Several years ago a group of microlights flew into Heathrow. One didn't fly out again after being blown over by a taxying Jumbo!
I don't imagine they were charged anything like this ludicrous sum of money, and I belive they were allowed to use a taxiway for landing/takeoff.
Interesting thread though.

Hmmmm I paid £56 for my Archer to land and park overnight at Leipzig. It's about the same size but not as busy by a long way.

What a splendid read and an equally splendid thing to do! And so little of the Pprune-bitch-fest!!

Well done.

Took a PA31-350 into Jan Smuts one day but it really was quiet, Lanseria the GA 'drome in Jo'burg where I was a frequent visitor was at the time the airport with most African movements. Still, not a patch on what you did!

Stik

I seriously wonder why Gatwick is like this.

Unlike Heathrow, the place is pretty quiet for much of the day and could easily handle GA traffic.

Europe has loads of airports which dwarf Gatwick or Heathrow in size so nobody should feel in some way inferior for not having been to Gatwick.

Incidentally Gatwick publishes perfectly reasonable VFR approach plates, via Jeppesen so probably via the UK AIP too. You get the usual VRPs ;) I hate VRPs; the IR was worth doing just to never again have to find another VRP :)

How much different would have been the final cost had you decided to arrive at ,say 15:00 hrs ?

Well done that man. I was sorely tempted to splash out on a Gatwick logbook entry until I read this!!

I dropped into Edinburgh in August (another lifetime ambition) and really enjoyed the lining up with the big boys. It didn't cost £900 though :eek:

Good on ya for doing it though!! Maybe if I have a small lottery win I will blow it on a day out to Gatwick.

Well done!! Great experience. I flew a Mooney 201 into LGW in 1988. Great fun and asked to keep high speed for as long as posssible so as not to slow up the big boys. What speed they ask you for and until what distance.

Good one for the log book and great pics.

elac2

$1,720.00 Canadian ! :ooh: :eek:

I can book a flight from Toronto to London and stay in a pretty good hotel ... er.. maybe motel ... :) for that amount.

Or, more likely in my case a two or maybe three week golf vacation in the southern u.s..

Oh well, if the OP was happy, so be it.

I was contemplating flying into CYYZ a few years ago for the fun of it, but changed my mind quickly after finding out about the ~$100.00 CAD landing fee. ... Possibly / probably more now, haven't checked.

Instead, I did a *free* "flyover" one night when it was quiet. I was given "the option" by the controller, but elected to keep the wheels in the air for a "low and over" (and my money in my wallet).

The surprising thing I remember, was that even at only ~2,000 feet up, how "small" even those big runways looked :)

Mike

What fabulous pictures! Thank you Contacttower for an interesting thread. Many years ago I did a similar flight but from Lasham in a Cessna 150 - what an unforgettable experience. Sadly no photos were taken at the time.

IO540
 

You are not discribing the Gatwick that I know with , being cleared to land at 200ft on a regular basis and 100ft now and then I think that squeezing GA in would be quite hard as much as it would like it to avoid the commute around the M25.

The more that I fly IFR the more I like Visual approaches................. Big jet, small Greek island & visual approach from 10,000 ft........... now thats what I call fun!!

I taxied out at JFK one night and found myself in the congo line behind a Cessna 172.

The Cessna duly got airborne. I was then cleared to line up and take-off on 22R "caution wake turbulence from previous departing aircraft".

I thought that was quite amusing since I was driving a DC-10!

Just for anyone else contemplating a Gatwick visit, but not wishing to splash out quite as much, then I would recommend either Vallance Byways or Dovers Green. I flew into both earlier this year. Peter Vallance's strip running parallel to to 08R threshold lets you fly directly over the Gatwick apron and the best bit of all, he refused to accept a landing fee from me, gave me a tour of his museum and also a free lift to my CAA medical reval. :ok:
I would say that the Museum strip does require some strip experience to do safely, but just up the road at Dovers Green (also PPR from Peter) a PA28 type should have no problem.
If you want to see some pics to get an idea, then I put a trip report here:
http://forums.flyer.co.uk/viewtopic.php?p=445043
Well done to Contacttower for doing what floats his boat, but as already mentioned by other posters, you may well be better off nipping across to Europe to get a similar experience. We recently dropped into Hamburg on the way home in our SEP to give our group member a taste of the "Big Time" and he had a similar seminal pleasure, but for only 56 euros total.;)
Cheers
FF

Fair play to you sir, but sod that, how much ?????? :eek:


LAX - $80
San Diego Int - $20
McCarran (Las Vegas Int) - $80

I flew into those 3 bad boys on a cross country flight in a Duchess over a long weekend last year. "Taxi to 25R, cross 25L at Golf, then taxi full length to Bravo behind the Quantas 747". :}

Gatwick's runways
 

Fuji old chap,

Gatwick's runways are 08R/26L and 08L/26R. I din't think it's due to change to 07L or 07R for some years yet...

