Well I was informed by the Mission Kommander that while the distance from our place in Munich might be shorter to EDMO than to EDMA the time differential favors EDMA.
So EDMO has a reprieve from my joining the chorus of millionaires of Germany to close the airport.
Ill just use it as an emergency backup in case I have a problem during my flight. They cant charge for landing fee if you declare an emergency.
Oberpfaffenhofen was the private airport of the defunct Dornier airspace company, established in 1936. It is now owned by Airbus. It has never been part of the public infrastructure.
I was in Augsburg yesterday and noticed that most of the landings were the result of instruction.
Just like in the US you want to say? 
Outside instruction one rarely flies traffic patterns. There are many reasons why small GA is less popular in Europe compared to the US and not all of them are bad.
Somebody should do a study what is the psychology behind anti airport fervor in individuals. Except for school training there is very little small GA activity here in Europe.
I don’t think there are any special anti airport, just lots of anti-anything. A combination of narrow mindedness and “pro me” that seems to be a popular state of mind these days.
C210,
you will never be able to use EDMO, i tried all of that. But to say that Augsburg is closer than EDMO is simply not true. Believe me, I was a Munich cab driver as a student ;-)
I was in Augsburg yesterday and noticed that most of the landings were the result of instruction.
Augsburg has a fairly short runway, too short even to use it with our commercially operated humble Citation. Therefore it can’t attract much else but private flights and flying schools.
Ok Speaking about millionaires was the airport there before all these rich well connected people bought property in that region?
The millionaires have been there long before the airfield. The kings of Bavaria used to have one of their holiday homes on the shores of the Starnberger See, only a few kilometers away from Oberpfaffenhofen. This is also where King Ludwig II drowned under mysterious circumstances in 1886.
There has to be another reason.
Private flying is very expensive in Germany and unaffordable for most. Living in Munich is very expensive as well and barely affordable for most. The number of people who can afford living in Munich and owning their own plane at the same time can be counted from the number of planes based on the three or four small airfields around Munich…
Augsburg is a nice airport, if I were based in that general area I’d probably choose it as my base. I’ve flown there 2 years ago, when I had to attend a conference in Oberschleissheim, actually on the premises of another airport which would be more than large enough and have the infrastructure for me, but which is limited to 500 movements by non based airplanes per year (which for them is from April to March) so getting a slot in March is factually impossible.
Munich is one example where a city and the larger area have very successfully detached themselfs from General Aviation. The local government does not want GA, the local people do not want GA anywhere near them, the local airports are all restricted to the point where they are useless. Neither Oberpfaffenhofen, nor Oberschleissheim nor Dachau are open to the public in a reasonable way, EDDM has de facto banned GA (despite not banning it was a precondition for closing both Neubiberg and Riem at the time) and the remaining “nearest” GA airfield has a very short runway (Jesenwang). The airport which had been planned as the GA replacement for Riem and Neubiberg, Fürstenfeldbruck, was closed by a so far unmatched dirt campaign by the local communities who preferred having a much noisier BMW test circuit there. Their hatred aginst aviation was enough to actually attempt and partially succeed arson attacks against the airport and the stationed planes.
Which realistically leaves Augsburg in the Northwest and Landshut in the Northeast as well as Eggenfelden even further away to the East.
Augsburg is also a nice city to visit in its own right and with the very positive experience I had (apart from the fact that the airport has no public transport other than taxis on weekends) I would not hesitate using it again. It is also a regular airport of entry (customs without PPR).
Other than that, I have decided to leave other people to spend their money in Munich. As a GA pilot and owner I am obviously not welcome there so I will definitly not go there for fun unless I have to professionally. There are enough very nice places to visit including quite a few in Germany who welcome GA and therefore are welcome to my travel money. Munich does not want us, so what are we doing there. The same goes for others which treat GA shabbily or ban it altogether.
I find it a bit ridiculous (no personal attack intended) to ignore a whole city (and one of Europe’s best for that matter) because “the city” doesn’t ike GA.
I’ve been living here most of my life and although it’s not easy for GA (and I critisized the situation in many articles) it’s crazy (;-)) to judge a city by its attitude twds GA.
There’s still possibilities for us to fly: Jesenwang, Landshut (30 minute drive from my place in downtown Munich), Augsburg, Ingolstadt-Manching. Not ideal – but possible. And GA here has other qualities. We can cross the International Airport and the City for sightseeing, VFR is not very restricted (other than lets say Spain where you need a flight plan to fly in the pattern) and in some respect even more free than Switzerland.
No, the situation for Munich pilots is not idea – but it’s still a wonderful city with many attractions, even for pilots. Like the world’s largest (and IMHO best) technical museum.
Dachau, by the way, was never an option. That was the company airfield of the Scheibe motorglider company. It’s a short grass strip that was never public.
I find it a bit ridiculous (no personal attack intended) to ignore a whole city (and one of Europe’s best for that matter) because “the city” doesn’t ike GA
Alexis,
well, personal decision. Not only based on this, but mainly. Munich would be great to reach from here and I used to attend a conference at that great museum regularly, but it is simply unacceptable for me that the political environment does not allow even that museum to use its airstrip properly. There are other factors which make me feel wary about Munich, such as the necessity to buy a sticker for my car in order to be allowed in in the first place as I found out last time we were there.
Basically, I do not have an unlimited budget for my travels so I choose to go where GA is welcome and I don’t have to land in the pampas and the transfer is longer than the flight time, just because a local government has defaulted heavily against the promises they made. So I will spend that budget elsewhere.
Dachau: I actually asked them the first time I came across this whole restriction and they reviewed it. The runway would have been big enough if I remember right and they do allow a number of visitors. But at the time they apologized and said the runway condition did not allow operation (mid March).
Yes, it is indeed easier to do sight seeing over Munich than Zürich, for the very fact that the airport is so far away. And I am painfully aware that Zürich may well become the next Munich if the powers that are have their way at ZRH airport. Believe me, I know this and am as involved as I can be as an individual to prevent this, yet I merely hope it won’t happen before I retire and move away from there. I never much liked Zürich politics either…. And not many people fly here for that reason as well, which is understandable. If I get asked whether to fly to LSZH rather than elsewhere my answer is always rather negative, expensive, complicated and like elsewhere, GA is not really wanted.Granted, Zürich city (as well as Munich) will survive if a few GA pilots won’t go there, but for me it is a question of principle.
There are other factors which make me feel wary about Munich, such as the necessity to buy a sticker for my car in order to be allowed in in the first place as I found out last time we were there.
A quick update: this is required in pretty much all urban (or what considers itself to be urban) areas of Germany. Soon you will also have to pay for the use of the autobahn.
Now that the Swiss Franc rose from 66 Euro cent to 1 Euro, you might actually be able to afford all of that… Even though I’m a GA pilot, GA accessibility is pretty low on my list of criteria to judge a city on… I’m sure 99.9% of the inhabitants and visitors of Munich don’t give a da** about GA airports. However, you are free to travel whereever you want and think whatever you like…
Urs,
the “sticker for your car” has nothing to do with Munich for that matter, it’s a nationwide regulation, see: http://www.environmental-badge.co.uk/en/environmental-badge.html. It can easily be ordered for € 29 and stays valid. I can understand if people don’t like that – on the other hand: you have to start somewhere, right? In Germany every car not older than (let’s say) 1990 that has a catalytic converter gets the green sticker automatically.
I think that your principles are a bit too strict, if the stupidity of some politicians here prevents you from visiting a great city. But for me a 30 minute drive to GA airport is okay, god knows how much more money I’d spend if it was closer ;-)
