Tell me about Biggin Hill

[ZK-Brock]

Hi NZFF
In the July holidays I'm heading over to England with my family, dad and I are hoping to head to Biggin Hill to have a look round. Can anyone suggest some things to do there? Places to go, museums etc.. We're also considering paying for a fly while we're there, any aeroplane - whatever's cheapest - any companies with cheap flights, for circuits etc?

Brock

[ronindanbo]

Duxford is a must just north of London

[Mattnz]

This page may be of some interest if you are looking for flights

[ardypilot]

I belive one of our members called Michael (aka MentorMan) is doing a PPL at Biggin Hill, not too far away from my old house.

There is a massive airshow held there each year in the first week of June, which it sounds like you will miss unfortunatly. My mate was there one year when a jet couldn't pull out a dive and crashed into the ground in front of the crowd..

Anyway, there are heaps of other airports around that area in England, and they are much much much more busy than NZ.. you may wish to visit London city airport, Gatwick, or Shoreham.

There is a huge free airshow on each year on the 16th - 19th August at a beach called Eastbourne which is on the South Coast near Biggin Hill (train ride away), so if you are still there during that time, it is a must see!

Whatever you decide to do, make sure you share youre pic's with us here!

[MentorMan]

Hi Brock,

Yep, at the moment I am doing my PPL at Biggin Hill.

Firstly, if you are considering a flight, then I would strongly recommend these people (who I am learning with) www.cabair.com. They offer a 'hands on' approach to a 2 seater or four seater aircraft based at EGKB. They offer introductory packages which range from a 30 minute circuit, to a 5 hour start!

Take a look here at the different packages there offer:

http://www.flyingvouchers.com/aeroplanes.htm

I took a 'land away double' which consists of two take offs and landings and was a truly amazing experience - even with 20 knot winds. Your instructor will maximise your experience by letting you read out the checklists and when doing so he will demostrate what each instrument does, providing you read it out for example. Also I don't know if you have any flying experience but if you are lucky then he will let you fly the aircraft with him down to land - words cannot describe how that feels lol.

In regard to places to see and museums etc... I cannot help you very much as I dont actually live locally to Biggin Hill airport. I live very near Gatwick in Surrey and it takes me about an hours drive in fact to get to Biggin.

However about the flying, check out those links I gave you - not only do you have a nice flight, but you also are guranteed a 'First Flight with Cabair' Certificate!

Trollys correct about the airshow, you will just miss out unfortunately

But have a great time and if you get the chance like trolly suggested - go to heathrow of gatwick if you want to see some heavy traffic

I hope I've helped some about the flying and have a good time!

[chopper_nut]

What sort of aircraft are you into Brock?

[G-HEVN]

There's nothing really to do or see at Biggin - it's basically a 'business' airport, ie arrive & fly or land & leave.

Flying here is expensive compared to NZ, but the prices Michael quoted are competitive (at Enstone, the going rate for an hour 'trial lesson' is £133 in a DA20 Katana, £141 in a PA28 Warrior, and £149 in a TB9 Tampico).

Duxford is probably the best aviation museum to visit. It's North of London, just off the M11. They have Spitfires flying most weekends, and a De Havilland Dragon Rapide and Tiger Moth you can take rides in, plus the Sally B (B17, aka Memphis Belle, which you can see take off and land if it's going to an airshow. Static displays range from Concorde, Comet & Trident airliners, through classic seaplanes, helicopters, ship-based warplanes, right up through modern American 'classics' such as the C47, F1-11, B52, SR-71 etc. You can walk through the restoration workshops, where a number of planes are being rebuilt to flying condition. There's even a WWII Ops room, where you can experience the Battle of Britain first hand (like Biggin Hill, Duxford was a Spitfire base during the war). It's part of the Imperial War Museum. http://duxford.iwm.org.uk/

Biggin Hill is very active on Vatsim, particularly on Friday nights (Sat am NZ), predominantly VFR, but with IFR too (it has ILS and VOR/DME procedures). You'd be welcome if you want to check it out...

[ZK-Brock]

Thanks for your help guys. I had a look at the Cabair website, it seems very expensive though, even by english standards - 99 pounds - 270 NZ $ for a half-hour trial flight seems a bit steep! What about the Alouette flying club? - they have a Tomahawk for 80 pounds an hour, sounds good enough for a half hour of circuits or so.

BTW Mentorman, I've started my training in NZ so it's not so much a trial flight I'm after.

Another option at biggin looks like Classair. They don't show their prices but the aircraft look very tidy (from the outside anyway).

I'm definitely keen on checking out the Duxford Museum G-HEVN.

Choppernut - if I decided to pay for a flight, anything with wings.

We're in England for 14 days, spending time in london, lymington, Southampton and dorset, as well as 4 days in a rental car to go touring about - so we're going to be operating in the south half of england. Are there any other places around that region that are good visits?

[pois0n]

Classair have a classy Tomahawk!

[ZK-Brock]

Yeah I saw that Joe, that's the nicest Tomahawk I've seen.

