Basing airplane at Amsterdam EHAM... possible?

The dutch authorities actually expanded the runway at Lelystad in order to transfer the charter and low cost carrier from Schipol there. Thus I don’t think they are waiting for your Mooney. Lelystad is very GA-friendly, they have/had 100.000 GA movements/year IIRC. Dunring summer, there is simultaneously someone doing aerobatics, helicopters in their traffic pattern, flight training and external visitors. Furthermore, there is an aviation museum at the field and a lot of meetings are taking place.

Given the developments and possible flight transfer from Schipol to Lelystad as well as a commercial enterprise running the airport in the future, you have to check with knowledgeable locals before you settle (any Dutch pilots here?).

You would have to enquire. The thing with basing at VERY big airports is usually:

• not only would you have to pay for hangarage, but also each time you have them move the aircraft in and out of the hangar (not usually allowed to do this on your own). Plus landings fees (which however, are often quite low), plus ATC fees, etc. It really adds up immensely.

• some VERY big airports don’t even have any “own” hangars. You will thus have to talk with some of the based operators ("FBO"s, if you will). In any case, it will likely be very expensive. Think 1000 Euros a month or even significantly more. But in some cases you might be lucky and convince someone that your Mooney nicely fits below the tail of some jet or so and that it would thus be a nice additional income (but then they might have to move the jet every time you want to fly…)

• there might be big distances between where you park your car (check what it will cost for a week or so!) and where your aircraft is.

• some airports might even flat out say “no interest”.

Leaving all the (valid) considerations above aside for a moment, there’s also the practical aspect to consider: with a Mooney or any other SEP you simply don’t fit into the flow of a major airport. I was based at Malaga (LEMG) for some time. While not in the same league as Schipol it does get very busy and ATC have to observe the 2 minute window for wake avoidance after a departing jet. No prizes for guessing what that means: hold times for takeoff that can go over 30 minutes. IIRC the worst I ever had was 45 mins. Not ATC’s fault, there simply was a steady stream of jet traffic. While perhaps doable, I doubt it’s practical to be based at EHAM.

172driver wrote:

ot ATC’s fault, there simply was a steady stream of jet traffic.

If ATC cannot engineer a sufficient gap in between 20 odd movements, then it is ATC’s fault.

If they are halfway used to this stuff, and in VMC, they should line you just ahead of a departing jet (if possible simultaneously and at an intersection) and then turn you to one side as soon as you are high enough.

Admittedly, a grass field with limited rwy length but closer to Amsterdam would be Hilversum, EHLE.
If you don’t weigh much, fly alone and don’t take a lot of fuel it may work!

I don’t think you would stand a chance at Schiphol. When I learnt to fly there things were very different. The based aero club has one aircraft and a few dedicated members who can bear the high costs. Rotterdam may be cheaper and they have a very limited amount of hangarage but most GA is parked outside. Lelystad is the best option for now.

Hangarage €300 upwards if you can find it. There are some single aircraft hangars which occasionally appear on the market at €120,000 >