So I’m now in Milton Keynes for a few days most weeks now (business). As if that wasn’t sad enough (it truly is one of the least charming places I’ve come across in my life), I found this:
I thought it would be a nice idea to find some airfields in the area to fly from and to (as I usually do when being assigned to a new project). So I found Cranfield EGTC as a potential base and Gloucestershire EGBJ as a pontential destination to visit friends in Cheltenham in the evening. Alas, these airfields have strict and inconvenient opening hours! Now, I have silently accepted this for Germany, the Flugleiter discussion and all that. But what’s the point in the UK? Why is Cranfield not usable after 18:30 – or maybe it is? Based on a PPR rule that won’t cost me a three-digit GBP amount (as would be the case in Germany because you have to pay for the airport staff to hang around until your departure/arrival)?
Obviously, if I can’t fly after 18:30 I can’t fly at all because I’m not in MK on holidays.
Some airfields have out of hours indemity things you can sign, and with PPR you can use the airfield at least SR-SS. I’ve seen that Gloucestershire certainly has one, and no fee is mentioned when I last looked.
Yes. Many licensed airfields can be used out of hours without needing any staff. But some advance organisation is required nevertheless. Usually, some paperwork is required for insurance reasons or for familiarisation with local “ground procedures” and landing fee payment. But pay attention: some airports will still charge you quite a sum for operating out-of-hours, even if no Flugleiter needs to rush out.
Generally speaking, it is much easier (cheaper) for late flying to use airfields which are not licensed in the first
place.
But what’s the point in the UK?
UK airports (except ones in poor areas e.g. Welshpool) get no subsidy, so they operate limited hours to save staff costs. Especially ATC which is a huge fixed cost (every ATCO also needs an assistant, etc).
As to why the airport can’t be open when the tower is empty, that is a whole other debate 
Shoreham (my base) used to have extra opening times if you pre-signed an indemnity but this got killed when certain based pilots were taking the p1ss out of it and operating outside those hours. The Public License of the airport prevents the airport from selectively kicking out the offending operators. PCL has been banned in the UK ever since the light bulb was invented and that alone prevents H24 operation (I believe this is changing; also a few airfields have PCL covertly).
Then you get onto IFR, which has always required full ATC in the UK (like in most of the world) and while the approach controller could be remotely located (as widely implemented in the USA and AFAIK France) there is no mechanism to fund this out of public money (as they do in the USA and France), and the costs of a remote controller (e.g. Thames Radar doing this for Biggin Hill – Biggin has full ATC but no official radar) are very high (of the order of 100k a year, even for a few hours a day). So, no IFR out of tower hours.
boscomantico wrote:
Generally speaking, it is much easier (cheaper) for late flying to use airfields which are not licensed in the first
place.
Just found a farm strip in the vicinity that even has a Cherokee for hire… Gonna give them a call later.
http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~dartdirx/holmbeck_farm_airfield.html
Call Turweston and Oxford. Oxford has some of the best hours in the UK. Will take you about 45 mins to get there from MK.
Peter wrote:
Then you get onto IFR, which has always required full ATC in the UK (like in most of the world) and while the approach controller could be remotely located (as widely implemented in the USA and AFAIK France) there is no mechanism to fund this out of public money (as they do in the USA and France), and the costs of a remote controller (e.g. Thames Radar doing this for Biggin Hill – Biggin has full ATC but no official radar) are very high (of the order of 100k a year, even for a few hours a day). So, no IFR out of tower hours.
Doncaster controllers are located at Liverpool
Doncaster however has loads of jet traffic and has masses of money. It also has its own ATC – like Biggin Hill.
A slighty better example is Walney Island. No ATC but has an ILS. British Aerospace pays an approach controller somewhere.
I can’t think of many others where the system actually works without the airport throwing loads of money at it.
Sadly Cranfield is a great airfield facility which is administered by people who know little and care less. They will not countenance out-of-hours use unless you pay for full ATC and RFFS no matter how many examples of OOH at other similar airfields are presented to them. . They close the place for the slightest excuse. It could be brilliant (and I imagine cost the university less / make it more profits) if managed by people with knowledge and imagination.
Patrick, I live in MK, work in Bedford and fly at Cranfield. Feel free to message me for local knowledge, etc.
Didn’t Cranfield drop the landing fee to £5 after some big FTO there went bust and greatly reduced their traffic? They suddenly became very friendly.
Has this since reversed, @Joe-fbs?
Feel free to message me for local knowledge, etc.
If you posted some info here in the forum. a lot more people will benefit
