Primarily for general aviation discussion, but other aviation topics are also welcome.
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By James Chan
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1622396
So what the airport should do then is to reduce the landing fee by that amount


That won't happen because the airport doesn't receive public funding and won't run as a loss.

And you and I know what happens to any airport when GA quarrels over £10 or similar... :)
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By Flyingfemme
#1622418
Seriously, guys? The GA situation at Ronaldsway has improved hugely since Brett took over the Flying School (and Bar Two-Six). It's not expensive to use and the boys are very helpful to visitors. Not like the old days at all. You are all welcome to use the Jet Centre with gold-plated everything, hot and cold running snacks and Quentin to manhandle your aircraft - but the charges there will really make your eyes water.
If you visit frequently you can make your aircraft "based" and get landings and parking for a year for under £100 a month inc VAT. But you will still need the good graces of Mark and his team to let you through the security gates.........
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By Jodelman
#1622443
Flyingfemme wrote:It's not expensive to use and the boys are very helpful to visitors. Not like the old days at all..

Not like the old days at all when the landing fee was under a tenner and you could park on the main apron or the grass alongside & wander up the tower to the met office. :( :(

But then when I started flying the old codgers locally told me they used to use Gatwick to clear customs!!
By johnm
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1622447
Jodelman wrote:
Flyingfemme wrote:It's not expensive to use and the boys are very helpful to visitors. Not like the old days at all..

Not like the old days at all when the landing fee was under a tenner and you could park on the main apron or the grass alongside & wander up the tower to the met office. :( :(

But then when I started flying the old codgers locally told me they used to use Gatwick to clear customs!!



and I could buy a packet of woodbines, a box of matches, half a bitter and a pork pie and still have change from a shilling :D :roll:
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By blueup
#1622546
James Chan wrote:
So what the airport should do then is to reduce the landing fee by that amount


That won't happen because the airport doesn't receive public funding and won't run as a loss.

And you and I know what happens to any airport when GA quarrels over £10 or similar... :)



Ronaldsway airport receives a huge public subsidy merely to keep going ! The flying school gets £12.00 for letting you in and out, doing all your paperwork if you need, providing fuel and briefing facilities and keeping the small apron moving with parking marshalling etc ! and subsequently paying your fee to the airport admin !

The days of parking where you want, wandering over to the terminal and paying your landing fee are gone, regulations mean the airport now has to be secure and visitors documented and monitored ! ( whether you agree or not this sadly is the way of the world !) £12 is a bargain imo.
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By GolfHotel
#1622618
Jodelman wrote:...

But then when I started flying the old codgers locally told me they used to use Gatwick to clear customs!!


Gatwick is hardly the most convenient for Ronadsway.


:D
By Langers247
#1622984
the flying school don’t get a penny from the airport for doing it, and I don’t take a wage so I can keep that price down to the costs of operating a fuelling and handling service to make a visit easy. A busy ramp and happy visitors is more important to me than a few quid in my pocket.
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By BoeingBoy
#1623018
I can vouch for the friendly handling and reasonable fees at Ronaldsway. My wife and I took our Archer in there in May for two nights at a total cost of £49.20. I know that will be megabucks to people who expect to pay £10 everywhere they go but for an international airport who's ILS I had just used to limits it was fine by me.

Mark recommended The George Hotel in Castletown which has just reopened following a complete renovation, and whilst not without its teething problems, it proved ideal. Think upmarket Weatherspoon's with very nice rooms and your reasonably close.

He also offered us a car, but with an arthritic knee I declined a manual gear box. His response was to go out and buy an automatic for us! Admittedly a twenty year old Merc E350 'with character' but it did us proud and we enjoyed reading the instruction book to find out what all the warning symbols meant between admiring the scenery.

The cafe (which was once Manx Flyers Aero Club) is very good and enthusiastically run by its owners, so all in all the IOM is very much a place I'd recommend for someone looking to venture beyond the coast for the first time.
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By Nick T
#1623100
For any of you who were on the edge of your seats regarding my enquiry of ‘can you fly an N reg to the IOM on a UK issued EASA PPL without a 61.75’ ;)

No. :lol:

*Very* quick response from the IOM CAA saying that they wouldn’t be considered as the state that issued my license as they’re neither in the EU nor part of the UK.

Slightly slower response from the FAA who said ‘you need to contact your nearest FSDO’ and provided me a list of FSDOs (unsurprisingly all in America). My subsequent question of ‘I’m in the UK, which one would you suggest is nearest’ was met with the blunt response of ‘I’ve given you a list, pick one’ :lol:

I chose Orlando, because why not? And they were very helpful in confirming that no, I would need a 61.75 to fly my N reg to the IOM.

Which is fine, and what I expected.
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By Murgatroyd
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1623822
Guys, excuse my ignorance. Can someone advise what a 61.75 is? And when a GAR is required?
I fly a G Reg aircraft and possibly haven’t came across before. Thanks
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By neilmurg
#1623847
Murgatroyd wrote:...what a 61.75 is? And when a GAR is required? I fly a G Reg...
61.75 is a USA license piggy-backed onto your UK/EU one. GAR to travel in/out of the UK, ie, Contiguous EU 4hrs notice before return, Channel Isles, 12 hrs notice, Ireland 12hrs notice, IoM, 12hrs I think, not EU, 24hrs, IoW/Lundy/Lindesfarne/Anglesey not required.
If it's a designated airport (big proper full time customs) I think no notice is required. Easiest just to consider the airfield(s) you use, but Bounemouth/Lydd/Shoreham may be useful for a quick return landfall.
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By Paul_Sengupta
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1623946
neilmurg wrote:If it's a designated airport (big proper full time customs) I think no notice is required.


I don't think this is the case any more. There was a thread on here a while back saying that even if the airport had on-site customs or special branch or whatever, you still had to give the notice.

Recently a friend of mine decided to fly back to the UK through Southend, assuming be could just pitch up. He was given a telling off and a £53 (or something like that) charge for doing so (he called it a fine). I told him that the rules had now changed...
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By neilmurg
#1624050
neilmurg wrote:
Murgatroyd wrote:...what a 61.75 is?...
61.75 is a USA license piggy-ba....
It still freaks me out that you use my surname when posting. Almost as bad as the other murg who 'bins' aircraft for fun in the NW of UK