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Jastarnia (EPJA)

Has anybody recently been to Jastarnia (EPJA)? Is the runway OK for Cirrus? Alternatively, is it possible to get permission for landing at Gdynia (EPOK)?

LKBE

I went there with the SR22 in summer 2012. It’s possible, but tricky. First of all, you ist be light, so go with very little fuel. Secondly, you must be able to deal with short and soft fields approaches and takeoffs. Don’t go there if it has rained a lot there recently.

Mainz (EDFZ) & Egelsbach (EDFE), Germany

Thanks @boscomantico. Do I understand correctly the issue is the runway length (and trees on approach) but the surface is reasonably smooth and the quality acceptable for SR22 (unless after heavy rain)?

LKBE

Not quite. I think in total, the usable runway is 700 metres long and every SR22 pilot who knows how to do a short field landing with it should be fine getting in.

It’s the condition and type of the soil which is a bit tricky. It was my impression that it is one of those grass runways which tend to be soft and “heavy” most if the time, and this is exactly what SR22 don’t like on takeoff.

So, getting out might be a bit difficult due to long ground roll.

Mind you, an inexperienced DA40 pilot even managed to crash it on landing whilst we were there. As said, one needs to really know short and soft runway landing technique for the type of airplane flown (as opposed to just having done it once with an instructor…).

Last Edited by boscomantico at 01 Jun 10:35
Mainz (EDFZ) & Egelsbach (EDFE), Germany

I like flying there. Last time I’ve been on 24.04.2016 with Extra. There was no one there. All temporary buildings from last year were gone. Runway condition was good. Office will probably be back for the summer.

Trees are high to the east of runway. On the west it’s more like bushes and stuff. I prefer to take off to the west and steer gently south where trees are lowest.
After rain there will be standing water.

The DA40 pilot that boscomantico mentioned was too fast on approach and made the decision to go around after touching the ground. He hit trees, but no-one was hurt.
I’ve been there with a DA40 a dozen times. No problems with landing, but taking off can be difficult depending on wind and weight. Once I had to ask my passengers to take the train back and I flew alone because of standing water.

Only go there if you’re confident in handling your aircraft. It’s a tricky place. Worth visiting though. Beaches are great. I recommend Bryza hotel.

View to the west:

Last Edited by loco at 01 Jun 11:45
LPFR, Poland

Oh, and EPOK is a military airfield, so I would recommend EPGD instead.

LPFR, Poland

Thanks a lot, very useful information!

LKBE

@honza

Here are a few more pics:

Appoaching from the east. The airfield is that green dot right behind Jastarnia town.

This gives you an idea of the obstacle situation (but again, it’s not the obstacles which are bad, it’s more the ground which isn’t perfect).



Here’s a view towards the easterly threshold (which has the highest trees). You can see the DA40 that ended up there.

Let us know if you went or not.

Last Edited by boscomantico at 02 Jun 19:46
Mainz (EDFZ) & Egelsbach (EDFE), Germany

The plan is to go mid July for some kitesurfing. Based on your information I have decided to go with PA28 rather then SR22. Thanks again!

LKBE

Quick report from Jastarnia… It is a nice destination although the place is very crowded in the middle of the high season. The airfield was exactly as described by @boscomantico. It was a non event in PA28 but I was happy not to be there with a Cirrus. The grass was rather tall and a bit bumpy. The soil is sandy so pretty soft even without rain and even taxiing required quite a lot of power.
The landing and parking isn’t particularly cheap for such a type of airfield (almost 100EUR for landing and 4 days of parking) however everything was easy there and the airport owner/operator was very nice and friendly. They operate sight seeing flights with very nice PZL Wilga there and seem to have a lot of interest, there were skydiving operations there as well.
Originally we planned to fly directly to EPJA but Poland has temporary restored border control recently so international flights even from Schengen have to use only selected airports for landing. I noticed the notam just after filing the flight plan so had to re-plan for one intermediate stop. Poznan EPPO was quite convenient and at the end a little break was appreciated by my kids.
On the day of our departure the Polish army decided to occupy most of the airspace in northern Poland so we had to depart earlier in the morning than originally planned. The airfield is located in the restricted military area with lower vertical limit on the ground. Why do they need restricted space above residential area all the way to the ground when there is plenty of space above the Baltic sea everywhere around is beyond my understanding. I have no idea what would we do in case they decided to activate the airspace for several days…

LKBE
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