How about Bembridge? Simple to PPR on the website and a good condition hard runway. The Propeller Inn is on the field and has great outside seating with a nice view… the food is good (not open Mondays). Then it’s a short 15 min hop back to Shoreham.
I am often in Bembridge and will soon have a car at the airport if you wanted to go to further.
Dinner is difficult most of the time due to opening hours, unless one decides to make it an overnighter and go back early in the morning. I’ve done that a few times using other means of transport, but generally it’s no the worst idea, as it also means you can have a beer or wine for those who like that.
Some places have nice restaurants and cheap hotels nearby.
I would agree that in Germany, this is generally possible. Many airfields I know and fly to have restaurants of decent quality – sometimes good enough to justify a flight there just for having dinner. ;-)
The limitation then is the opening hours, which we can expect to become much less of a factor in the near future. Peter linked the thread accordingly. At our field in EDHF, we are very actively working on implementing flying outside of published opening hours with no person on the ground.
But even today, I can fly from my home airfield EDHF within a few minutes flight time to e.g. St Peter Ording for Spanish Tapas or to Rendsburg EDXR for Balkan cuisine depending on my choice of the evening – I just have to either be back by 20:00, or make sure someone is still at the field after 20:00, or wait for the Flugleiter BS to be history.
For very, very good food locally produced on the island I could also fly to Vejro in Denmark within 45 minutes – so far only done for lunch, though.
May be a bit far (depending on the speed of your bird). EDBM (Magdeburg) has a restaurant under new ownership (venison-focused) right at the airport. You can taxi up, park in front of it, and walk straight in. Nice, good-sized tarmac runway. Light traffic. Airfield is open until 2000 LT; later hours are PPR for a moderate fee.
Sywell, much closer to home, is also a very nice option. May get to see a Spitfire in action.
The prime option, in my mind, is Hangar 7 at LOWS (Salzburg). If you PPR well enough in advance, you taxi right up to the hangar which houses both the restaurant and a cool aircraft museum. You walk in on a red carpet. The restaurant is stellar, but pricey. And frankly, I’d stay the night because I’d want some of the wine.
However, coming from the UK, your options in Europe may be less convenient / after-hours flying not possible now due to customs requirements.
I was very recently been told from an informed person at my airfield (tower staff) that due to recent amendments in the requirement of “Flugleiter” I could land now any time. And if I were to need the runway lights I should call in advance so that they leave them on (pilot operated lights via com).
…
I still can’t believe that to be true.
Absence of the Flugleiter is, of course, not the same as free-for-all opening hours. Each airfield will have to figure this out for themselves, together with their local authorities and communities (noise abatement). So for the time being, I would not expect the opening hours to change any time soon, unless it’s your local field and you’re being told by a trustworthy source.
TXR wrote:
Absence of the Flugleiter is, of course, not the same as free-for-all opening hours
Yes that is true, this setup is “club members only”. Of course it’s a difference if only “locals” do this, where you know exactly where to fly, to not fly over the villages, and in any case you know whom to blame, and where all of us are very cautious to not generate any excess noise – or in the other case, if anyone from anywhere comes along, does 5 training patterns and keeps moving on to the next airfield.
But the typical problem with a fly-in dinner is coming home after dinner!! And that should be solved. (still: no alcohol! 
)
Absence of the Flugleiter is, of course, not the same as free-for-all opening hours. Each airfield will have to figure this out for themselves, together with their local authorities and communities (noise abatement). So for the time being, I would not expect the opening hours to change any time soon, unless it’s your local field and you’re being told by a trustworthy source.
It is correct that opening hours will in most cases not be touched because that opens a box of pandora with noise abatements topics etc.
However, many airfields have set operating hours with a “other times PPR” remark. So the challenge is to create a simple and easy PPR process. I would hope for many airfields to implement an automatic approval via a web form that is only denied if for any reason, out-of-hours landings should be preventet, e.g. because the runway is not in a usable condition.
To me, getting rid of the Flugleiter is ONLY relevant for these “other times”. I don’t care if there is a guy with a handheld radio during daytime – as long as airfields can be used after the guy goes home – all is good.
Rufforth East (near York, UK) has an excellent Sardinian restaurant on site Al Volo
The airfield is open SR – SS so in summer this is plenty to have a relaxed dinner at a civilised hour and get away again. No PPR required but definitely read the airfield manual. (On the charts it’s marked as a microlight site, but 600m of hard should be enough for most SEP)
(glass of white pictured belongs to passenger, I stuck to lemonade! )
Egelsbach has decent restaurant on the airfield and closes at 21:00LT, so doable? PPR after “end of civil twilight” not sure if there is some PPR charge for that.
