So LIPZ have now firmly confirmed that hangar is not an option at Perugia. @PhJebens did you rent the hangar through Delta or in a separate agreement. Delta seemed a little annoyed at my persistence – don’t you just hate clients that desperately try to give you business 
I’ve decided that LIQQ is going to be too short. No reason to let safety be the victim of bureaucracy.
Arezzo is taking a piss at 150 EUR for a 660m runway with no services whatsoever and not even any fuel(!). Surprised on the fuel front, as there is no way to get a jet into that runway ! It’s not the money as such – in the grand scheme of things – but they clearly lost the plot on price and (in)convenience.
Will try to give Siena a call. Otherwise we will be LIQQ by Terni even if its a couple of hours drive back in there direction we came from.
I wonder what would happen if I just filed a flight plan and turned up? That is what I always do in the rest of Europe and it’s never an issue – it may have been a mistake to ask the question.
Try Aviosuperficie Podere Santa Apollonia
https://it-it.facebook.com/PodereS.Apollonia for contacts.
1000m grass, has fuel, owner speaks english but is rather reserved.
I could put you in contact with someone based there to organize a rental car.
I’ll be spending this weekend there so let me know your requirements, dates, ecc and I’l ask.
If you can live with a sufficiently long grass strip (and they’ll all be dry given the current heat wave in Italy), then why not go light into Podere S. Apollonia or Castiglione del Lago and then refuel after at somewhere relatively nearby such as LIAA Terni or enroute such as LIKO Ozzano dell’ Emilia. The latter is not near your destination (it’s next to Bologna) but it is a Cirrus dealer, has a magnificent 820m hard surface facility with self-service credit card Avgas, a restaurant, swimming pool in the shape of a plane, and possibly even rooms (never asked). My recollection is that there are no fees.
If someone hasnt already mentioned this, you need to buy a copy of Avioportolano. Fantastic book with details of hundreds of smaller grass strips and out of the way airports. Its available in English as well as Italian.
Buckerfan wrote:
If someone hasnt already mentioned this, you need to buy a copy of Avioportolano. Fantastic book with details of hundreds of smaller grass strips and out of the way airports. Its available in English as well as Italian.
At one point Avioportalano was publicizing on its website that their data was to integrated into Foreflight, but reading between the lines I gather they didn’t ink a deal. It would’ve been great.
It IS integrated. But one needs to pay extra for the detailed airfield data sheets.
Available in Skydemon, too, which is what the majority of VFR/light aircraft pilots use in Europe.
https://www.avioportolano.it/it/catalogo/airfieldmanual.html
Silvaire wrote:
At one point Avioportalano was publicizing on its website that their data was to be integrated into Foreflight
boscomantico wrote:
It IS integrated. But one needs to pay extra for the detailed airfield data sheets.
Good to know!
Thanks.
Thank you all for the many suggestions.
While I appreciate the possibility of using the grass runways, I’m not crazy about the idea of a MTOW take-off from a grass strip in the boiling Italian summer. On tarmac I know what the performance parameters are
Anyway, I called Siena but the person spoke no English, so I was busy searching my extended network for linguistic help when they magically replied in Italian and with the amazing help from the good folks at Google, we managed to establish a line of communication. I am not sorted with PPR, fuel and they even directed me to a local car rental company that will deliver the car to the airfield. Not sure what the cost of lawnding and parking is, but I am not sure it matters too much at this stage. They have a plenty long runway and AVGAS available, so we can fly back non-stop.
Will let you know how it goes
MedFlyer wrote:
If you start reconsidering South Europe as an extension of North Africa then many of your questions could be answered.
Peter wrote:
Firstly, the good stuff. Italians, as individuals, are very friendly. And you do get some wonderfully nice airports: Aosta (the jewel, IMHO), Bolzano, Lucca… Same can be said about Greece actually: 100% friendly individuals, so long as they are not working in a company with which you have to do business
Wow guys, talk about preconceptions and racism, and not even subtle. I guess none of you ever lived in Italy.
I lived in il bel paese for many years and have fond memories, still hoping to achieve a SES rating at Como and a Mountain rating at Belluno/Bolzano one day.
Having reasonable italian did help with ATC, and not unusual for even centre and radar to switch to Italian for Italian speaking crew under radar control, which might hinder situational awareness for foreign crews. Calling for start in Italian usually allowed a jump on the Speedbird crews.
Since I lived there, have only gone back on corporate type ops, and handling charges at IFR airports has become very expensive.
I suspect if you don’t have a basic grasp of the language and a local guide, you may find it frustrating. Hopefully help is at hand from the many local pilots who participate on the forum.
Being subscribed to Nuccio’s channel is a great window onto the beauty and friendliness of Italian GA.
