Well I must say Schwäbisch Hall has a lot to say for it. Even mogas on tap, a grass runway, and the fees seem modest to me. A good tip, what_next, I might well blunder in there one day even when we have not arranged anything.
But I am a bit confused with nearby EDTX: seems it doesn't take a long distraction to land where one did NOT intend to, and that might have some nasty consequences. Has it never happened?
If anyone is willing to fly further east, LKVO is a great destination: extremely friendly ATC and ground guys, 100LL and Jet-A, customs/immigration, ILS/RNAV/NDB IAPs, free parking on grass, good food neadby, etc.
563 NM great circle from EGKA :-)
The distance is no objection, and I have a very good opinion of Czechia though I have only driven there, never flown. But will Vodochody LKVO accept microlights? And apparently there's no Mogas? A single fill-up with AvGas won't really hurt, though.
Jan, LKVO seems to accept microlights, or at least they used to, and there are some photos on the net to prove it. Not sure about mogas.
I am sure I could bring in €25's worth of best british mogas (less than 50% ethanol) in a jerry can
Come and see us down in SW France?
Pics here...scroll through to the last one to see the aerodrome - LFDI
Sorry, no customs. You'd have to stop on route - La Rochelle? - or head for Bergerac (LFBE) first. Zut, no IFR procedures, either, but we still get plenty of IFR traffic.
[St Emilion ten minutes from the airfield](
But I know it's going to take more than that to persuade you IFR skygods! LOL
Well I must say Schwäbisch Hall has a lot to say for it. Even mogas on tap, a grass runway, and the fees seem modest to me. A good tip, what_next, I might well blunder in there one day even when we have not arranged anything.
But I am a bit confused with nearby EDTX: seems it doesn't take a long distraction to land where one did NOT intend to, and that might have some nasty consequences. Has it never happened?
EDTY is my current home base. So was trying to avoid anyone's home base, but thinking about what everyone is asking for, it does tick ALL the boxes. ILS/GPS approaches for IFR types... Grass strip for Micros... A good restaurant, with outdoor seating for the warmer days. It has customs, reasonable landing fees.
With regard to EDTY/EDTX they are effectively the same airport.... You have to cross a road to go between them, but you won't confuse the two.... One is short and green and the other is long and concrete coloured; plus whichever you land at you'll be on the same freq, just a slightly different circuit.
If you are down this way, let me know, in case I am up at the airfield at the same time.
To keep this focused:-
So far we have had many suggestions, but the ones that fit 100% are Schwäbisch Hall, and Vodochody.
Can't work out if Koblenz has customs... Can only find the VFR plate. Anyone help out there?
At the moment some of the other suggestions don't fit all the requirements, keep the, coming because we can always revisit any suggestion.
A further couple I would like to add are Siegerland, but can't work out if micros are welcome... And Mannheim, I know that microlights are probably not welcome but there are airfields very close that would accept, Speyer for example, plus there is the technical museum... That might be another suggestion actually... Because if the weather is crap then then IFR boys could go to Mannheim and Taxi down to the Museum.
Koblenz EDRK is VFR only but shows Customs PNR.
Mannheim EDFM is IFR and Customs PNR.
I do like Prague and admittedly I am biased (was born there) but I can't think of a more attractive city in N Europe.
One would want good wx because any city is a crap place to be in when it's raining
OTOH some people would just prefer to stay at the airport, so maybe it would be good to define that requirement. However most of those who flew in more than a very short distance will have to stay overnight, because most GA airports close very early in the evening. So it seems logical, if we are doing such a broad-spread fly-in, to have the "meeting" in a city rather than at an airport.
Mannheim VFR only? There's a published IFR procedure...
Must admit I like the idea of Prague too. Only been there once, for a weekend, and been looking for an excuse to go back. It is indeed a wonderful place. Think I would have no issues selling that trip to the other half either... she'd firmly want to come along, as it will be a destination with something todo, rather than eat a €200 Euro burger :D
