I’ve been VFR to Helsinki (from central UK) quite a few times, but like a lot of people I’ve been nowhere (except Scotland) for the best part of 3 years. Time to get back in the saddle! But how easy would it be?
The route:
A lot of water on this route! This is the direct way, but on other occasions I’ve routed via Oslo, Warsaw and even the Arctic. It’s 100 miles across the N Sea and I wouldn’t do that with passengers. This is the earliest that I’ve made the trip, and was rewarded with Cavok days although in Finland the snow had only just cleared. As ever, the worst weather was the bit in the UK.
Wonderful, wonderful Texel is the first stop. It’s a family run affair and they now own the adjacent hotel, which makes for a valuable bolt-hole in the event of an overnight stop. There’s also a brand new museum next to the restaurant which tells the story of the agonizing days after war’s end when the Russian prisoners turned on the German occupiers.
There are strangenesses about Dutch regulations and one is that they don’t like VFR FPL’s filed via the AFTN (I use Afpex). They advocate Homebriefing, which I signed up for despite it stating “Only for EU citizens”. Texel are very adamant about Gendec etc. and I filed both through the marvellous OnlineGar and the Dutch site Gendec.eu, with a seperate email copy direct to Texel.
Homebriefing FPL’s appear to be manually interpreted and so you don’t have to be concerned with addressing. They do want waypoints every 30 mins, which is tedious, and border crossing points. However the waypoints can be expressed in plain language, ie “Cuxhaven”, apparently. I did get great help with all this from the Amsterdam ARO however. Note: Another Dutch strangeness relates to requirements for aircraft equipment. It’s because of this that my aircraft has an installed ELT.
The route from Texel follows the beautiful Frisian Islands with their many airports, one of which, Wangerooge, even has a narrow gauge railway! However, before reaching them you have to negotiate the restricted airspace North of Texel. You used to be able to phone before takeoff but now you just have to depart and take pot luck on the radio, so be prepared! There’s a lot more military activity at the moment than used to be the case (not surprisingly) and if R4 is active, you have to go another way. On this gin clear day I was able to cross the adjacent R4B at 4000’, but on other occasions I’ve had to route along the narrow causeway S of Texel at 1000’.
The Frisian Islands look more like they are in the South Pacific than the freezing North Sea!
One improvement is that Dutch Mil, who used to be very indifferent, are on the ball these days with FIS (It’s just wonderful to be able to ask for ‘Flight Information Service’ rather than our UK ‘Basic’ bxxxx!) so you have good coverage all the way to the German border. On this day I followed the coastline to Cuxhaven before turning NE but it’s possible to cut the corner by routing to Helgoland, reputedly the cheapest fuel in Europe, but also one of the shortest runways!
I can’t speak highly enough of the superb Langen Information, who helped me negotiate a route through the numerous danger areas North of Kiel, cutting off the corner that I normally take out to the East. After Cuxhaven it’s direct to the magnificent Roskilde, the only airport on the entire route that’s not actually PPR.
The snag with Roskilde (and almost anywhere in Denmark) is the outrageous taxi fares – 30 Euro to the town!!! – totally ignoring the hotel’s ‘fixed rate’ agreement. Beware! But the airport is very affordable, disregarding fuel prices of course.
In Part 2: Onwards to Finland! If you have been, thanks for reading so far.
Looks like an amazing trip. Looking forward to the next instalment!
Part 2 – Helsinki Ho!
The route from Roskilde to (Not quite) Stockholm is a straight line across the great expanse of central Sweden. First however we have to leave Denmark, crossing the border up by Elsinor, which incidentally makes an interesting side trip by train if you are ever weathered in at Roskilde. Staying below 1500’, we can make the trip with Roskilde tower wending our way between various glider sites. This is another gin clear day, but no other traffic is seen – in the entire round trip I only saw one other aircraft!
And so to Sweden. I know we have Swedish contributors here and I hope that they won’t mind if I say that, to me, Sweden is a ‘Little Midwest’. It’s a land of seemingly interminable forests and lakes, somewhat reminiscent of the northern States, but that’s not the strongest resemblance – It’s the ATC!
Central Sweden. Could be Minnesota!
A single squawk for the whole trip and seamless handovers from zone to zone, flying in Sweden is completely laid back and welcoming. There are several diversionary options along this 250 mi leg, but my destination is one that I’ve not visited before – the grass airfield at Ska Edeby (ESSE), just outside Stockholm.
