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Trip report: From Germany to the Balkans (August 2014)

Hi all,

when I planned this trip (my first long VFR trip) I received a lot of very helpful advice on this forum. Thank you all again for this.

I promised a trip write-up and I like to keep my promises. It took a bit longer (almost half a year) to collect all photos and finish and edit the write-up, but here it is.

I formatted it to fit my blog site, so I’ll keep it there and won’t copy the entire content here, but I hope you enjoy it and if it’s too much text, you might like to scroll through the pictures (although no high-end camera was used, so the quality of the pictures is so-so).

http://flyandclimb.tumblr.com/FlyBalkan2014

Cheers

Patrick

Hungriger Wolf (EDHF), Germany

Many thanks for this interesting report. I already think long for a flight to Belgrade. That would be an excellent destination for a fly in.

Berlin, Germany

Ahahahahah I love the bit about “I’can’t understand your hochdeutsch” :D

A very interesting report, thanks. As somebody who lives in the area (on weekends at least), I can fully confirm that Wels “lies in the shadow of Linz”

Next time you are in the area, why not check out Mariazell (LOGM) for a very scenic, but often overlooked mountain airfield? Tivat in Montenegro (LYTV) is highly recommended, and nearly everbody loves LJPZ und LDLO

LOAN Wiener Neustadt Ost, Austria

Very nice report. Thanks.

Abeam the Flying Dream
EBKT, western Belgium, Belgium

Rhino, one of the best VFR write- ups I’ve read, well done and thanks!

Forever learning
EGTB

Great stuff! Thanks for the effort in writing up the flight, it was really very interesting to read. My accomplice with the similar accent says the guy in Wels was having a bit of fun with you…

Great read. Sounds like you guys had fun!

EIWT Weston, Ireland

Thanks for the feedback, all – and happy holidays!

[Belgrade] would be an excellent destination for a fly in.

I absolutely agree! It’s convenient, cheap and the city has lots to offer for non-flying companions.

Next time you are in the area, why not check out Mariazell (LOGM) for a very scenic, but often overlooked mountain airfield? Tivat in Montenegro (LYTV) is highly recommended, and nearly everbody loves LJPZ und LDLO

LJPZ and LYTV are definitely on “the list”, we couldn’t fit all into that trip. Thanks for the tip with LOGM. Next time, I’ll definitely consider that as the intermediate stop rather than Wels! This time, weather and the fact that it was my first time flying in the Alps kept us from flying further than Wels on the first day.

Hungriger Wolf (EDHF), Germany

I was in Tivat this October. Kotor bay offers spectacular scenery, and is well worth a visit. I can recommend Apartments Lazarevic, Goran and Dragana were very nice.

The airport, however, is somewhat inflexible. Since the airport did not stock AVGAS, I first went to Dubrovnik for refueling. The short hop from Dubrovnik to Tivat would have been easy VFR at 1000ft along the coastline, even with the remainder of a cold front lying in the region. When calling Dubrovnik tower, I was informed that Tivat would not take me VFR, apparently Tivat considered 8km visibility SCT 2300ft BKN 3000ft as not good enough for VFR. So I had to get out of the aircraft to file an IFR flight plan. The flight took me to 9000ft (helped by some convection), mostly in IMC, and then immediately back down (not helped at all by the convection).

The VFR ban was apparently because not all airliners made it in on first attempt at that day. But then again one can manoeuvre a Cat A plane in much less space than an Airbus.

I got a TAZ1A arrival, followed by LOC DME RWY32 approach in full IMC down to minimum followed by circling to RWY10. This was about the most demanding approach I’ve flown so far. It’s quite important to fly the approach precisely, otherwise one gets very close to the mountains.

The airport wouldn’t let you to get canisters with fuel in or out of your plane, or the airport.

On departure, they insisted on us having to check in our dangerous oranges and wine. So they organised someone to open a check-in booth who took our catering bag, which was then brought to the plane by an old tractor. At least this silliness didn’t cost anything extra.

I paid about €100 in total, of which about one third was for 5 days parking. The way they count parking days is somewhat peculiar, normally airports would divide the hours you spent on their apron by 24 and then round up, Tivat however counts the days where you’ve been on their apron at least for some time, i.e. if you were there from day x 11:00 to day x+1 10:00, they would charge you two days.

LSZK, Switzerland
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