One does have to walk really…
What I meant was that the roads around Annecy were packed so even approaching the city was an ordeal. Otherwise, I would definitely walk… Does me good :)
Annecy turned out to be a great place, thanks to Peter and Mike who where very good company. Trip back a bit slow 4:08hrs.
That you both for getting there. It was a brilliant trip and we had a great time. Annecy is really scenic and it will take me a while to sort out the pics, especially the ex-Pentax in-flight ones.
The return trip was 3:15 airborne for me.
Outbound:
Return:
(filed via EuroFPL due to a temp filing glitch with Achim’s site)
What happened to my post?
Looks like a nice town to visit. On the list.
Here are some flying pics from the trip, ex Pentax K3 + Lightroom:
Nice wx at Shoreham
Some cloud around; on top about FL080
The cliffs of Dover, FL100
Lydd
French coast, Le Touquet, FL100
Initially London Control gave me DCT TRACA which went way too far east; I got it changed ASAP to BILGO and Lille Radar
This was the general wx most of the way. It would have been flyable VFR down below; maybe 3000-5000ft. There was ~15kt tailwind
Not many scenic bits in N France, from FL100
The first sight of the Alps; Mt Blanc visible
This was taken with a cheap 200mm lens
Geneva airport
Must look up this one, on the beach – probably LFLB
Intercepting the ILS from the left
and here is the runway
On the ground, sorting out my stuff. It was pretty warm. There was no fuel (till the next day) and initially I could not find the door to get out through. Landed with 51 USG.
These I have posted before
On the way out, I filed for 1300Z and got to the airport more than 2hrs before that, because we had to get fuel. None of us (3) could work out how the self service machine worked and of the firemen only one seemed to know (without much enthusiasm) but eventually with our AIR BP cards we got it done. The user interface was crude, and French language only. I have no idea what the cost was because the ink had run out some time beforehand so the receipts came out totally blank. I emailed Reception about it after landing home but got no reply…
There was something wrong with the avgas pump; the pressure varied a lot and it looked like it was scavenging fuel from the bottom of the tank, so very quickly we poured a litre of IPA in there in case there was water in the fuel!
Departure, runway 22, opposite runway to the arrival one which was 04, on the DANBO2B SID which happened to follow the same track as the radar vectored ILS on the way in
Initially climbing to FL100
Surface winds were very low but at FL100 I had ~10-20kt headwind
Later I had to climb to FL120 to stay above some layers. The temp was +2C up there.
This is what most of N France looks like from high up – one wishes for an F16 
One also has sympathy for PPL students if required to navigate with a map+stopwatch…
Forecast LFOB (landing fuel on board) 47 USG. Actual post landing figure was 47.3 USG. So I could have flown to Annecy and turned around and landed back at Shoreham with 3 USG
There are some interesting patterns to be seen however
Approaching the UK coast, there were 5 in the circuit so I went off for a bit until it cleared up a bit.
And nearly on the ground
Airborne times out 3:00hrs back 3:15hrs.
The forecast of bad wx the following day (today) failed to materialise but I had to be back anyway for a meeting… which didn’t happen because it got cancelled in an email which I didn’t pick up till today
As an experiment, this was the first overnight trip I have done without the Thinkpad X230 laptop (just had the Samsung S6 phone and the Samsung 8.4" tablet) and I won’t be doing that again! The “little gadgets” are very functional, especially the phone which is brilliant and even its camera – the best camera/phone in existence apart from my old Nokia 808 – is OK-ish, but it is an absolute bastard for typing anything. The tablet is barely better than the phone. The laptop is just necessary for doing anything of substance which involves writing more than a few one-line emails etc.
Peter wrote:
Must look up this one, on the beach – probably LFLB
Affirm, LFLB Chambery Aix-Les-Bains with its 4.46* glideslope ILS for rwy 18
Oh yes – now I remember; I filed that as my alternate 
Costs, including VAT:
Landing €10
Parking 1 night €22.50
(TB20, 1400kg)
No response on the fuel costs…
The taxi (about 10-15 mins) was €18 from the airport and about €25 back to the airport
The Hotel Bonlieu was really nice and well located.
Ah, Annecy. Fond memories!
Here is a picture of two other TBs at that location. A little quiz: Do you notice anything special about one of the planes?
Why not try a bluetooth keyboard for the Samsung?
