I am perfectly willing to take over the management and indeed the ownership of this airstrip entirely free of charge and to absolve the OP from any further worries or concerns he may have about the matter...:)

Gertrude

The best places for bath are Wadswick & Garston farm. If this strip in question is the one I'm thinking of then it's no closer to Bath than either of them.

Dave

Thanks - Garston Farm is the one I was thinking of using one day, not been there yet.

Many thanks to all
 

Dear all,

Apologies for the lack of reply - I have been away from an internet connection over the bank holiday weekend.

Thanks so much for taking the time to give me your feedback - I am very grateful.

I do actually love flying: I got my PPL in South Africa back in 1994 at the Progress Flying Academy in PE. I remember it all fondly but I let it lapse when I lived in London and could afford rental rates for a/c.

At this time I am just keen to understand the legal position (which I think I do now) and may be able to welcome people to the strip if the purchase goes ahead - just have to make sure of what we're buying!

Thanks again to all -

Will

Back in my gliding days I landed in a fair few farmer's fields. I first thing I did after landing was to find the farmer and apologise for landing in his field but I would point out that it was an emergency and had his field not been there, I could well have broken my neck.

I never had a problem and all of them were very hospitable. Nor was I ever asked to pay for any damage caused although I always offered.

I did hear a great story about a rather pompous individual who landed his big piece of expensive fibre glass in a stubble field in the West Country. He took the opposite tack and was very abusive to the farmer.

The farmer pointed out where the gate to the field was (it was a long way away) and told our pompous pilot that he was going to leave the gate open so that he could remove his glider. He pointed out that he was not preventing our man from leaving in any way but then went on to say that he was going to burn off the stubble in the field in 15 minutes time (they were allowed to do that in those days)!

There was no way that our pompous pilot could shift his plastic machine on his own so a huge helping of humble pie had to be devoured very quickly.

The OP hasn't been back :)

Bizarre!
 

I returned back to my strip to yesterday to pick up another aeroplane - only to find it blocked by a glider who had run out of energy, they don't like rain showers, it appears. There was a big comp Notammed nearby.

A couple of low passes and glider pilot moved his machine. We landed, made sure he was alright. He was given the postcode and name of the farm and we departed again in two a/c.

About 45 mins later I was heading home again and saw a glider trailer leaving the area! Strip was clear, no damage done. Hope he got airborne and today's comp was more succesful for him!

Stik

Since I stopped marking my strip I don't get uninvited guests. I put up a windsock when I'm using it and thoroughly brief anyone flying in (Google Earth is a great help for that).

Four years ago (when I still marked it like a mini Luton) I found a Robin parked there one Friday, I saw the pilot when he went to leave on the Sunday, He'd just flown in on the Friday, spent the weekend at a wedding and was ready to leave, having upset my local noise complainer. Doubtless he's still visiting private strips, I just hope he calls them these days.

SND

With ref. to making-up usurious charges "on the spot"....my understanding is that, in catering, if there is a dispute, one can, indeed, proffer what one considers a resonable payment, together with one's name and address. - It's then up to the caterer to pursue the matter in a Civil court.

Where a landing (unauthorised) is concerned, I would think that the landowner has a lien on the visiting machine. In practise, this means that the landowner would take temporary "ownership" of it, with attendant responsibility for care and safekeeping. again, a disagreement would need to be settled in Civil court.

The above scenarios apply when you leave your car in a repair-garage. Read the small print and there's usually a hefty "storage-fee" if you don't collect and pay promptly.(after all, you're depriving the owner of use of the area taken by your property. )

The getout is to pay by cheque , clearly marked " disputed charge paid under duress" - that gets your property back and leaves the door open to sue for return of unreasonable charges.

Not even a barrack-room lawyer, so this info may well be worth what you paid for it!

Probably irrelevant to this, but is there still a Right of Access for Marine Salvage to a vessel?