PPRuNe Forums

PPRuNe Forums (https://www.pprune.org/)
-   Private Flying (https://www.pprune.org/private-flying-63/)
-   -   Spring UK Private Flying Bash? (https://www.pprune.org/private-flying/471101-spring-uk-private-flying-bash.html)

Duchess_Driver 7th December 2011 22:47

Sounds like a good idea, count me in. ( Subject to the OC signing my 'leave chit' that is! )

504SQN 8th December 2011 19:46

How about Hucknall? Home.

007helicopter 8th December 2011 20:21

Important consideration !!, what about the food options at the final chosen location?

maxred 8th December 2011 20:33

Count us in, we will bring two planes, that would be 8 seats, and we could tie up with other Gaelic Ppruner's who would like to admire the views.

Pointless bringing empty seats down:cool:

GeeWhizz 8th December 2011 20:46

Excellent idea, I'm up for it. Here are my experiences and recommendations of the suggested airfields...


Wickenby, Welshpool, Leicester, Halfpenny Green, Derby, Fenland, Norwich, Wellesbourne, Conington, Sandtoft
I didn't really rate Wickenby's runways or cafe. Perhaps too crowded for a meet and if the aeros box is open it can be hard work to stay out of the way.:=

Welshpool, I agree with the above that its too small wrt parking.:=

Leicester/HPG/Derby/Sandtoft: not visited these so would be interested on others views.:confused:

Fenland: two runways 36/18 and 26/08 so crosswinds shouldn't be an issue. Both are shortish grass (600m/640m respectively I think). Lovely food in the cafe too.:ok:

Norwich - again as previous posts: excessive landing fees and possibly too commercial for a GA meet(?).:=

Wellesbourne: Nice hard runways, lots of parking space, and a cafe with good food. Busy place with many aeroplanes and interesting pilots of all experiences and age ranges.:ok:

Conington: Pretty much as per Wellesbourne. Nice standard overhead join pattern (pictured in Pooleys), friendly service and nice cafe. Not sure of the parking space available. I parked on the apron and someone helped to push the aeroplane back into a snug spot; easy exit though! :ok:

Sherburn: all been said already, very nice strips with a spacious cafe!:ok:

GW

Edited to add:

Duxford: nice place. But quite a walk from apron to visitors centre for landing fee payment and restaurant.:=

Also, I can have 3 spare seats and am happy to pick up at places such as Cambridge (Ds3?) if anyone would like a lift/costshare?

peterh337 8th December 2011 21:18


and a cafe with good food
(at Wellesbourne)

When did you go there? I visited a few weeks ago and the food was nothing short of disgusting. The veg looked like it was prepared the previous day.

The airfield itself is fine, and they do have a little bit of hard parking which would be important (essential) for a proportion of visitors.

As I said, Norwich may be worth a look if one can do a deal with one of the flying clubs. Personally I would happily pay the £50 and park on tarmac.

Duxford should be fine, and the food is edible.

Ds3 8th December 2011 21:25

Duxford works great for me! ;)

GeeWhizz - very kind of you to offer. Unless the destination ends up being local to me, pencil me in for a seat - will happily share your costs. Out of interest, what do you fly?

GeeWhizz 8th December 2011 21:31

Visited Wellesbourne in July, and it all seemed fine. Quite enjoyed the lunch as far as I remember.

I learned a very important lesson during the Duxford visit, one that should be shared and never forgotten...

Never ever ever leave a headset on top of the dashboard if parked into strong hot sunshine during mid summer. The black rubber ear cup seals become immensely hot and leave red burn marks on ones face! :*

Ds3: see PM.

007helicopter 10th December 2011 14:47

Or Coventry, reasonably central, plenty of runway and parking, plus converted DC6 Diner and Musuem

We had a small meet there for 6 aircraft and they waived the landing fee as we booked the restaurant.

DC6 Diner opens in plane at Coventry Airport | Mail Online

thing 10th December 2011 22:24

Sherburn sounds good to me, if it's mid week I would prefer school hols for us teacher types. Sywell is pretty good too, hasn't it recently won 'GA Airfield of the year' or some such nonsense?

Piper.Classique 11th December 2011 06:38

Can we have somewhere with a choice of runway direction and preferably a grass option please? And not a silly landing fee.....

thing 11th December 2011 09:40

Sherburn and Sywell have more runways than you can shake a stick at and reasonable landing fees.

Piper.Classique 11th December 2011 19:01

Sherburn or Sywell it is, then! Just have to arrange some VMC now ;)

DX Wombat 11th December 2011 20:49

Almost anywhere EXCEPT Sherburn in Elmet. I will not go there. I have several reasons, some personal but the last time I went (about a year ago) the state of the carpet in part of the eating area was absolutely vile and that was the final straw. It may, of course, have changed since then.
Halfpenny Green is fine and I hear that the cafe has improved. There is a great choice of runway there and there is even a little grass strip for the microlights. Wellesbourne used to have a good cafe, Shobdon's isn't too bad either. The food at Wickenby when I went with Project Propeller was fine and it's not too far away from Scampton. ;)

GeeWhizz 11th December 2011 21:04

Ha'penny Green sounds good, never been but keep meaning to. Or, glancing randomly at the chart from a distance, Derby/Tatenhill? It appears both are central to the entire universe!

Pilot.Lyons 12th December 2011 18:21

tatenhill
 
Hey all i fly out of tatenhill and it really is a nice airfield with a decent runway 08/26
They have just put a little conservatory on the end and mad a small cafe in it (my friend said bacon rolls are nice:)
But the cafe area is small.
Liecester has a much bigger cafe which is basically a pub with a very very good glass conservatory which sits high and has a perfect view of the runways (i liked that bit) but the guy on the radio was ignorant and rude... Other than that i quite liked it.... Sure it was about £12 landing fee too

Katamarino 12th December 2011 19:42

It would be nice if we could go for a fairly Easterly airport. Then maybe I can get Backpacker on board and we can fly in from Rotterdam :ok:

dublinpilot 12th December 2011 20:08

Some of us are planning on coming from the West too you know ;)

peterh337 12th December 2011 20:50

How about setting aside 2 dates, say 1 week apart?

The airports being universally proposed are inaccessible in any "weather".

Genghis the Engineer 12th December 2011 23:19


Originally Posted by Genghis the Engineer (Post 6847313)
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.

Whilst we're still haggling about what airfield (although Sherburn and Sywell seem the current favourites), everybody seems to have been happy with those dates.

G


All times are GMT. The time now is 16:55.


Copyright © 2026 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Use of this site indicates your consent to the Terms of Use.