zuutroy wrote:
I sent an email about returning to base there and didn’t get a reply.
Just give them a call. They are incredibly friendly and non-bureaucratic.
EG – while I have been in the US they emailed me to let me know that had moved my aircraft into a hangar (by hand, not easy, 2t, 300m), because of storm Arwen coming. No charge.
Aveling wrote:
I was at one time a frequent visitor to Weston and had the privilege of knowing the original owner, Captain Kennedy, back in the day. He once showed me a trophy that he had gained for some exploit (I wish I remembered what it was) that had been awarded to him personally by St. Expury. It was like touching the wings of god…..Sadly he died a few years back and there’s an epitaph in the Irish Times.
I have a piece of his Rallye EI-BBJ in the boot of my Toyota. I don’t know why I carry it about, but probably just to show some other aerosexual I might meet that I do indeed have deep roots in aviation!
Great news that Weston is secured for the future (I hope that’s what it means!).
I was at one time a frequent visitor to Weston and had the privilege of knowing the original owner, Captain Kennedy, back in the day. He once showed me a trophy that he had gained for some exploit (I wish I remembered what it was) that had been awarded to him personally by St. Expury. It was like touching the wings of god…..
Sadly he died a few years back and there’s an epitaph in the Irish Times.
I sent an email about returning to base there and didn’t get a reply. Not a great start!
Flew into Weston last week for a 10 day stay. We use Weston for transiting to commercial flights to the US so we can take advantage of US Customs and Immigration being based in Ireland. Also, its cheaper (and more fun) to park my Jetprop at Weston that to park my car at Heathrow.
I hadn’t realised the IAPs had been removed until I tried to tune into the VOR. Luckily the cloud base was just high enough to fly the VFR approach from the west along the Liffey River (1700 ft), under the control of Dublin Approach.
The fantastic news is that the consortium which bought Weston includes several very successful tech and financial guys, all of whom are keen pilots . According to airport personnel they are accelerating plans to implement new IAPs (inc RNAV), lengthen the runway, install runway lighting etc. One of the new owners has a serious business jet for example and wants to be able to base it there.
Indeed, Weston was downgraded to a VFR-only airport some time ago.
Yes, it was a VOR approach with quite high minima but the VOR has been taken out of service. RNAV is difficult because as Buckerfan says you’ve got Dublin in the way at one end and Baldonnel in the way at the other.
Weston used to have an IAP, IIRC.
The other thing Weston needs are RNAV approaches! I understand this was under consideration back in 2018/19 and I offered to introduce the manager to the guys at Gloucestershire for advice. They need a weird curvy one for the westerly runway to keep aircraft away from the approaches at Dublin.
Lovely bunch of people there. We always use Weston for trips to the US. Fly to Weston and park my aircraft there. Quick taxi ride up to Dublin Airport. Fly commercial to the US from there with the advantage that you clear US immigration and customs before departure. Saves hours of crap at the other end.
