Capitaine wrote:
Was there a happy ending to the propstrike?
Two guys from the club who owns the C182 drove to Kaliningrad by lorry and got the wings off and loaded the airplane on the truck and took it back to Switzerland for repair.
Peter wrote:
orry to read of the prop strike… I had missed that originally.
The 182 is being ferried to Switzerland by lorry next week with detached wings so maintenance will take place here.
The translation is very good.
The text was kindly written by my copilot Philipp Kujumdschiev in german and machine translated to english by deepl.com so I apologize for the language. But many thanks Philipp!
Sorry to read of the prop strike… I had missed that originally. That’s a big problem so far from base. However, these things happen, which is why many pilots avoid grass airfields of unknown condition. From what I hear, insurers usually prefer to return the aircraft by truck, to where they can have control over it.
ch.ess wrote:
That obviously wasnt true , or not the full story.
The gravel RWY was perfect although narrow with little space left outward of the main gear ;-)
Thanks for the great report, Neal.
And i am envious, especially since i had planned to join (as a late addition to the group) and received an email that the whole thing was called off due to the runway not getting to acceptable form in time (for lack of funds).
That obviously wasnt true , or not the full story.
Pity, sounds like a great adventure !
boscomantico wrote:
It would be great to find out if what you paid was due to the background organisation and even
I think the fees were reduced as the fly-in was organized by the Hanseoffice in Kaliningrad.
Is the plane still there? What will happen with it?
A mechanic is leaving with two guys in a lorry next week to dismantle the plane and bring it back to Switzerland on the back of the truck so the prop and engine work can be done here. Meanwhile it’s in the hangar in Devau.
Thanks for this report!
Regarding the fees at Kaliningrad, I think you were lucky. Most stops in Russia are rather in the four digits…
It would be great to find out if what you paid was due to the background organisation and event, or if this is what all regular visitors may expect. For 200$, I might go there as well one day. Also, good to know on the online visas!
I feel sorry about the prop strike. But this has to be exepcted when flying to grass fields in these countries. They really have a different Definition for grass runways and taxyway there.
Is the plane still there? What will happen with it?
Re the food: it doesn’t astonish at all that Königsberger Klopse is not really offered there. After all, it was a German dish, and anything German (also all their architecture from pre-war days) was erased by the Soviets after the war.
My father has flown into Kaliningrad in a Piper Archer in 1998, I believe. He says it was an adventure back then, to put it mildly.
