Small airfields in Cumbria / Lake District
 

Afternoon all,

I am looking at potentially taking a light ac to the Lake District area in the next few weeks, for a few days. Barrow-In-Furness is the absolute perfect location, is it available for visitors at the weekends? What other options are there?

Fuel would be nice, but I doubt there is anywhere to get that other than Blackpool. I see there is Kirkbride airfield, although I cant find any contact details for them. They are a little further north than I would of liked anyway.

Cark is an option, but the runway is a little on the short size for the aircraft I will be bringing. There is a gliding site on my map, unnamed, between Kendal and the M6. I found the name of it earlier but can't find it again - maybe they would accept a light ac?

Any help and advice is appreciated!

Many thanks

E

You can find most GA airfields on UKGA.com - here are the details for Kirkbride Airfield

Cheers

p.s. - I have no association with the site, not even a member.

Have a look at Bonbon which will tell you more about Kirkbride. It's a friendly place.

Regards

Lurker06

That gliding site does not exist. I lived 1 minute from the supposed site and I have driven round and round to find it but couldnt despite being on top of it in memory map on my laptop with gps.

Cark is short but there is extra rough run off. I have stopped in my 182 but now I have a Bonanaza A36 and have not dared to stop yet, despite knowing it will get out again. It just feels short.

Barrow will let you in in the week with notice for certain and sometimes without with a bit of pleading. I have been there loads of times and only on weekdays.

I heard that Barrow had opened themselves up for general traffic fairly recently without restrictions but maybe that is not correct. I havent been for about 12 months as thankfully I dont have to go to Barrow any more ;-)

Kirbride is great as long as you want to land or go to the restaurant/hotel which you can taxi to from the runway and park in their car park. That is fun and freaks the hotel guests out. Only thing is that the hotel is open only at weekends I am pretty sure.

Cumbria is a nightmare for airfields and that is unfortunately why my plane lives 50 miles away in Blackpool.

stuartforrest and E-n-i-g-m-a-8-3


What was the name of the gliding site? It might have been an expedition site called Greyrigg which didnt work out so well and is no longer used and removed from the map. Then there is Bleeze Hall I never did find out what was about. There was a strip at Tebay fell but that ended 25 years ago when the gliding club moved to Wallney Island. There is another field called Bracken Bank or something similar near Penrith but again that is a hang gliding site possibly with a winch ( possibly the Calvert trust). There is a new full time gliding site at Skelling farm (Edensoaring) but it does not have planning for motorised flight and can be quite busy with up 25 gliders on a good day. There is Lattrig which is para gliders and occasional gliding (18 day PA) but a bit rough and only 300 yds long operated by the Calvert Trust. Then there is a micro light strip at Glassonby but that is 550 m long and quite narrow in the middle (37 m), the locals are very friendly. The strip has unobstructed approach and climb out as it is on top of a 500' hill.
The new map shows a strip near Keswick which is owned by a guy flying auto gyros (Roger), I dont know if he has fuel but the whole field is landable not just the strip. Take care as there is often sinking air near the strip in a westerly wind (standing wave and convergance). There is also a heli pad near Penrith with an air ambulance. There was an old strip with an Auster hangar to the west of Keswick but not used any more due to a dual carridge way cutting it in two, the hangar is still there and the field is landable but very short now. It was always a bit tricky being so close to the hills. Barrow-In-Furness has a gliding club (Lakes Gliding Club) operating there at weekends, they might have fuel but have not been active for the last month due to tow plane being u/s. Great Orton or Silloth was used for burning dead cows so I dont know how much use they are now. Falgunzion is very narrow and suffers from turbulence from the trees and curl over in an easterly, not sure about fuel but there are local based a/c (Dumfries and district Gliding Club), again really nice guys.

If Kirkbride has fuel it is worth a look but Carlisle is quite switched on and very sleepy apart from 3-4 biz jets per week and does have fuel, catering etc.

Hope that helps.

Keep a good look out for gliders as there is a lot of activity on a good soaring day, particularly in September and October from low level to 20,000' or more

b b

Stuartforest:

I believe the gliding site is now disbanded, and there is no sign of it when looking at the exact grid reference on Google Maps.

I am tempted by Cark, it will be in a Robin DR400, so I need to check the short field performance figures, but I think I should be alright. I flew in there in a DA40 last year and I must admit it felt a bit tight.

I will call Barrow first though, if I can fly there it would be much easier, and there is tonnes of runway!

I would love to see the look on the hotel guests faces as I taxi into the car park, but I think it's just too far out of the way for me.

What is Blackpool like to operate from? I have their landing charges sheet - do they charge the pasenger fee for everybody? What if I just stop for fuel, is it just the landing fee and then fuel I'd have to pay for? I need to give them a ring, but if you have any more details it'd be appreciated.

Many thanks

E

bad bear:

The gliding site, I have just found on UKGA.com (thanks Jofm5), was called Bleeze Hall, but it appears to no longer be there.

If Barrow are unable to accept me, and I decide Cark is too small, I think I'll either go to Kirkbride or Carlisle, although that does put me some considerable distance from the place I'm staying.

