zuutroy wrote:
Anchor tenant is a flight school.
That’s the aspect that would worry me. After Covid-19 (sorry, no way to avoid that right now), will the flight school still be in business? I fully expect lots of aviation related businesses to go under in the next few months. Then what? Does the airport depend on their business?
You also don’t seem to have researched your second option very well. I’d clarify the unknowns there first and then re-evaluate.
How about moving house? For me it would be that, sell the plane, get a different plane that presents different basing options, or something else.
Neither of the two options presented is viable IMHO. If I had to choose one of the airports presented I’d figure out how to raise the €500 monthly to hangar the plane locally. I think almost an hour drive is too much unless you use the plane only occasionally for long flights.
If this was me, I would think the most important things are
The EIWT IAP is not worth much anyway; if there are no real obstacles, that sort of minima can be flown with a simple DIY IAP.
It would surprise me if EIWT is at a risk of closure, but who knows? @dublinpilot may know more.
It would surprise me if EIWT is at a risk of closure…
I spoke to a guy very much in the know on that last week, I think if they want to make a case it’s no longer viable as an airport they have to try rent it and there is a logical outfit to rent it and run it as an airport. The site isn’t zoned for a higher or better use. It’s unlikely now post Covid that any development will happen there in the medium term. Weston is great but the hangarage is 4x what I would like to be paying.
Kilrush is a meticulously kept airfield. It’s got a good crowd of people, I always enjoy calling there. I’ve been in as a pax in King Air, 58P and flown in the Twin Com. The runway is good enough for most, I think you would get used to it very quickly. The airplane will thank you for being kept inside. That grass alternate runway is like a pool table, but in a X wind it can be slippy I noticed. Fuel and oil are there too and payable on account.
I drive 45-50 minutes to the airfield, same to the seaplane. I use the drive to think about the flight and turn on pilot mode. If you have a good car it’s no biggie, I drive an older 4×4 as a sacrifice to the aviation god’s. I’d pick hangared Kilrush versus grass at Weston just for the maintenance aspect alone.
