Primarily for general aviation discussion, but other aviation topics are also welcome.
By Boxkite
#1402174
pilotbarry wrote:..... Your other options are Fetterangus at Peterhead but it is short and an hour from Aberdeen......

Don't forget Peterhead-Longside.
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By Genghis the Engineer
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1402210
There's no shortage of strips around most of the UK - and a number of big well equipped airports with facilities and matching bills.

I suppose what a lot of GA hankers after is the places in the middle Adequate facilities, reasonably easy to find, minimal administrative aggro, not too expensive - and available most of the time.

The Perths, Pophams, and Welshpools in other words.

G
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By rf3flyer
#1402335
pilotbarry wrote:...Your other options are Fetterangus at Peterhead but it is short and an hour from Aberdeen...

Not knocking Fetterangus but I think you mean Longside.
By Northernchappie
#1402375
I wonder how that impacts on the local flight school as they use Signature for parking? Spent my first 30 hours or so in and out of Aberdeen and it was a great grounding.
By James Chan
#1403053
Dundee is friendly, affordable, an hour by train from the centre of Aberdeen - and has an IAP. Which is why I have never landed at Aberdeen.


About 1h 45m if you account for the taxi to Dundee train station.
A direct drive by taxi would be almost 1h30m.

Which is unacceptable really.

If GA simply resigns to "crossing out destinations to visit", then our destinations left to visit becomes even smaller in future, stunting the industry's potential for growth and at worst, leading to its eventual elimination (i.e. brownfield smaller aerodromes have been built over and the cost of handling at the larger aerodromes becomes uneconomical for the lighter side of GA to exist).
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By Genghis the Engineer
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1403069
About 10 minutes from airport to train station by taxi in my experience.

Yes 1:45 with faffing maybe.

And it takes half an hour at best from Edinburgh airport to the city centre anyhow.

Yes, I'd like to use Dyce and Turnhouse and the world would be a better place if their managers weren't so anal about little aeroplanes coming in - but realistically an hour each way to save myself a couple of hundred quid is a fair exchange for somebody like me used to paying <£100/hr to fly. You can use either big airport if you want - just pay the bill.

G
By kui2324
#1403143
Northernchappie wrote:I wonder how that impacts on the local flight school as they use Signature for parking? Spent my first 30 hours or so in and out of Aberdeen and it was a great grounding.


So far it doesn't have any additional impact on the flying school - they already pay quite hefty parking charges per month to Signature, like all the locally based aircraft, which have increased year on year the last rise took it to £348 inc VAT per aeroplane per month. The landing fee (departure charge) if you are resident is just under £22 per landing. Fuel is back up to about £2.24/L which is down from the £2.50+ where it was for most of last year although it did have a very brief spell at £1.86.

From your time there you may remember the shocking state of the residents apron, which has deteriorated even further, as they will not spend any money on it. :roll:
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By HartAttack!
#1403247
Aberdeen already make it very difficult for the resident flying school after they banned GA circuits several years back, they now have to fly the 30mins to Perth every time they want to do circuits. I remember when I started flying out of Aberdeen 20 years ago there were no issues with GA traffic mixing with Helicopters and commercial and at one point I recall 3 152s from the local school happily mixing it in the Circuit.
Many years later after the demise of the previous school I used to fly a locally based C172 from Aberdeen and it was just getting silly with the amount of time they kept us holding, I recall being held for 40mins on the ground once when there were numerous gaps I could have easily got away, also had similar delays holding in the air on the way back in..... I guess they were just terrified having a commercial aircraft delayed by a GA aircraft messing up so kept the two well apart from each other....