Bavaria to Megara (Athens) via Portoroz, Dubrovnik, Corfu

I had some time and I reviewed the whole flight. I write down all things I messed up or things i didn’t handle well … I wonder if i will ever make an IFR flight without any of these little mistakes …

- I should have tested the O2D2 on the ground, before entering IMC at 8000 feet climbing into the Alps. It was no fun to discover it doesn’t work at 10.000 feet. If it had not worked at FL130 i would have cancelled and proceeded VFR, which would have been possible – on that day
- Asked for a deviation to fly around a TCU, and forgot to turn back on course for two minutes afterwards
- Approaching Portoroz i was surprised (which is never good) to get the STAR instead of “self positioning” and a clearance for the VOR 12 approach. I was also not prepared to get rwy 30 and when Approach told me to fly the ILB2S arrival route for runway 30 (which has no IAP) it was not clear to me how to fly it. When i could not figure it out quick enough i cancelled, dialed in the final approach course and flew an intercept heading to the south (good move, i think). One minute later i got a new instruction: rwy 12 now. The approach was still loaded, so i flew directly to the FAF. A minute late they asked if i wanted 30 instead because the wind was turning all the time. I stayed with 12 and landed fine (and would have gone around had the wind increased).
- Approaching Dubrovnik i activated the (first) descent in the STAR too late and was a bit high when approaching the final. The autopilot intercepted the virtual GS fine, but i was a bit too fast aswell and had to pull the power to idle to get to the 119 KIAS flap speed (one big improvement with the G5 model SR22 is the 150 KIAS flap speed)
- On the approach to Corfu i had the expected arrival route and VOR Z approach already loaded when i got a “expect vectors to VOR Y”. I should have just proceeded on course but i turned a bit to the right, direct to the VOR Y IAF – which was clearly a mistake, i should have just waited for the first vector. I got a new vector by ATC then – and a very late descent clearance, i was at 9000 feet abeam the airport. On the next two vectors towards the VOR radial and after getting a descent clearance i dialed in -1000 ft to reach the FAF at the right altitude. The approach was partly in clouds but it was obvious that the controller worked in a sloppy way, i don’t do 1500 ft descents in clouds. I flew thd approach using the GPS overlay and used radio navigation to check.
- On the final approach to Megara u flew into moderate to severe turbulence turning downwind and i was a bit fast for that, although still in the green. Good: i turned away from the downwind and the coast towards the open sea to have more time, extended the downwind a bit and had good control of the airplane on final and below 200 feet there was much less wind.

For what it’s worth …

Flight – Tips

1. Crossing Alps, IFR, VFR:
The direct route from the Munich area to LJPZ has a minimum IFR level of FL150. If you want to plan for a lower level – a little bit further east you can fly IFR in 120. VFR at low altitude follow the Danube to Vienna, go South via Graz, or if the weather is very bad: go through Hungary. There’s almost always a way.

2. Portoroz, LJPZ:
The airport provides a shuttle to Portoroz and Piran, which has a similar price as a taxi € 25. They also picked us up at the Hotel early in the morning, which was very practical. We stayed at one of the big hotels in Portoroz (which come in all flavours and categories) – and made a great +1 hour walk along the beach to Piran. Back we took the taxi. AVGAS is very cheap in LJPZ, € 1.78 per liter, so always refuel there!

3. Dubrovnik, LDDU:
A great and modern airport with pretty low cost (€ 53 for landing plus one night) and the handling is included. Just don’t forget ropes because sometimes they don’t have any, and the winds can be very strong. The Cirrus needs special liw chocks, so i bring those too. SKY APPARTMENTS (Mocice 24, Cavtat) is 500 m from the terminal and offers free shuttle to and from the airport. There’s a huge supermarket with a bakery in the basement – perfect! For downtown Dubrovnik use a taxi or the shuttle (€ 35) or, nicer: take the shuttle to the Cavtat promenade and take one of the regular ships to Dubrovnik. The free shuttle of Sky Appartments took us to the airport at 6 a.m., very nice. The appartment was € 90 for the two of us. Also great: The LDDU security let us bring 4 bottles of water to the plane (not normal everywhere). They say: “As a pilot you need something to drink”.

4. LGKR, Corfu:
I always use Goldair Handling. You need the AOPA Crew Card – about € 100 discount on the handling, total was € 24.50 plus € 1.63 landing fee. Of course the handling company can never change a € 50 bill, so use your credit card, have change for the landing fees. Inside the terminal, above the check-in there’s a pretty good self service restaurant we always use (very good chicken with Pasta € 5.40). Go to the very end of the terminal, there’s a special security gate to get back in. The security guy will call the handling guy, who will pick you up. Do not start the engine without a clearance, they hate that (i did it in 2015 to get the aircon running ;-)). And if they don’t offer it anyway – ask for a visual departure direct to the first waypoint, it’s quicker and more simple.

Direct Cost of the flight (SR22 NA):

Fuel: € 637,00
Landing Fees, Parking, Handling: € 318 (including 2 weeks of hangar in Megara)
Oil: € 10 (1 quart)

Total: € 965

There and back, including € 22 landing fee at home:
€ 1952
(will be a little more because fuel is € 2.70 in Megara but only € 1.78 in Portoroz). OTOH i will fly home directly from Corfu.

Let’s say all together is € 2000
Appr. 11 hours of flying
Direct Cost per hour for this flight: € 182

On August 29 I’ll fly over to Athens (Megara) to pick up the airplane, and now I am thinking about alternative routes for the way home …. I have flown the usual route a couple of tims now, and although i enjoy it, maybe i should explore some new places …

I thought about …

- Malta, refuel and then straight home (EDML, near Munich)
- Catania and flie home through Italy
- Go to Thessaloniki for passport check, refuel in Belgrade

Any other ideas? (bosco…? ;-))

@Emir
Malta-Munich could work, but have to consult with autorouter! But maybe I’ll fly to Malta or Catania – and then to Split … I’ll be at home long enough this winter!

(I’ve been to Catania (Taormina, Syracusa) by airline two years ago, and i loved it!)

i thinkmone can get Avgas from the Aeroclub@ Catania, but maybe not worth the effort for one day. I can also refuel in FANO

Ah, cool, thanks a lot! I will consider Ochrid, never been there. That, or Malta …