Pilot reviews of Bembridge Airfield

“We flew into bembridge on Saturday 23rd August. The chap in the tower was very helpful, both on the phone beforehand and on the radio, even though he must have been having a very busy day due to the thirty or so visiting aircraft we saw (plus the gliders!) The guy running the fuel bowser was not of the dour type I have experienced at other airfields, but was more than helpful and imparted some useful info about the departure taxing procedure when he found it was our first visit. The newly refurbished aeroclub was excellent. This is probably one of my favourite places to visit, even with the interesting crosswind on runway 30.”

“We flew into Bembridge on Sunday 17th Aug, my first visit, but not my last, ATC were very helpfull and welcoming, with precise instructions. We lunched at the field and I can reccomend the cheese & ham panninis, the service from everyone was excellent, I'm sure I will be coming back, if only to experiance the approach and crosswind landing on 30, quite challenging !!”

“Flew into Bembridge from Shobdon today. Defiantly the best airfield I've been into. An pleasant experience starting with a GA friendly Bournemouth Radar who accommodated me despite been up to there eyeballs in ILS's etc.. Bembridge was easy to find and gave a

'Welcome to Bembrige' on touchdown. The cafe/clubhouse was professionally run offering a vast array of reasonably priced good food in modern surroundings. I took a cab ride down to the village/sea front and a couple of relaxing hours with the friendly natives.

10/10 a must visit....

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“Just back from a quick flight Thruxton to Bembridge. Gorgeous weather. Runway 30 was active. Was given a very friendly welcome from Bembridge Radio, routed on a right base to the approach and landed with the words 'Welcome to Bembridge' over the R/T. The controller routed us on a backtrack straight to the closest row of parking to the terminal after which my passenger and I spent two hours sitting on the newly refurbished cafe decking sipping cold drinks in the sun.

The £10 landing fee was reasonable, but seemed high considering the Cessna before us had gone in for £7.50! Canned drinks at 80p each (landing fee paid at the cafe counter along with the drinks!) were acceptable.

Contrary to at least one other review for Bembridge I received a very courteous and informative welcome from the security guard who was more then helpful in pointing a newbie to the right desks for sign-in and payment. He even suggested things for us to do if we were staying.

Unfortunately on this occasion we were not staying more than 2 hours but we have already decided a further trip to Bembridge with possibly an overnight stay is called for.

This field is a dying breed - courteous, welcoming and very, very GA friendly. (Plus you get the benefit of watching the planes making crazy low approaches over the road that skirts the threshold of 30!)

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“Flew from Shoreham to Bembridge for Sunday lunch - a very easy flight and certainly no need for a GPS. I was just a passenger for this flight, and a very experienced CPL holder captained the smart, comfortable TB10 so I could enjoy the view.

Bembridge Radio were very helpful and passed their information clearly and succintly, and also ordered a taxi for us as we were on final for 30. This avoided too much waiting around at the small terminal building.

The landing fee is a very reasonable £10 and the woman staffing the cafe was polite and friendly. An outdoor terrace is available for warm summer days.

However, the experience was ruined by the aggressive attitude of the security guard who sits by the main entrance to the terminal.

He accused us of walking ( yes, walking, not flying! ) through a restricted area and accused us of "trespassing".

His attitude was condescending and downright unpleasant - he seemed to enjoy giving us a very public speaking-to, actually coming out of his office to face-up to us in a threatening manner.

It was completely unnecessary to be so rude about us simply walking on the wrong piece of grass.

For information purposes, apparently we were "trespassing on Britten Norman property" which I would imagine is unavoidable if you happen to land at Bembridge, as I believe they own the airfield.

Perhaps this guy had a chip on his shoulder about something - he did mention that he'd been having "a lot of trouble with pilots".

I can conclude that this individual was severely lacking in social interaction skills, and was not a good representative for the airfield.

A great shame, as it spoiled a very pleasant day.

”

“Went down to Bembridge for a day trip and ended up stranded for two more! Everyone there looked after us magnificently, sorting out B&B and taxis and tiedowns for the aircraft, and gathering and phoning round for weather information as we tried to "escape". They didn't even charge us for our return landing when we turned back or the unplanned overnight stay(s!) Huge thanks and thumbs up to everyone from air/ground to the fuelers and firemen, to the cafe staff. Great place.”

