Wellesbourne Mountford 26-May-18

[cheshireexile]

Made a little detour off the M40 while traveling up to see the folks for the recent bank holiday weekend. Airfield very quite at the time (well if you ignored the tannoy from the Saturday market across the other side of the field) but it was still a little early for much activity and not helped by overcast conditions with low cloud. Only one movement while I was there and only 1 heli outside the Heli Air hangar.

If you are thinking of visiting it might be worth noting the museum is only open on Sunday, while the Vulcan is only open on Saturday - a cunning plan to double takings at the cafe? The museum aircraft are visible even if the museum isn't open but not good for photos with fences etc. Had a chat with one of the guys at the Vulcan, he told they can't do fast taxi events at the moment. Apparently airfield owner wants to sell to developers so anything that might promote interest in the place is currently banned - their usual "wheels and wings" event isn't happening this year.

I was on a schedule so didn't have time to try and get access to hangars but here's a log of what was visible on the field. There are 4 spots / car parks along the road with the Vulcan at one end and Heli Air at the other. Most aircraft seemed to be parked nose-on, so you probably need to visit all spots to get angles to read off reggies - even then there was a little detective work to confirm so partials - the airfield website as a handy spreadsheet of based aircraft that can be downloaded

There are a few photo's after the log, fans of Cessna's and PA28's (plus the Vulcan) can find more on flickr (Wellesbourne 26-May-18). As a first visit almost everything went in the book. Of the two that were not needed C172 G-ARID was the most interesting; looking back at my old schoolboy copy of CAM 78 I logged it at the old Liverpool/Speke airport "Air Rally" day on 8-July-78. It was already 18 years old then having been build in 1960 according to G-INFO, which makes it older than me! Anyway on with the log ...

Reg'n	Aircraft Type
G-ARID	Cessna 172
G-AVBG	Piper PA-28 Cherokee 180 Cherokee C	***
G-AVIT	Cessna 150	***
G-AWVC	Beagle B.121 Pup 100	***
G-AYNF	Piper PA-28 Cherokee 140 Cherokee C	***
G-BAFL	Cessna 182	***
G-BAHF	Piper PA-28 Cherokee 140 Cherokee D	***
G-BHUI	Cessna 152	***
G-BLRF	Slingsby T.67 C Firefly	***
G-BNVE	Piper PA-28 Cherokee 181 Archer II	***
G-BPBK	Cessna 152	***
G-BPEO	Cessna 152	***
G-BSCY	Piper PA-28 Cherokee 151 Cherokee Warrior	***
G-BSTR	American Aviation AA-5	***
G-BUIH	Slingsby T.61 Falke F Falke Venture T.3	***
G-BWNB	Cessna 152	***
G-BWNC	Cessna 152	***
G-BWND	Cessna 152	***
G-BXSD	Cessna 172	***
G-BYSP	Piper PA-28 Cherokee 181 Archer II	***
G-BZMH	Scottish Aviation Bulldog T.1	***
G-CKEY	Piper PA-28 Cherokee 161 Warrior II	***
G-DGFD	Robinson R44 Clipper II
G-EGVA	Piper PA-28R Arrow 200 Cherokee Arrow II	***
G-EOLD	Piper PA-28 Cherokee 161 Warrior II	***
G-FIGA	Cessna 152	***
G-HART	Cessna 152	***
G-JAVO	Piper PA-28 Cherokee 161 Warrior II	***
G-JMKE	Cessna 172	***
G-KITS	Europa Aviation Europa XS	***
G-KNCG	Piper PA-32 301FT Piper 6X	***
G-OMIA	Morane-Saulnier Rallye MS.893A Commodore 180	***
G-OSKY	Cessna 172	***
G-OWOW	Cessna 152	***
G-RAGT	Piper PA-32 301FT Piper 6X	***
G-RBWW	BRM Bristell NG5 Speed Wing	***
G-SNCA	Piper PA-34 Seneca 200T Seneca II	***
G-VULC	Avro Vulcan B.2	***
RA-01378	Yakovlev Yak-52	***
WV679	Percival Provost T.1	***
XJ575	de Havilland DH.II0 Sea Vixen FAW.2	***
XK590	de Havilland Vampire T.11	***

Old-timer G-ARID, Cessna 172 by CheshireExile, on Flickr


G-VULC/XM655, Avro Vulcan B.2 by CheshireExile, on Flickr


G-AVBG, Piper PA-28 Cherokee 180 by CheshireExile, on Flickr


G-BZMH/XX692, Scottish Aviation Bulldog T.1 by CheshireExile, on Flickr

[graham]

Wellesbourne is a great field, only ever been a couple of times myself but got airside access after asking