Night-flying destinations
 

A bit late in the season, maybe, but a question which came up at work a couple of days ago:

Where would you go for a quick bite to eat, or even a cup of tea, at night?

One of my colleagues was doing a night cross-country with a student. He (my colleague) hadn't had a chance to have any dinner, and thought it would be a good idea to go somewhere where he could get something to eat. After pouring over the flight guide and making a few phone-calls, we couldn't find anywhere within a sensible flying distance of Blackpool which is open at night, has a cafe which is open at night, and charges a less than extortionate landing fee.

(Incidentally, Blackpool is open until 9pm 7 days a week, charges a reasonable, though not cheap, landing fee, and has a pub on the airport which serves food, coffee and tea (and beer) all day. So, although it might not be gourmet food at the Air Balloon, it wins my vote as best night destination by default. But that's not really idea for a cross-country from Blackpool.....)

FFF
-----------------

Not really close to blackpool but Oxford Airport is open to 8pm, 9pm on wednesdays and has a cafeteria and a bar on site.

...and Leicester have a curry night in the clubhouse on Thursdays, 7 pm sharp!

Newcastle! Costs a fortune, but you won't get a better night out! Best fly home the following afternoon / evening, though!

But for most of us the problem is getting home! Visiting is all well and good, but when your base airfield shuts at 7pm, you're stuffed!

DW :ok:

I am sooooo glad we have our own lights......

Yep - my old instructor told me that he did some hour buidling in the US. They could call up the lights from the VHF by using a series of "clicks", and land whenever they wanted. How much easier / more functional would that make life? At my airfield, someone called "downwind" at 6:58pm, and got asked what his alternate was as the airfield closed at 7pm! His nearest alternate was Luton - how much would that diversion have cost?

DW.

Edited to say - Sorry Bose-X I assumed you were American, but looking at your profile, you fly in the UK. Wish I had my own lights!

Not only that, you can turn the light intensity up or down as well. However, it's very easy to get into Homer Simpson "Light goes on. Light goes off. Light goes on..." mode and totally miss your join!