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Popham Rentals and Popham Circuit Tips by Irv Lee Higherplane Aviation Training Ltd JAA Examiner and FRTOL (Radio) Tests/Training too Now Approved for S.African PPL Renewals and Type Ratings |
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NEW: DVD: Irv Lee's "Rust Remover for Pilots" (Click for demo) Fancy flying on a SA Vacation? The Info and products you need, stocked in the UK |
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Keep thinking 'flying' even when you are not - with a PPL Masterclass Seminar (Register interest early, get influence on the place and date!)
If you're flying for fun, you'll love ... |
MASTERCLASS Seminars for PPL Holders:
Click for more details! 
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"PPL? It's a licence to learn...."
So what do you suppose that means...? "You learn from your mistakes...." Well, that's NOT the way it has to be any more... New PPL or been flying for years? Well advanced Student? Learned abroad or UK? It doesn't matter - you'd find it hard not to enjoy and benefit from a PPL Masterclass |
Seminars in a "PPL Masterclass" style
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New: DVD:
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You know you don't fly often enough, you know how rusty you feel! For 10 years I've been derusting pilots after lay-offs and most of them show the same mistakes, forget the same things, etc. This DVD can be watched before you go flying, and you can see (and recognise) the rust! Pre-flight planning tips too. If owning and watching this DVD can save you just 15 minutes of de-rusting time once at today's rental prices, it will more than worth it. Order now securely by clicking on the DVD
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Pre- Preflight Checklist:
To learn more, or to order online, (Credit or Debit Cards), click on the yellow image above |
- If you need a good aide-memoire, written by a G.A. pilot for G.A. pilots,
on all the rules, legalities and safety tips you need to consider before a flight in the UK, consider the
Pre- Preflight Checklist as favourably
reviewed in Flyer, Pilot Magazine, International Flight Training, AOPA's Light Aviation
and GASCO's Flight Safety Review. Click on the yellow front page icon here on the left.
A "must" for anyone trained in the US, and invaluable for UK qualified and student pilots! |
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Need some help with your flying?
If you need some 'mentoring' as a PPL holder renting in the UK, I do give plenty of free advice - not being attached to any particular organisation, I try and give an independent view, Have a look have a look at the links at the bottom of the page, ranging from a free FAQ site, through a very popular personal Pre flying Checklist, to full one day Masterclass Seminars for the PPL holder - almost everything you want as a PPL but were probably not told when you were learning!
If you have come here for advice on flying into or out of Popham, click on click HERE to go further down the page - rental prices come first! If you are looking for a 'type' sign-off for your South African PPL, as well as the aircraft listed here I do have access to others (eg: PA28, C152) but they are not based at Popham.
Popham Rentals:
This is an unoffical site run by Irv Lee's Higherplane Aviation Training Ltd, covering Popham rental rates, as I am the instructor there and constantly asked for rental prices. These are the latest details I have been given updated Sept 2005.
The following are aircraft available for rental through the Spitfire Flying Club at Popham Airfield (EGHP):. Rates and conditions are set by individual owners and are therefore could change at any time! However, all renters must belong to the Spitfire club, the annual fee working out at around £9 per month. and covers all landings. There is a small 'first join' fee of £15. There are reductions for Senior Citizens and social-only members.
My Latest Info:
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Aircraft |
Details |
Inclusive Price |
Price Basis |
Notes |
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Cessna FRA150M Aerobat |
DME, ILS, VOR |
£90.00 |
Hobbs Start/Stop |
80 hours TT needed |
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Cessna F172H |
VOR, ILS, DME |
£100.00 |
Hobbs Start/Stop |
80 hours TT needed |
Notes: No equipment is yet FM Immune, and all prices are 'wet' inclusive prices providing you are a member at Popham. Instructor fees normally add £30 to the hourly rate, 'specials' on request. Renters can take aircraft away overnight after negotitation with the owners. The owners all have a sensible attitude towards this once you are a known-renter but at really busy times of year minimum hours may or may not be asked for.
Instructor Services?
