Operating Locations

Base Locations

Shoreham EGKA

Shoreham Airport has been adopted as the Club's main training location. This is because of the absence of Controlled Airspace locally, and the availability of VATSIM ATC services several nights a week. Members can start their online flying experience here in the company of other beginners and, via the Club TeamSpeak server, obtain help from experienced members also flying from this pretty seaside location. Real World Shoreham Airport is the oldest licensed airfield in the UK, and has a beautiful Grade II listed art deco building which is not only a Control Tower but also a full scale Passenger Terminal.

Gloucestershire EGBJ

Opened in 1931 as Staverton Aerodrome, Gloucestershire Airport has been progressively developed during the last 85 years into the UK's busiest General Aviation aerodrome. It lies just four miles from Cheltenham, home of prestigious horse-racing, literature and music festivals and only six miles from the cathedral city of Gloucester. It has a full Air Traffic Control service within its ATZ and Approach control facilities as well. On VATSIM, it caters for the needs of virtual GA pilots with procedures that closely replicate the real aerodrome. There are 3 runways in the traditional ex RAF 'A' layout, plus a short grass runway.  The main runway has instrument procedures including a CAT 1 ILS on runway 27. The Club established its base at Gloucestershire in December 2004 and adopted one of the hangars for its use. Regular Club evenings have been held on Tuesdays at the airfield ever since.

Sherburn-in-Elmet EGCJ

In April 2018, the Club decided to open this small airfield in Yorkshire as a new northern base. It is located in an area of outstanding natural beauty 11 nautical miles south west of York. During the Second World War it was used as a Royal Air Force station and Blackburn Aircraft built almost 1700 Fairey Swordfish naval torpedo aircraft at their Sherburn factory. Today it is home to a busy real-world Aero Club who have kindly rented us one of their hangars and allowed us to build our own small Clubhouse next to theirs. As an uncontrolled airfield (Air/Ground Operated), with one hard runway and three grass runways and mandatory overhead joins, members will enjoy a new experience and new challenges at this friendly airfield.

Biggin Hill EGKB

"Biggin on the Bump" was an airfield which played a pivotal role in the 1940 Battle of Britain and still today has that feel of "something historic happened here". The Club has built a full scale base here with an operational centre, clubhouse and hangar, and has operated from Biggin Hill since the Club's formation in February 2004. Its long main runway could accommodate even the largest of the Club's aircraft and it once featured regular VATSIM ATC. In April 2018, the real world Biggin Hill told the Flying Clubs based there to move out as the airport needed to concentrate on the expanding business aviation business. However one stubborn Flying Club refused to move and after a year of uneasy silence, in January 2020 the CIX VFR Clubhouse again rang with the banter of virtual pilots on TeamSpeak, and the Club recommenced flying operations. The Biggin Star was reborn!

Roving Base Locations

In order to explore the UK's regional airports, the Club has designates one of them as a temporary "Roving" Base. This Roving Base changes every three months. Roving bases are added to the list below as they are selected. The currently active Roving Base is marked by red pointers below. Club members visiting that airport in each of the three months shown in the table below, will be awarded a star. The list below shows the Roving Bases selected in the last two complete years as well as the current year. Members are encouraged to visit them as well, however, only the marked airport will earn a star.

Guest Locations & Farm Strips

In addition to the above Base Locations, each month our Events Manager selects some other airfields for members to visit. These may be defined as Guest Airfields or Farm Strips. Briefings will not be provided by the Club, and members must choose their own route and do their own flight planning. The idea is to encourage members to explore Britain flying VFR in their flight simulator and to provide at least some challenging flights. The Club Star Awards process is used to analyse each member's Pilot Reports and to allocate Stars for recording visits to these locations.

Guest Airfields 2021

There are two designated "Guest Airfields" each month. These may be large regional airports, small general aviation aerodromes, or grass farm strips. Some will be close to a Base Airfield, allowing short simple flights to suit new members with limited experience, and others will be designed to present different challenges, be it navigation, short landing strips or complex controlled airspace. A star is awarded for flying in to these airfields on any day in the month shown in the table below. For the first three months of 2021, the selected guest airfields are: