Planning a trip Hannover EDDV to Bornholm EKRN (with family, and risk management)

A lot of good points made both pro and con the trip and eventually the decision will be all yours.

I would opt to plan for this trip and choose the coastal routing for ease of mind, more space (no raft), and the scenic bonus. You enjoy flying, so the detour won’t be a nuisance to you, will it…

But then be very disciplined with the WX conditions as the time of the trip approaches. Don’t do it if you feel uncomfortable for any reason, but by all means do it if the current WX and the general outlook for the day when you want to get back is good.

Regarding transitioning of types, I want to add that this is easily both under- and overestimated. I found that transitioning from my training aircraft C152 to C172, and then to PA28 types and the Katana were very easy. One hour with an instructor and then maybe 2-3 hours flying them alone were absolutely fine. However, I found the transition to the more complex C182 (with some more levers and gadgets.. retractable, turbo, variable pitch prop, cowl flaps..) took me longer than I expected. I did around 3 hours in total in two sessions with different instructors. It also requires more currency, IMHO.

I’m a fan of adding challenges in small increments to flying. If you don’t get to fly with your family before this, AND you haven’t done any such trips before, AND you’re flying a new type with little experience, that might be too much! Every single of those factors is fine and you’ll deal with it, but don’t add too much at a time. Try to mitigate at least one of them – my suggestion would be one or two easier trips with the family without a fixed schedule, no pressure – also to know how your kids react to flying, I think that is highly individual. Some will just fall asleep, others may cry all the time. I have no kids on my own, but I’ve taken some friends with (also very young( children and it was definitely less of an issue than some grown-up paxs.

Airborne_Again wrote:

the impotant thing is exposure

If I was based on an island far from the mainland (e.g. Gotland), so that every non-local trip wound involve an extended water crossing, I would see things very differently

Of course the important thing is exposure if you want to evaluate a risk over your whole flying career. That is why, for example, I minimize teaching night cross countries in non-BRS-SEP’s – doing it the whole winter as I used to increases the exposure and someday the statistics will catch up with you. OTOH we’re talking about independent events, like playing roulette: If red has won eight times in a row, chances that red wins on the next spin are still 49,6%.

So returning to MedEwok’s single flight it is more of a question of “how big is the risk” and “what risk is going to be acceptable for him”. And determining that one is the hard part: Let’s assume (arbitrary numbers) you are out of glide range for one hour and a ditching is 50% lethal for a small child in the backseat. So what inflight-shutdown-rate for a piston engine would you consider acceptable? 1 in 1000 hrs.? 5000 hrs.? 10.000 hrs?

I have been to Bornholm several times – from both south and north.
Passing south of Copenhagen it is not normal to cross the TMA, but to stay south and under at max 2500ft as I remember. Then later you have to negotiate Malmö which can be south, low or trough depending on traffic.
I would probably see how the weather was like on the day.
If bases are high go direct, width more glide range. If the weather is lower go the other way.
The first trip I did with passengers (my Father) was going to Bornholm. I learned a lot from that trip. I did meet an F16, and I managed to bust the Bornholm TMA :-)
Bornholm airport is absolutely uncomplicated.

Airborne_Again wrote:

In my personal experice, yes. Around that age my kids tended to fall asleep very quickly once we were airborne.

Presumably you needed a special child’s headset? I find it hard imagine that an adult’s one would stay on a 1 year old, even if they were asleep.

There are a few children’s ear protectors. I got one from perltor for about 20 euros. Kids don’t need to be on the interphone.

Maybe it is not of much help, but I think the real answer is that it depends heavily on the pilot.
I know of pilots, even with years of experience, who shouldn’t do that kind of trip with (probably) marginal weather to some extent, water crossing, carrying the family, and with a fixed date for returning, because of several factors (attitude to risk, risk management, skills, etc.)

But in principle, I see no problem. If you can rent a SR20, the transition could be done in just a few hours, and then you can build confidence making some more hours solo, as already mentioned by others. It’s slightly underpowered in some conditions, but flying with just two small children, with mid to low temperature, it will be ok even with some bags. The baggage compartment is not small, and the door opening size is 50×50 cm. The overwater crossing would be around 20 minutes only and the chute gives you some peace of mind. You will have autopilot, which is perfect for travelling as the only pilot aboard. In addition it’s an airplane very comfortable for passengers

dublinpilot wrote:

Presumably you needed a special child’s headset? I find it hard imagine that an adult’s one would stay on a 1 year old, even if they were asleep.

No, I used an ordinary headset. Of course it depends on how much you can adjust it.

I used kids ear protectors. They worked well.

Something not mentioned so far is rehearsal. This is a nice, uncomplicated route that can easily be accomplished out and back in a single day. And you have the option of a stopover at lovely Roskilde along the way.

When I was not far from your experience level, (sorry that sounds patronising!) I had a friend who wanted to go to Death Valley (from Vegas). She’d not previously been in a light plane and the trip was more adventurous than my normal Boulder Dam escapades. So I went on my own, the previous day. Just as well, because the 3 mi walk in 110 deg heat because I could not get the phone at the strip to work would have taken the edge off things. In the event it all went hunkydory and she’s now the wife .. of a friend. Hey ho.

If you fly it solo your performance in the face of family distractions later will be much better. As will the on the ground experience. And let’s face it, your family trip will probably get wiped by the weather, or your tight return schedule or something else, so at least you’ll be ready for next year!