Gloucestershire 27/01/2014 (by Dave Anderson, Colin Granton, David Breden and Chris Smith)
Report by Chris Smith
When Colin mentioned he was flying Dave down to Gloucestershire Airport for a meeting he had in Bristol, I jokingly enquired if there was a spare seat going. Five days later and I find myself meeting Colin, Dave A and David B - owner of resident Piper PA-28R Cherokee Arrow "G-STEA" - at 6.30am for a 7am departure from Durham Tees Valley in Colin's Cessna 177B Cardinal "G-BRDO"! At £300 landing directly at Bristol Airport was out of the question, and frustratingly, the venue of the meeting was within walking distance of the recently closed Bristol Filton Airport, so a 45 minute drive from Gloucester was the answer (for the sake of Colin's health, the less said about the Fiat 500 we received the better!!!).
The flight down - lasting 1 hour 40 minutes - was smooth despite us flying in and out of snow showers. As we approached Gloucestershire, the flooding that's dominated the news of late was quite a spectacle. We were cleared to land on runway 22, one of two smaller runways supplementing the main one. Gloucestershire is one of the busiest GA airports in the UK and it's easy to see why, with a strong reputation for cheap fuel and unparalleled service. We were going to park G-BRDO at the fuel pumps, fill up, before taxiing to the RGV Aviation ramp where a 'Prop Balance' was to be carried out, but all we had to do was park at the pumps, with the airport kindly refueling and then towing her down to RGV, allowing us to collect the above mentioned Go-Kart to drive to Bristol.
On arrival in Bristol, we all got stuck in to a McDonalds breakfast, Dave went on to his meeting while we originally planned to head over to Bristol Airport for a couple of hours spotting, but with us already being at the former BAe Systems facility at Filton, we decided to visit the museum that remains here instead; the Bristol Aerospace Centre. The museum was closed to the public however and given the similar driving times to Bristol or Gloucestershire Airports, we decided to return to Gloucestershire to oversee the Prop Balance work being carried out on the Cardinal, and this was the better bet from a spotting perspective too in terms of number of airframes logged.
After the maintenance was complete and having had a wander around the extremely busy RGV Aviation hangar (RGV specialise in Cirrus maintenance, and with a Cirrus dealership elsewhere on site, these types dominate the airport), we returned to Bristol to pick Dave up before returning back to Gloucester for a second time, initially to grab a late lunch at the busy Aviator Restaurant which offers excellent views across the runways and main ramp, before dropping the Scooter back off at Europcar. We then met the Operations Director, Darren, who is friends with Colin and he provided us with a full tour of the airport. Looking at Google Earth, I estimate there are 24 hangars (!!) here of which we had access to just seven, yet still managed to bag 107 airframes!! Darren told us the closed up ones are all full as well, with a varied mix of aircraft ranging from lights and helicopters to twin props and private jets, even an RAF Puma dropped in during our visit, so the management are clearly doing something right and it's little wonder Peel are using Gloucestershire Airport as one of their case studies for the master plan. If this is a prime example of what the future holds for Durham Tees Valley then bring it on.
We departed at 4.40pm and the flight back was twenty minutes shorter thanks to a tail wind. Colin was well pleased with the prop work, noting significantly less vibration, bloody wanted to be as well the price it was!! We landed back at DTVA at 6pm and began looking forward to potential future outings in either the trusty Cardinal or perhaps G-STEA - or perhaps even a Cirrus after David set his heart on one during our visit to RGV!!