Popham is a JAR Registered Facility allowing me to provide certain Instructor and Examiner Services to PPL holders with current SEP ratings or lapsed ratings. If you have ever had a valid licence, you can re-train and re-qualify at Popham.
If you are still legally current and are looking for an enjoyable, no rip-off, worthwhile JAA Instructor flight for revalidating your Single Engine Piston (land) rating, then you can rent me and one of these aircraft.
If you've let your rating slip away, you are not "ab-initio", so why not retrain at Popham for a JAA Licence Proficiency Test (LPT) on our aircraft to get it back? There are no minimum hours specified by the CAA any more, and no ground exams, so when you're ready for the re-test, you're ready. (If you have expired for over 10 yearsm, they do require the radio exams again but I am a radio trainer/examiner too.
Or, if your licence is still valid but you just need "derusting", it's a pleasant place to fly, and relatively inexpensive. We get pilots drifting in from other airfields not far away, asking the rental prices, looking puzzled, and then asking if they have to pay for fuel on top! (No, they don't!)
If you are a SA PPL holder looking for type rating or annual renewal sign-off in the UK, you can use me and a rental checkout flight at Popham - I am SA qualified and recognised by the SA CAA in South Africa.
If you have a foreign licence (eg: S.A., Oz, NZ PPL or FAA certificate), or you gained a JAA Licence in the USA, and want "tuning to the UK", try Popham. I normally take you on one or two Navex lessons around central south England, perhaps deliberately routeing across MATZ and UK Class "D" to drop in at other G.A. airfields nearby to practice different joining procedures - all this will probably be new to US pilots. You should also take a serious look at at the Pre- Preflight Checklist. If you have a foreign licence, ou can also rent our aircraft after a simple checkout and joining the club, without any need to convert your licence to anything else. Just stay within UK airspace and fly on your foreign PPL with no other formalities.
Cross-Channel
first-timers also a speciality! This is not formal training in that
it is not legally necessary, but it is such a confidence boost to
take an instructor to 'ride shotgun' with you the first time. I
normally use Le Touquet (but you decide).
Why Le Touquet? - it is
the perfect destination for the GA pilot taking family or friends
away for the day or weekend, with so much to do, see and experience
in town. Le Touquet gives and excellent cross country revision
opportunity first as far as 'overhead Lydd', then a short water
crossing so there is less chance of ending up like this!
(and not enjoying it as much!)
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Popham Customs Notification Form blank with fax number |
Tips on the Popham Circuits:
Photos and the main description of the 4 circuit directions are available on the POPHAM PROCEDURES, and although I did not write the contents you see there, I see no point in repeating the basics, so read that first, then come here for my personal 'fine tuning' tips. Obviously anything I say is generalised, and should be altered by your personal assessment of any actual situation you meet, current weather conditions, other traffic, landing or take off distances needed, etc.
Extra tips: General
Popham has an outer fixed wing circuit and an inner microlight circuit. Keep a good eye 'inside' before turning especially in high winged aircraft.
Popham is nicely positioned in an area where you can be 'funnelled' into it, especially from the northern side. To the West there is the only N/S running dual carriageway in the area (the A34 from Oxford). Bordering Popham to the South is the A303 dual carriageway, winding, but generally E/W, and to the East there is the M3, an obvious motorway running NE/SW. Who could mistake Basingstoke, a few miles to the NE? And there is a railway line running out of Basingstoke heading more or less SSW which actually crosses the 'short final' to Runway 08 just before the A303. (Don't be fooled at the junction near Basingstoke where another line goes off West to Andover)
Overhead joins are encouraged if cloudbase allows. If trying to spot Popham from close by, look for the largest wood you can see - that is the southern deadside for 26 or 08. If you are coming from the South, you normally see the big wood which is the deadside for 26/08 (bounded by the M3 and A303) before you see Popham hiding behind it.
If you are trying to work out circuit direction, all circuits use area to the NW of Popham, so in other words it is 26R, 08L, 21R and O3L.
Circuit height 800' QFE
Touch and Goes are allowed, except on Runway 26, where we normally resist them due to agreement with the owner of the bungalow at the far end. Obviously if you NEED to go around on 26 at the last second for safety reasons, do so.
