A few weeks ago I visited Salzburg with my 7 year old daughter. After visiting Zell am See (LOWZ) last year she expressed her regret many times for deciding not to tag a long then. So I offered her to go with me to Salzburg and she said: “let’s go!” right away. Salzburg being the set of The Sound of Music, a movie/musical that she has seen many, many times. It was my first long trip without the Mooney, I sold last fall. So we took the diesel Cessna 172 from Vliegclub Teuge that I joined. It’s nicely equipped with a G1000.
I filed a Zulu flightplan and after loading up we departed VFR from Teuge (EHTE) and called Dutch Mil for IFR pick-up and were given a direct to the German FIR where we were handed over to Langen and completed our climb to FL110. I wanted to fly a bit highter to test out my SkyOx O2 equipment and to see how the Cessna would perform. I got 126 KTAS and with a bit of tailwind we saw groundspeeds between 130 and 140 kts, so within three hours we were cleared for ILS15 at Salzburg and only then did the Alps come in to proper view due to the haze.
On the ground we taxied to the GA apron, immediately got the fueltruck (AirBP) and filled up with Jet-A. Before I could say ‘Wiener Schnitzel’ we boarded the taxi to our hotel that I had just booked on the apron.
We enjoyed a nice evening, having dinner in the hotel and we went for a swim in the pool we had completely to our selves. Just a very nice time and good start. The next day we took the ‘Sound of Music’ Tour, and that turned out to be a nice way to see Salzburg and its surroundings (e.g. Mondsee and other gems).
After the tour we walked around the city and enjoyed some food before taking a short cabride back to the airport. I had filed a Y flightplan and after paying around € 60,00 for landing and a parking one night we took off, back to Teuge. I filed a bit lower now due to the headwinds aloft. I missed the Mooneys performance sorely now as I watched Germany slide under our wings at groundspeeds no greater then 100 kts.
After three hours we were around the Meschede area and my daughter was a bit fed up with flying. The A/P was U/S and she turned into a true ‘Child of the Magenta line’ as she kept the little white plane on the magenta line of the G1000. Finally I figured out how to tilt the seats backward and she fell a sleep, only to wake up in front of the hangar at Teuge. My intial clearance limit was MEVEL in Germany, but I was given a direct to RKN and then to our destination by Dutch Mil, so almost the entire flight was conducted under IFR.
My daughter never saw the Alps in real life and she enjoyed it very much. This was just a very pleasant trip to an amazing destination that you can relive in your mind for a long time and just feel glad you did it.
Bobo wrote:
My daughter never saw the Alps in real life and she enjoyed it very much. This was just a very pleasant trip to an amazing destination that you can relive in your mind for a long time and just feel glad you did it.
Well done, I’m sure she will reminiscence for many years to come!
Lovely trip and a great memeory for your daughter – I can feel your pain with the Cessna, the diesel is a great engine but the 172 is such a draggy airframe any sort of wind at all is like driving with the handbrake on.
BTW – how much was JET A in Salzburg?
Not sure what the JET A costed, as luck would have it, I had the club AirBP card with me, so I offered that. I did not hear back from the treasurer yet…
lovely. I am very much looking forward to finally being able to take my daughter flying.
Great trip and good use of that Diesel Cessna. Imagine the same trip by car ;) and it puts the slow speed of the 172 in perspective.
The Sound of Music, a movie/musical that she has seen many,
Those who have not seen this movie, should immediately plan to do it. What a source of joy !
Very inspiring trip.
I didn’t know g1000 aircraft could be retrofitted with Diesel. Unless it is one of the new diesel Skyhawk freshly built by textron ? Would you provide a picture of engine instruments ?
Thanks! I have no good pictures of the panel with the engine Instruments. They retrofitted the diesel, the G1000 loses some of it’s engine functions and these are displayed by the two new instruments in the panel. Engine load, oil temp, pressure, fuelflow, coolant and fuel temp. The club rents it out for just under € 180,00 when you pay a fixed fee of € 300,00 per year. It has it’s shortcomings where speed and W&B limitations are the most noteworthy, but all in all a good deal. I’ve made a few video’s of me flying it, such as this one.
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Nice flying experience for your daughter! Well done. LOWS is always worth a visit. I do recommend the Hangar 7 for dinner. Located at the airport directly.
Ah, yes. I regret not having the time to visit Hangar 7. We’ll be back for sure.
