Spring UK Private Flying Bash?
 

So, we approach christmas, and the sane and rational aviator puts his thoughts to Spring.

I'd like to propose that we have a Private Flying bash, as ever on a friendly airfield where there's stuff to see and do. The last one seems to have been about 8 years ago, so it's due!

So, here's an initial proposal:

Sunday March 25th, backup Saturday 31st if the weather's poor.

Location: open to suggestions but somewhere interesting between 52deg30N and 53deg30N so it's reasonably central for everybody in the UK, medium sized airfield that's friendly to whatever people are likely to want to fly. Accessible by road for those who prefer to drive. That offers the possibilities of:

Wickenby, Welshpool, Leicester, Halfpenny Green, Derby, Fenland, Norwich, Wellesbourne, Conington, Sandtoft...

What do you think chaps and chappesses?

G

Sounds good - want me to have a word with Sherburn re waving landing fees if we can arrange numbers?

3 runways orientations and away from busy airspace :)

Assuming the UK stops at Carlisle !! ;)

Well it clearly doesn't, but somewhere around 98% of us live between 50 and 56 degrees, so 53 is about in the middle.

You could try organising a fly-in at Carlisle, but despite being halfway between Lands-End and John-O-Groats, I suspect you'd get a limited attendance, pleasant a spot 'though it is.

G

Sounds good to me, can't speak for anybody else however.

G

Go for it!

Rod1

Dont worry Genghis I knew what you were getting at!

I've given up trying to attend Fly-ins in Scotland as they fall foul of the weather 99% of the time. Saying that I did attend the Perth one but that basically required me to wheel my plane out of the hanger onto the grass! ;-)

Might actually be a good excuse for me to stretch the legs a bit and head 'darn sarf' as long as its somewhere with about 600m length so I can get off the ground with a full tank of fuel and my fat ass..

Well Sherburn is 830m of tarmac on the longest runway, and 585m of grass on the shortest - I'd hope that we can all cope with that.

Anyhow, that seems to be the quickest and most unanimous decision in the history of Pprune.

I'm happy to offer 2, probably 3 spare seats from Booker.

G

(Have flown into Dundee and Prestwick this year, so not afraid of crossing the border!)

I'd have gone for Conington as it's 10 mins flight from my base, but it's debatable whether I'll have my PPL by then or not so I guess my opinion doesn't count for too much yet :cool:

Sherburn is a bit far for me so would probably have to give it a miss unfortunately, regardless of license.

Hard runway, parking in good condition (no potholes or tall grass or rocks).

Of those listed, the only ones I recall having been to are Welshpool, Norwich, Wellesbourne, Sherburn in Elmet, and the 1st would have too little space IMHO, and is also very risky w.r.t. weather.

Norwich would be ideal but at £50 (?) is perhaps too pricey for most here, unless one can do a deal with one of the flying clubs. When I went there ~2 years ago I went to one of the flying clubs and it was about £15 which is totally reasonable.

Why waive landing fees? Is everybody going to spend £10 on cakes? :)

How about Cambridge? Or Shoreham? Or for a really exclusive get-together, with no risk of exposure to civilisation, how about Lydd? :)

Great idea, any of those are good with me. As Peter says, not much parking at Welshpool though.

Fair enough, 86 nautical miles from Conington to Sherburn is nearly 2/3 of the PPL qualifying cross country and would take almost an hour in most light aeroplanes. Hate to stretch people unreasonably beyond their limits.

G

Maybe we're talking about a different Conington then, as it's showing as 158nm on my map?

Regardless, the costs of renting is the restricting factor as even if I have passed my test, it's highly likely that my cross country and skills test will have been in that month too.

Flippant remarks such as that are hardly going to encourage new pilots to become part of the community.

Sorry if I caused offence, but the implication than anything more than about 10 minutes from home base was a bit far did seem to demand a little bit of mild sarcasm.

More helpfully perhaps, post here where you're coming from and anybody else based there - either with the same club, or maybe their own aircraft might be amenable to sharing. (Similarly to my posting that I can take 3 from Booker - I don't need passengers, but I hate to see empty seats in an aeroplane when somebody else could be enjoying the flying too.)

G

No worries, as mentioned it's not the distance itself but the cost of the distance relative to other outgoings in the same month - just didn't think it would necessary to go in that much detail in a quick post!

I'm based in Cambridgeshire and am actually open to driving a reasonable amount to meet / pick up people etc before flying as I don't pay for petrol. Shame that doesn't cover avgas too though!

pboyall - once I've passed I'll definitely be looking for a share somewhere local or a cheaper route to flying. £30 an hour sounds great compared to the £134 I pay at the moment. Just need to get the PPL under my belt first.

I'll give it a go too.

Obviously have to travel a bit further than most here, so probablity of not being able to due to weather is higher, especially in March. However I did make the last one and that was in November!

So fingers crossed for some good weather.

Thanks Genghis for starting the ball rolling on this.

dp

Well, I turn my back for two minutes, and look what happens! Great idea. 25th is out for me (term time) but 31st is a definite possibility(start of Easter hols). :ok:

Sounds fun. I'll see if I can combine it with the annual, but it really is a bit far for me if I can't (75 knots from LFDW)

How about Duxford or Old Warden.........

A bit far south for some of the northern contingent perhaps?

Also, being entirely selfish - and much as I love both Shuttleworth and Duxford, I visit both for some reason most years, and would prefer to go somewhere I've not been for a while.

G