“Flew into Bembridge again today for lunch, ATC as very frendly and helpful ( as usual) Cafe has been refurbished since I was last there,and although the choice of food was a little limited it was really good value. Sat on the decking in the autumn sunshine watching the world go by...before having to head back home. Well done Bembridge, we will be returning”

“Flew into Bembridge en-route to Jersey, it really is a lovely airfield, with a lovely cafe with outdoor area, landing fee was a bit steep but nothing major. Will go back again.”

“I visited Bembridge today, what a fantastic place. AG radio is excellent and very friendly, even with a 'Welcome to Bembridge' as I landed. It was VERY busy today, what a fantastic sight to see in the region of 60 light aircraft visiting. Bembridge airport has a nice patio and restaurant, which you can either sit inside, or outside and watch the planes. It is a short taxi ride (£5) to the crab and lobster pub, where you can eat on the clifftop overlooking the sea. Then only a short walk to the beach.”

“Visited Bembridge for the first time having been to Sandown a couple of times before. Bembridge is easy to find and the scenery around the airfield is spectacular. The A/G service is fantastic.....possibly the best I've come across so far. There is plenty of aircraft parking space and food is available at the airfield. The choice of food is quite limited but the price and quality is excellent. Very well worth a visit. Beware of gliding activity both at Bembridge and other locations nearby in good weather.”

“Have been travelling to the IOW since first licenced. Mostly stopping at Bembridge rather than Sandown. Bembridge has excellent pub (Crab & Lobster) but you either need to arrive before 12 or after 2 to get an outside table with sea view. Fantastic coastal path toward the west which takes you down very wide and child firendly sandy beaches to pub at other end (gotta have a reward after the walk) called The Pilot Boat. Bembridge ATC always been friendly, helpful and "nothing too much trouble" attitude. Highly recommended and looking forward to heading back that way soon.”

“All at Bembridge were very friendly and helpfull on a recent visit. Its not as busy or as scenic as Sandown where the welcome is also excellent, not to mention the fab restuarant. Its a better chioce sometime though as theres a long hard runway which is 90 degrees different to Sandown”

“Well worth a visit! If the wind is from the NW or SE then it is better than Sandown which has a runway perpendicular to Bembridge.”

“Very friendly, very good value (I paid £5 for C150 in the week). For many years I just flew over it to land at the lovely Sandown, but Bembridge is also very nice, and the hard runway might be an advantage after heavy rain. The food is good and very reasonable.”

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“Just joined UKGA but felt it worth mentioning my fist visit to Bembridge in November 2006. Beautiful afternoon for only my third trip after getting the license so a bit apprehensive but everyone was most helpful. Every man and his dog seemed to be out that afternoon so departure took some time as the run up and runway exit are at the same spot - there was a bit of a queue but everyone seemed to take in their stride. This was literally a flying visit but I will be back. Photo on approach taken by my daughter - good shot Siobhan!”

“Visited Bembridge last Monday. Very busy (8 a/c inbound when I called) but all very well handled by ATC. A really nice, friendly airfield with some gliding going on (for which you need to keep an eye out). We went for a walk along the coastal path - maps in reception - to the Crab & Lobster where we had a very good lunch and watched the yachts and ships go by. Our only regret was not staying overnight - perhaps next time.”

“Hi, Bembridge is probably one of the best run GA fields we have visited..Friendly staff good facilities.. great location... try the Mussel + Crab pub for lunch..stay ovewrnight in one of Ventnor's great hotels..”

“One of the most friendly and helpful team of staff that I've found at any airfield: nothing is too much trouble for them. Superb countryside surrounding the airfield and a short taxi ride to some excellent local pubs. In my top 3 airports.”

“Weather divert into Bembridge recently...and lost a break pad on turning onto taxi-way! Staff there were great. Waived the landing fee, and got their engineers out to sort the break problem. bacon sandwiches were pretty good too! Not somewhere I pop into (as I'm only 6 mins away from Lee-on-Solent), but would recommend it as a good stop for others travelling further.”

“A nice friendly airfield, easy to find, good cafe with comfy leather seats. Hard runway (Sandown is grass). Very civilised and definitely worth a visit.”

“We took a group day out from Cranfield to Bembrige with about 10 aircraft. They managed the small invasion very well :)

Very friendly people, and good facilities. I think landing fees was £10 for PA38. Hard landing strip (as opposed to the grass strip at Sandown). Cab into town was £10 for 6 of us.

A good day out.

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“went to day nice place and food ok in the propeller pub, nice location and views over the IOW, would recommend it and go again my self.”

“Very friendly. New cafe, good food, places to sit and watch the aircraft. Good length runway. Amazing views of the I.o.W. Good location, idea for beaches, etc. Great for a day trip. Give it a go!”