Elstree before they did they runway up was pretty close. Had to basically dodge boulders of upended asphalt on the active and get yelled at by the “charming” tower god (he’s probably retired by now). Here in LA there’s a small field called Whiteman where there’s a similar type in the tower. He’s also really short and stickly with everyone. Doesn’t make you want to visit.
Madrid Cuatro Vientos — but this was some 30 years ago.
I and my wife made a refueling stop enroute to Lisbon. I enquired about a briefing room and was shown to a room with a single teleprinter furiously printing without any paper in it. Behind it an enormous heap of roll paper with old TAFs and METARs. A further enquiry sent me to a payphone booth a few hundred meters away outside the terminal where I could call the briefing in Madrid Barajas airport.
Meanwhile my wife, who were arranging the refueling was getting lewd proposals by the refueler.
There was no food or refreshments of any kind.
Before leaving we were brought to a customs guy who sat down behind a desk, looked at us and said: “So. You’re going to Lisbon?” A search of our aircraft followed.
And of course the usual southern European bureaucracy when filing flight plan, paying fees etc.
All the while heavily armed Guardia Civil cruised up and down the airport.
On the return trip we figured that we had fuel to make a 4+ hour flight and skip Cuatro Vientos going straight to San Sebastian if we only had at least 5 knots tailwind. We did.
Aden in Yemen as a shit place as well as Juba (South Sudan) when I visited that place.
This was how it looked like 2 weeks after we visited the same place where the presidential 747 was destroyed. It was parked in more or less the same position as where our Piper was parked when we passed through.
Our friendly handler in front of the terminal building
The same building 2 weeks later
Being welcomed by tanks and child soldiers at Juba (South Sudan).
I think any place you can land a plane is interesting and good, it’s generally the people that make it unpleasant and the less people there are the better, in general. Having said that this is the most ramshackle paved airport that I have personally flown into 
Last time my I checked you could get a hangar for under $200 per month, taking the very real risk that said hangar might fall on your plane!
Aden in Yemen as a shit place as well as Juba (South Sudan) when I visited that place.
Hahahahaha.
I landed at Bourn EGSN near Cambridge several years ago which was a tumbleweed rolling, concrete back yard with pebbles across the cracked runway, overgrown grass parking and run down hangarage in the corner, and a really old social / kitchen area. I have not been back since, so not sure how things have changed.
But Bourn was considerably safer and cleaner compared to Juba.
AdamFrisch wrote:
and get yelled at by the “charming” tower god
You have to admit though that he was one hell of a ‘character’, sometimes you miss that type when they’re gone as they are the ones you remember.
Probably Ardmore, Oklahoma, where you’re surrounded by the rotting carcases of airliners being cut up for scrap. It was interesting though. After wandering around and looking at the wreckage parked around the GA apron (there was a Boeing 747 with no landing gear up on blocks, a bit like a car that’s had its alloy wheels nicked, as well as numerous old 737s cut into pieces, with the airline name painted over but still obvious) we noted the passive aggressive message tacked onto the back of ATIS reminding pilots that the scrap yard is out of bounds! (Obviously someone in the tower was watching us wandering around, with disapproval, but didn’t have the inclination to say anything directly to us other than record his admonishment on the ATIS).
The worst place I have ever landed at was Spanhoe, UK, in 2006. The ex-WW2 concrete runway was covered in rocks roughly 5cm across. I kicked away the biggest ones for about 50m in front of the departure path; once you pick up a bit of speed the prop no longer picks up rocks. It was obvious that the based pilots did not like each other and nobody would spend a tenner on a broom because it would benefit somebody else I gather it has since improved.
Another was a place called Heywood Farm in SW England, also more than 10 years ago. “1200m” grass but so rough I needed new dentures after getting airborne. The grass was tall enough to reach the prop arc and I had to pay someone £200 to remove the very sticky green covering which was all over the plane… I have been a lot more careful with “a great grass strip” descriptions ever since
I was just at Spanhoe getting my annual done. No rocks, and there’s also a grass runway now.
Unfortunately we have a rock problem at Andreas and a broom won’t solve it.
