Jon Hunt is a private pilot, and television reporter and producer Jon uploads videos of his flying trips, and special reports from the world of general aviation.
To contact me, please visit my website www.jon hunt.net.
The airfield is in Fareham,the buildings of the old RNAS station are in Gosport.I was born in Turk Town and finished my UK flying there.PPL flying and gliding( which has now stopped off)
Good video but seems a bit combative. There’s a fine line between holding people to account, and being belligerent. They are clearly working in a really difficult situation.
@@TheFlyingReporter aye. It’s really subjective for sure. The information Jason shared was good, perhaps it would have been a more enjoyable video if you’d made a news style piece and reported on it referencing the conversation? The extra framing & structure could make it more digestible perhaps. I wonder if perhaps the context is also a factor? Jason represents a private business who’s part of our community. He’s not a government official or someone holding an elected office. All that said, it’s good. I’ve done a heap of media interviews for radio and it’s always a bit of an adventure!
I've looked back at the interview again, because I honestly don't like to come across as combative. I'm pretty happy that this was a non-combative, discovery interview, asking difficult questions, yes, but in a respectful, calm way. There are combative interviewers out there, but I don't honestly feel this was an example of that. Happy to receive further feedback on any particular question, or style that for you, appeared combative.
@@TheFlyingReporter fair enough. Combative is perhaps the wrong word. Lemme see if i can work out a better way to describe what I’m getting at. Thanks for the back and forth. This is intended as constructive feedback. I love what you do :)
Jon, your channel is a fantastic resource. I am already a monthly subscriber at £4.95, but wanted to send an additional one time "thanks!" payment to better reflect the value you provide to the community. Keep up the great work.
Usually makes things easier at both ends and en route. They have your details, know you’re coming. They don’t generally do PPR in France. It is not a requirement VFR in France, unless you meet the FPL criteria for inhospitable terrrain etc.
What a great video ! I instructed at Fife a number of years ago and I was delighted to see you following the noise abatement onto R24, and not floating 3/4 of the way down the runway ! Great place to fly, and learn. Good to see Jim flying and taking the place forward.
Not a bad ground speed there John! Thanks for sharing, but the paperwork sucks, overly complicated for what most pilots experience as a single day visit.
Why not incentivise working in Air Traffic at Gloucester by offering an Ab Initio scheme in partnership with Global who are based on site. I Imagine that many would be willing to take a pay cut or bear the risk if they are offered the chance to gain their license for free or through salary sacrifice.
I used to go to that place as a kid and it always had something very special about it. But Guy Ritchie has made it a lot better and the idea of the restaurant with a good view of the runway which is open to everyone is something that a lot of airfields should emulate.
Thanks Jon and as well Jason for this interview, l am now thoroughly cognizant of some of the crucial things happening at EGBJ Airport. in all aspects..
Excellent, well-framed questions, and robust, reassuring responses which, I think, inspire confidence in the airfield's future. Thank you for setting up and sharing this.
First of all, great video! keep up the incredible work! You earnt a sub! But, I would disagree with you on this, Gloucestershire isn't as busy as some other airfields in the uk with a lot less! It can easily manage with Unicom, It is in quiet airspace, with not a lot around.
Excellent interview Jon. I'm glad you picked up on Jason's background being at airfields that haven't been exactly light aircraft friendly. I do wonder what he means by GA - PA28/C172s or the private jets... It sounds like there's still a fair bit for the owners, Jason and his Senior Leadership Team to figure out. In the mean time, I'd better get Gloucestershire Airport in the logbook!
Top job, well done for covering and 'plugging' the information gap and reducing the resulting anxiety that has been created. It's the Airports and the CAA's job to clarify and communicate such detail in an ideal world (you know, that one where the UK is 'the best Country in the World for GA' . . .
They need to be careful who they sell it too, you only have to look a Plymouth where Sutton Harbour holdings were given a 110 year lease by Plymouth City Council. SHH then threw in the towel on Air Southwest, closed the airport and have tried for the last 13 years to build houses on the site.
Great interview! Any interview that includes the most uncomfortable questions is always a sign of a good interview. The worst type is when the host keeps it too light. Unfortunately, we don't have great representation among the government, which is always controlling and making it difficult for GA pilots in the UK.