Gloucestershire Airport - GLO/EGBJ
0845-0855 / 1045-1300 / 1500-1640
| REG | A/C TYPE | OPERATOR | NOTES |
| D-HCKV | Agusta A109A II | Fire Dept | Cab only - marked G-OPAS |
| EI-CMT | Piper PA-34-200T Seneca II | Corporate | On MX in RGV hangar |
| G-ATTI | Piper PA-28-140 Cherokee | G-ATTI Flying Group | |
| G-AVGC | Piper PA-28-140 Cherokee | Private | |
| G-AVJJ | Piper PA-30 Twin Comanche B | Private | |
| G-AWFB | Piper PA-28R-180 Cherokee Arrow | Private | |
| G-AWZU | Hawker Siddeley HS121 Trident 3B-101 | Jet Age Museum | Forward fuselage only |
| G-AXEV | Beagle B121 Pup II | Private | |
| G-AXVM | Campbell Cricket | Private | |
| G-BAUI | Piper PA-23-250 Aztec D | Unknown | WFU |
| G-BEZO | Reims Cessna F172M Skyhawk | Staverton Flying School | |
| G-BFEK | Reims Cessna F152 | Staverton Flying School | |
| G-BHCC | Cessna 172M Skyhawk | Private | |
| G-BIMT | Reims Cessna FA152 Aerobat | Staverton Flying School | |
| G-BIZO | Piper PA-28R-200-2 Cherokee Arrow II | Lemas Air | |
| G-BOHH | Cessna 172N Skyhawk | ASL Aviation | |
| G-BOXT | Hughes 269C | Jetscape Leisure Ltd | c/o Rotec Engineering Ltd |
| G-BSGK | Piper PA-34-200T Seneca II | Aeros Flight Training | PWFU |
| G-BUSW | Rockwell Commander 114 | Private | |
| G-BWGY | Diamond DV20 Katana 100 | JL Flying Ltd | On MX in RGV hangar |
| G-BWNM | Piper PA-28R-180 Cherokee Arrow | Private | |
| G-BWOH | Piper PA-28-161 Cadet | Redhill Air Services | |
| G-CAHA | Piper PA-34-200T Seneca II | TGD Leasing Ltd | |
| G-CDCV | Robinson R44 Raven II | 3GRComm Ltd | |
| G-CDWK | Robinson R44 Raven II | Private | |
| G-CEMI | Europa XS | Private | |
| G-CGSG | Cessna 421C Golden Eagle III | Private | |
| G-CGUN | Alpha R2160 | Private | On MX in RGV hangar |
| G-DLAK | Cessna 208A Caravan I | Aerodynamics Worldwide Inc | |
| G-DSID | Piper PA-34-220T Seneca IV | Private | |
| G-EKIR | Piper PA-28-161 Cadet | Aeros Flight Training | |
| G-ESTA | Cessna 550 Citation II | Executive Aviation Services | |
| G-FOXX | Denney Kitfox Mk2 | Private | |
| G-GCDC | Cirrus SR20 G3 | RPR Associates Ltd | On MX in RGV hangar |
| G-GDRV | Vans RV-6 | G-GDRV Group | |
| G-GEHP | Piper PA-28RT-201 Cherokee Arrow IV | Aeros Flight Training | |
| G-GFCA | Piper PA-28-161 Cadet | Aeros Flight Training | |
| G-GREY | Piper PA-46-350P Malibu Mirage | Private | |
| G-HIVA/8 | Cessna 337A Super Skymaster | Private | |
| G-HPSL | Rockwell Commander 114B | Private | On MX in RGV hangar |
| G-IASL | Beech 60 Duke | Fire Dept | PWFU |
| G-IENN | Cirrus SR20 G3 | Renneta Ltd | RGV ramp |
| G-IGHH | Enstrom 480 | Raw Sports Ltd | |
| G-LENI | Aerospatiale AS355F1 Twin Squirrel | Grid Defence Systems Ltd | |
| G-MACN | Cirrus SR22 G3 GTS Turbo | Private | On MX in RGV hangar |
| G-MAXI | Piper PA-34-200T Seneca II | The Draycott Seneca Syndicate Ltd | |
| G-OHCP | Aerospatiale AS355F1 Twin Squirrel | Staske Construction Ltd | |
| G-OJBB | Enstrom 280FX Shark | Private | |
| G-OOMA | Piper PA-28-161 Cherokee Warrior II | Aviation, Advice and Consulting Ltd | |
| G-OPSS | Cirrus SR20 G2 | Clifton Aviation | |
| G-OSPY | Cirrus SR20 G2 GTS | Cambridge Guarantee Ltd | |
| G-RAFG | Slingsby T67C Firefly | Aeros Flight Training | |
| G-RRAK | Enstrom 480B | Private | |
| G-RYZZ | Robinson R44 Raven II | Rivermead Aviation | In Helicopter Maintenance hangar |
| G-SAPM | Socata TB20 Trinidad | G-SAPM Ltd | |
| G-SAUO | Cessna A185F Skywagon | Private | On MX in RGV hangar |
| G-SBAP | Rans S6-ES Coyote II | Royal Aeronautical Society | |
