private airstrip enquiry

[Not a farmer]

Hi everyone,

I am not a member of the farming community however I would be grateful for any replies to this post. Please excuse any naivety on my part.

I am interested in finding a stretch of land to serve as an airstrip. I am led to believe that planning permission is not required when using private land for such a purpose as long as flying activity from any given site is limited to 28 days per year.

In order for a piece of land to be made into a practical site for the operation of a single light aircraft there are relatively few requirements. For the strip itself, all I would need is a 600 metre stretch of relatively flat and well-drained grass, preferably orientated East-West in order to accommodate the prevailing wind. I could do with a makeshift hangar of some sort (or at least the space for a pop-up temporary one) and it would help if the site were accessible by road.

Converting parts of agricultural land into private airstrips is apparently fairly common practice however I suspect that the majority of users are land owners. A flying magazine that I read recently suggested that the setting up of such a 'facility' may involve little more than finding a suitable site and agreeing to pay the owner a hundred quid a month. My question is, were I to find a suitable site and get in touch with the land owner, is there any possibility that my proposal might not be met by either a short pause followed by a dialling tone or an invitation to get lost? Are there farmers out there for whom there would actually be an incentive to rent out their land for such a purpose, or at least no major reason not to?

Thanks for your attention.

Al

 

[S J H]

A location might help. A friends got a private airship, and I can't remember it causing any problems. At the end of the day, everything's got a price, just don't expect the ground for nothing.

 

[Kidds]

£100 a month is good rent. I presume the 600 metres needs to be in a straight line.

 

[Not a farmer]

Thanks for your replies. As for £100/month being good rent, I agree. If the land were used only 28 days a year though, in reality it's £1200/month. And yes, straight-ish and without obstacles either end would be preferable. South Yorkshire or North Derbyshire would be where I'd look.

 

[Daniel]

Thanks for your replies. As for £100/month being good rent, I agree. If the land were used only 28 days a year though, in reality it's £1200/month.

Not really as he couldn't exactly plough it up and grow wheat on it during the week while you used it at weekends....

 

[Salopian_Will]

100/month is hardly worth it.

Complaints from neighbours, other people on your place, taking out a chunk of land etc etc. needs to be considerably more in my view.

 

[roscoe erf]

I have one on my island in the Bahamas

 

[JCMaloney]

Wide margins & low hedges? Doesn`t even stop them pesky metal detectorists (long running joke..sorry) ........ taken somewhere near Donny at the weekend.

 

[Dry Rot]

We have one "down the road", on old MOD runways, next to an MOD weapons training area. Obviously, the civilians only fly when the MOD doesn't which seems to be on public holidays and at weekends. I am not aware that anyone has ever complained and I would imagine the runways are grazed with sheep (as is everything around here) who are quite good at avoiding being caught so can probably avoid an aircraft. But I am in the north of Scotland where things are different. Some planes even use a beach.

 

[sss]

Give up flying planks and stick to helicopters, then you can do with out the 600m landing strip and just land in the farmers ornamental farmhouse garden.

Joking aside it can work out for the farmer, I used to have an out apiary alongside a hanger in a friends field. It did pay for him and he planted around the landing strip and hanger, and kept the runway mowed. But I gather it cost slightly more than you are suggesting and that hanger was shared by a few aircraft. As mentioned earlier you need to work how much he would lose from crops for the space and that is just a starting point for money on the table.

 

[Not a farmer]

The only way that I can see it being cost effective is if the land were designated as set-a-side and if its normal use were for the grazing of animals. That said, I imagine that there are few grazing sites that would make decent airstrips and few airstrip-like sites that aren't currently used for the growing of crops.

Where there's a will (and lots of cash, I fear) there's a way.

 

[Welsh Farmer]

We allow helicopters to land on our "helipad" .... essentially it's a strong, reinforced concrete pad that was built with the size specification for landing a helicopter Have put these pictures just so you can see the amount of space required in comparison to a runway

Helicopter lands ...pilot hands me the cash of £90 for a drop and take off or £150 for a drop and hang about whilst waiting for the client .... job done. If the pilot waits to do his charts etc etc then I supply him a room downstairs in the house to rest and relax, tea / coffee, a desk for the paperwork and toilet facilities. Easy-peasy-lemon- squeezee. Nice and private for the clients as well

 

[Welsh Farmer]

 

[Bumble Bee]

It does seem like you can site a runway anywhere. Even under high voltage power lines

 

[chaffcutter]

Couple of local farmers with runways round here, flying clubs I think but too far away for you methinks

 

[Brisel]

I have an airstrip here at my boss's request. Cuts a nice long field in half but it is his land. Only used a couple of times/year but I keep it mown & rolled in case mates of his drops in at short notice. No hangar or infrastructure beyond access to a road. 800m long in an arable field just above his house. Planted 5 years ago with a special slow growing seeds mixture. 18m wide. We don't claim Single Farm Payment or anything else on it & wouldn't be able to anyway according to the RPA. If it were in a grass field we might be able to though.

The police took an interest recently after illicit goods were dropped off at night in a stubble field locally. No arrests or leads but the regional bobby who deals with airstrips made contact & I showed him around. No further issues than that.

 

[borderterribles]

Thanks for your replies. As for £100/month being good rent, I agree. If the land were used only 28 days a year though, in reality it's £1200/month. And yes, straight-ish and without obstacles either end would be preferable. South Yorkshire or North Derbyshire would be where I'd look.

Is the airstrip at Apperknowle, smack in the middle of your suggested area not operating any longer then? It's been there fifty-ish years!

 

[Ray]

It does seem like you can site a runway anywhere. Even under high voltage power lines

Mr Smith at Baxby?

 

[Bumble Bee]

Don't know who's it is but yes, near Bagby. Looks a bit dicey to me.

 

[DieselRob]

It does seem like you can site a runway anywhere. Even under high voltage power lines

I landed there last year, got told off for doing a loop over the village prior to landing didn't really notice the power lines to be in the way