset.

Now its Saints 22?

You sure you're not just making this up? :cool:

It's been a long day, was Saints 44, was Sunday 12 th, was after sunset. Lower Upham is a great place to fly into, don't want people taking the p**s by flouting the operating rules. There aren't many places that GA can get into for a reasonable price on the south coast. Upham has against all the odds managed to keep flying, they deserve support, not abuse.

Billy says :Okay, so will you please explain it to us, just to set the record straight and quash the "rumours"?

Thanks

BEX

TCAS - and any others.

Any movements made or proposed to be made at Lower Upham are made with prior consent with the airfield owner....End of.

If you have issue, please take it up with the owner.