Best airfields to visit for GA in Ireland?

darkonethree

Hi all,

Just want to fly into a few of the "nicer" airports/fields around the country.
Which ones should I visit? Which ones are nice and which ones should I give a miss?

Oscar Bravo

Ive done a lot of airfields and i must say Limetree has to be one of the friendliest. Last year we also went to Lough Conn airfield in Mayo,strip a little bumpy but good surface,greeted on arrival with a burger and tea/coffee- grand spot.Birr another good one. Athboy is probably the best kept airfield in the country, beautiful place, always a good fly-in on there to.Sligo and Donegal stunning on a CAVOK day. Abbeyshrule,once a great spot ,sadly has dropped in my book, place needs a good tidy up,can be very quite also. Knock,no comfort, to much security and ATC seem to dislike the smaller stuff.

lazywhole

Im a big fan of Clonbollogue. A great spot for some Breakfast and always nice to see the Pilatus from the Parachute Club
coming in or heading out. A great little strip

Stovepipe

Kilrush is beautiful but can be empty, even on a weekend....clonbulloge requires that you pay attention to what the drop aircraft are doing, as they get priority to take off and land......if in doubt, PPR for all Irish airfields.

smurfjed

I used to drop jumpers in P'town many many years ago, our normal circuit to land was usually conducted at about 20 feet or less in between the trees, it was certainly not a place for visitors. I guess that Clonbulogue is a little but friendlier

logie101

N'Ards (EGAD) is without doubt the best general aviation airfield in Ireland.
The only issue is to remember to file the GAR.

martinsvi

I agree to most of what's already mentioned, just like to add Navan and Newcastle on the list. +1 for the PPRs, it's a must

Stovepipe

Irish airfields don't tend to have the cafe or restaurant culture that you'd see in Uk and European airfields, so casually dropping in on a weekday could easily mean finding no-one at home and no means of getting a cuppa or taking a leak, or in some places, getting fuel. I went into EIAB one Friday not too long ago and there wasn't a sinner in the place. A lot of the smaller fields are on someone's farm, so they don't have time to serve you, in many cases....you can get a feed in Clonbulloge on a Saturday but you do need to pay attention as para aircraft have priority. EINC is very busy, so you need to keep a very good eye out. I don't know about Kilkenny. Anyone got a clue about access there?

Stovepipe

I went from Limetree to Clonbulloge to Kilrush to Birr and back to Limetree yesterday. Between showers, it was lovely and a bit blowy but certainly not unusable. Clonbulloge was packed, out the door with parachuting activity and a good brekkie was had.Met a few other pilots and had a chat. Elected to go to Kilrush for a nose around.One aircraft flying out, one helicopter getting work done. Access to fuel and tea but otherwise, very quiet. Off we go to Birr. Silence. Not a soul but a local man turns up in his aircraft and we have a chat. No-one else around, no access to get a cup of tea or fuel or even use the jax. Back to Limetree, where there is plenty of tea and chat. So, two out of four were usable on a Sunday. bad sign of the times.