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Tips for a trip from Belgium to Coburg EDQC

Hi all

Freshly minted PPL here, lurking in the forums for a while now, nice to meet you all. I’m based at Grimbergen EBGB, interested in touring (currently VFR only obviously) and have (very limited) experience flying outside the country, to France and Holland, all 100% OCAS. I’d like to undertake a flight to Coburg EDQC in the upcoming months because besides other reasons it seems a good yet achievable challenge for my comfort zone. Having never flown to Germany I’d like some advice on whether it makes sense to try and plan a relatively straight path crossing the border near Maastricht, and request clearance to cross the (edges of the) TMAs of Bonn and Frankfurt etc? Would I need to ask ahead of the day of the flight? Who would I ask in that case? Or should I simply amend the flight path a bit to stay completely OCAS? And flying back to Belgium, if I were to cross the border uncontrolled (class E) at an altitude that would put me in Belgian CAS, would I be able to ask Langen FIR to coordinate that for me or would I contact the relevant Belgian controller?

Many thanks

T

EBGB EBKT, Belgium

You are unlucky. EDQC will be closed in June and won’t be reopened until sometime in October. Complete runway re-do.

Link

Luckily, Coburg has another aerodrome, EDQY, but it‘s grass, and nowhere near as unique as EDQC.

On your Qs anyway:

request clearance to cross the (edges of the) TMAs of Bonn and Frankfurt etc?

It’s Cologne-Bonn airspace, and not called TMA in Germany. It’s just „their class C airspace“.
Clearances are sometimes possible, but sometimes not, depending on several factors.

Would I need to ask ahead of the day of the flight?

Absolutely not. Phoning up ATC before a flight is not usually a thing in Germany.

Who would I ask in that case?

You can either place your request via Langen FIS or call directly on the correct ATC („Radar“) frequency, if you know it.

Or should I simply amend the flight path a bit to stay completely OCAS?

In most instances, yes. However, for training purposes, you can of course to get a clearance to cross. Usually easier in Cologne-Bonn than in Frankfurt.

And flying back to Belgium, if I were to cross the border uncontrolled (class E) at an altitude that would put me in Belgian CAS, would I be able to ask Langen FIR to coordinate that for me or would I contact the relevant Belgian controller?

I would advise Langen info to hand you over to Brussels info a bit before reaching the boundary. You then call Brussels Info and they will get you the clearance, sometime without even handing you over to Brussels Control at all.

Last Edited by boscomantico at 19 May 11:08
Mainz (EDFZ) & Egelsbach (EDFE), Germany

Many thanks! I saw the website, guess I need to work on my German a bit to avoid these situations ;-)

Responses much appreciated. The trip to Coburg also has a utility aspect so I’ll have a look at EDQY.

EBGB EBKT, Belgium
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