Hello alltogether,
my wife and me are looking forward to fly in summer to Sweden. As we have been several times there, we are looking for some less known but cosy airfields. I think our first stop will be Malmö. I have been there a few weeks ago but after that we are looking for the small places. I know, that there are many, some of them not in the AIP. Our only restriction is, that we should avoid airfields much shorter then 600 m to stay on the save side and grassstrips should be in good condition. Because we fly a BE33 we have to take care of our rectable gear. It would be great to get some recommendations. Thanks.
Peter
I wouldn’t go to Malmö. A huge, mostly deserted airport with zero GA atmosphere. Far from Malmö city, which isn’t the most exciting.
The most popular “first stop” for visitors in the south of Sweden is Högänäs, which is active GA airfield with friendly people.
On your way up north, you just have to do Visingsö (unless you have previously been).
Further up, the “standard” place for people to go in the middle of Sweden has become Siljänsnäs, because, whilst in the nowhere, it does have some infrastructure.
There are tons of other small beautiful airstrips in Sweden, but mostly are just that, a strip with nothing and noone around. Up north, Gargnas looks like a very cute little airfield that I might like to visit some time in the future.
Conversely, if you are going to airports, make sure you do it during ATS times, otherwise you will probably not get fuel or any other assistance. But I guess you know that from prior experience.
For the rest, I’ll let the swedish friends make suggestions.
BTW, Beeches cope very well with pretty much any type of grass, IMHO.
Thumb up for Högänäs!
Well, unless he is a long range traveller, this only applies to Norway, and then again, there are very pragmatic procedures in place for that case, too.
there are very pragmatic procedures in place for that case, too.
Cam immigration be arranged anywhere in Sweden?
Hi Peter,
Glad to hear, I’m sure we Swedes on the forum can come up with lots of suggestions. Grass strip are genereally not found in the AIP, but SkyDemon has them.
The ones I’ve visited or heard good things about and can generally recommend are:
- Höganäs ESMH, every tuesday they have a small fly-in and serve herring sandwiches. A popular thing for the local flyers.
- Hässleholm ESFA, every wednesday a similar fly-in but serving waffles instead. Yummy!
- Visingsö,a small island in Vättern, very popular in summer
- Visby (ESSV) Gotland, a very popular city for Swedes. Avoid the week of June 28→July 5, then it’s a huge conference with all politicians and policy people who think they are very important ;)
- Anholt (Denmark), a small island in the middle of Öresund. Great beaches and a small harbour with a few restaurants. 45 minute walk from the airport to the harbour
Further north, Gargnäs is very nice as well as Siljansnäs. If you continue north there are some beautiful sights around Kebnekaise and Kiruna, but remember to be prepared for such a flight as it’s in the mountainous area.
Regarding Malmö/Sturup, it’s a bit of an exaggeration to call it deserted. It’s not a very large airport, but they still handled 2 million passengers last year. Regarding GA, unfortunately yes, the clubs are not very active. The ATO is quite active though (using the hangars at rwy 11/29). There are buses to Malmö and Lund, taxis are around 40-45€ I think.
BTW: Jeppesen aside, does Sweden have any (worthwhile) unofficial airfield guides? I mean, Skydemon must have got their airfield data from somewhere? Only from Jeppesen?
If have used only Jeppesen in the past and always found it to contain all the useful airfields. Or least that was the impression.
Grass strip are genereally not found in the AIP, but SkyDemon has them.
You will find most of them in AIP section AD 1.1 §12 (not a very obvious place given that the heading for AD 1.1 is “Conditions of availability”). Only basic information is given, but not less than in SkyDemon.
BTW: Jeppesen aside, does Sweden have any (worthwhile) unofficial airfield guides? I mean, Skydemon must have got their airfield data from somewhere? Only from Jeppesen?
Yes, there is the guide “Svenska Flygfält” (SvF) published (in Swedish only) by a subsidiary of the Royal Swedish Aeroclub. It is a loose-leaf guide with bimonthly revisions, similar to the Jeppesen VFR guide. It’s also available for the iPad.
Personally, I use the Jepp VFR manual as I think the quality is better. You also get more bang for the bucks since with Jeppesen you get all of Scandinavia and the Baltic states for not that much more than the Swedish airfield guide.
I made a count the other year, and then Jeppesen had 155 Swedish airports, while SvF had 166.
