Learning to fly, one mistake at a time
Welcome to Elstree. My Home.
Before you visit Elstree there are a couple things you might need to know. Firstly there are two public footpaths across the runway at Elstree. Not alongside it. Across it. One of them runs straight over the middle. The walkers are within their rights, they know they're within their rights, and a few of them are properly militant about it. The spinny choppy thing on the front of a PA28 is no match for a rambler with a compass and an OS map. You give way. Always. If not then there is a bit of a cleanup and a lot of paperwork. and we know the CAA loves paperwork.
The other thing worth knowing before you point the nose at the place in the dark, is that the approach lights are pink. Not white. Pink. I'm not making that up either, and there's more on both of those below.
This had to be the first airfield review I ever wrote, and I'm completely biased, so let's get that out of the way up front. Elstree is home. KK lives here. I learned to fly here. Caz has rolled her eyes at me in that car park more times than either of us would care to admit. So it's 5/5. I've been told it has to be, and honestly I'm not going to argue, especially now that KK has been moved to a much nicer parking spot. That is a non-trivial part of why I'm holding the line on five.
Home base, north of London, 2.5nm east of Watford on the north side of Hilfield Park Reservoir. KK (G-DCKK) lives here. EGTR, runway 08/26, 651m of tarmac, 20m wide. Elstree Information on 122.405. PPR required, and so is high-vis. 100LL and Jet A1 on the field, at London prices. Photos from a sunny lunchtime at The Aerodrome Café. Current rates and procedures may have changed, so check before flying.
North of London, 2.5nm east of Watford. It sits on the north side of Hilfield Park Reservoir, which is the easiest visual feature to find from the air. Once you've got the reservoir, you've got the airfield. Do not get them confused.
Aligned 08/26, hard tarmac, 651 metres long and 20 metres wide. The smoothest tarmac north of London? Not quite. I'm told we used to fly Wellington bombers out of here in the 1940s. I'm also told some of the potholes date from then.
The taxiways are narrow. Two of the grass ones close when they get waterlogged, which in a UK winter is most of the time. And some of the spring. And if you're unlucky, some of the summer too. Always check the NOTAMs. On windy days the hangars and the trees throw up some interesting effects on short final from both directions. Nothing dramatic, just enough to remind you that you're flying an aeroplane and not a simulator.
I mentioned them at the top. They earn a proper paragraph. Two public footpaths cross the live runway, one of them straight across the middle, and the walkers who use them legally outrank you. Most are fine. Some treat it as a point of principle. they are the ones storming across holding a map, a compass and their nokia mobile on speed dial to the ramblers association lawyers. Either way, the rule is simple. Give way to the rambler. Every time.
A few things about 08 worth knowing before you commit to it.
There are pylons straight across the approach. You go over them at least 300ft. You do not go under them. Going under them would be the start of a very bad day.
08 also has a downslope. If you like floating, you'll love it. Aim for the start of the concrete and you've a fighting chance of getting down somewhere useful. Aim for halfway and the runway will hand your float back to you with interest.
26 has its own quirks. The base turn is over the driving range car park, which at least is a clear feature you can't miss. The golf balls won't.
Coming in on a long final from the west, one of your visual references is the canal bend. There's not much at the canal bend except a big yellow box building. but the official VRP is canal bend, an of course it is hidden by trees. We do love a clear, descriptive marker.
From the east you've got the golf course and the tall building. We don't have a more imaginative name for it. It is a tall building. That is what we call it. Conveniently, near the tall building you've also got Elstree Studios, which means at any given moment you're flying over the EastEnders set. Wave to the Queen Vic on the way past. You're now technically a featured extra. unfortunately there is a little NOTAM bit for the studios so no loitering.
The circuit at Elstree is one of the most complex I've come across. Roughly six turning points, and after four years of flying out of here I still can't find them all. SkyDemon is your friend. Genuinely. Get the iPad up, get the circuit overlay on, and let the screen tell you where the next turn is, because line of sight alone won't do it.
Base altitude is 1000ft QFE, which is the easy bit. The hard bit is that circuit direction reverses at 2pm. If you're flying in from somewhere that runs one direction all day, that one alone catches people out.
Then there's the noise-sensitive geography. There are several points where the neighbours will ring the tower if you stray over them, and yes, some of them bought houses next to an airfield that's been here since the 1930s. I make no further comment.
Always check for RATs and NOTAMs before you fly. Always. Elstree occasionally closes for royal flights heading to the places royal flights head to. I'll stop there before the security services come and have a quiet word about my YouTube channel. The point stands. Check the NOTAMs. There are days when Elstree is simply shut, and you don't want to find that out at 2nm.
London TMA is 2500ft above you. Watch it on the overhead join. Luton is to the north and busy. Helicopters get everywhere, because of course they do.