In terms of maximising aviation-related revenues, it's limited by geography and by runway length - a wet runway landing distance of just 1,147m on RWY 27 significantly limits any charter/public transport potential for turbine business aviation (or anything commercial/scheduled for that matter), whilst competing airports with say Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Oxford and indeed Kemble in each direction, mean if you live closer to any of those, you'll choose those and they don't have the same field-performance constraints. It has run at an average of about 4-5 business aircraft flights a day over the last year and hasn't been far from that for many years - a small increase in that isn't going to pay the bills. It needs to retain pre-existing flight training activity as primary priority and help that to grow, then retain and grow the maintenance activity as the core revenue streams. Otherwise, the only way out of the financial hole is to maximise property development anywhere that's possible whilst safeguarding the two remaining runways. Or, you could just keep RWY 09/27 and get rid of 04/22 which will save costs and open up some more elbowroom for further property development. It could never survive on aviation-related revenues alone and will only grow with additional property rental revenues where unfortunately a lot of the property on the airport is not owned by the airport - it just sees minimal ground rents on some of that. ATC costs will be the most significant burden by far when you put up the pie-chart of what it costs to run a bigger GA airport. Any new buyer will have to forensically review what Tewkesbury Borough Council will allow on the property side in the decades to come, the covenants, the boundaries, greenbelt protections, national planning policy changes anticipated with any new government etc. - nothing to do with aviation at all.
Once again, you managed to squeeze out all the answers that the viewers were asking Jon. You show your skills as an interviewer to gain the respect of your 'target' but also to listen and respond to what he had to say, formulating new questions on the fly, based on what he has said. That is not an easy task as the rapidly diminishing quality of BBC output is testament to. So many interviews seem to be pre-scripted questions and a rushed format that doesn't allow the interviewer to really listen as they rush through. So you need to be praised for your skills. And I will assume you set up the camera equipment too as I have noticed your home setup is of a similar highly professional standard...so let's not underestimate that. In short, as high a quality interview as we could possibly expect from any source. And it isn't the first time I have found cause to tell you that either 🙂. Long may it last .
All the closures are notamed so people can plan around the restrictions. As far as I can see some closures are only 1700 until 1830 and approach and tower are combined.
Thanks for the comment. In addition to these restrictions, there are 10 full day ATC closures. "This summer Gloucestershire Airport will not provide an Air Traffic Control Service (ATC) for 10 days across a 10-week period. On days when ATC is provided the service will begin 30 minutes later than published and end 30 minutes earlier. "
Can I give a shit? My hangar rent doubled over night. Fortunately I was able to escape. The current management haven’t got a clue. When jet operators are moving out and your stated business plan is to encourage biz jets?
Hi John Paul in Orpington hope you are well very good video your questions were well thought out and well done for Jason for answering them in a professional way . He was honest in his delivery
The unfortunate thing about GA is most owners like to have the showpiece owning an aircraft but really don't like counting the pennies off to the airfield and maintenance guys who earn far less than your average car maintenance organisation per hour with out any accountability attached. Aviation is in a serious decline and has been for a long time now. There is more time consumed in the paperwork than the actual maintenance these days. It should be the other way around as the paperwork is safe in the file.
GA needs to increase their total contribution to airports bottom line to remain viable and not be second class citizens. Its perfectly reasonable to increase landing fees to have access to these facilities, they are understandably no longer government provided services. I less combative approach that you started with I think would enable a better discussion than this initial interview.
I think if we are all honest as ga pilots paying £20-£30 to land then parking at anywhere between £10 -£30 overnight is just so cheap that the economics just don’t add up! So I’m guessing here but if a single air traffic controller at Gloucester is getting paid £50k a year and there is 10 of them that’s £500k per year just in wages on air traffic control, then you have airfield maintenance, training, certification, rent etc on top. He mentioned 68k movements so again if 50% of that is GA and each pays £30 for landing that’s only just over a million in revenue! Maths don’t stack up - simples! I am a GA pilot but even I am shocked at how cheap it is to land and park at these airports whilst dropping my wife off at Manchester airport in my car costs over £5 for 10 mins! Simple solution is charge more to us ga pilots, if we pay are way then they stay open!
£50k is a VERY low salary for an ATCO, and you can add 30%+ on top of salary for other employment costs. In addition, there's CAA fees, medical certification, etc. There's also a need for air traffic engineers, earning between £35k and £70k. Note that Gloucester receives a lot of non-flying related income, in particular rent from its many business tenants.