In days of yore, I would route directly to the downtown airport of Bromma, right in the city and convenient for meeting my contacts in central Stockholm. But Bromma has priced out GA, with ridiculous PPR requirements and outrageous handling fees. This is a pattern to be found across Scandinavia and my favourite Stockholm alternative for many years, the beautiful city of Vasteras (ESOW) seems to be treading the same path. Before Covid, I could land out of hours, taxi to the flying club, park on their grass and refuel at the automated pumps, all without landing or parking fees. Now it seems operations are only allowed in restrictive tower hours and I wasn’t able to contact the club (The Hasslo Flying club) at all.
Fortunately I was able to get in touch with the immensely helpful former manager at Ska Edeby and was assured that my landing, overnight stay and refuelling would be welcome. (I should also say that I’ve been welcomed at Sundbro (ESKC), but this was a little N of my ideal track for this flight). Sundbro is perfect for Uppsala and it’s amazing steam railway, while a morning spent exploring Linnaeus’s garden is the stuff of life – long memories.
Beautiful Ska Edeby has an excellent grass runway.
Although Ska Edeby is just outside the city, actually getting there involves a lift to the bus stop, a frequent bus to the Metro station at Brommaplan and a Metro into town. Unlike Denmark, there are Ubers in Sweden, but thanks to the good offices of my kindly host, I didn’t need to explore that. (Taxis in Sweden are real Wild West territory with numerous tourist gouging scams in play – thank heavens for Uber!).
(Uber, to me, is the second most important innovation in air touring after Foreflight – in the US. It has virtually eliminated the unreliable and often no show local taxis, and also reduced the reliance on often unsafe and probably uninsured ‘Courtesy Cars’. In Europe Uber is much less certain, but operates strongly in Finland)
Stockholm makes for a wonderful journey break, and amongst wonders none is more astounding than the ‘Vasa’ – a 17th Century warship salvaged form the harbour in one piece and floated to her permanent berth in the harbour in the 1960’s. No visit to Stockholm is complete without a pilgramage to the Vasa!
From Stockholm, there is a choice of routes to Finland – directly across the sea, or North to the Arctic, making a complete circumnavigation of the Northern Baltic, or Gulf of Bothnia. The Northern route via the Swedish city of Kiruna (famous for it’s iron ore mine and of course the ‘Ice Hotel’) is really only VFR territory in high summer. When I first went there in the days before Skydemon, I scraped together a motley collection of paper maps, but could find none for the land beyond the Arctic Circle and the border with Finland. Fortunately the briefing office in Kiruna did have a map and I was able to study this before departing for the Finnish city of Rovaniemi.
On this flight, my departure was directly to the East, skirting Stockholm at low level and heading out toward the Island of Marihamn, where numerous danger areas seem to be active nowadays. It’s a long way across the sea to Finland, but there are numerous Islands along the route and it’s interesting mind game to play along the route to speculate which would be the more surviveable – a crash landing on a rocky islet beach or a dunking in the icy cold Baltic just offshore. Fortunately so far I’ve not had to explore those alternatives!
Rocky Islets in the ‘Archipeligo Sea’
There’s an airport on Marihamn and the historic tea clipper ‘Pommern’ to explore in the harbour. But I’m warned that the fuel in Marihamn may be the most expensive in Europe! (I also later discover that by an accident of the post war treaty, Marihamn still has Russian occupiers in the town’s consulate!). So I give that a miss and continue to my brand new Helsinki destination of Nummela, about 30Km west of the city. Here lies the tale of an airport travesty even worse than poor Bromma in Sweden, for Helsinki’s wonderful, lovely, marvellous downtown airport at Malmi finally closed at the end of last year. The approach to Malmi involved flying across the harbour, just on the edge of the city, at 700’ and will remain emblazoned in my memory for ever. But no more.
The newly reconstructed runways at Nummela (EFNU), Finland.
Fortunately the runway at Nummela has been rebuilt under new ownership and has a strong future. Fuel is available by credit card. (A note when touring Scandinavia is always to carry enough Euros for a tank of fuel). There’s even an hotel right on the airfield, although that’s not open at weekends just now. The city has an hourly bus connection with Helsinki City Centre (just over 40 mins) and the airport manager could not have been kinder in ferrying me around. On my return leg, I found out the busses don’t like to run on Sunday mornings, and took an Uber from my hotel to the airport in 30 mins for 55 Euro, which while swingeing, is not much more than I once paid for a taxi from Malmi.
