Hello to all.
Hope here is some who can answer few questions i have for my upcoming adventure…Friend of my and i Planing of taking my C-310 and fly over Atlantic this summer and our final destination will be Bosnia ( Sarajevo). I heard from fellows pilots that flew trough Europe that Eurocontrol charge arm and leg for IFR flights and that VFR is almost impossible to fly due to countless regulations trough different countries.. so I ask for advice and clarification… any input will be greatly appreciated!
Thanks in advance and God Bless.
Ranko.
VFR is easy if the weather is good. Just file a flight plan. I am a VFR pilot and and crisscrossed Europe in 172s and 182s. What is more likely to get your attention is fuel costs.
It’s not only in Europe : You will be charged for IFR Flight Services as soon as you get into Canadian Airspace .
That said, fuel prices are at all time lows and VFR Flight is entirely practical throughout Western Europe.
What year Model 310 are you flying ? I have a 310Q for parts and maintain 2 more 310s – great plane !
Hi Ranko,
I suggest you fly your European legs IFR as much as possible, despite the ~50€ per hour that it will cost you more in terms of nav fees. IFR tends to be more straightforward and manageable for those coming over for the first time.
Still, I recommend you to get a thorough prior “briefing” by someone from here who has a lot of experience and practice in IFR touring through Europe. There are loads of subtle differences and things that you might consider as “weird”. The ideal thing would be to have someone like that on board, but I don’t know if that’s an option for you.
If you don’t get such “briefing” (including all the European “tools” needed), you can still do it (you’re a licensed pilot after all), but there will be lots of WTF moments, and possibly even some inconveniences.
For example, many (even bigger, straightforward, public) airports require a prior permission to land / park there. If you don’t get these permissions, they might deny you to land/park there (whilst you are already in the air!). In general, airports have a lot more restrictions over here, sometimes dozens of pages to study.
Sarajevo is one of those airports which require prior permission. It’s easy to do though, they have a form for that. You just have to do it. Nice airport, but poor parking arrangements.
Another point is IFR flightplans. This is more of an IT exercise over here. If you don’t overcome that, you might end up with no flightplan in the system and you won’t be able to depart then. The use of certain tools is advised for that purpose.
BTW, Austria has put some pesky paperwork complications in place for landing >2 ton aircraft at their major airports.
I might add: Bring an iPad and register yourself at www.aurorouter.eu for setting up flightplans!
Ranko-C310 wrote:
…Eurocontrol charge arm and leg for IFR flights…
Compared to the other costs involved in operating something like a C310 in Europe (especially taxed AVGAS and maintenance, expect to pay 100 Euros per hour for a mechanic…) the route charges are peanuts. Fly IFR, it is usually the shortest way and you can fly at the optimum altitude for your aircraft. The savings in fuel and hourly costs compared to low-level VFR flight will more than compensate the Eurocontrol charges.
Flyer59 wrote:
I might add: Bring an iPad and register yourself at www.aurorouter.eu for setting up flightplans!
No don’t. Use router.euroga.org 
Doesn’t that lead to exactly the same website? What’s the difference?
Hi Ranko,
welcome to Sarajevo.
If you need any info about parking and fuel (witch is not officially available) outside of LQSA, and generally in Bosnia… let me know.
There are hangars available in LQTZ and LQMO.
Flyer59 wrote:
Doesn’t that lead to exactly the same website? What’s the difference?
The difference is how you log in. With router.euroga.org, you log in using your EuroGA forum id. With www.autorouter.eu you use a separate id.
