Snoopy,
I wonder, this thread is about what STOPS people from giving up… even though having an airport at my disposal like Graz might well qualify!
Sorry but your complaints sound to me a bit like “jammern auf hohem Niveau” (complaining at a high niveau if that translates) Most people, me including, would kill to have conditions like in Graz!
I have a good friend who owns a plane in Graz (PARO) and loves it, particularly in comparison with other airports offering the same amneties.
Graz appears to be relatively GA friendly with realistic fees and airport of entry without PPR and all that, no handling, full IFR and all that, basically what many of us crave for but is rare as hell these days on a large airport. And for friends and family, I hear that there is a good public transport to the airport?
AND: It’s in a very moderate climate and the biggest barrier between home and the mediterranian is to the north… There are no mountains in the way to all the lovely places down in Croatia with the closest airport to the sea being all but 50 minutes flight time from Graz… and if you have to go north, the high alps are to the West, so you can very often divert to the east.
My friend flies to Portoroz quite often and also to other places out of Graz, whereas most of us North of the alps and VFR have only a 30 % chance of seeing the Med on a given day.
Snoopy wrote:4. Fly a DA40 (240€ per hour wet) or a Cirrus SR22 for 420€ per hour wet). Graz – Venice Lido and back in the Cirrus is roughly 1000€. For that money you can drive to Venice and pay for a Hotel for a few days… Cost!
Of course you can also drive wherever for this price, but that is really a weird comparison. Driving from Graz to Venice takes at least 5 hours, a 140 kt Arrow or so will do this in about 1:10. So maybe 2.5 hours flight time for back and forth, divided by 4 and you don’t need a hotel if you do it as a daytrip, which in a car is near impossible. Going to Portoroz or the countless gems down the Adriatic coast is even less.
Sure you could fly in a 40 year old two seater and pay between 120 and 180€ per hour wet but accounting for slower cruise speed the whole thing turns into an ordeal compared to a flight. And you could only share the cost halfway instead of 4.
Not sure what my friend charges for his Arrow but it is very well equipped (Aspen, S-TEC 55x, GTN750, e.t.c) but I think it is far less than a Cirrus!
Maybe you want to talk to him at some stage.
Snoopy wrote:
Approaching and touching down at my home field is roughly 50€! Hassle/Cost.
For the above Arrow the total cost is indicated at € 35.- .
Snoopy wrote:
compare to most US airports where you drive to your plane‘s hangar – depart whenever you want and come back whenever you want. For free.
Of course it’s not the US, but for what I see from many colleagues who have to drive 2 hours to get to a decent GA airport, Graz sounds very nice indeed. An airport like that and the environment around it
is increasinly rare at similar airports at least in Europe.
