Hi,
has anyone any recent experience with LILC Calcinate del Pesce?
I’m invited on a friend’s birthday this weekend just around the corner from the airfield and it would be a pain to be flying somewhere else and have somebody pick me up from whatever airport I come up with. So LILC would be extremely ideal.
The reviews I find (e.g. on eddh.de in German by @boscomantico) are a couple of years old. Has anyone landed there recently with a powered aircraft? As I don’t speak Italian, I had my friend call them up and ask if it was possible to land there on Saturday – but they outright refused and said they only accept gliders. From what I gather, it is very well possible to land there with a powered aircraft, however it may need some negotiation (a royal PITA and not the finest display of airmanship/aviation spirit I reckon…).
Patrick, FWIW I was at Calcinate del Pesce on the ground on June 2nd, which is a national holiday. Lots of gliders operating but the only powered planes operating were the tow planes. I did see at least one powered plane parked outside with a canopy cover, and I assumed it lived there.
…a royal PITA and not the finest display of airmanship/aviation spirit I reckon…
??? Calcinate has never been anything but a glider strip (I know because I lived close by until the age of 18). And it is probably one of the busiest glider strips anywhere, especially in the high season.
If anyone managed to fly there who is not either a glider or tug pilot, then either outside the gliding Season and/or through some personal relations.
And regarding that “airmanship” thing: Show me a pure glider strip anywhere in Germany that accepts non-resident powered aircraft. Most of them do not even have the required permission.
What you need is a seaplane, preferably an Aermacchi seaplane…
what_next wrote:
If anyone managed to fly there who is not either a glider or tug pilot, then either outside the gliding Season and/or through some personal relations.
I’m referring to these two reviews (in German):
http://www.eddh.de/info/lande_pireps.php?pi_icao=LILC
and to their website, which quotes a landing fee for foreign pilots of 50 EUR. I was assuming that’s not for some random glider finding their way to Calcinate – but maybe it is.
And regarding that “airmanship” thing: Show me a pure glider strip anywhere in Germany that accepts non-resident powered aircraft. Most of them do not even have the required permission.
If it is a pure glider field and doesn’t have the permission, fine – then I haven’t said anything. But it looks like that’s not the case and the permission by the club is granted on occasions. I understand it’s a private field and it is their fair right to have any such policy but in that case I do find it sad if the odd powered aircraft visitor is turned down while in fact it would be possible to make a landing there.
Silvaire wrote:
What you need is a seaplane, preferably an Aermacchi seaplane…
What I need is a seaplane rating. 
It would only be helpful for the landing part of the trip – a bit of a hindrance on take-off.
Would LILC accept motorised traffic Monday-Friday? By prior arrangement, perhaps?
I just emailed them in English and something reasonably close to Italian. I’ll report.
Have you looked at Varese Venegono (LILN)? It is not far away and you should have no trouble there. A classmate of mine whose family lives very close to Calcinate always flies to Venegono when he visits his relatives.
Sorry Patrick for not having replied any sooner. Was on a long trip and just returned yesterday night.
You got it mostly right. It’s an “aeroporto”, but the AIP also states:
AD open for gliders activity of the Aerodrome Operator and to the activity of home based ACFT
As always in Italy, it’s a matter of calling in in (not: e-mailing) and asking politely. This is how it worked twice for me but I haven’t tried for a few years now.
Venegono is more complicated, as it is primarly a military airport and even if you get PPR from the aeroclub, they will still have to first obtain ENAC permission for you.
Thanks! I’m actually having an email conversation with the director of the club using google translate to make what I’m writing look Italian. The responses seem to be on the positive side. I’ll figure out a way to call there before the weekend just to make sure we’re talking about the same things.
I’m a bit careful about Venegono because of the bureaucratic hurdles (on a different note: I landed at ETMN Nordholz/Sea Airport the weekend before for a music festival. That’s also a military airport with civil co-usage and everything there worked REALLY well. We had the best parking ever directly back stage and we were waved at bei Deichkind, a popular German electro band. I’ll see if I can do a trip write up at some point).
I’m looking at Lugano as an alternative as well. It’s a bit further to drive, later on – but fees (for Swiss standards) are quite low and it seems the most hassle-free of all the options. But it wouldn’t allow me to stop for Mogas on the way back home because it’s hard to find an airport with customs and Mogas.
