Castlebar Airport

Oscar Bravo

Hey all,just wondering has anyone got any photos of Castlebar airport.it used to be a great spot,and held great fly-in's over the years.

irlforum

I'd forgotten about that until I saw this thread. I never knew much about it - have you any info on what it was used for? They only had an airfield for landing and taking off didn't they?

I found this picture with google. http://www.castlebar.ie/photos/muirsind/emptypubs/airport.JPG

Neworder79

The runway was 24/06, located between the Breaffy road and the Dublin rail line at the 06 end. There was a lounge bar and some hangar space, small tower in the building, remember it being busy one sunday I visited as a child with people watching the leisure flights.

The land was sold and leveled to build Woodies DIY retail park in 2001. The current entrance road follows the old alignment I think. Some more pics here:

http://www.castlebar.ie/photos/dailyphotos/castlebar-airport/gallery/

Interesting history, it's founding goes back to the Royal Flying Corps in WW1. The tar strip was built by the Ryan brothers in 1966. An experienced RAF pilot from Carracastle was lost trying to perform a transatlantic flight to Castlebar in 1927. First successful transatlantic was in 1972.

http://www.askaboutireland.ie/reading-room/environment-geography/transport/transport-infrastructure-/index.xml

Oscar Bravo

Neworder79 has all the info there!! A great spot and of course was home to the Mayo flying club who had several aircraft over the years including EI-ATK,EI-BIE,EI-BKF,EI-BDK and EI-AVM.there was also a Chipmunk based there from the mid 90s until the airport went.Not to forget the private jet that was based there in the 1980s,cant remember the reg.

irlforum

I suppose everyone in Castlebar uses Knock now is it?

Is it possible to get a PPL for much cheaper if you become the member of a club? I think my cousin used to volunteer doing various jobs around a club in the UK in return for lessons and the like - saved him a fortune.

Oscar Bravo

The Mayo flying club moved to Knock for a short while but it didnt last.EI-AVM went to Abbeyshrule.The Connaught aero club are based at Knock(Good prices if your looking to go for a ppl)!

De_man

Oscar Bravo wrote: »

Not to forget the private jet that was based there in the 1980s,cant remember the reg.

That's a blast from the past, taking me back to my spotter days

if i remember rightly it was EI-BJN CE500 Citation but i'm open to correction on this the missus burned my logs books:eek: anyone got old ASI mags to double check it

here's a link

http://www.irishairpics.com/photo/1005029/M/Cessna-501-Citation/EI-BJN/Tool-and-Mould-Steel-I-Ltd/?&sid=3294118242&sp=0

Oscar Bravo

Thanks a million De_man,glad i finally got the reg now.Some other Regs/regular visitors to Castlebar over the years EI-CUB,EI-BAO,EI-BBC,EI-BJO,EI-CIK.May even take you back further to your spotter days!!

Delancey

De_man wrote: »

That's a blast from the past, taking me back to my spotter days

if i remember rightly it was EI-BJN CE500 Citation but i'm open to correction on this the missus burned my logs books:eek: anyone got old ASI mags to double check it

jesus what did you do to deserve that - sell the kids for medical experiments ?

Oscar Bravo

Old thread here,but just wondering has anyone photos of the Airport/Aircraft/Fly-in's that were held here in the past.

Jesus Nut

A jet landed in Castlebar! Wow!
I thought the runway was only like 400 meters there? or what was it?

Kristopherus

Oscar Bravo wrote: »

Old thread here,but just wondering has anyone photos of the Airport/Aircraft/Fly-in's that were held here in the past.

Your best bet would be to make contact with the family of the late Skinty. Or alternately with with the Ryan family on Station Rd.

cherrytaz

Interesting topic, never knew Castlebar had an airport. Heres a link below that may interest people:

http://maps.osi.ie/publicviewer/#V1,515766,789530,6,4

You can actually switch between the years 2000 and 2005 which is pretty cool and see the demise of the airport

Jesus Nut

Cheers for that link. It does look longer than 400 meters but not that much longer!
Anyone remember the lenght?

EchoIndia

There was also a Mitsubishi Mu-2 (EI-AWY) and a Hughes 369 (EI-AVN) based there and associated with a company run by Denis de Ferranti.


Hughes 369HM - Click here for larger image

Jesus Nut

Jesus Nut wrote: »

Cheers for that link. It does look longer than 400 meters but not that much longer!
Anyone remember the lenght?

Have heard of stories of small planes been pulled and parked in the town. Ferranti used to own a mansion in Pontoon, Mary Robinsons current residence, it was likely his jet that was based there.

simon_24

mayomaffia wrote: »

Jesus Nut wrote: »

Cheers for that link. It does look longer than 400 meters but not that much longer!
Anyone remember the lenght?

Have heard of stories of small planes been pulled and parked in the town. Ferranti used to own a mansion in Pontoon, Mary Robinsons current residence, it was likely his jet that was based there.

Yeah I heard a story that someone went flying drunk and landed on main street!!!

