The 'Introduce yourself' Thread

Welcome Al, I didn't get bored with old airfields but enjoy all the peripheral sites such as Defences, Ranges but my particular interest is bomb stores. Plenty of WW2 airfield remains in the Bomber County of Lincolnshire! Enjoy AiX

Hi Sal.

Hi everyone,

I am a third year university student at Bournemouth studying Applied Geography.

My dissertation topic is about military runways and an analysis of the effects of potential redevelopment. For instance the local ecological impact it may have to restore runway xyz for civilian aviation purposes.

I am also hoping to join the RAF after University and fly the Globemaster C-17 with 99 Squadron at Brize Norton - fingers crossed!

I will be scouring these forums for information and I might contact you individually, I hope this isn't a breach of privacy.

Regards.

George

Welcome George. I can't help you with ecological impact of redevelopment of runways but I work at the future depot of the C-17. Nice choice of birds to fly.

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For instance the local ecological impact it may have to restore runway xyz for civilian aviation purposes.

You'll be familiar with a number of former RAF runways (airfields) that are now mainstream commercial airports - but setting aside the great cost of runway repairs/resurfacing the major issues in practice are concerned with planning permissions for a change of use. (Local objections, road access etc on change of use)

It's interesting to note a number of former WW2 disused airfields currently active as "flying club" GA airfields use grassed areas or sections of taxiways as runways rather than the original runways.

Some time ago I was chatting with the owners/developers of Nottingham (Tollerton) airport about the expense of the environmental hoops they've had to jump through simply to extend the runways.

I am also hoping to join the RAF after University and fly the Globemaster C-17 with 99 Squadron at Brize Norton - fingers crossed!

Good choice - but whatever you do don`t tell them that at OASC!!! - Tell them your ambition is to fly fast jets.

Hi all,

Thank you very much for your welcome, good to see a forum that is active!

Thank you to AiXAdmin for raising the points about planning permission and environmental law. I don't know why exisiting but abandoned/decommissioned runways/airfields are so much harder to build on even for a change in use. I would of like to think that building on a pre-existing site would impact less upon the environment but it may cost more to redevelop the site. For instance it would be better for the environment to redevelop abandoned runway x rather than to create a completely new runway at y.

Also I have some questions:
Brothmark: Are those ECAM screens in the centre of the Globemaster C-17, above the thrust levers, in the cetnre below the autopilot.
AiXAdmin: Why should I tell OASC that I would like to fly fast jets rather than the globemaster c-17, am I more likely to get accepted?

Thank you,

George

In response to your first point it's necessary to differentiate between a major change of use eg Finningley/Robin Hood and say Nottingham Tollerton.
In the former case there's an expectation of a sustained increase in "Jet" traffic movements (eg 737/A320) with a measurable environmental impact and in the latter case a moderate increase in movements of less intrusive aircraft (eg Bizjets). A Google search will reveal plenty of "planning & environmental" case studies for both classes of airport.

More controversial though are the small GA airfields that have relatively low levels of light aircraft traffic that despite best practice are seen as an easy target for local "career objectors" for reasons it's often difficult to comprehend.

As someone pointed out in another thread it wasn`t so long ago that an airport/airfield was a cause for civic pride - now it's quite the opposite. Everyones in love with cheap air travel as long as the airport is not in their back yard.

Why should I tell OASC that I would like to fly fast jets rather than the globemaster c-17, am I more likely to get accepted?

In short if you are selected for Pilot training you would be expected to have the potential to fly any aircraft on the inventory. It's generally accepted that fast jets are the most demanding and prestigious to fly so why would you want to fly anything else? - "Not up to it perhaps?" They might ask.

But please don`t take my word for this - do your homework before applying. If you haven`t already seen it there's an excellent sticky thread in the Military Aviation section of PPRune - which includes a regular bulletin from OASC themselves about all aspects of the application process.

George;56014 wrote:

Hi all,

Thank you very much for your welcome, good to see a forum that is active!

Thank you to AiXAdmin for raising the points about planning permission and environmental law. I don't know why exisiting but abandoned/decommissioned runways/airfields are so much harder to build on even for a change in use. I would of like to think that building on a pre-existing site would impact less upon the environment but it may cost more to redevelop the site. For instance it would be better for the environment to redevelop abandoned runway x rather than to create a completely new runway at y.

Also I have some questions:
Brothmark: Are those ECAM screens in the centre of the Globemaster C-17, above the thrust levers, in the cetnre below the autopilot.
AiXAdmin: Why should I tell OASC that I would like to fly fast jets rather than the globemaster c-17, am I more likely to get accepted?

Thank you,

George... I could tell then I'd have to kill you... glass cockpit all quartz now

George;56014 wrote:

Why should I tell OASC that I would like to fly fast jets rather than the globemaster c-17, am I more likely to get accepted?

Too late George - someone from OASC will have seen this thread and your card will be marked - need to change your name .

Graham