172driver wrote:
Also, it’s always better to fly in the mornings
Good to hear, that was actually my plan.
Alexis wrote:
What I always did when flying VFR from southern Germany to Croatia in my Piper Warrior was to climb to the highes practical altitude of 12.000 ft when flying towards the Alps. […]What I never did – but I know is possible – is to fly low and through the valleys. […]
I lack oxygen in the cockpit so I want to avoid altitudes above 10.000 feet. Also, I want at least 2.000 feet clearance to the terrain and at least 2.000 feet to the clouds above me. Therefore, I would like to skip valleys, where I may get trapped, and high terrain that may squeeze me over 10.000 feet or right in the soup (clouds). I am comfortable with terrain of around 5.000 – 6.000 feet and I will try to keep it around there, providing of course the weather is cooperating. Otherwise I might have to enjoy Germany or Austria a little longer than planned. The troubles of booking a hotel =)
ermajn wrote:
Let me know if you need anything on possible stop or route through Bosnia. :)
Thanks, I will keep that in mind. I browsed quickly through the major Bosnian airports but I didn’t find any with 100LL. It would be nice if you know any that have 100LL to add them as alternatives on a possible way back through Bosnia.
No 100LL at Bosnian main airports, maybe you could obtain some via local clubs at small airfields but these are not suitable as alternate airports. Besides that if you want to overfly Bosnia and have radar service be ready to fly FL110 or FL120.
Brač LDSB doesn’t require PPR but it’s useful to send them mail to check parking availability. I was there last weekend and there were 15 aircrafts parked, between them two Falcons and two big helicopters.
Both LDSB and LJPZ are international airports so you don’t have to specifically ask for customs & immigration – they are there always.
Emir wrote:
No 100LL at Bosnian main airports, maybe you could obtain some via local clubs at small airfields but these are not suitable as alternate airports. Besides that if you want to overfly Bosnia and have radar service be ready to fly FL110 or FL120.Brač LDSB doesn’t require PPR but it’s useful to send them mail to check parking availability. I was there last weekend and there were 15 aircrafts parked, between them two Falcons and two big helicopters.
Both LDSB and LJPZ are international airports so you don’t have to specifically ask for customs & immigration – they are there always.
Ok Bosnia seems off-limits for now, although I would like to fly to Tuzla one day, I have a friend there.
I will send emails to all airports soon. I will give a phonecall to every airport a few days before I commence my flights. It is hard to know if I am going to be there a specific day, it all depends on weather.
I guess the hardest part is to leave Sweden. It looks more or less like this all the time:
One more question:
Is it possible to fly VFR in Croatia & Slovenia without following the recommended VFR routes?
With one exception (2015) I always flew at some convenient altitude e.g. FL85, straight down the Adriatic.
IMHO those VFR routes (e.g. ADRIA1) are intended for people who want to fly along the scenic coast and penetrate the various Class D CTRs. You still need ATC clearance but at least ATC know where to expect you. It’s a bit like the (notorious for airproxes) Manchester to Liverpool 1300ft low level corridor.
Low level routes are scenic but offer dubious risk management because your engine failure options range from severely limited (ditching or nothing) to nonexistent (forests or cities).
Peter wrote:
With one exception (2015) I always flew at some convenient altitude e.g. FL85, straight down the Adriatic.
Peter, your website is worth gold!
Dimme wrote:
Peter, your website is worth gold!
I’ll second that notion
Dimme wrote:
Is it possible to fly VFR in Croatia & Slovenia without following the recommended VFR routes?
Yes, you can fly anywhere but be sure to know NOTAMs and avoid active zones. Of course avoiding large airports’ CTRs is always welcome.
If you ask you can fly low level usually. I have once flown LDLO to LDSP in 1000 ft AGL, which is beautiful.
Hej @Dimme !
Together with two pilot friends, I did almost the exact same route a few weeks ago. We did Brac, via Portoroz but departed a few NM southeast from you, from Sövde [ESMI] 
Due to being a bit heavy with 3 POB and flying IFR, we needed two stops on our way to Portoroz. Flying south, we had our first stop at Dresden for refuelling, very efficient and cheap. From Dresden we headed towards Graz, which too was non-eventful and efficient for GA , although a bit more expensive than EDDC. From Graz we headed direct for Portoroz, arriving in the late afternoon, greeted with high temps and blue skies :)
Even with two stops, going to Portoroz in one day is reasonable, unless you are the sole pilot perhaps and also being a bit unexperienced with these type of trips. When we visited Croatia in the past and were only 2 OB, we flew to Portoroz with only one stop, usually Hof-Plauen or somewhere in CZ IIRC.
If the weather is permitting (no clouds and calm winds), the route through the Alps from Salzburg down to Slovenia is truly stunning, but it’s not something I would do with unexperienced passengers or being the sole pilot onboard without experience from the alps, it’s easy to take a wrong turn :)
From Portoroz we filed ADRIA1 as the sole entry in the routing part of the FPL via the Swedish ARO, and it worked well. ATC in Croatia is one of the best in Europe, very accomodating and helpful, easy to understand, both VFR and IFR. We decided to make the most of the only VFR leg of the trip, so we flew the whole route south to Brac at 1000AGL, thus had to climb to land when reaching Hvar ;) Regarding customs at Portoroz, you don’t need to give advance permission. All in all, Portoroz is very easy and run a smooth GA operation. Same is true for Brac (which also has 50% discount if you’re an AOPA member!)
On our return, we departed Brac IFR and headed to Bratislava (LZIB), although a bit expensive the service was superior. A brand new GA terminal and a nice burger in the main terminal. From Bratislava we continued to Poznan for fuel and then ESMI. We did the return on a single day, which was OK being 3 pilots onboard, even with a departure from Brac at noon due to opening hours.
Regarding your itinerary, since it’s a fair bit of flying in a C172 (we flew our C172S SE-LXN), I would extend the stay in Brac. If you do two legs per day heading south and/or on the return, you can stay in Brac for 2-3 days. Personally, I think it’s quite nice to have a couple of evenings where I don’t need to think about planning/WX, or even getting up early in the morning :)
I’m sure it will be a super trip!