Oscar Bravo

What happened was,the flying clubs plane was flipped over at the Airport during high winds,and after "a few" pints sumone(who passed away quite recently) decided to "drive" the plane from the Airport and park it outside Mick Byrnes pub on the Main St. There was another occasion where a spot of "Night" flying took place and locals had to line a few cars up each side of the runway and put their lights on to get him down!! ahhh great times.

Oscar Bravo

www.flyinginireland.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=3788&hilit=Castlebar A few pictures here courtesy HugoJ on Flyinginireland.

Locker10a

Sorry if this is nieve question! But was Castlebar Airport ever considered by monsignor Horan when he wanted to develop an airport in Mayo ? Why could it not have been developed/expanded as opposed to building a new airport from scratch ?

Oscar Bravo

Hey Locker10a,simple answer for you,at the end of one end of the runway was the Railway line,at the end of the other-the Breaffy road.

L1011

Locker10a wrote: »

Sorry if this is nieve question! But was Castlebar Airport ever considered by monsignor Horan when he wanted to develop an airport in Mayo ? Why could it not have been developed/expanded as opposed to building a new airport from scratch ?

Horan wanted an airport to bring people to Knock Shrine, not specifically one "in Mayo". Hence Kilkelly not Castlebar being where it ended up.

Oscar Bravo

www.flickr.com/photos/88051129@N00/5227579054/ The Airport in the Very early 1970s with the Mayo Flying Clubs EI-ATK and Ireland West Airlines EI-AUF.

mickdw

Where is Ballina airstrip located? I wasnt aware that there was any kind of airfield in Ballina

Oscar Bravo

Its actually very close to the town itself,ile try and get a picture,only suitable for Microlites really.there is also a strip in Crossmolina,Ballivary(Few miles outside Castlebar) and even Kilmovee(Just East of EIKN).All fairly active.

Nissan doctor

Is this it? They haven't got a clear view of one part of the town but the brownish looking line running NE-SW looks like it?

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?hl=en&ll=53.848757,-9.278282&spn=0.015544,0.02841&t=h&z=15

mickdw

Thats what used to be castlebar airport.

xflyer

I always thought it was a bit much to call it an airport. But Castlebar had big ideas about itself at the time. Anyone remember the Castlebar Urban District Council? They were famous for making comments on major world events. Hilarious but everyone knew where Castlebar was.

It was short. At my flying club we had a really nice C182 but before I got a chance to fly it a club member who originated from the area took it to Castlebar and in a botched go around ended up inverted in the wires over the railway line. His name was mud for some time later. I can tell you.

Delancey

xflyer wrote: »

I always thought it was a bit much to call it an airport. But Castlebar had big ideas about itself at the time. Anyone remember the Castlebar Urban District Council? They were famous for making comments on major world events. Hilarious but everyone knew where Castlebar was.

It was short. At my flying club we had a really nice C182 but before I got a chance to fly it a club member who originated from the area took it to Castlebar and in a botched go around ended up inverted in the wires over the railway line. His name was mud for some time later. I can tell you.

Speaking of Castlebar having big ideas - who remembers the Annual Castlebar International Song Contest ? Pure shyte that RTE had the nerve to call entertainment.

newcavanman

I remember meeting the pilot of the Hughes 369 . Nice lad, ex BAOR , we gave him a lift into town from Weston . He was telling us about the crack they had, once they got 20+ miles from Dublin they dropped down to low level, he said it was just like the sort of flying he had done in Germany .

Quaderno

Nissan doctor wrote: »

Is this it? They haven't got a clear view of one part of the town but the brownish looking line running NE-SW looks like it?

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?hl=en&ll=53.848757,-9.278282&spn=0.015544,0.02841&t=h&z=15

Better map here: http://maps.osi.ie/publicviewer/#V1,515781,789554,7,4
You can switch the years with the bar to the right.

Oscar Bravo

Castlebar 1995.

Oscar Bravo

And Knock late 90s....www.boards.ie/vbulletin/attachment.php?attachmentid=196081&stc=1&d=1331510066

Jesus Nut

How long was the runway?

Oscar Bravo

About 1900ft,if your from the area it streached from the round a bout on the Breaffy Road to the Railway station.

Oscar Bravo

pclancy

Lol. Seemed to hold up well, did it end up in the side of that shed or is that where it was moved? Didnt they include the oyster weight in their v speed calculations?

Nforce

Oscar Bravo wrote: »

Castlebar 1995.

I think that's the An-2 that I paradropped from back around '95.

Padraic Heaney

Hi. Was there a flight log book kept? If so who would have it now and how could I see it? Doing a project and need to look up some information on 1968. Thanks.

happyoutscan

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122416202#Comment_122416202

Might be no harm in getting in touch with the library in town.

Storm 10

I had many a trip to Castlebar in Aer Arann we used to fly up to collect hire cars and bring them back to Galway great times we even used to fly to Shannon and Kerry in Aer Arann for the the same thing