Doesn’t Gatwick still have a GA terminal? A portakabin as I remember, back in the dark ages, there were quite a few light aircraft parked at Gatwick.

I have been into LGW from Lasham in a Cessna 150 to take a Flight Data recorder for a Comet that was AOG. It was ages ago but great fun!

Signature Flight Support has an FBO near Queens Gate. LGW South Terminal

Good luck with that. Had a PA-28 request an ILS approach and go around one Christmas Day which didn’t go down too well with those in authority.

Really interesting, looking at the numbers it's cheaper to land an A380 than a cessna? Check out the prices - the <16tonne price is more expensive than everything except to the noisiest of airliners (i checked another source and found that the most expensive Chapter 3 aircraft are real old noisy beasts).

An A380 fits into chapter 14 low - which is just £491.80. A solid £2000 cheaper than a C172... Have I missed something, or have I uncovered that A380 landing fees are the best deal in the UK?

other source for noise categories https://www.euroairport.com/de/actio...m%5Blang%5D=de

A380, or any other airliner for that matter, is a revenue stream. Each passenger brings around 30 pounds for the airport operator. You need their wallets to feed the eco(nomio)system. Same for the ATS, that place in particular requires super-premium service which does not come cheap.

Movements of small planes block the revenue streams. The number you see is not noise levy, it's a message to keep out.

Unagitated and also hypothetical question: apart from a lack of virtue signalling, how would conducting a local solo(!) flight (including a solo drive to the airfield and back) be at odds with the social distancing measures aimed at reducing the spread of the corona virus?

I think we have established that it's cheaper to land an empty A380 than a C172. Add the charge per arriving/departing passenger for a typical A380 load and the picture is rather different.

Not dissimilar to the Public Car Parking charges ....:eek:

So what exactly is wrong with socially distancing yourself alone in your own aircraft whilst remaining at least several thousand feet from anyone else? How does this affect the COVID rate in hospitals? I get the issues with people crowding beaches, but partaking in individual pastimes well away from anyone else clearly is a very low risk activity.

It's relatively low risk until you prang the aircraft thereby tieing up emergency responders and medical resources unnecessarily.

It wouldn't be. But it would be at odds with the overarching instruction to:

Stay at home

• Only go outside for food, health reasons or work (but only if you cannot work from home)

I landed at LHR in a twin Diamond a few months ago (in the middle of the night). Good fun!

I have actually flown a light aircraft into Heathrow - but a very long time ago!
In the late 1970s I needed a long cross-country flight at night as part of the UK CPL qualifications. I had the use of a Grumman AA-5 Traveler at Liverpool so hit on the mad idea of routing in and out of Heathrow. Filed a VFR flight plan and on a lovely clear night just set off. Flew at 3500' and arrived there around 22.30 without anyone in ATC querying what we were doing.
Parked on the GA apron on the southside which was near what is today the Royal suite.
Then - nothing:rolleyes:
The place was effectively closed so we had a short wander around until an ops vehicle showed up. He laughed when I asked about paying a landing fee and was there any fuel?
So we just booked out over the radio and departed to Birmingham to refuel. That bit went OK and eventually got home in the wee small hours.......
Never heard anything about it and never got a bill in the post :ok:

Driving to the airport - risk , non essential, may need emergency services who havebetter things to do,

cross contamination at airport - hangar doors etc.

flying your light aircraft - risk , non essential / see “ driving to the airport “.

Hope your critical thinking skills are better in an aircraft

Point taken regarding the non-essential nature of recreational flights, but invoking scenarios of private pilots suddenly crashing their aircraft and/or their cars on the way to/from the airport seems a bit OTT. What about spring-cleaning, gardening, doing repairs in your home, which carry a considerably bigger risk of injury than flying AFAIK?

The rules vary from country to country, but in the UK the Health Protection Regulations provide that 'no person may leave the place where they are living without reasonable excuse'

The reasonable excuses are clearly listed and would include going to work where it is not reasonably possible for that person to work, or to provide those services, from the place where they are living.

So recreational flying is illegal if you leave your curtilage. Rotary pilots with a large garden are ok. Flying to work is OK. And if you have a check ride the instructor is legal but you are illegal....

The legal aspect is another thing (and practically, all airfields here are PPR at the moment, so you would probably not get a permission for a recreational flight anyway). I just find the divide within the community on the notion of (solo, local) flights interesting (albeit not necessarily positive): while some see it from a purely pragmatic standpoint and argue that there are few activities with a lower risk of infection and easier implementation of physical distancing, others find the very idea outrageous.

I once flew a Cessna 525 CJ2 into Heathrow, about 10 years ago.
It was a transplant flight around 3am.
The airfield was closed to commercial traffic but they open up for us.
I have to admit it was awesome and probably one of the best things I did in Aviation.
Taxiing took forever but was massively efficient.
We heard some chuntering on approach from aircraft in the hold waiting for the airfield to open as we skipped in below them.
Being me by the Ambulance and Police was quite emotional.

I see the fun police are on guard. :rolleyes:

Didn't somebody once land a Chipmunk on the grass on the north side and then scarper ?