Primarily for general aviation discussion, but other aviation topics are also welcome.
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By gfry
#860454
What he hell is going on?

I thought I would pop down to Kemble Flying club to see what aircraft are for sale on the notice board.

I had to pay £10 to get in because it was the vintage weekend. Fair enough. I though I might as well make the most of it.

1) You could not walk around the aircraft!

2) There were only 3 stalls, all selling what looked like 2nd hand Carp, or stock they had kicking about for the last 20 years that they cant get rid off.

3) I went in to the AV8 for lunch:
a) I queued for 4 days as they onbly had one person serving
b) I ordered burger and wedges. Simple you think. Well what turned up was some grey pulp that was worse quality than the burger van was selling. To top it off the wedges were blacker than the ace of spades. I thought at least they would be crispy.....wrong they were soggyier than my babies nappy after 7 hours sleep.....they were obviously microwaved ****. I immediatley I declared I was not going to eat it as it was ****.

There were no arguments, I was refunded before I even asked for a refund.

What the hell has happened to Kemble? As far as making most of the £10 entry...I could have flown in and paid a £16 landing fee and gone to check the notice board without feeling robbed.
User avatar
By vintage ATCO
#860504
Fairly standard at G-VFWEs of old, the aircraft park opens up in the afternoon for people to walk round for a couple of hours once the inbound flow has subsided.
User avatar
By Ridders
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#860505
Theres one place for consistantly delivering us good grub ordered with no delay, delivered on time and that for me has been White Waltham.

Popped in for lunch there today, they didnt let me down. The Chinese ribs were excellent, very tasty. Samsonite had "house salad" - it looked massive, piled up high on the plate. Im told it tasted wonderful. After ordering, it all arrived quite quickly despite it being busy in there today. Lots to watch too, someone on a flight in a pitts was sitting near us, I could hear the pre-flight briefing as I munched away. There were students arranging flights with instructors and a general buzz. The fuel was a good price too.

Last visit to the AV8 resulted in a 40 min wait for an apple crumble. I was not impressed.
User avatar
By cirrostratus
#860508
Always have thought that Kemble is a soul-less destination...even when AV 8 was in its heyday

As Ridders says.. WW has got real atmosphere
User avatar
By gfry
#860518
JonnyS wrote:
gfry wrote:1) You could not walk around the aircraft!


You could, albeit between 14:00 and 16:00, I believe.


I was there from 14:15 to 15:30. Definatley was not allowed near the aircraft.
By old timer
#860533
Can't quote on AV8 as I had a great sausage and chips from the outside caterer, then walked round the aircraft park from 1300 - 1430 until I was asked very politely to leave as the departures were taking place as soon as the flying display finished. Seemed pretty standard for G-VFWE as far as I could make out......
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By eyestotheskies
#860537
Agreed, the park was open at the times as stated by old timer. The published times were 1300 - 1500, so they did cut it short a little, although it was more than enough time anyway.

I didn't experience AV8 although I had a very nice cappuccino from "The Bean Machine" mobile caterer. Not cheap, but very nice nonetheless.

It was my first time at VFWE and I was impressed by the atmosphere. A pilot & family kind of occasion, without a bouncy castle in sight. The paintball stall was a bit annoying though with the constant "pop pop pop". At least none of them hit. :lol:
User avatar
By gfry
#860541
eyestotheskies wrote:Agreed, the park was open at the times as stated by old timer. The published times were 1300 - 1500, so they did cut it short a little, although it was more than enough time anyway.

I didn't experience AV8 although I had a very nice cappuccino from "The Bean Machine" mobile caterer. Not cheap, but very nice nonetheless.

It was my first time at VFWE and I was impressed by the atmosphere. A pilot & family kind of occasion, without a bouncy castle in sight. The paintball stall was a bit annoying though with the constant "pop pop pop". At least none of them hit. :lol:



How the hell could you have impressed? School fetes are better value for money and have more stalls. We basically paid £10 to park 1000meters from AV8 and watch a few old aircraft fly...which I could have donefrom the lay bay at the end pf the runway.
User avatar
By Ian Melville
#860691
gfry wrote:
eyestotheskies wrote: ....and watch a few old aircraft fly....



A comment like that sums up you attitude to a very popular branch of aviation :roll:

I guess by your suprise at the event that you didn't check any event calenders, didn't ring for PPR, and you would be better off at AeroExpo. Yes I know they are not manditory (though for some airfileds PPR is) for flight planning, but does seem sensible to check on what is going on around you.
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By buzzman
#860777
AV8 is particularly disappointing because it has soooo much potential and is, in my opinion, truly awful right now.

I was there a few weeks ago and was sold the house burger which was a small meatball in a large bun. The waiter said "yes they do shrink a bit after cooking" and gave me a free portion of chips to try to compensate.

Having a restaurant so close to the action, great outdoor deck, nice looking building, huge runway with very friendly ATC is all great. Then the service and quality of food at AV8 is a contrast of disaster.

They have everything they need to deliver fair grub and fair service. Must come down to staff and restaurant management which is presently awful in my opinion.
User avatar
By gfry
#860801
Ian Melville wrote:
gfry wrote:
eyestotheskies wrote: ....and watch a few old aircraft fly....



A comment like that sums up you attitude to a very popular branch of aviation :roll:

I guess by your suprise at the event that you didn't check any event calenders, didn't ring for PPR, and you would be better off at AeroExpo. Yes I know they are not manditory (though for some airfileds PPR is) for flight planning, but does seem sensible to check on what is going on around you.



I did not fly in. I live 5 minutes drive from Kemble. As my first post said I thought I would pop in to see the notice board for aircraft for sale. Usually "do's" at Kemble dont mean you ahve to pay just to get to the club houses or AV8, they usually use a different enterance.

With regards to the "few old aircraft fly" comment....I did not mean it to sound like that. What I meant was there was literally only a few old/vintage aircraft that flew.