Back in Finland at last!
Another option for Helsinki is Hyvinkka, about 30 Km N on the main train line, with a flying club and walkable to the railway station. But the main airport at Vantaa is discouraging to light GA with dark talk of “two slots per day” despite now, at last, having a direct train connection to the city. It might be useable, but I didn’t need to find out.
So here I am in Helsinki. It’s great to be back, even if it is only for a weekend! People here are justifiably nervous of their neighbour just 100 miles to the East and are greatly heartened that the UK had just sent a squadron of Challenger tanks to exercise with the Finnish army. “They are near here”, the chairman of a major company said proudly. I hope that Russia’s experience in the Winter War of 1939-40, bolstered however slightly by support from faraway UK, will keep this fabulous country safe from the Ugly threat next door.
Live long and prosper, Finland!
I just want you to know that I’m interested in your write up – looking forward for the next part
Aveling wrote:
Central Sweden. Could be Minnesota!
It’s not by chance that Minnesota was the destination of many Swedish emigrants to the USA in the 19th century!
Great report, Aveling 
There is so much to see in the “less obvious” parts of Europe.
Nice writeup! Nummela (EFNU) is definitely a place to go or Hyvinkää (EFHV). Nummela does have JETA1 also, by special request, it is not listed as available. But it is. There is also hangarage in Nummela available for shorter visits.
Helsinki-Vantaa (EFHK) does accept GA flights, not sure where you got the two slots per day. They can restrict VFR traffic but I believe that was two VFR slots per hour and that is even negotiable. They MIGHT restrict, this is my understanding. Arriving on local time 14-16 daily is so called rush hour, I don’t think you get to land in VFR during this time. Anyhow, EFHK is expensive, handling and landing can be around 500 eur nowadays.
I’d skip EFHK unless you need to land in IFR or needs special services or just quick access to city for a short visit.
Hello Pehu and thanks for the compliment! The Vantaa thing must have been in a Notam that I can’t find now, and I likely misread it anyway.
Part the last – Home again!
All good things have to end and in no time at all (I’m only here for the weekend) I have to start South from familiar Helsinki toward the far-away shores of dear old Blighty. (Once I’ve arrived at one of these more distant destinations, I do experience a sensation of “Oh dear, now It’s up to me to get back again” that I first experienced during that long ago first solo. I suppose it’s that frisson of excitement that gets us hooked on flying).
“It’s a long way to Wellesbourne”
From Finland, there several choices of route and over the years I’ve used them all. Until Covid, I made a circular trip down through the Baltics, Poland, Germany and Holland. I have contacts in many of these places and a day spent with each makes a long trip like this really worthwhile.
From Helsinki, it’s a short hop to Tallinn, which comes in expensive on landing and handling, but affordable in the town which is very historic and has an excellent maritime museum, housed in a former seaplane base. This the one place that I know where you can tour a pre-war British submarine, and also the famous icebreaker ‘Sur Toll’ with it’s triple expansion steam engines.
South from Tallinn there’s the Russian built airfield at Parnu, with a tiny GA strip marked out in the middle of a vast Soviet era runway. A very welcoming ATC and fuel (in 2018) make for a pleasant stop on the way South, especially if you’re not sure of fuel at the next destination, Riga. The crescent beaches of the Latvia stretch seemingly in an endless arc away into the distance, intersperced only occasionally with little villages and absolutely no (0) tourists or sunbathers (well it is the Baltic!)
This could be the gulf of Mexico, but it isn’t, it’s Latvia and the Baltic!
Actually, Riga has an interesting GA destination at a former Soviet airbase at Spilve, just outside the city, where you can land on a marked strip amongst the dereliction of the former runway.
They have fuel (in 2018) but only accept Euro cash! The very friendly refuelling guy’s heavy Russian accent reminds you of the large ethnic Russian populations in these countries. While talking over dinner with one’s contacts invariably bring forward the most horrendous accounts of life during and after the Second World War. One friend, for instance, recounts how her parents were put onto a train to the Gulags in Siberia, only by the greatest good fortune to have been taken off again in Moscow by the actions of a relative and returned home. Without that miracle she says she “would not be here now”.
The monumental frontage of the Spilve airport, formerly the Soviet airport of Riga, now derelict.
We have to marvel at the emergence of the Baltic nations in the 30 years since the Soviets left as thoroughly modern, vibrant countries welcoming to strangers and buzzing with their new found freedom. They are fantastic places to travel, and it’s a privelege to be there. English is widely, but not universally spoken and travel there is a delight.
