Very nice trip and beautiful report! And I agree with the very good experience with LIMW.
What an exhilarating trip especially in these Covid times.
It is good of you to produce this which must be very helpful to new or aspiring IR’s: Demonstrating that once one has worked hard for the IR, the flying thereafter is so practical and supported by the system.
I always find flying over The Alps exciting; but I have never had it as gin-clear as your high quality video showed it.
I always ensure that there is at least a VMC level for transit. Did you wait your day or was the weather exceptional for you?
I find Gramet a very useful tool to make a Go/No Go choice.
Did you use that or an equivalent?
Although I have a Turbo which can climb through layers quickly, I am often conscious of the freezing level. I estimated that it was about 10,000’ for you on this trip and being so clear was a no-factor?
I assume you filed ‘Z’ plan for the return. For leaving U.K. VFR/IFR I find that filing ‘I’ or ‘Z’ makes no difference to my clearance or the way that London Control handles me. Do you use one method over the other?
Thanks for posting and making the video available.
Thanks 
Yes; very rare clear wx. Got some rare good footage there.
A high pressure following weeks or bad wx. It was chosen to be like this because one can’t get into LIMW (safely/easily) unless clear sky above.
I use the Windy.com / ECMWF and the UKMO MSLP charts for a long range view, and then tafs and metars later. Webcams checked on morning of departure.
IMHO the Autorouter gramets are fiction except when they are right
Yes it was 0C around 10k but in VMC it doesn’t matter. It was about ISA+4 IIRC.
Both FPs were VFR at LIMW.
Thank you for this trip report @Peter! The Alps are always very nice, Aosta especially!
Peter wrote:
Above FL120 it is mostly Class D and France does not allow VFR in this airspace, in a large portion of France, and this can force you into IMC and potentially icing conditions. However, one would generally fly VFR well below FL100.Is that true? Airspace Delta should not be a problem for VFR and I’ve crossed the Delta south of Lake Geneva in FL130 with clearance from FIS this summer.
Swiss INFO (Zurich/Geneva) used to relay clearances through Class B/C airspace for things like TMA transits, but I haven’t heard it for years and don’t think they do it anymore.Zurich and Geneva DELTA clears you trough airspace Charlie. This controller is sitting direct next to INFO. For crossing the Zurich TMA below FL100 while VFR, you can contact TERMINAL. Geneva doesn’t have that frequency anymore, so you could still try to ask DELTA for coordination. In my experience, INFO will usually say that you should stay below the TMA as they don’t like to coordinate.
Frans wrote:
Is that true? Airspace Delta should not be a problem for VFR and I’ve crossed the Delta south of Lake Geneva in FL130 with clearance from FIS this summer.
The problem is not class D airspace per se; France does not allow VFR above FL115 in all airspace under responsibility of Paris, which is a large chunk and bites with most “crossing France” routes. This is not in the AIP, but in a perennially renewed NOTAM. Here’s the currently valid one.
F1515/20 NOTAM
Q) LFFF/AFXX/V /NBO / E /115/195/4838N00249E
A) LFFF
B) 2020-10-01 00:00 C) 2021-04-25 23:59
E) VFR PROHIBITED ABOVE FL115 WITHIN SECTORS CONTROLLED BY PARIS CTL
EXC SPECIAL ACTIVITIES AUTHORIZED BY PARIS CTL.
So this does not apply as far south as the French airspace leading to Geneva, nor to Geneva airspace proper (which is in Switzerland). I have indeed gotten VFR transit across Geneva at (IIRC) FL120 by being at FL115 before, no problem.
Just made a start on the panettone cake
It is outstanding… this of course means I have to go back for more! Is it worth the 2 week quarantine?
Panettone – my kryptonite, my weakness. I melt when I see those packages and immediately succumb.
@AdamFrisch I thought that applied to aircraft designed by Ted Smith :)
That tooRobertL18C wrote:
I thought that applied to aircraft designed by Ted Smith :)
That too!
Amazing and very clear video – lots of useful tips and practical aspects of how to deal with ATC and how supportive they can be if you just ask.
Awesome video around the Matterhorn. The wing mounted, long battery life Sony works really well. It helps you remind viewers it is wing mounted prior takeoff and landing.
