Donington : the heliport from hell ?
 

With the Brit GP moving to Donington in a couple of years, how will the massive heliport operation fit in with East Midlands Airport ?

How will 1200+ movements fit around the constantly expanding East Midlands commercial traffic ?

Or will fuel be so expensive by 2010 that there will be no flying or racing left for oil-powered machines ?

I believe that movements at Silverstone are considerably less now that the roads have been improved. I would guess that with Donn being so close to East Midlands and the M1 that the need for helis will be even less?

Traffic at major events at Donny Park can still be a nightmare. I can remember traffic being stuck for hours on the M1 due to the MotoGP a couple of years ago.

The current arrangements for a heliport at Donny Park are pretty useless. You can only hope that the new(ish) owners of DP will come up with a new plan after detailed consultation with East Mids ATC. (FWIW, the new owners are certainly very 'heli-friendly'.)

There's no reason that with sensible 'traffic flow control' through the zone, a plan should be workable which won't disrupt the FW traffic into East Mids. The East Mids ATCOs are certainly capable enough! :D


Edited to add: Although thinking about it, I guess that a lot of the punters will now be able to come into East Mids via private jet or even Easyjet. So maybe the demand for helis will drop off significantly... :O Although saying that, if you want to come direct from central London (ie Battersea), then a heli will obviously be your only option. :)

I roughly echo what B73 said. With the obvious proximity of EMA, perhaps the number of heli movements for the GP will fall.

However, having flown in their earlier this year I think they will need more than the current "square" they have fenced off for the purpose!! Of course I am sure this will be one of the whole raft of facilities which they'll have promised to improve in time for 2010. Wonder what this makes of Silverstone's plans for a new paddock area which were in the papers earlier this week?

I fly into a few of the motor racing circuits to watch my brother race bikes (or I did until he broke his Collar Bone last weekend! :rolleyes:), and Donnington is 1 of only 2 who don't charge!! Quite how MSV (owners of Brands, Snetterton etc) come up with the £50 they charge to land I do not know. I suppose that Donnington will be charging for GP day, it'd be madness not to!

I am sure, though, that the ATC'ers at EMA will fit everyone in - they are one of the friendliest and most helpful lot I have ever spoken to...

... should be interesting come 2010.

Have fun those flying this weekend. Only next years briefing to do!!

Aerial view of proximity (and direct inline with runway)
 

If East Midlands have any business sense they will arrange a temporary road from the airport direct to the track - it only looks a mile or so on the aerial picture and with the runway extended centreline going through/very near the track I would be very surprised if there is any need for helicopter traffic.

AP

AP,

Although East Mids can obviously cater for any traffic from other airfields, there are still plenty of punters who will want to travel from either their back garden or central London. There will still be a demand for heli operations but potentially at much reduced levels.

Lots of the heli shuttle services also run from local(ish), large hotels. But I guess that lots of shuttle operators will offer FW services from UK airfields. But how many slots can East Mids handle on raceday?

I'd be interested to hear Chilli Monster's opinion on the matter. :ok: Are you there, Chilli?

If they extend the track, about a half mile to the east ,they can have a 9800ft straight - that should keep the top speed fans happy!

Looks like Bernie is making a point against the BRDC and the next couple of years will see construction misery in the EMA area - one two way road feeding the circuit and airport will be hopeless. If you are going on holiday don't choose the GP weekend and if you work there, take a sickie because it will be gridlock.

Me - I shall watch it all on TV unless they remove the age 60 rule for SP Ops in which case I shall probably be there "kerb sniffing" up the Shepshed Lane.

Try Rotoring - beats motoring.

UG:ok:

What and where is Costock? I hear helicopters going in there and know it's very near to the airport. Is it a potential facility/factor?

What about 'helitelly' pictures during the race? The helicopter should be above the track for the best view of any racing incidents.

Costock is the operating base for East Midlands Helicopters.

It's about 9 miles due east of the airport so no, it couldn't be used directly for the GP. But I'm sure that they will be selling fuel on the day...

Helis are used for a data link for the MotoGP. It's all co-ordinated with East Mids ATC (obviously) and IIRC, sits in the hover over the track at about 3000ft.

Other heli traffic over the track just moves out of the way when there is a departure from East Mids. But I suppose that the track might try and negotiate a 'no departures during the 3 hours of the race' deal with the airport operator in order to facilitate things. Good luck to them if they do!

Knowing what a problem a single heli going in to the Donington Park HLS can cause to ATC at EMA and to their departures off 27, this has all the makings of a real fun day..... one worth avoiding like the plague :}

I think he knows that!!!

However, for the Silverstone Grand Prix, heliteli is used for more than up/down links so the query is whether that will be affected when/if the F1 GP moves to Donington.

Cheers

Whirls

Huh? Who says he knows that, Whirls? U being mean to me? :ouch:

I was just pointing out that helis already operate over the track during race days, at multiple levels. (ie high up for the datalink and lower down for filming.)


:p

Thanks for the kind words about EMA ATC!
could make for some interesting discussions/planning over the next 18months-above my pay grade though-would guess that much traffic will go to FW and try to use the airport proper, thats along the lines of what happened in 1993
the aerial cameras are not major problem, we have fair amount of experience with this at other events and providing WX is OK, and good cooperation from the platforms then runs smoothly, might still be booking my leave now though!
(leave the hard work for Chilli!)

Simple really

Race is at a weekend so DHL facility will be quiet, thus a vast paved heli parking area is available at the correct end of the airfield. A small temporary bridge (there is already an airfield service road going the right way) from EMA to DP and a few tens of golf buggies to ferry the pax around and it looks a snap.

B73, I fink BB's one of the ones wot duz it for a living.... ;)

Daysleeper,

Your idea is far too sensible :D to ever see the light of day. :(

But if EMA/DP can get DHL onside, your idea has got to be worth investigating. Hopefully, Chilli Monster will get around to reading this thread at some point. If not, it might be worth sending him a PM with your idea. :ok:

So I've just been told! Ooops. :O Sorry for the egg sucking lessons, BB.

But in my defence, m'lud, BB's profile doesn't give many clues about his actual profession... ;)