Hi all, this is my first post here, although looking around I recognise a lot of names from elsewhere.
I am part of a team planning a trip from the UK to Romania and back in September as my club’s big annual trip. The idea is to do a circular trip and I’ve been asked to research airfields in Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and Austria.
We’ll be flying PA28 Warriors fuelling on 100LL, admittedly nearer the top end of the weight limit, which limits us to runways over 800m for safety. On the whole, the idea is to fly via smaller airfields, friendly to GA, in a series of short hops of a couple of hours or so. We’d still like to hold on to the idea of flying into bigger ILS capable airports if the weather turns against us.
Do people know of one or two places in any of these countries? What are the landing fees and handling like? Does anyone there speak English? Are there hotels nearby? We will be a bunch of monolingual English speakers (for the most part) so I’m just trying to plot a leisurely route through these countries taking in some sights. Any information you have to hand is really welcome.
I’ll start with the farthest country, Romania: entry point from Hungary can be Satu Mare LRSM or Baia Mare LRBM, both have Avgas; if you want to reach the most eastern side of EU you’ll be welcome in our home base Radauti NE of country, not in AIP but exceptional 1000 meters grass runway with lights, PAPI, tower (nearby LRIA with ILS available).
Romanian AIP is available here in AIS, ATC is full English everywhere, flying is easy with flightplan, a lot of G space but also often military restriction handled with civil ATC cooperation (you’ll speak with civil ATC only), NOTAMs available in AIS and graphically here.
Plenty of hotels, restaurants & what to see.
Thanks byte works, that’s a great starter.
I have been flying into Romania several times at a time that AVGAS was hard to get, but I understand that it is now a lot better.
Szeged (just in Hungary) has a great airport, AVGAS and is just a few km from Timisoara. There is a nice boutique hotel in Szeged I can recommend. I have been doing business in Romania for over 15 years now. I think the flying in general is very easy with indeed lots of G airspace and basically you can do what you want as long as you consult with ATC.
Here a picture of me at the airport of Arad.
There is also a nice airstrip near the Balaton lake in Hungary where you can rent a small chalet on the airfield. The airfield is active and with lots of skydivers active in the weekend, which are dropped from a large helicopter.
Then there is the very nice private airstrip of Hertelendy Kastely, which is a hotel West of the Balaton lake. It is one of my favorite places to go, but not cheap so I don’t visit often. They do organise airshows sporadically with lots of activities around it. The beginning of this photo-album will give you an impression.: https://www.flickr.com/photos/terwelle/sets/72157635313352887/
When visiting the countries you mention, I would visit in Hungary: Hertelendy Kastely and its private runway, Siófok-Kiliti Airport near Balaton: see: http://lhsk.hu/en/ and of course visit Budapest and Szeged before moving into Romania. The city of Timisoara in Romania (not far from Szeged) offers you a lot like Opera, shops, etc. What you could also do is land at e.g. Arad and then take the local train to Timisoara (not the fast train) for the local experience. Stay one night in Timisoara and then go back to Arad.
Just some ideas. There is loads to see and experience.
There is also a nice airstrip near the Balaton lake in Hungary
I reckon you mean Balatonkeresztúr LHBK? I was there once during the Easter holidays and found the place totally deserted – like most of lake Balaton. I understand all activities there are closely tied to the tourist season and am not sure that extends into September. Its own website says it is closed right now, waterlogged since November 2014. Not untypically for the country, there is not a word of English, indeed they might consider themselves exemplary at already having a webpage in quite good German. I have been astonished at each of my visits to Hungary how poorly foreign languages are spoken there. Even students working as waiters or shop assistants during high season had only the local language – which is rather intimidating. For another example, the makers of my plane had a large stand at the last Aero Friedrichshafen, but there was only one person who spoke English – a charming and well educated young lady who unfortunately couldn’t tell a flap from an aileron.
Mind you this is about the countryside, things will likely be better in the capital. I tend to avoid big cities, but ought perhaps to make an exception for Budapest.
This is great information. It’ll all be very helpful, so do please let it coming.
It us true that the airstrip near the Balaton lake is only of interest in the tourist / summer season. The rest of the year the place is indeed desolate. Same for Hertelendy, although there the fall season is of interest if you enjoy hunting. The capital is always great for its baths, architecture and culture. However, September is not in the middle of the winter yet.
In 2013 I passed with my family through Hungary on the way to Bukarest, Romania. We never made it to Bukarest due to two large thunderstorm cells and had to return to Szeged. The bit of importance was the initial refusal from Budapest to let us fly into the Schengen zone.
This http://www.stephan-schwab.com/2013/09/03/ALE2013-Szeged-Bucharest.html is where the Hungary, Romania related part of our story begins.
Just as @AeroPlus I do recommend the Szeged airfield. There was young guy with very good English and good aviation knowledge. He partially worked as FISO, helped with filing flight plans etc. They also help with weather information there.
One word of caution though: if proceeding towards Romania, you will indeed still need the immigration service, since you will be leaving the Schengen area. When I did this at Szeged (admittedly, that was 7 years ago) a policeman came over and charged us 56€ for three persons! OTOH, regular customs airports like Debrecen will charge just as much for landing fees.