Their 172 doesn't look too shabby either

[ardypilot]

there any other places around that region that are good visits?

Duxford is a must see, for the Blackbird and Concord alone! Also, the Imperial War Museum in London is very impressive. Perhaps you could go to Chessington World of Adventures or Thopre Park- two cool themeparks in South London that beat anything in NZ/maybe Australia too! The London Eye is fun, or if its cheap thrills you are after, spend a day at the amusements on Brighton Pier, and try some of the famous 'Brighton Rock' lollies

If you happen to be in the Mid-Sussex area, drive through he village of Lindfield where I grew up- its very picturesque and full of historical buildings. Very different to anything in NZ.

270 NZ $ for a half-hour trial flight seems a bit steep!

Bear in mind that £1 = $0.3, so everything will appear three times more expensive for you. You will be surprised how much food costs! Coming the other way is awesome though- any Brits on holiday in NZ think everything is really cheap, but it all depends how much you get paid

[chopper_nut]

I tend to agree with the guys on this one, Duxford is the place to go. If you want to do the museums, then Duxford, Cosford and Hendon are the ones to go to. Soak it in while you can, speaking from personal experience, it will be system overload when you see all these aircraft that you will never see in NZ.

[ardypilot]

Oh yes- Hendon is another must. RAF Tangmere is also good if you go anywhere near Chichister.

[towerguy]

When I was over there on OE I visited Duxford - a total MUST DO!
Farnborough - maybe wrong timing for you though.
and heaps of other aviation sites throughout the UK.

if you are able to get up to London then I would recommend very highly a visit to the RAF museum at Hendon(?) and the battle of britain museum ( at the same place). You can get there on the train from central London so it's easy.

also in central London is the Museum of Technology ( think thats its name) but it has everything you could want to see. It has an entire floor on aviation and when I was there they had one of the moon landers on display and interactive displays on rocketry etc.
put it this way - it was so good even my wife enjoyed it!

If you ever go on OE and travel around the UK, I would recommend pitching a tent for a few days at a little place called Hexham racecourse. It's up near the Scottish border. It's a horseracing track located up on the top of a long gently sloping hill with great views all round - it is also the turning point on about 5 RAF lowlevel training routes! As the aircraft come up the valleys they never seemed to bother climbing , they just whipped across the ridgeline and kept on going. Man that was one of the best places in Europe for plane spotting! F15's, F16's, tornados you name it they went past or over!

anyway - enjoy the trip.
cheers

[squirrel350]

Crikey people your making me wanna go on holiday over there Im going to go to India first my mates work mate is from there he was saying 15,000NZD will get you 500,000 Indian or there abouts so I am going to go on a massive shopping spree there for sure lol taking both of them with me so I will have some one who speaks the language as well.\

SQ350

[G-HEVN]

Longleat is also well worth a visit. It was the site of the Red Bull air race in the UK for the past two years, although this year it's being held at London City (29th July) http://www.redbullairrace.com/2007/calendar.php?id=7

Bear in mind that £1 = $0.3, so everything will appear three times more expensive for you. You will be surprised how much food costs! Coming the other way is awesome though- any Brits on holiday in NZ think everything is really cheap, but it all depends how much you get paid

Sure, a lot of things are expensive here, and taxes are high ( ) but some things are cheap compared to NZ. On my recent jobfinding trip to Wellington (before I was so rudely interrupted by the hospital!) I found my NZ salary expectation to be about 50%-60% of my UK salary, and although certain things are cheap, food in particular, DVDs and so on, an awful lot of stuff (DIY hardware, white goods etc) is priced the same, or more expensive (A 40" Sony Bravia TV is around 20% more in NZ for the equivalent model). Books and magazines in NZ are way more expensive. House prices - in Welly anyhow - are about the same, car prices ditto, but NZ petrol is cheap, (and of course the flying is cheap )

[G-HEVN]

Another event worth going to if you can: London City Airport holds its Fun Day on Saturday 7th July:

Saturday 7th July 2007 will once again see London City Airport transformed from a major European business hub into a fun-filled theme park. Fun Day has been a regular feature of Airport life for 10 years now and every year gets bigger and better.

As well as featuring London's only regular air display, the entire aircraft parking area behind the terminal is packed with rides, shows, displays, sports activities, and lots to eat and drink with something to suit all age groups.

Entry for the thousands of people who come along each year is free but once inside many of the rides and attractions require tickets, the proceeds from which go to support Richard House Children's Hospice, providing care for children with life-threatening illnesses, and itself a near neighbour of the airport. So as well as having a good time, you can support a really worthwhile local cause.

Fun Day opens at 2.00pm, so come along and enjoy the fun. The gates close at 6.30pm

[ZK-Brock]

Gah,. unfortunately we're round Southampton way on the 7th, there's 2 airshows on the 7th as well (the other one at Duxford).

[ardypilot]

So Brock- how was your holiday in England?

Got any photos or interesting stories?

[ZK-Brock]

It was awesome Trolly - I'll make a thread soon with all the aircraft pics and stories.