I’m hoping to fly to Denmark next month. One of the islands that looks really special is called, appropriately enough, Aero. It has a grass airfield, EKAE. Has anybody been there? I was reading a couple of reviews on a German website and it seems like the strip might be a bit/very? rough, but it would be great to get any feedback from anybody who has flown there, especially recently? (There is a sort of a website in Danish but it seems to be largely devoted to pleasure flights.)
Well, you have read the pireps on it. It‘s not a bowling green, but neither something that will put an average aircraft at risk. And anyway, what is a smooth runway for pilot no. 1 is often a bumpy meadow for pilot no. 2. And vice versa. So these pireps have only limited value.
Other than that, Aero is a little bit boring, flyingwise. Just an airstrip in the middle of a rather big island. You can rent (basic) bicycles and ride to either Marstal or Aeroskobing. Marstal is closer, but not so pretty. Aeroskobing IS pretty, but it‘s about 7km over undulating terrain.
I would prefer other places in the south of Denmark. Vejrø (although more expensive) is a piece of beauty, all walkable. Endelave is also pretty. And don‘t discard Sonderborg. Granted, that is an airport rather than an airstrip, but the approach is just beautiful, and the nearby town/city is very nice as well.
When I was there 3-4 years ago, the quality of the surface was ok. It was the ‘slope’ which was not perfect with an ‘undulation’. Certainly no problem for a fixed gear plane. Aeroskobing was worth the travel.
…thanks for the tip regarding Endeleave
I was in the vicinity today.
My runway was pretty smooth today (AEro is in the background)
But I don’t know who the airfield is prepared.
However, for refuelling you might want to go to Flensburg (around 2,1€/l) or Rendsburg (<2€/l but no sightseeing). If you come to EDXF and need a ride, drop me a note.
It has been some years ago that I flew with the SR22 to Aeroe Island in Denmark and I did like it!
The grass airfield even had runway lights and at the time you could rent an old VW Beetle to tour the island. We visited the small town of Ærøskøbing and enjoyed the scenery. It is a nice island for a 1-night stopover and if you get there in the spring or summer time. The island seems to be popular with the Danish people as the stage for weddings.
Ærø is a bit rough on the surface and the field is rather remote on the island, so plan on bringing a bike. Ærøskøbing and Marstal are quite nice little Danish towns. If you go to Marstal, read ‘We, the Drowned’ by Carsten Jensen before and don’t miss the tour they offer on behalf of the books locations. Personally, I think Ærø is not among the top small airfields in Denmark.
If you fly to Denmark, try to get a hold on one of the last booklets on island flying in Denmark, a little publication listing the wealth of little airfields in Denmark. In former times they had copies at the German border airfields to hand. Most of the small airfields are not on the usual charts and there are many of them. I just had a look and the gorgeous http://www.airfields.dk vanished, which was a good entry to remote flying in DK – anybody an idea what happened to them?
Most important – what aircraft? If you can operate on 400m gras, you have hundreds of uncharted fields to land, mostly after calling the place, but many on a ‘just land’ basis. Take GoogleEarth and simply look for little airfields, like the famous Kegnæs International Airfield (formerly registered EKKI, ‘Tower building’ is an old command bridge of a fishing boat). Beware of information, some listed are not in current operation, or there is still crop on it and opens in 2 month ;-). i.e. famous Femø Kro EKFM is currently not in operation and Egeskov Slot is now farmland (until they have fun to re-open it).
