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Best IFR airport for Beaune

Hi guys. Seems Burgundy has Dijon and Charolais airports. Any suggestions between the two?

EGTK Oxford

A friend of mine told me a few weeks ago that he could not fly to Beaune because its reserved for home based aircraft - he went to LFLH (Chalon) instead - a bit south of Beaune with 1400m and a NDB approach.

EDxx, Germany

Hey guys, apologies as I am new here. Beaune is not reserved for home based aircraft, Nuits St Georges very close is. I have posted a report from one of my recent trips to Beaune and the Burgundy region here if you're interested. I cant seem to easily integrate the photo's here so please do check it out on my blog directly. Text of trip report for you reference below.

http://lfhnflightstudent.blogspot.ch/2013/08/ile-dyeu-burgundy-2-trip-report-ile.html

Burgundy - August 2nd - August 5th My brother and his misses are absolute wine lovers. I mean I love the stuff, it beats drinking water, but they will actually properly know a thing or two about the red and the white stuff. This trip was long in the making so when I picked them both up at Geneva airport on Thursday evening there was excitement in the air as the weather for the long weekend was going to be beautiful. Come Friday morning, the guys dropped me off at LFHN, since even in the early morning the heat was on, I decided it would be better I pick everybody up in Annecy (LFLP) as it has a longer runway. Four adults, some of us pretty big boys an girls (I won't name anyone, the pot and the kettle and all ;-) ) plus luggage seemed like pushing things a little for a 680m long runway with density altitude and all. So the brother and I left for LFLP in trusted FGABT to pick up the rest of the family.

Having loaded the beast up in Annecy, and with a 1440m long runway ahead of us, we were asked to take off on 22 wind in the back because of incoming IFR traffic. In the air, the ride was smooth, very smooth. Even though the heat was picking up none of the usual bumps and drops over the mountains was there yet. Since our friends in the military appeared to have kerosene left to burn for the month, all the military zones around Macon, the Jura and the Dijonais were active, Basel info confirmed. Having properly checked NOTAM's and AZBA's no surprise there and our 7500ft altitude took us well over all the trouble. Not a Jet in sight, which I thought was a little disappointing. We flew a circuit over Chalon sur Saone and then straight into Beaune airfield, who I contacted during the week to check if it was OK to leave BT parked there for the weekend, which it was. Our "driver" Wouter was waiting for us at Beaune airfield with fresh coffee and donuts - what a legend - this already felt like a proper holiday.

Next stop the bike rental shop in Beaune - City, though a bit "chatty" the rental shop owner hooked us up with 5 nice bicycles that would take us around the Burgundy region for the long weekend. On the Friday, we had agreed to check out the northern side of Beaune, so off we went for a little spin on the bikes.

We had a beautiful lunch in a place called the R de Famille in Savigny les Beaunes, the lunch was good and so were the beautiful bottles of Corton Charlemagne - which appears to be one of the best Burgundy red's. We stayed the night in our hotel in Nuits Saint Georges where we had a lovely dinner by the pool and some more great local wines. An early (morning) night, as is usual with the brother, breakfast and we were ready for what was going to be the proper wine tasting part of the trip. On the bikes again in Beaune - some pictures to give you an idea of the beautiful scenery along the way.

For lunch we had a rather unique experience - a first for me anyway - 10 different wines, accompanied by the foods that went the best with them. Meursault, Chassagne - Montrachet, Puligny Montrachet, Volnay, Pommard, and then some premiers crus (sorry guys I forgot the names). The "sommelier" gives you the history and the explanation of why the wines taste the way they do in an entertaining yet interesting way. The place is called "La table d'Olivier Leflaive" in Puligny Montrachet - book in advance.

Back on the bikes and on our way to Aloxe - Corton where we were told to visit the Chateau d'Andre Corton. We happily obliged.

Needles to say, more dinner, more wine in the evening in a bit overpriced restaurant somewhere near the hospices de Beaune - good food and good wine - les Jardins des Remparts. The next day we flew to Chalon sur Saone for a river cruise - and you guessed it, some wine tasting - (not for me though - 8 hours between the bottle and the throttle) - some pictures.

The flight back to Annecy then Bellegarde -Vouvray was uneventful - though a little bumpier due to the still ever present evening heat. A very nice evening overall. I'll check back in soon.

LFHN - Bellegarde - Vouvray France

A nice report with some good tips for meals which I shall make sure to use. A lot of effects in those photos - reminds me of Instagram.

EGTK Oxford

I investigated a bit and found out that Beaune was reserved for based aircraft during a period in which they repaired their hard surfaced runway, but now it is open again

Comme annoncé lors de notre assemblée générale, notre piste en dur va être rénovée ! Les travaux commenceront à partir du Lundi 29 Avril et se termineront le 21 Mai 2013.

Dès lundi, un notam sera émis pour Beaune et couvrira l'intégralité de cette période. L'utilisation de la piste en herbe sera possible _uniquement pour les avions et ULM basés à Beaune.

http://www.aeroclub-beaunois.fr/le-coin-des-pilotes/news-actu/81-aerodrome-une-piste-toute-neuve

EDxx, Germany

Hi Nobbi, yes you are absolutely correct - the runway has been completely renewed and is now actually slightly shorter than initially was the case as they do not want you to take off too close to the end of the runway for terrain instability reasons. All explained well in the VAC chart which you will find here :

https://www.sia.aviation-civile.gouv.fr/aip/enligne/PDFAIPparSSection/VAC/AD/2/1309AD-2.LFGF.pdf

Also before flying anywhere close to that region to check if the AZBA (low altitude military training zones) are active here :

http://www.sia.aviation-civile.gouv.fr/asp/frameset_uk.asp?m=39

Feel free to get in touch if you need more info.

LFHN - Bellegarde - Vouvray France

It is quite easy to get a 6 months permit to land at Nuits St Georges. Then you can walk over to the castle with swimming pool right next to the landing strip. I have such a permit and renew it each year in the summer period. Forgot ... it is not IFR so you need an alternate in case the weather is bad, but in those cases you can't enjoy the outside swimming pool.

Thanks for the nice trip report LFHNflightstudent!

EDLE, Netherlands

@LFHNflightstudent The link seems broken. I’m looking to go to Beaune area on late may bank holiday. We have to leave after work on Friday so looking at options:

LFSD Dijon Longvic : Close too early, and unusually not allowed to non based outside ATS times. Anyone know if possible to get an exemption?
LFGF Nuit Saint georges : I don’t see the lights on the textual data, night VFR says not approved. @AeroPlus, do you know if this changed?
LFLH Chalon : Seems OK, but likely customs is an issue. Will need en route stop
LFGH Dole: Furthest one off, but seems to offer customs. It at least on says that it’s PN which wouldn’t be an issue.

Then we’ll need to rent a car (or get a taxi to the place where we’re staying)

Anyone some recomendations in the area / airport experience?

We’ll be coming from the UK in a DA42

LFGF: there are no lights, grass airfield.

EDLE, Netherlands

My experience:
LFLH Chalon: we use the field regularly. Very friendly, long runway, NDB and RNAV approach
LFSD Dijon: we used this last year. Rather expensive.
LFGF Nuit Sain George: we used this AD a couple of years ago with a C172. You need permission to land there. Not suitable for a DA42, I think.

EDFM (Mannheim), Germany
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