Pro rotary airfields
 

Hi all,

I am looking to plan a trip around the uk stopping at many airfields this summer in my helicopter.

Can anyone give me some good pro rotary airfields so I can start my planning.

All suggestions are greatly appreciated.

Thankyou.

Pro Rotary Airfields in UK and Ireland
 

Hellee

If you fancy a trip to Ireland in the summer give Enniskillen EGAB a try. Its the best pro rotary airfield in Ireland these days.

I can really only speak for the South East, where bizarrely, two of the busiest airfields for helicopters are the least friendly. Redhill is rude and expensive, and Wycombe is just rude.

White Waltham is the nicest IMHO, Goodwood is worth a visit, Bembridge on the Isle of Wight is fun (actually, go land at the Priory hotel for lunch, even better), and Shoreham has a classic quality to it. Lashenden is rural and cute. Fairoaks is just depressing now that Longmint have cast their pall over it. Denham doesn't have a cafe to speak of, Elstree does, but also some eccentric ATC. North Weald is good for planespotting, Stapleford is good for meeting cabbies, and the small East Anglian airfields (Shipdham, Andrewsfield, Earls Colne) are quiet and rural. Duxford and Old Warden are good for obvious reasons.

Ranging futher afield Compton Abbas is gorgeous, and Caernarfon is like a trip back in time. Shobdon and Barton are good, but avoid London Ashford International, it's nowhere near London or Ashford, and has no international flights, besides which it's a bit bleak and windy.

There's a few of mine, I'm sure my colleagues around the country will be happy to help.

Pop into Henstridge.

Caernarvon has got great surrounding scenery, but remember your yellow jacket.

Welshpool is very friendly - you can go and say hello to the guys from Whizzard Helicopters but no cafe, just coffee and tea.

West Wales airport at Aberporth, but check the danger area first.

Helicopter museum at Weston - great exhibits and cafe but no fuel.

Wycombe being rude is harsh, if you are aware of and follow the joining/departure procedures it's a very welcoming place. Most "rudeness" is as a result of someone barging their way through the gliders/flying low level over the (extremely) noise sensitive locations/not following the helicopter circuit.
Get a good brief and avoid any grief! :ok:

Ed at the Crew Room cafe at Denham might disagree about not having a cafe at the airfield, north side beside the pilot centre, good grub and a very pleasant spot for a coffee watching the world go by. The Pad cafe at Wycombe is also a good location for watching the gliders, fixed wing, helicopters and various vintage aircraft depending on what's going on on any given day.

Second White Waltham, Goodwood, Caernarfon and Shoreham, throw in Sywell and Wellesbourne, Manston for a random one out east!
As for Ireland, Enniskillen for sure, Newcastle is a great little place just to the south of Dublin.

Bagby - just keeps getting better for Rotary
have a safe trip

in north yorkshire it has to be breighton or bagby :)





sherburn is :E

A defence of Redhill and Wycombe
 

Having worked out of both Redhill and Wycombe I've always found them to be helpful to people who follow the published procedures.

Yes they can be a bit stern with those who don't follow the procedures but they are both more complex than most other places, Wycombe because of mixing Gliders and Heli and Fixed wing which they do really well, and Redhill likewise without the gliders but the added proximity of Gatwick, some of whom's airspace you are sometimes required to join through.

Redhill make it easy to pre-brief with a very detailed set of OS Maps showing noise sensitive areas and circuit patterns, the one criticism is perhaps that it should be made clear that the circuits are limits and not the centerlines of the circuit legs.

I have worked out of Redhill since 2002, sometimes more regularly than others , I am based there now and about once a month a genius will turn up who cannot read or cannot be bothered to read and they get pretty clear but stern instruction on how to get out of the fixed wing or helicopter circuit that they should not be in and how to get on the ground safely.

I know the SATCO well and he may not always agree with what gets said about Redhill but I have always found him first in the queue to listen to criticism and make changes when they are deemed appropriate, the system at Redhill works if pilots follow the published procedures.

This might help those who want to go there avoid the wrath of ATC Joining Procedures - Redhill Aerodrome

As an example I was flying out of there yesterday and I could not fault the coordination between the controller(s) and all of the based helicopters (I didn't notice any visitors) getting them across active runways between fixed wing traffic both in and outbound.

I am also more than aware that we are all human and we make mistakes, me included (perhaps more aware of that than most).

Places I enjoy going to are Andrewsfield, North Weald and Duxford.

In Scotland Perth & Culter helipad at Aberdeen, Oban on the west coast.

in my experience Redhill have a "tone" with you whether you follow procedures or not, likewise wycombe and cranfield to some degree.

agree elstree eccentric and oxford always tell me i am not booked in (even when i am booked in)

I like white waltham, compton abbas, old sarum, shoreham to name a few.

Wickenby - easy, convenient and very helpful.
Sherburne - same as above.
Norwich - pain in the arse.
Carlisle - new staff all around - anal and not very useful.
Cumbernauld - great except there are some tell tale tits resident there.
Perth - excellent!
HJS - excellent!
Newcastle - expensive.
Teesside - used to be a pain but has improved.
Connington - the best little spot by far - excellent service, friendliness and cafe and everyone willing to help/offer.

There are loads but as to whether you would deem them good places is a matter of personal choice. I s'pose it all depends on the measuring stick you use.

Cumbernauld - great except there are some tell tale tits resident there.

996 can you expand on this ?


Tarman

Swansea always used to give us free tea and bacon sandwiches if we filled up - but there again the Chinook is a thirsty beast so its little wonder. Very friendly though.

Lands End does a good lunch, though my coffee tasted of fish.

Leicester for your midlands refill... Very helicopter friendly, and GREAT food.

Really? Things must have changed A LOT recently.

Hi Bravo,

Yes great there, not sure what it was like before a year ago but very good now. :ok:

Fishburn, Fife, Andrewsfield, Rochester, Compton Abbas, Caernarvon, Newtownards, Goodwood, Popham, Denham, Gloucestershire, Kemble, Barton (except for the 50p credit card charge - pathetic), Nethersthorpe, Ravenair at John Lennon, Welshpool, Shobdon, Oxford, Cardiff Heliport, Lands End, Leeds Multiflight - all very welcoming and halfway decent food.

Avoid :
Swansea - sadly in decline
Elstree - miserable ATC
Booker (WAP) - same ATC customer service as Elstree
Anything big except above
Filton - unpredictable, no decent food, random bus service from heli parking.

Swansea
 

Still a good cafe at Swansea doing a cracking fried breakfast, the scenery is spectacular too.

The most friendly I have found by a long long way was Peranporth so if you get down to Cornwall then pop into see them. I was there over a busy weekend where they had a parachuting competition, fixed wing, hang gliders and all sorts. They put the parachuting on the north, fixed wings etc on the hard runway, rotary on the south with direct approaches and then let us all enjoy ourselves. The pasties, for lunch, are hard to beat too :ok:

On the subject of Wycombe - I have always found them to be very helpful and friendly. :D

Avoid the airfields near Peterborough where they parachute from - those arrogant guys think they own the skies and don't even want you near their zone if the dropping plane is in the air, even if the jumpers are inside - they should visit Peranporth and see how it should be done ;). As someone else said - pop into Leicester instead, they are v. friendly.

Enjoy your trip.

J.

PS I should add Wellesbourne and Kemble, both do excellent breakfasts. If you do the big breakfast at Wellesbourne then be prepared to do another w&b before you depart ;)