Special mention for Silverstone weekend, which I've been meaning to fly in for purely because the airspace round here goes wall to wall helicopters. Anyone with a rotor and a licence and a lot of spare cash seems to base out of Elstree for the F1. It's genuinely worth a coffee on the terrace just to watch them come and go. Here's a Silverstone weekend's worth of it.
PPR is required and is normally done online. The frequency is 122.405 MHz. The callsign is Elstree Information, except when it isn't. Occasionally it swaps to Elstree Radio when the controller's on a comfort break, which is a charmingly honest way to run a frequency and one of the things I quietly love about the place.
100LL and Jet A1 both available. Close your eyes when you pay for it. It's not cheap. Then again, this is London. Nothing is.
Coming in at night you can only use 26. The approach lighting is LITAS, a low-intensity system, and at Elstree it glows pink. I promise I'm not making that up. It works, it does the job, and once you've got used to a pink slope indicator the rest of the world's lights look slightly overdressed. They are not licensed for 08, as the lighting is pylon driven. You hit the pylons and the sky around you will light up, and then the town around will not as you have just taken out the lights for Elstree and 1/2 of Radlett.
It's called The Aerodrome Café and it absolutely deserves its reputation.
It's not just a pilots' greasy spoon. It's a proper local destination. On a good day the terrace fills up with families, regulars and people who've worked out that this is a lovely spot to have lunch and watch aeroplanes. You can book ahead, and at weekends you should.
The café also has firm opinions about your conduct and it puts them on signs. "Café and aerodrome customers only. Beware of aircraft. No ball games. No picnics." And then, in case the message didn't land, the order-to-table card on the bench tells you again. No picnics, please.
I don't know what happened to spark the great Elstree picnic crackdown, but somebody clearly pushed it too far once, and now the rest of us live with the consequences. Ordering is order-to-table by QR code, quote your table number, which works well when the place is heaving. You can visit the lovely team in the restaurant if you wish in the more traditional way. Modern tech only goes so far when you are looking for cake. They do good cake.
On this trip it was omelette and chips. It was lunchtime, that's what the day called for, and the bacon roll, which is the thing I order at every other airfield and bang on about in every other review, took a back seat at home this time.
The omelette was good and the chips were properly good. I'll file the bacon roll on a future visit. Probably.
The sugar caddy, for the record, tells you a fair bit about a café.
Fairtrade white, brown, sweeteners, a proper metal salt and pepper. Caz approves of options. The tea passed the Caz test, which is the test that matters.
There's a mound by the café where kids stand and wave at every aeroplane that taxis past. Wave back. You'll make their day, and you'll look like a proper pilot in front of everyone watching from the terrace. Both of those things matter. You'll also be photographed. There's a serious raft of plane spotters at Elstree, kids with parents, parents with kids, and grown adults with very long lenses. They have a Facebook group, and there's every chance you'll turn up in it. Smile on the taxi out.
There's also a Pooleys on the field, properly useful when it's open. Charts, kit, the lot. Worth a wander if you're between bookings. Two sets of toilets, one in the café, one between the tower and the café. They're fine. They're cold in winter.
I trained at Flight Training London, the biggest school on the field, mainly C152s and PA28s with a DA40 and a DA62 on strength too. Good people. Taught me a lot.
The staff at Elstree are fantastic. Dave in the tower is a diamond. They all are. The ground crew never complain when we call them out to help shuffle KK around, which given how often we ask is more saintly than we deserve. Always read the pilot's notes before you visit. PPR is required. So is high-vis.
Deffo 5/5. Yes I'm biased. I've already declared it. KK has a nicer parking spot now. That counts.
Take the bias out and try to be sober about it. The runway is honest about its age, has footpaths across it and walkers who outrank you, the circuit has six turning points and a 2pm direction reversal, 08 has pylons and a downslope that'll float you into next week if you're not paying attention, 26 has its own collection of charmingly named visual references, fuel costs what fuel costs in London, the field can shut for royal flights, the noise abatement is unforgiving, and weekends are busy. None of that matters. It's home, the café is brilliant, there's a Pooleys, the kids on the mound will wave you in, you fly over EastEnders for free, the spotters might make you internet famous, Silverstone weekend turns the airspace into a helicopter convention, the people are even better, and KK is parked in a nicer spot. That's more than enough.
Read the pilot's notes on the airfield's own site. Cross-check with the AIP, Pooleys and SkyDemon for the proper detail. Always check NOTAMs and RATs on the day. WAP is one pilot's impression, not a planning document. Always check the right sources.
Elstree Aerodrome official site | Flight Training London
A dedicated arrival-and-circuit video for Elstree is on the to-do list. When it lands, it'll be linked here.
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