From: Frank Plummer
Sent: 21 October 2011 14:49
To: Planning LDF
Subject: Filton Airfield
To whom it may concern,

As requested on the South Glos Council website, these are my thoughts concerning the closure of Filton Airfield:

1) Do you accept that the closure of Filton Airfield is the only realistic option? Yes / No
No, I do not.2) If No to 1) above, what would you suggest as a way to keep the Airfield viable? Do you have any information to support this?
I would suggest, as a private pilot for the past 5 years of my life, to turn the airfield at the very least into a "general aviation" hub. And I personally think it is a perfect candidate.
I say this for multiple reasons. The first and foremost being that currently, general aviation in the Bristol region is handled by BristolInternationalAirport, south of the city centre. It is quite clear that Bristol International will expand well beyond it's current operating levels in the coming months and years, and as a result, general aviation at the site is almost certainly going to suffer. Having spoken to pilots who fly with the BristolFlyingCenter and the Bristol & Wessex Flying Club, they agree that if Bristol does take on more commercial flights, lower priority will be placed on general aviation. Indeed, the new revampments of the apron at Bristol International are almost entirely aimed to benefit commercial traffic - the north side of the runway has had expansions in the form of more stands for aircraft to park, more methods of access to the public - and the south side has had a taxiway removed in favour of an expansion to the car park, and general aviation traffic is asked to park on the grass now. Five years ago this would have been far from the case - GA is being pushed from Bristol International.

Filton is an ideal candidate for GA traffic. It has a large runway, so trainee pilots can make error. It is easily identifiable from the air. It is in "Class G airspace" - meaning that pilots who are not within 5 miles of the aerodrome reference point at the centre of the airfield do not have to talk to air traffic control unless they want to - meaning that new pilots can easily conduct practical flight without having to deal with extra pressure. The new limitations for night flying and weekend operations, introduced in the past few years do not apply - small aircraft that pilots use to train in do not produce a great deal of sound. Residents of Bradley Stoke, Stoke Gifford etc will not have to worry about large jets making noise as these small aircraft are so quiet!

Filton also has a very specific radar (my time at the aerodrome as a member of staff was several years ago now, so I may be mistaken..) but the large radar makes way for very widespread use by the air traffic controllers at Filton. Its range I believe was quoted when I was there 75 nautical miles, which extends the range almost up into Birmingham's airspace. It is also used by Bristol International and Cardiff International respectively to pick up radar receipts. If Filton were to be a general aviation airfield, this radar would only prove to be an asset.

It is these three points that make me, and dozens of other experienced pilots in the area, believe that Filton could be used as a general aviation airfield. Like Kemble and Gloucester, the field already has a flying school and club. It is widely used already for training, and is respected by student pilots for it's welcome and the facilities it offers. The runway does not need to be maintained to the same standard which large commercial traffic require - infact, navigational aids such as ILS, NDB and the VOR need not be maintained at all - so if BAE complain about the profit margin, there is really no need.. General aviation could be moved from Bristol International to Filton, and I strongly think that it would secure the airfields future tenfold.

3) If Yes to 1) above, how do you think the Airfield should be reused/redeveloped? What would you wish to see included in the redevelopment?

See above.

Yours,

-Frank Plummer