Popham is a place you need to think of wind direction more than usual for two reasons:
(1) the base or crosswind legs on either 26 or 08 are shorter than normal due to the angled climbout or approach, so it only needs a tailwind component on these legs and they happen so quickly you might get caught out.
(2) the amount of woods or trees around means you have to look and think ahead for any obvious areas of turbulence.
Don't forget the MATZ stub in the NE quadrant - I try and keep below 1400' QNH if using 08 or 03 for departure and departing into the NE sector, until I've talked to Farnborough on 125.25.
Extra tips: Runway 26
If the wind is SW, expect a bit of sink over the small wood about a mile out on finals.
If the wind is NW, start the last second turn onto the 26 runway slightly earlier than you want to - you'll be blown onto the centreline during the turn. You can always reduce the turn if not, and it's much easier than tightening it if you don't turn early enough,
if the wind is anywhere south of west, USUALLY you get smoother air in the last 20 feet. The runway is either shielded by the wood to the south, or at very low levels the wind is funnelled round it straight down the runway.
If it is your first time on26 at Popham, I recommend that when you come down the angled approach to 26, you deliberately come in slightly high. The only problem with 26 is the psychological problem of that final last second turn onto the runway. If you come in low, you end up doing the turn and landing at almost the same time and if you get it right it works. (Conversely.. .etc). There is actually a fair amount of runway, and the final bit slopes up, so if you complete the last minute turn slightly high, you have time to ensure you are properly aligned, and your momentum is down the runway before landing. I often advise new Popham renters to have a look at the two large trees bordering the fuel station and make sure they are not below their tops as they pass them on short finals - this is about right for having enough height to turn the final corner and still have runway left. However, at Popham you should always prepare for a landing but be ready for a go-around!
Extra tips: Runway 08
Quite a nice runway really - angled approach but not as angled as 26. You come in across some low grain silos, and there is a small field just before the runway for a final line-up.
If the wind is SE, look ahead and see that you will get a layer of turbulence at about 100' from the woods.
If the wind is NE, turbulence is normally not so bad.
On departure, remember the slight turn left to avoid the fuel station on climb out.
Extra tips: Runway 03
I prefer to keep circuit height (800') right round to final approach, then lose it more steeply for the following reason
The higher steeper approach means you can glide clear of the wood which is under you on final approach.
The higher steeper approach means you can be seen by the people about to enter runway 03 - on a normal approach they cannot see you.
The higher steeper approach means you are out of the turbulent layer on top of the wood which is under you on final approach.
When you know you cannot hit the
final tree of the wood, in normal conditions you can close the
throttle, lower the nose to maintain approach speed, and that will
sink you nicely to flare soon after the 03 threshold - it is a long
runway but slightly downhill, so it is worth aiming to land fairly
early.
When lining up on 03, remember fixed wing on normal final
approach may not be visible due to the wood, and microlights have an
incredibly tight-in base leg to avoid the wood.
Extra tips: Runway 21
Runway 21 is uphill with a wood at the uphill end. Some pilots prefer to get airborne and then with a very gentle low level turn actually fly out down 26 rather than cross the wood in the climb out. If you are downwind for 21, have a look and see if anyone is climbing out of 26 towards you.
Runway 21 threshhold is in a dip. If the wind is from the South, you often get either get a turbulent layer at about 150' on approach with calm air lower down, but if not, be very wary of real turbulence at the threshold. If I do not experience the layer of turbulence with about half a mile to go, I usually assume threshold turbulence and 'land well up' - being uphill there is no problem.
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Irv Lee's Home Page - Profile, Pre-Preflight Checklist, Frequently Asked (GA) Questions and Other Useful Links |
| My Business Card | Contact Details |
Apologies for resisting a direct link to click upon for contact, but I have been getting 1000s of unwanted items per day. You can get in touch by checking the business card on the home page above, or use the 'higherplane/flyer/co/uk address prefixed by 'mail@' and obviously 'dots' where the 'slashes' are.
(no active e-mail link here, to deter automatic junk mail machines)
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