FYFI 08R/26L is the main instrument runway, 08L/26R is the so-called 'Northern' runway and is visual only. It may only be brought into use when the main runway is unavailable, usually due to maintenance at night. Don't ask to use it just 'cos you're visual!

TheOddOne

No 'H' at Gatwick
 

Verticalhold,

Years ago, there was an 'H' at Gatwick positioned on what is now taxiway Lima, just North of stand 150, if you have a plate of Gatwick to hand. This was fine when this taxiway was a cul-de-sac but it had to be removed temporarily for WIP. When we wanted to replace it with something more user-friendly we did risk assessments on all the possible locations and came up with...nowhere! Thus, all rotary traffic now has to land/take off on the runway in use and thus has to book slots instead of just dropping in. Something of an own goal, really. Vallance Byways now does good business in rotary movements and good luck to him.

TheOddOne

Do Gatwick have Avgas?

My local airport (Birmingham) stopped supplying Avgas some time ago, presumably to deter GA.

WNC

Presumably not. :ugh: Presumably because there wasn't sufficient demand to make it profitable to store and supply avgas.

There doesn't have to be a conspiracy everywhere... ;)

I'm so pleased that everyone seems to have enjoyed the thread....thank you again for all your comments and encoragement:).

By the way the handling agent Interflight has refunded me £350 after they realised that they charged me the summer rate rather than the winter rate...so that made the cost more in line with what Bose suggested.

Gatwick doesn't usually have avgas but I think the handling agent could arrange it if given enough notice.

Well done mate! :D

Sorry to go off thread, briefly, but this reminds me of my first flight into Glasgow Prestwick as a 65 hour PPLer. We had flown up to Scotland from down south, Stapleford, ref-fueling at Gamston, and chose Prestwick for convenience. It has the feel of a big airport with 2 long runways and lots of Ryanair and 747 Freight traffic.

Left base for 31 in a C182 flying VFR and following ATC instructions explicitly, it went something like this:

Tower: "G-xxx, confirm visual 737 long final, keep it tight and report turning final"

Me: (seriously worried) "Negative on the 737, looking, will report turning final"

Me: "G-xxx final 31"

Tower: (after a 20 sec pause) a frustrated, "G-xxx, this isn't going to work, go around, right side of runway, maintain altitude and heading upwind until I call you"

Me: "Wilco, maintain upwind until you call"

I guess he hadn't realised that I was a low-hour PPL in an aircraft which I was told to land at 75kts (and I bl**dy well listen to my instructors!) and would not come in at 140ks like the 737!

We then proceeded upwind and watched a Ryanair 737 land pretty much alongside us on 31, flew out to sea at about 800ft and started to get a bit worried as the Isle of Arran loomed ahead, but finally:

Tower: "G-xxx, turn crosswind"

I acknowledged and did so. A little later, after a long silence from ATC came the sarcastic:

Tower: "G-xxx, Are you going to turn downwind any time soon?"

Me: (an equally sarcastic, but giggly) "I was waiting for your instructions! Turning downwind now"

We then proceeded to land happily on 31 and flew out of Prestwick for a week, having hilarious exchanges with that particular controller (who clearly hated GA). Memorable last exchange with him:

"G-xxx, have you GOT an airfield plan!?"

Oh, those were the days!:O

No. I was working at LGW when the AVGAS bowser was withdrawn in 1991 by the refuelling company. It had sat for 6 months with 2,000lit in it and only dispensed about 150lit. It was costing many more times the value of the AVGAS sales to keep it and the necessary staff training etc going so it had to go. Arrangements were made for the bowser at Redhill to be available should the need arise; this may have lapsed by now. If you go into LGW in a piston, make sure you've got enough to get out again. Redhill is only 5 mins flying time away.

The OddOne

ps the bowser would probably be refused entry to airside at Gatwick as it is not a clear plastic container of 100ml or less...:rolleyes:

Slight thread creep...
 

...which reminds me of the true story of a water bowser driver who was told he couldn't bring his 500ml water bottle through, despite him pointing out to the security guard that he was driving 10,000lit of water about, how much difference was another 1/2lit going to make, what was the guard going to do about that?

