@Flyer59: Is it possible to uplift fuel at Rakovnik? Ethanol-free mogas would be the best, but avgas is also OK. I cannot make the round trip without refueling, so if it’s not available there, I would need a nearby field for that.
Also, will it be possible to arrive early in the evening on Friday, but of course before sunset?
Btw, an additional hurdle came into my way: I will not have my transponder installed in time for the trip and all international flights in Budapest FIR have to have one. (No similar restrictions for Slovakia or the Czech Republic as far as I know.) It is possible to obtain an exemption, but it will be up to the ATS on the day of flight. They told me yesterday that most probably the exception will be granted, but they cannot confirm anything in advance.
Hi, Rakovnik has no fuel but nearby Pribram airport does, it’s just a very short hop, so that should not be a problem. (Actually the Aeroklub does have fuel but they are not allowed to sell it to visitors. But i will ask them again, maybe there’s an exception).
You can come anytime you want, the house is yours. But i might be there Friday by noon anyway. If not then key for my house will be given to you by somebody from my company. Rakovnik is really a small place, everything is easily organized.
If you decide to get the XPDR installed in EDMS i can pick you up there by plane and take you back. You could spend a day or two (or however long you want) in my guest appartment in Munich.
There’s many options, just let me know.
Hi, Rakovnik has no fuel but nearby Pribram airport does, it’s just a very short hop, so that should not be a problem. (Actually the Aeroklub does have fuel but they are not allowed to sell it to visitors. But i will ask them again, maybe there’s an exception).
You can come anytime you want, the house is yours. But i might be there Friday by noon anyway. If not then key for my house will be given to you by somebody from my company. Rakovnik is really a small place, everything is easily organized.
Thanks, I will let you know closer in about my ETA.
If you decide to get the XPDR installed in EDMS i can pick you up there by plane and take you back. You could spend a day or two (or however long you want) in my guest appartment in Munich.
There’s many options, just let me know.
A couple of follow-up e-mails and calls had their effect and currently it seems that I will be able to have it installed in Hungary in time for the Rakovnik trip.
Ah, good to get an update. From my side nothing has changed: I definitely want to be there, and hope to come flying; otherwise I’ll drive in. The chances for my flying in are limited, dependent as I am on weather: I need a full day of severe CAVOK each way. I have now set the schedule for
with the Sunday a spare day – if forecasts are really bright I could fly home on Sunday, but I absolutely need to be home at work on Monday 13th
As i said, anybody can come anytime they want. If you want to go to the house before I am there (like Thursday) I just need to know and you’ll get the key (and the code for the alarm ;-))
Since I couldn’t find a bed I really like for one of the two guest rooms I have ordered two guest beds on ebay today, and the company promised they will be there next week.
I anybody wants to borrow a car, like to go to Prague on Friday, or Sunday, not a problem. I have a Mercedes G-model jeep there (German Army version ;-), an old C-class (an old pool car for the company we keep as a spare, 380k km, but drives well,) or even a Mercedes Viano for more people. Downtown Prague is just about 40 minutes to drive.
Some pictures of the airfield and house:
LKRK airfield is right of the center of the picture, you can hardly see it …
The Rakovnik Airfield is really a SMALL airfield, mostly for gliders. The club (I am a member there too) has a 172, an Ultralight and two older Zlins, but there’s a Extra 300 too, flown by a former L-39 test pilot)
The LKRK apron ;-)
My house in Rakovnik. It’s a nice art nouveau building from the 30’s. We restored it in the 1990s and my father lived there until his death. Now I just use it for one night per week when I’m over there. I might not keep the house forever (even more crazy than the plane ;-)) but for now it’s a good place to meet with pilot friends.
Regarding fuel at LKPM, it’s no longer the Sky Academy that supplies it. There’s now a separate entity, and the person in charge is Klara at +420 602 508 248. She is typically there from 8-9 in the morning till 18:00 or so, but one can call her to arrange fuelling outside these hours. Oil is supposedly sold by pilotshop.cz, yet another entity at LKPM, but they don’t carry the usual W80 or W100.
Many thanks for the info, I am quite likely to make use of it. Could fuel be paid for by credit card?
And would MoGas aka Natural 95 be available?
That’s great information, thank you.
When I flew to LKPM during the week some time ago there was nobody there, but I landed after making some blind calls. Later they told me that this is all they need during the week! Just make a standard pattern entry and tell your position according to the VFR approach chart.
If anybody needs it, I can bring some W100 or W80 oil, no problem.
When I was in LKPM credit card was no problem, price for Avgas 100 was around € 1,90, that was about a year ago though …
@Flyer59: the house looks beautiful, like so many I saw in Central Europe but I never got inside one. The airfield is less difficult to spot than my own, I think! Looking forward!
Here is the data for the runways. Since it’s hard to see, even for me who has landed there about 75 times I programmed both thresholds into my 430 and I always fly a selfmade coupled approach to runways 09L and 27R … The parallel ones 09R and 27L are essentially the same meadow (;-)) but longer. 09L/27R has the smoother surface but is “only” 750 m long (the other one is 900 m). Just check it out on Google Earth.
The runway MARKINGS are almost impossible to see (i offered to buy new ones for the airport but we have not decided yet).
This is the data for the center of the thresholds of 09L and 27R, and if you simply follow the GPS you will arrive correctly. I have landed outside the runway at least twice before I started doing that … I now always make a direct and dial in the right course. But i guess when the airshow is on there will be better markings
27R: … course is 267 degrees (uphill landing)
50°5.691N
13°41.845 E
09L: … course 87 degrees (downhill)
50°5.683N
13°41.214E
(no guarantees for this data to be correct, check it in Google Earth!)
