I suspect some of the “proper military” masks are better, …
I don’t really think so as their fuel supply lasts for little more than an hour usually 
My longest flight on the C404, on the other side, had a block time of 8:20, most of the time wearing this blue mask (EDDS to LPPT in a strong headwind and no AVGAS at LPPT so we had to continue to LPCS for fuel after unloading our cargo). It left no permanent marks in my face!
Back home after a great weekend out!
The steam paddle boat trip to Pillnitz castle was really nice. Interestingly, this ship delivers less horse power than Peter’s TB20. The 2 cylinder, 10 bar engine running at 36RPM delivers “only” 230 HP.
The Pillnitz gardens are really nice.
Some VFR traffic over the Dresden city
Beautiful architecture:
… which is in striking contrast with the DDR architecture which still can be found in the city center:
This morning we did a guided 3 hour Segway tour:
We departed at 12:50Z. There was a weak cold front on our route in middle Germany
The sat24 images showed that a high altitude flight in VMC-on-top would not be possible.
With the freezing level at around FL070 I decided to fly back low level. This strategy works quite well in the Northern part of Germany. There’s a risk of entering “something nasty”. I use the ADL120 to determinate whether it’s safe to fly in IMC. The ADL120 showed some strikes and weather further down south, but nothing significant on our route.
Enroute over Germany. I descended to 6000ft to stay in a positive temps. It was +4°C .
In -and between layers:
We passed the front and climbed to FL080 to stay on top:
Happy campers:
Some of mine …
On the way up to EDDC, between layers at FL90
The ramp in Dresden, Lenthamens and my plane
Dinner with Peter
The MAREM 6E SID… flown by A/P …
In FL120 I picked up some ice, almost the same amount as Peter, but the TKS removed most of it although i switched it on a bit late. I was in IMC for about 40 minutes but getting closer to home it didn’t make much sense to climb out on top, tops were about FL130. This flight showed again that the TKS really made sense. And the ADL120 is a great unit when you’re inside the soup and not sure where you’re really going …
Homebase final … had to stay IFR almost to the field because there was a lot of clouds down low. 8 miles before the field there were some bigger holes and I cancelled …
My usual substandard video… 
It is 1080P HD so you can watch it full screen.
Nice. I like:
-the cleanliness of the instrument panel
-the cruise economy (149 @ 10.2)
-the altitude performance (FL200)
-the standby horizon function of the Sandel
Dislikes:
-video of the outside comes out too dark
-the Bendix MFD (Commodore C64 graphics just don’t go well with the rest of the avionics fit)
149 @10.2 is really very good!
video of the outside comes out too dark
Sure. It is also out of focus. The camera won’t focus on the clouds. I did this on some photo forums and apparently they all have problems with the lack of fine texture. Same with the Pentax – most DSLRs can’t do it either. I need to use manual focus.
The camera itself is actually really oustanding.
The ground scenes (Nokia 808) are crap because I have two apps for the camera. One does great stills and the other does great movies, and I didn’t bother to switch them…
the Bendix MFD (Commodore C64 graphics just don’t go well with the rest of the avionics fit)
True, but it works It is 100% integrated and has no gotchas or funny business. Of course it is ancient, but if you change it (eg. EX500 etc) you get subtle incompatibilities e.g. some issues in the OBS mode which are quite capable of killing you. One would need to change the GPS+MFD and all current options look prettier but lose functionality; they lose the “FMS+MFD” functional separation. A GTN750 would replace both neatly but every time you do anything you lose the enroute map. The most basic non-bodged replacement for that centre stack is 2×IFD540 ($24k for the two boxes only) which is indeed the long term plan but you know my view on installing that currently
the altitude performance (FL200)
FL210
A final note on EDDC airport costs… There were actually 2 invoices paid, and the amounts were (TB20, 1400kg) – euros
Fixed landing charge 22.48
Infrastructure fees 7.50
Landing fee 22.48
GAT handling fee 7.50
Yes it looks odd that the first two amounts are repeated!
VAT on top of the above.
Landing: € 22.48
Fee: € 7.50
+ 19% VAT
Total: € 35.68
That’s what I paid
Hi Peter, that does not seem to be correct.
This is what I paid:
The second page of the invoice is just a specification of the billed cost. So “Landing Fees” is invoiced as “Fixed landing charge”, and “GAT Handling Fee” is invoiced as “Infrastructure Fee”. Please note that the invoice numbers on both pages are the same.
