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Charleroi, Belgium

Jan: it was nice meeting you yesterday in Calais.

I like Saint Hubert in summer days. You have everything there from the hotel and restaurant with terrace right on the airport next to the apron. The grass runways are challenging and it can be quite busy there on summer days. The airfield is used for training touch-and-goes etc. by flying schools from elsewhere because of the low price they charge for the practice runs.

In Saint Hubert the town is nice as well as well as the woods around it. Then again. Apart from the above, there is nothing else to do.

EDLE, Netherlands

The whole point is: who would want to go training there? Not the locals, there are next to none, certainly very few with the required cash. And pilots from elsewhere have plenty of better options. Either Luxembourg or Northern France or Germany, on the east/south side, or Liege/Namur/Charleroi/Mons to the north.

The aerodrome is perfect for some leisure bimble on a sunny weekend afternoon, and I see little demand for more ambitious flying in that god-forgotten end of civilisation.

EBZH Kiewit, Belgium

But I cannot really see the advantage of a hard runway, as others have said the place is too remote...

if you like to do some training approaches e.g. one engine out or so, not followed by a fullstop landing but a touch & go you would be happy to have a longer runway than 600 respectively 800m grass. I think even a DA-42 likes more runway length. Only my view - there are certainly other aspects like muddy ground etc ...

EDxx, Germany

BTW I hope you observed the closure applies only on days of "busy holiday traffic" - which is open to interpretation of course. Presently, the rule applies to two complete weekends, as per Notam:

A0585/13 From:29 MAR 13 05:30 Till:31 MAR 13 21:00 Text:ACFT WITH MTOW LESS THAN 6 TONS FORBIDDEN

A0586/13 From:05 APR 13 04:30 Till:07 APR 13 21:00 Text:ACFT WITH MTOW LESS THAN 6 TONS FORBIDDEN

Be afraid, be very afraid of things like that. This is the thin wedge that will lead to total closure to GA. Happened in Malaga a few years back. First only the busiest w/e of the year (have to admit that even made sense - there are days when LEMG is as busy as LHR), then two days a week during busy times, then three, then four....... now they're technically still open to GA on some days, but have hiked their fees to ridiculous levels.

PS: by GA I refer to small piston a/c, not private jets - the latter are still more than welcome in LEMG

PPS: I seem to have a problem with quotes here

In fact, the sheer number of military airfields (and airspaces!), for such a small country as Belgium, is striking...

Mainz (EDFZ) & Egelsbach (EDFE), Germany

Yes, strange indeed. Most Belgian military fields are open to recreational civil flying in the weekend, except those with active combat planes. EBSU is a bizarre exception, probably because the civilian EBSH is so close. But I cannot really see the advantage of a hard runway, as others have said the place is too remote to ever attract a lot of additional traffic, while being expensive to build and to maintain.

EBZH Kiewit, Belgium

but no way that the military want this. It is indeed just sitting there as a reserve airfield.

It looks a bit strange in comparison with e.g. Koksijde (EBFN), which is an active air base yet open to GA all day on weekends and after 1730 LT on summer weekdays.

LKBU (near Prague), Czech Republic

Yes, the manager of Saint Hubert has tried to get permission to use or rent the runway, but no way that the military want this. It is indeed just sitting there as a reserve airfield.

EDLE, Netherlands

a couple of hundred yards away is a 2000m concrete runway which belongs to Saint Hubert military airport, more or less not in use and built as a NATO reserve field. The information I have is that no military unit is based there - they are just wasting taxpayers' money not permitting GA to use it - even not as a training ground for flight schools.

EDxx, Germany

Well, in Saint Hubert they do have a competent airport manager. We happen to have provided this airport with our software which is used in the tower for recording flight movements, invoicing etc. They have 4 grass runways (2x 2 parallel runways) and host the Belgium national gliders centre. They have big plans for expansion and even show up on air shows with a booth like in Cannes. They are basically staffed and open 365 days a year, except of course during the last few months with the snow literally closing everything down.

The difficulty I see is that the airport is located in this remote area so far away from any city of any size.

EDLE, Netherlands
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