Choosing a base airfield

I would say the perfect airfield is the one across the street, if you have one

Seriously, there is no perfect airfield, in a way that there is no airfield (AFAIK) in Europe that is whole-GA-friendly, I mean friendly with ultralights, gliders up to biz jets. it would be a bloody mess by the way.

The question is : what do you want from an airfield ?

If you are a renter, finding the right renting organization may come first, instead of choosing an airfield.

It’s a hard one.

I’m about 45min away by car from my home field, which is much further than my nearest. It doesn’t have a very good approach (just a circling VOR approach with high minimas). But it is friendly, it has a tower, it’s dedicated to GA, it has hangar space and it has a wash rack where you can wash the plane. And it has an airport restaurant/diner that’s decent.

Much closer is Burbank, has full ILS, 24hr tower. But it doesn’t have hangar space and the tie down is about 3x as much as the tie down at KEMT. Also, access is only with TSA approved passes and the huge pain in the ass of all that. Forget parking your car under the wing whilst you’re gone for the weekend. Can prob not even get permission to drive car up to load aircraft.

So you take the bad with the good and drive a little further to get an easier aircraft experience.

AdamFrisch wrote:

it has a tower

Why is a tower important for your ops?

ETA: This isn’t meant in a disparaging way, I’m just curious why it’s compelling one way or the other unless the pattern is really busy consistently. When I was training, we would get five C172s in the circuit, plus a Tecnam doing ME-IR work, just using CTAF, and it seemed fine.

My ideal airport would be one which is

• my own hangar where maintenance is allowed, optionally heated
• open 7am and closes 10pm (H24 is nice but awfully expensive, unless implemented with pilot controlled lights)
• ILS at both ends
• 800m+
• tarmac
• located max max 30 mins’ drive from where I live (I live where I want to live, for lots of reasons)
• costs £30 to land

As regards basing somewhere else (if I had to) then I would base on some Greek island – probably Syros or Sitia – the problem is… what do you do to live? Life can’t be run as one long holiday

redRover wrote:

Why is a tower important for your ops?

Not necessary really for leisure flying, but it’s nice to have for IFR clearances. Without it, you’re a bit more constrained.

I would choose one as close to where I live as possible.

Which in my case is EDLN. 15 Minutes door-to-engine startup. Avionics, overhaul, maintenance firms & 3 flight schools for PPL, ATPL, and IFR on site. Full IFR airfield. Hangars. Customs. Distance to many continental destinations between 150 and 300 NM. I fly to the north shore islands in 1-1,5 hrs, and to the alps in 2-2,5 hrs.

The restaurant could always be better, but we have the JU52 stationed here, and there are oldtimer meetings (cars, and planes), so it’s ok.

Open from 6 am to 10 pm, however 6-8 and 8:30-10 cost an extra fee. It’s a bit more expensive in terms of fees, and the Avgas prices suck, but all in all it’s a great airfield.

My criteria would be:

- Close to home
- Open at least 6am to 10pm with night lighting
- Port of Entry for both Schengen/Non Schengen
- IFR and VFR usable
- Avgas available
- not controlled by a club or private organisation.
- neither slot restrictions nor obligatory handling.

Obviously it is quite difficult these days to have all this. My current base LSZH fulfills all but the last two, it has slots and obligatory handling but is 3 minutes from my front door and obviously has all the rest. And looking at the over all cost, I find that taking into account the often quite steep membership fees for the local airstrips and the restrictions imposed on traffic there, for now I can live with the higher prices and the slots.

The airfield which is close to where I spend some time in Bulgaria fits almost all but the POE requirement and it is VFR only. LBPR is however a very nicely managed airport with also very moderate prices.

I would definitely not want to be based at EDNY, looking at what they have done over the years to GA access. It has varied but last time I heard, about 2 years ago, nobody was allowed airside unless they had a pilot license i.e. any non-PPL passengers had to go through the passenger terminal and queue up… Really anal security.

EDNY is “easy” only during the Aero exhibition, when you can get to your plane from the exhibition halls, and this is possible only when the show is actually open i.e. not on the Sunday, when I have had to go through the passenger terminal at the opposite side of the airport.

There are many airports which would meet my personal criteria but none of them are where I live, or want to live

Peter wrote:

I would definitely not want to be based at EDNY, looking at what they have done over the years to GA access. It has varied but last time I heard, about 2 years ago, nobody was allowed airside unless they had a pilot license i.e. any non-PPL passengers had to go through the passenger terminal and queue up… Really anal security.

EDNY is fine. All people have to go through the security for the main apron including pilots. There is priority and usually none in the queue. It is a non event. Given Zurich is another option listed, Friedrichshaven is a great alternative and friendly.