Cheers

E

As far as I remember, Walney only allows based traffic at weekends. The gliders can be pretty active there also at weekends. I know the tower is not manned at weekends. Shame really. If the numbers are ok Cark are usually very accommodating.

Enigma

I have flown a DR400 140 (2 seats ) into Cark a few years ago.

It was not too bad , need to call them first though.


Regards

ps also done T&G s there

At the weekend I think the only realistic options are Carlisle, Kirkbride or Cark, and I think the only fuel is at Carlisle.

Runway and contact details for both Cark and Kirkbride are in the AFE flight guide. Both obviously need prior permission by phone.

Cark is a bit short (although there is quite a bit of 'overrun' available), so it all depends upon your aeroplane and loading. I've been in and out a couple of times years back in a Pup 150 two-up with no problems.

But if you are staying in the south of the district the road journey from Carlisle or Kirkbride might be a nightmare, so might it be worth considering Blackpool I wonder?

I see there is a fly-in at Kirkbride on 26/7 which looks interesting.

How heavy
 

E83
You say "a light aircraft" .... how light ?
Other strips may be possible but it all depends on how well your steed performs...
tth

Blease Hall was the name of the gliding site, not been used for a few years, I believe but there is a guy very nearby who flies microlights.

Thanks for the replies all.

The ac is a Robin DR400-120, Max AUW 900kg.

Unfortunately the weekend I am looking at isn't the same as the Kirkbride fly-in, otherwise it'd of been good to get up there.

I have considered Blackpool, although I need to confirm exactly which part of the charges I would need to pay - ie, do I have to pay the passenger fee for every individual passenger I want to take up? If so, it may work out rather expensive. Also, I need to give them a call to see how much fuel is, as I will at the very least, nip in on the way past for a drop of fuel.

I think I'll go to Cark, I am just reviewing the short field performance of the ac, and I think I should be ok. Although I do need to confirm with Cark the actual length of their runway, and I cant get hold of them at the moment.

Thanks!

Cark is only open/active weekends and Bank Hollidays

You may be better contacting them here
Skydive North West - The place to skydive in the north west - Welcome

I flew in by helicopter a few weeks ago. Very friendly place. Managed to speak to someone by phone for PPR on a Thursday and landed on Friday. Friday pm a lot of people arrived for the weekend parachuting. The club owner also owns the airfield. I believe, and he is also the pilot of the aircraft used for the jumps. I know little about fixed wing but it was a large aircraft which could carry about 10 or so parachutists so this should give you an idea of the type of aircraft that can use the runway. There is a picture of it on the website of north west parachute centre. Details of website given in previous thread. Also I left a message on their answer phone and they got back to me fairly quickly so suggest contacting them again. They also had a few other fixed wing and microlights while I was there. Certainly a very popular place for parachutists and as I say very friendly and co-operative folk. Also although Pooleys says no fuel I noticed a tanker there for the weekend so it is just possible you might be able to negotiate something.
J.

Well I spoke to Cark today, who are happy for me to visit, obviously with PPR and as long as I give them a call before start, and before inbound, to deconflict with paradropping.

I will arrange fuel with either Blackpool or Carlisle depending on where my local sorties from Cark take me - I'd imagine I'll be up and around the lakes, so Carlisle may turn out more convenient.

FYI, Cark's strip is 500m of hard runway, with 200m either end of rough ground, which could be used for taxy if required.

It's just negotiating the Manchester LLR which I have got to look forward to now! Anybody have any experience of how busy it is nowadays? There are a few threads on here, but nothing particularly recent.

Thanks all,

E

Going north
 

There's always the scenic route - east of Manch via the Peak District and Huddersfield. That would be a much easier route given a decent cloudbase.... just Holme Moss tv mast and a few hills to keep your eye on !
:)

flew the LLR about two weeks ago and saw two SEPs and a helicopter, chose to route to the right and separation was about 1/4 to 1/2 a mile. We visited Cark and Kirkbride and welcoming as they are there is no fuel at either.

Big thumbs up for Cark and also Castle Kennedy. Visited both en-route / from Glenforsa . Nil fuel but great places to land and overnight.

LLR no real problems ............ wow! the extra 50 feet in height makes it so much better :D
Best advice is not to stick to the middle....dial in the Manchester listening squawk and monitor radio.
Pity there isn't a dedicated radio freq for the LLR....that way you might have an awareness of other conflicting traffic.... has it ever been considered ???

Well I got up to Cark Safely on Friday, after a rather pleasant flight. All the people there were welcoming, and accomodating when I was flying in and out on the Saturday, between their para drops.

Would definately recommend it as a stop if you are in the area. The runway is short, but the DR400-120 has been absolutely fine getting in and out, with two of us on board. Hopefully get up there today and go for a flight up and around the lakes, which I'm looking forward to.

Working my way up the Manchester LLR was a terrifying experience, lol. Not many visual references to follow, and I'm not particularly looking forward to going back down it! I was pretty certain my route took me on the far eastern edge of the corridor, yet the only other ac I saw was reciprocal, same height, even further East than me! It felt good to be out the other end of the corridor, thats for sure!!

Cheers!