He was eventually allowed through having decanted the water from his bottle into his 10,000lit tanker. Barmy or what?

TheOddOne

Gatwick does have a lot of quiet periods, among the very busy ones.

It could easily take slow GA. They would need some sort of slot system, a bit like Friedrichshafen (EDNY) when visiting the AERO 2007 exhibition. One books slots on their website and - Germans being organised - you can buy them with Paypal for a few Euros.

The trouble is that nobody in the business is interested in doing something radically different, when they get £1000 or whatever from every jet. It's the can't-do culture that's the problem, and equally it's the American can-do culture that keeps things going over there.

If I was running an airport, I would sell landing fees on the web, payable by CC or Paypal. Why have pilots queing up to pay landing fees? It's a waste of their time.

Now having done my PPL in Florida, I flew into daytona international, Orlando sanford and quite a few other regional airports, not ONE of them charged a penny (or is that cent?) :ok:......
Still can't decide what my favourite big airport experience was....
"Number two to land for stop and go after 747, caution for wake turbulance" at Sanford, then doing a short feild landing in a C150 (on a 10,000ft runway!!! :}) followed by a short field take off :cool::} , or flying radar vectors into Daytona in the sunset over the daytona oval for a touch and go amonst lots of big traffic :)...
Both sets of controllers were helpful friendly, and the ones at Sanford even had a sense of humour, advising me that I had "approximatly 9000' of runway for take off, was I happy with that or did I want to taxy back to the threshold ?" :}... My instructor and I were in bits laughing!! ... The best thing is we got treated as equals to the big boys, and we were not considered a burdon, and NO fees at all!
Infact the whole uk GA operation could learn a lot from the USA's model, the night lighing at most airfields could be operated by radio, so even if the airport was "shut", you can come and go as you please...
Anyway, well done on the Gatwick landing, :ok:, must have been great fun and challenging at the same time... Maybe when my numbers come up I will have a go

Wow! Things have changed a bit . .

I was bringing a well-equipped - it had radio - Percival Prentice back from Brussels to Biggin one evening when, upon calling London they said "be advised Biggin is closed, call Gatwick on 123,4" which I thought I out to do since a couple of months previously I had landed after hours at Biggin and just managed to get off the airfield before P C Plod turned up on his LE Velocette.

The overnight stay at Gatwick was only 15/- which, even in those days was reasonable and the following morning I was able to bask in the luxury of having one of Dan Dare's 4B's exhaust de-ice the aircraft; their stands were opposite the GA park.

The only difficulty as I remember was the seemingly interminable waiting out in the boonies as every time I thought I might be able to go, "hold for the taxying Britannia". Eventually, complaining of incipient plug fouling, I was allowed to make a VFR departure back to Biggin. Those inverted DH engines did not like long periods of idling.

Not a lot to do with the general tenor of the thread but it was a "light single into Gatwick".

GQ.

If LGW gets sold by the Spannish, then perhaps more enlightened
owners would welcome more GA business ???

Don't hold your breath - when hourly movements exceed 50 for most of the day for most of the summer there is very little incentive to encourage GA. We will only be invited back to LGW when runway capacity exceeds demand (i.e. when hell freezes over or mega-recession stops people wanting to go to Benidorm 24/7 - whichever happens first).

When I exported a Prentice I had to clear Customs at Gatwick. ATC held light aircraft orbiting just East of Redhill at 2000' and then told you to go for it direct to the threshold, turn in at 50', get down and get off the runway quick, when there was a gap in the landing sequence.

Departure was announced by a friendly lady in the terminal as "Bureimi Airways Flight No 1, boarding now."

Still, that was 1967. More gaps in traffic then, I guess. Good controllers too.

PS I don't know about Gipsy Queen, but I solved the Prentice oiling-up while idling problem by doing the mag check only when well into the climb after take-off. OK over land, but always a nervous moment over water.....and mine was well equipped too; it had a 4 channel radio behind the pilot's seat, and I had 70 crystals for it. Changing frequency meant changing crystals by feel, and re-tuning the aerial with a bulb and a piece of wire, also by feel.

Lgw Atc
 

The former may no longer apply, but the latter most certainly does. In my opinion and experience, LGW controllers are the best in the world. They manage the busiest single-runway aerodrome in the world safely and expeditiously.

Well done Contacttower for making it work for you, it's a lot of effort and I'm sure everyone made you welcome.

TheOddOne