| G-SCPL | Piper PA-28-140 Cherokee | Aeros Flight Training | |
| G-SDRY | Cessna 525C CitationJet CJ4 | Dowdeswell Aviation LLP | |
| G-SHKI | Ikarus C42 | Poet Pilot (UK) Ltd | |
| G-SHMI | Cosmik EV-97 TeamEurostar | Poet Pilot (UK) Ltd | |
| G-SPTT | Diamond DA40D Diamond Star | Private | |
| G-TAAB | Cirrus SR22 G2 GTS | TAA UK Ltd | On MX in RGV hangar |
| G-TECB | Tecnam P2006T | Aeros Flight Training | |
| G-VONS | Piper PA-32R-301T Saratoga IITC | Private | On MX in RGV hangar |
| G-VZIM | Alpha R2160 | Private | On MX in RGV hangar |
| G-WARX | Piper PA-28-161 Cherokee Warrior III | Private | |
| G-WAVV | Robin HR200/120B | TGD Leasing Ltd | |
| G-WPDB | Eurocopter EC135 P1 | South Western Helicopters | |
| G-WIRL | Robinson R22 Beta | Rivermead Aviation Ltd | In Helicopter Maintenance hangar |
| G-YPRS | Cessna 550 Citation Bravo | Executive Aviation Services | |
| G-ZOOG | Tecnam P2006T | Polarb Air | |
| G-ZZDD | Schweizer 269C | Private | |
| G-ZZMM | Enstrom 480B | Fly 7 Helicopters | |
| M-SMKM | Cirrus SR20 G2 GTS | Private | |
| M-WOOD | Cessna 550 Citation Bravo | Horizon Air Charter LLP | |
| M-ZUMO | Pilatus PC-12/47 | CCH Way Ltd | |
| N731/466 | Boeing-Stearman A75 (PT-13A Kaydet) | Wings Venture Ltd | |
| N4ML | Mooney M20J-201 | Private | RGV ramp |
| N46WK | Piper PA-46-500TP Malibu Meridian | Private | |
| N96FL | Cirrus SR22 G3 GTSX Turbo | Private | |
| N106AN | Cessna 208B Grand Caravan | Aerodynamics Worldwide Inc | |
| N107CB | Cirrus SR22 G3 GTS Turbo | Private | RGV ramp |
| N147CD | Cirrus SR20 G1 | Private | |
| N215DS | Diamond DA40 Diamond Star | Private | |
| N224RC | Cirrus SR22 G3 GTS Turbo | Private | On MX in RGV hangar |
| N250CC | Piper PA-24-250 Comanche | Aerodynamics Worldwide Inc | |
| N278SA/72 | Cessna 177RG Cardinal | Private | |
| N480BB | Enstrom 480B | Private | |
| N482CD | Cirrus SR22 G2 GTS | Heritage Aviation Inc | |
| N520DS | Diamond DA40 Diamond Star | Private | On MX in RGV hangar |
| N583CD | Cirrus SR22 G2 GTS | Private | RGV ramp |
| N750GF | Cessna 750 Citation X | Corporate | |
| N800VM | Beech 76 Duchess | Private | |
| N820DL | Raytheon B200 Super King Air | Aerodynamics Worldwide Inc | |
| N840CD | Cirrus SR20 G2 GTS | Private | On MX in RGV hangar |
| N899AE | Beech 99 Airliner | Aerodynamics Worldwide Inc | |
| N936CT | Cirrus SR22 G3 GTS | Private - W/O - from this accident | Another SR22 now carries this reg |
| N5347V | Piper PA-46-500TP Malibu Meridian | Private | On MX in RGV hangar |
| N8523Y | Piper PA-30-160 Twin Comanche B | Private | |
| N9220G | Piper PA-46-350P Malibu Mirage | Private | RGV ramp |
| OK-UBA | Let L-410UVP-E16 Turbolet | Van Air Europe | Operating for Citywing |
| WF784 | Gloster Meteor T7 | Jet Age Museum | Stored outside |
| WK126 | English Electric Canberra TT18 | Jet Age Museum | Stored outside |
| WL349 | Gloster Meteor T7 | Jet Age Museum | Stored outside |
| XM569 | Avro 698 Vulcan B2 | Jet Age Museum | Forward fuselage only |
| Westland Puma HC? | Royal Air Force | Dep 1124 |
Click here for some photos from the trip.
A single aircraft was noted OTT:
| EI-DES | Airbus A320-214 | Aer Lingus | |
We had to descend from 3000ft > 2000ft to avoid the following departure from Leeds:
Leeds/Bradford International Airport - LBA/EGNM
1740
| PH-KZS | Fokker 70 | KLM Cityhopper | |
Only two aircraft of note at DTV both on the morning and still there on our return:
| F-HALM | Dassault Falcon 50 | Aero Vision | |
| N288Z | Bombardier BD-700-1A10 Global Express XRS | Corporate |
Thanks for reading if you got this far!