The Soviet style tower bloacks of Riga belie a friendly, welcoming city.
South again into the lovely country of Lithuania. Thus far, I’ve not landed at the Vilnius airport or any of the small strips around it due to difficulties in arranging fuel, instead going to the beautiful city of Kaunas and taking the train (1Hr) to Vinius. At Kaunas there’s the big airport, perfectly affordable with Avgas (2016) but also with security and a secret door that you have to know about unless you want your bags X-rayed. It was at this airport where I received perhaps the greatest compliment of my flying career when the pilots of a Brtitish airliner came over to investigate this little G-reg at the pumps and the Captain said to the First Officer “Look: this chap got here all by himself!”.
Even more welcoming is the little airfield at S Darius & S Girenas (EYKS), 5 min from town by taxi and with fuel by arrangement (2018). It’s a bit difficult contacting them, but worth persisting. And while staying in Kaunas, you’ll observe while dining in one of the many street cafes that it’s not only the country that’s beautiful. Vilnius itself is a lovely city, and a superb recently open museum explains how Lithuania was once one of the largest countries in Europe!
__Superb airfield at S Darius & S Girenas, Kaunas, Lithuania. Fuel station in background.
Now comes the interesting bit: the 36 mile gap between Belarus in the East and the Russian enclave of Kalinigrad on the Baltic coast. Between the two runs a corridor (not shown on aviation maps) across which the Russians are allowed to reach their isolated territory. In days gone by, I’ve thought about trying to route through or even land at this mysterious place, but in the light of the present catastrophe those thoughts are no more. The tragedy of Ukraine touches us all, this is why on my present trip I just swung around and followed the same route back across Scaninavia, rather than heading South to Warsaw.
‘Shooting the gap’ in Lithuania. The hills on the horizon are in Kaliningrad, Russia.
Back to happier times. My destination for Warsaw is Modlin, about 20 mi NE of Warsaw with a good train service and very nice affordable hotel just outside the airport. Polish airspace looks intimidating and was difficult to decipher from the Polish maps in the days before SkyDemon, but I’ve had no problems routing VFR. There are places where radio contact is difficult and sometimes the English spoken less than perfect, but I’ve found the FIS services extremely helpful. I’ve been put off trying to land at Warsaw Chopin itself by handling, etc., and nearby Bibice by talk of ‘Polish Only’ on the radio. Modlin is 120 mi from the Ukrainian border incidentally.
Warsaw’s excellent airport at Modlin.
West from Warsaw toward Berlin is the city of Poznan, which can make a useful stopover, especially if you are interested in steam trains! Refuelling (2014) is less than convenient, involving taxying across the airfield to what appears to be a derelict farmyard, and then back again. Perhaps that’s all changed now. The information desk in the airport was unbelievably helpful, and said if I caught a certain bus now, I could catch the last steam train of the day. That bus served as my introduction to Poland. On the way into town, the driver inadvertantly cut up a very pushy cyclist, who then came to the door and started haraunging the driver. He then got off the bus and proceeded to have a fight with the cyclist in the street! Despite the delay, I got to the train station and there standing at the platform was the last scheduled steam hauled passenger train in Europe!
As I admired the simmering locomotive, a voice said “You look like an English pilot. Would you like to ride on the locomotive?”. My friend in the information booth had obviously phoned ahead. And so I climbed aboard for a 30 mile no holds barred 60 mph trip, stopping at every little station as housewives shopping and shoolchildren coming home came and went. The things that you do while flying!
The last scheduled steam service in Europe thunders into Woltzyn, Poland.
From Pozan, the route across Germany has convenient stops at the very friendly Schoenhagen (EDAZ), which offers on site accomodation and a ‘shuttle’ (20 Euros in 2018) to the nearest town where there are hotels and a fast train to Berlin. This proved very useful on an occasion where I was weathered in for several days in the City – I think I have visited every museum in Berlin, but the Pergamon and the Gates of Babylon leave a lasting impression.
Aveling wrote:
perhaps the greatest compliment of my flying career when the pilots of a Brtitish airliner came over to investigate this little G-reg at the pumps and the Captain said to the First Officer “Look: this chap got here all by himself!”.
“You look like an English pilot. Would you like to ride on the locomotive?”
You should publish one of those ‘why is my life not more like yours’ self-help books
A ride on the footplate of the last steam train is seriously cool. Thanks for writing this up, and keep it coming.
