I went last month to edkb hangelar. Two days before, i mailed them to make a reservation for the courtesy car on that field. It was no problem. I received an old mercedes with full thanks and i had to brint him back with full thanks. No other costs.
Maybe you can mail them to get the car for a weekend?
I thought the key word of the OP was IFR?
EDKB is VFR only, isn’t it?
It is indeed only vfr, but he mentions this field himself in the OP as an option.. So I think edkb is relevant?
Many thanks to all for making my choice a more informed one.
I’m not keen on spending €250 at EDDK for a leisure trip. Those Euros would be far better spent in the city’s bars and restaurants!
It looks like the best option, if the weather is VFR at destination (and forecast to stay that way for departure) will be Hangelar. After being told of the nearby tram station I zoomed in on Google maps and found that there even appears to be a tram line all along the banks of the Rhein from Bonn to Cologne.
One question about Hangelar that I omitted to ask – is RT in english acceptable there or do I need to learn a few appropriate phrases in german? Note to self: create a noise certificate from the FAA website
If properly IFR weather, the option of Dusseldorf EDDL plus a 40min train for half the price of Cologne EDDK sounds a good one (thanks Patrick). As long as I can keep myself out of the hands of Jet Aviation! I hope the AIS number Sebastian gave in the Dusseldorf thread for getting a slot will communicate in English!
Hangelar Info is officially English and German during opening hours. There are plenty of non German speakers flying there including senior EASA officials 
AIS Frankfurt will speak English, no worries.
After landing/before takeoff, present yourself at the fuel station for passport checks. That’s where immigration checks are performed in Hangelar so your passport might smell a bit afterwards 
TJ wrote:
40min train
there are two train options – take S-bahn from the terminal building and make connection in Dusseldorf Hbf or take SKYTRAIN to the station with twice an our direct train to Koeln. But I am speaking about normal PAX terminal, GAT looks to be on the west, never been to that part.
TJ wrote:
As long as I can keep myself out of the hands of Jet Aviation!
To clarify this a bit further and to avoid doubts upon arrival if you go for the EDDL route: You will definitely go “through” Jet Aviation, as they run the GAT and you will pay the invoices with them. That’s all fine, even including usage of the crew lounge prior to flying, which I’ve done a couple of times – as long as you don’t call them and order any additional services such as “handling” or “slot coordination”.
And to be fair I need to add that the train station is directly linked to the main terminal (via a SkyTrain, which takes a few minutes) but it’s not directly linked to the GAT. That will involve either a 15 minute walk or a very short taxi ride across the airport premises (less than 5 minutes, < 10 EUR, I would guess).
That will involve either a 15 minute walk or a very short taxi ride across the airport premises (less than 5 minutes, < 10 EUR, I would guess).
There is also a tramway close to the GAT (about 100m walking distance with a pedestrian bridge over the A 8 highway – Station is called Lohausen.) The tram runs in North/South direction. South is towards the Düsseldorf Main Railway Station and city center.
Got back yesterday from this trip. As the weather was good we decided to go Bonn Hangelar EDKB. What a great, really friendly airfield!!
We had my three month old grandson with us, plus all the baby gear. Refuelling and paying the fees was very quick and efficient. All done within 15 minutes of touchdown. While paying the landing fee (only about €33) and fuel I asked to be shown the right direction for the Hangelar Ost tram station. A few minutes later a member of the fire crew came over to the plane in a red Merc. Apparently they operate a US style crew car and this was it. No one had booked it for the next couple of days, so would we like it? In fact I said ‘no thanks’ as I didn’t think it would be much use in the city centre, but it was really kind and thoughtful! So he drove us all plus bags across the airfield to the gate instead.
The only complicated thing about the trip was getting the IFR clearance when airborne for the return. From memory I started with Langen, who moved me to Dusseldorf, who were also uninterested and passed me back to another Langen frequency. After I’d finished spinning the knobs on the GNS430, I did wonder if the reason might be that my first IFR fix was actually just over the border in Belgium?
Any regrets? Just one. After creating my own Noise Certificate, no one was interested in it!
Anyway, my thanks to all who suggested Hangelar – a great GA airfield.
Glad you liked it. EDKB is really out on a charm offensive these days, after all the bad press of the last few years.
After I’d finished spinning the knobs on the GNS430, I did wonder if the reason might be that my first IFR fix was actually just over the border in Belgium?
Definitely. Always put the IFR pickip point as close as possible to your departure. Even if that means that the pickup point is a few miles in the opposite direction. You need not fly there. Just fly in thr direction of your destination and call up ATC.
After creating my own Noise Certificate, no one was interested in it!
Well, in some cases, the airport staff is lazy, won’t ask for it and just put foreign visitors into a poor noise category. So: pro-actively show it to them. Might have made it even a few Euros cheaper.
