I don’t think the co-pilot was the club’s business because this is a single pilot aircraft, the pilot is obviously capable of flying it safely, and what passengers the pilot chooses is irrelevant.
Also 100hrs is more than about 90% of UK PPLs reach before they give up for ever…
But that’s a detail. The great thing is that a trip writeup like this is going to make 10 or 100 others want to fly more.
Very well done. Full credit to you for sticking to your guns. http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/stick-to-your-guns
Hi Vieke,
Thank you for preparing this very nice write-up about a very nice trip! Certainly a highlight!
My first long trip in 2014 (after I got my PPL in 2013) lead me to Belgrade. There’s also a write-up available on euroga. It’s great fun to see that even much more is quite doable for us fresh PPLs and it makes me stop thinking about work right now and considering trips for this year. Tangier springing to my mind. 
Vieke wrote:
They told me I was not experienced enough for such a trip and I was even reckless for even thinking about such a trip.
That’s outrageous! Oh – if there’s one thing worse than nanny states, it must be nanny aeroclubs! Glad you went ahead anyway and didn’t let them stop you.
Vieke wrote:
Immediately ATC asked our intentions because we were turning the wrong site and we had to leave the runway now because of incoming traffic. It seemed the other two had not understand I accepted an intersection take off or didn’t know what that was and wanted me to backtrack the runway for lining up on the end. We explained ATC and after the airliner landed, we could depart. It wasn’t a surprise they were happy to get rid of us.
Hah – yeah. Having pilot passengers can be a challenge – especially on the ground! I remember taxiing with three pilot friends from PPL school a few months ago at EDDL, which I know reasonably well by now, although it’s not my home airfield. One of my friends was PIC and he asked me to help with taxiing and the others were sitting in the back. It turned into complete chaos to be honest and we were glad to be airborne eventually, when everything became much more relaxed.
Very nice report and a lovely flight, although I might have left a passenger or two on the tarmac somewhere. What luck to have found a suitable plane on such short notice.
JasonC wrote:
– if you are PIC in a single pilot operation, make the decisions. Listen to them but follow your own knowledge.
airways wrote:
But remember: there is no democracy in the cockpit !
Jojo wrote:
I can’t help wondering if they would have done the same thing had you been a man…
RobertL18C wrote:
what sort of handling and AvGas charges did you experience in Istanbul?
Aviathor wrote:
I am surprised about your club’s attitude especially since you were endorsed by your instructor and examiner. Seems like the worst problems you encountered was finding an airplane and people management. The flying was the easy part.
Airborne_Again wrote:
But it does seem your club had a point in their misgivings about the co-pilot even though it turned out well in the end!
Peter wrote:
a trip writeup like this is going to make 10 or 100 others want to fly more.
People tell me: every time you fly, you learn a lot. But I don’t agree: you get hours, but the two flight I learned the most where the two last legs: improvising and decision making with the weather. Those 2 legs are for me the most important of the trip, when not everything goes as planned. Those are the situations I learn from. (and also the situation with communication and people management of course)
Patrick wrote:
it makes me stop thinking about work right now and considering trips for this year. Tangier springing to my mind.
Patrick wrote:
…we were glad to be airborne eventually, when everything became much more relaxed.
One more thing:
Vieke wrote:
We reached the Belgian border and I was not sure we would be allowed to enter EBCI CTR because we were under the minima for VFR (when I checked the ATIS) and special VFR is normally only for leaving a CTR, not entering one.
Is this the case?
I know of no general limitation of SVFR to departures. In fact, I’ve only used it for arrivals so far. If I’m on the ground in such conditions, I’ll rather stay there.
I think you are right.
I always learned SVFR is something for:
On my trip, SVFR was never mentioned btw.
Right….I’m going to have to stop reading EuroGA until evening time! There goes a good morning’s work!
What a wonderful trip report! Thank you so much for taking what much have been an incredible amount of time to write it up. I really enjoyed reading it.
I wouldn’t be overly hard on your club for having concerns. They probably just aren’t used to people wanting to do anything like that. What I’d have more of a problem with was the cancelling the booking without saying anything! That is outrageous in my mind.
When I had about 120 hours I decided I wanted to take our aircraft from Ireland to tour around France for a 2 week trip. The CFI had concerns (because I don’t think anyone had left the island of Ireland in it in the previous 5 years, so they just weren’t used to such trips!). But he had the courtesy to call me and talk through his concerns. In the end he said that we wouldn’t stop me if I was determined to proceed, but asked me to think about it and gave me some suggestions that would put his mind more at ease. I did think about it, accepted some of his suggestions and gave him some more information that made him more at ease, but still got to do my trip. In the end, everyone was happy. To me that was the right way to handle it. An open conversation between adults explaining their thoughts. Not a cancelled booking with no explanation!
I’m very impressed with your on the hoof, rerouting under VFR, around poor weather. That is difficult at the best of times. Well done! I bet you learnt a lot from that!
Quote I thought to be smart and I asked for an intersection take off if It would help them.
As soon as I read that, I thought “Oh no!”. This is a good opportunity to learn! At a busy airport, don’t ever offer an intersection departure when you’re being put into the queue with everyone else. Generally they won’t let you “jump the queue” because the airlines get upset. So it can only cost you time. And now that you’re ‘out of the way’ they can hold you there as long as you like. If you’re in the queue, they have to release you when you get to the front or you hold everyone else up!
The only time to request an intersection departure in my experience, is when there isn’t a queue for departure and without it, you have a long taxi to the threshold!
Of course ATC often ask you if you’ll take it, and that’s different; but I wouldn’t ask for it if there is a queue and you’re being slotted into the queue!
Can I ask which of the two pilots had the initial problem? Was it the 2000 local hour guy? And was he the one who left after the first few legs? I was a bit confused on that point. How did you get on with the other one after that? You’re right that it’s important to be able to do everything yourself, to know that you can do everything yourself, but as you fly more with someone you trust and get to know, having someone else there who you can trust, who you know their skills and they yours, can be really useful in high workload situation. But you only get that from flying together regularly.
Once again, thanks so much for this. I really enjoyed it. Already looking forward to your next trip write up!
Colm
Vieke wrote:
You are not allowed to enter a CTR in SVFR, that means it is under the VFR minima and normally you have to divert to somewhere where it is still VFR. But I think you are correct and this last one is wrong. (I just googled and it seems you can also enter under SVFR)
My only reference is an approach I flew into Hamburg EDDH in marginal conditions (read: SVFR) last year and the attention and service level I received from the (very friendly, not the least bit annoyed) controller was outstanding! It’s nice to be given some priority over airliners on the ground, which wouldn’t normally be the case. Under normal circumstances, I’m sure I would have had to orbit in order to let those who were lining up already depart first (EDDH has crossing runways).
Vieke wrote:
On my trip, SVFR was never mentioned btw.
That’s an interesting point, isn’t it? The last time you checked the ATIS, the conditions mandated SVFR. But when you established contact with EBCI, no one mentioned SVFR. Now, the controller isn’t allowed to offer SVFR, it has to be requested specifically by the pilot. From what I understand, you didn’t ask for SVFR either. You were simply given a clearance as if you were in regular VFR conditions. Obviously, once you have a clearance, why not follow it…
But a) Are we supposed to fly into a CTR without SVFR clearance when – to our knowledge – conditions mandate SVFR, even if we have a “regular” clearance already?
and b) Shouldn’t the controller be refusing to enter due to sub-VMC for their airspace?