I think if we are all honest as ga pilots paying £20-£30 to land then parking at anywhere between £10 -£30 overnight is just so cheap that the economics just don’t add up! So I’m guessing here but if a single air traffic controller at Gloucester is getting paid £50k a year and there is 10 of them that’s £500k per year just in wages on air traffic control, then you have airfield maintenance, training, certification, rent etc on top. He mentioned 68k movements so again if 50% of that is GA and each pays £30 for landing that’s only just over a million in revenue! Maths don’t stack up - simples! I am a GA pilot but even I am shocked at how cheap it is to land and park at these airports whilst dropping my wife off at Manchester airport in my car costs over £5 for 10 mins!
I want to say 'thank you' as your video was the best/only recent blueprint on which to base a VFR flight. I even was advised of possible wake turbulence and fortunately had noted your solution so opted to do some orbits outside of the possible downstream wake. Thank you!
@@TheFlyingReporter GA must adapt if it is to survive. It needs an ecosystem like the US has, to be able to do that. The UK system leads only to extinction.
Did some work there a few years ago. Got a private tour of the museum 🙂 Friendly people, some of whom have left now. I think one of Val Doonicans old planes is on the dump there.
Many years ago I owned and flew a plane based at Staverton. There were simple procedures for leaving and arriving when ATC was closed. At the time, many felt the issues were due do the airport management so, it would be a good idea to get off the record briefings from Staverton businesses to see what they really see as the key issues. I recall significant investment in buildings that seemed OTT to airport users, Fundamentally, Staverton's location limits its growth. Flying training is a core business. Maintenance could grow, jets might grow but it's still 100+ miles to London. Finally, how are all these growth plans justified in terms of limiting carbon-related emissions?
The wonderful powers that be closed the road bridge adjacent to Gloucestershire airport, for a whole year, for bridge repairs. They could probably have built a new bridge in half that time. This closure completely blocked all airport traffic coming from one direction, leaving just one other road to access the airport. Then, in their infinite wisdom, they decided that the only other access road to the airport really needed to be narrowed, right then, to allow a huge new 2-lane cycle path to be installed alongside. By the way, before being narrowed, the existing road already had its own cycle lane marked out. Anyway, this decision to upgrade the existing cycle lane right at that time resulted in that one remaining access road to the airport being reduced to a single lane, with temporary (ha!) traffic light- control, for another year, while the 2 or 3 workers allocated to the project, on that critical access route, slowly and thoughtfully plodded their way along, stopping frequently to admire their work, stroke their chins, and make way for passing snails. The resulting narrowed road, with it's glistening new green 10-foot wide cycle lane, adjoining double pedestrian lane, and its fancy white custom demarcation kerbs (£££) dividing the two, now has neither cycles or airport traffic! We won't even bother detailing the fiasco of the junction at the end of that same road, by the Hare and Hounds pub, where they caused additional costs and months of delays by installing, with the same impeccable timing, a Swindon - style double roundabout, (more temporary traffic lights ... many more), only to afterwards realise what a disaster it was, and hastily return it to its original fixed traffic lights, under the cover of darkness to hide the red faces. Even the least-gifted can easily imagine the hugely negative impact all this would have had on airport business. The slightly more gifted, being paid for their supposed ability to look ahead, should definitely have been able to. Bridge work, yes. All the rest, on the only other access, at the same time, for so long??? So, to those responsible for the years of traffic pollution from the thousands of cars stuck at your temporary traffic lights, and your white elephant roundabout scheme, and the untold loss of revenue to the airport and nearby businesses, please get on your pedal bikes, ride down your huge new green cycle lane (you'll have it all to yourselves) and just keep right on going!
Speaking as a GA pilot who has also worked in Operations Management at an airport, it’s a really hard balance to strike, many smaller airfields are stuck with ridiculous covenants that don’t permit any non-aviation business, and fields have been let go over the years to the point where you cannot bring in biz jets etc. when you combine this with the fact that generally a raise in landing fees kicks off world war three with visitors, and resident aircraft don’t normally pay landings anyway: where are you left? An airfield with limited ability to raise funds, a community who (rightly) don’t want to pay through the nose, and ridiculous land covenants that stop you raising many funds through alternate revenue streams. Add the ridiculous levels of fees that are expected of GA airfields from the CAA and you have a perfect storm to kill GA in the UK.
It is difficult to make money out of a GA airfield. It would not surprise me if the organisation that buys it only agrees to do so if some kind of Armageddon clause is written into the contract. This will then allow them to redevelop the land should the airfield become financially non-viable. This is exactly what happened at Plymouth where it has been closed and unavailable for over a decade while the leaseholder argues with the planners to be allowed to redevelop it after 'proving' that it was no longer viable as an airport.
