The Business trip, or Zagreb and Back Again

OK, time to contribute.

Of course it was not my first flight abroad. It was my second one. The Big Barrier of checking foreign AIPs, studying maps, evaluating weather, being scared of talking to controllers in English and looking for excuses why not to fly has been already transformed into “Yes we can”. But this second trip has also several firsts, such as first flight plan, first flight out of Schengen, first landing on international airport.

Trigger of the idea was a need to go from Praha, Czech Republic, to Zagreb, Croatia, for a business meeting. After some weather trend observations I agreed with the business partner to meet on a particular Tuesday. As I am a low hours VFR pilot, the plan was easy – either on Monday morning the weather looks flyable for next three days, or I take a car.

Then I took a look at the skyvector.com to plan the routing. Alps got sorted out easily – just fly around their eastern end. I planned the first leg from LKKL, Kladno, to LKCS, Ceske Budejovice to clear immigration and refuel. And then LKCS to LDZA, Zagreb around the Alps.

On Friday I went to a pilot shop nearby to buy a paper map of Austria. As to current maps of Slovenia and Croatia, both countries are VFR positive and publish them at their ATC websites. I just downloaded and printed what I needed.

My tarmac landing skills, especially with a crosswind, are not ideal. My aircraft, Europa XS Mono, requires crabbing to the very last moment, and then putting her straight just before touchdown, for me not an easy skill to get. A good crosswind and long tarmac rwy nearby made an opportunity for the Saturday training. Here, on behalf of the flight crew, I would like to apologize to the tyre, she sounded quite unimpressed. Yet, after all, we both survived my landings, and in contrast to the tyre I actually improved.

On Sunday I got burried in AIPs of the individual countries and in NOTAMs. I also had to learn how to fill up and file flight plans. Then there was a time to call the airports. First the LKCS. I called them and asked for immigration clearance on Monday. But it was too late – the immigration police has to be ordered long in advance, as they have to come to the airport by a car from Praha, two hours to drive. I just visualized the police car driving from Praha to Ceske Budejovice to look at my passport, with me flying above them the same route, and cancelled the idea. Plan B is to fly to LJMB, Maribor so I called there. Can I land? Of course, a nice lady’s voice responded. Can I clear immigration? Of course. Can I fill my tank? Of course. What a service! Zagreb asked me to send a mail with my request, and I got the confirmation for landing and parking within 15 minutes.

And let’s take a look at the weather. It has always been one of my worries. I do understand the weather to the extent of “if there’s no rain, I don’t get wet”. So I looked at aviation meteo websites and all other possible sources, went through TAFs, studied the otputs of the router.euroga.org/gramet as well as the synoptic forecasts. I also created a list of links to webcams enroute for last moment check. At this stage, full of data and confused to max, I called a friend, an aviation meteorologist. He said something like “a dissipating front with low clouds over Alps, the rest looks OK”. The “OK” I understood perfectly.

Finally I got the plan complete. First leg is a flight to LKHS, Hosin. This gets me close to Austria and allows to refill. Not that I needed it, but I felt more safe to enter the wilderness abroad with a full tank. Second leg LKHS EMKOG NIDLO LJMB. Third leg is rather a hop – LJMB PETOV LDZA.

This moves the story to the Sunday evening. Door opens, my lady enters the scene, looks at me sitting in the middle of heaps of paper and smiles. Yes, we fly together. Pavla is a great navigator, great autopilot and mainly a great lady.

As to the navigation, we had maps and three GPSes. We did not draw a line on the paper maps, but we studied them thoroughly and felt fine with understanding the information. Out of the GPS devices, the Aera500 is a primary navigation tool and the panelmount 295 is used as a backup. We also took for a first in-flight test a Samsung Note 4 with the navigation software FlyIsFun, a brilliant stuff. I loaded the planned routes to Aera and Samsung. Funny enough, in some cases I had to use different enroute points as the devices use different databases. Not a problem, as for VFR flight I believe the enroute precision required is “stay out of controlled airspaces” and that is what I planned.

And here came the Monday. A call to a phone number I found at Czech ATC website, a short talk to a nice lady and bingo, my first plan ever is filed. Next call was to Hosin and made clear that gas station is closed. OK, we take a full jerry can with us. I know, there is quite some controversy in this topic, but it solves the problem.

Looks good!

Then we got the aircraft ready, loaded the baggage and took off into a hot bumpy morning. Crossing Vltava:

The flight to Hosin was easy, the only difficulty was to find the airport. I know, I was there before. But still, approach from a different angle, forests around, staying low under an active airspace, so when we noticed the runways I better made a circle to get some time to plan the landing. BTW, Hosin is a beautiful airport in a beautiful part of our country.

We poured some gas from the jerry can to the tank and were ready to go. I phoned the FIC to make sure they have my flight plan available, and also to tell them we are 45 minutes delayed. The FIC said “No problem, just send the DELAY message”. “Sorry, Sir, I am a freshman here, what did you say I shall do?”. “Well, just call that lady, OK?”. And really, a call to the lady who filed my plan sorted that out. Suddenly, we are in the air again, heading southeast. I am reporting to FIC: “after takeoff from Hosin, please activate my flightplan”. FIC confirmed, and then said that while I have S mode squawk in my plan, he sees only A mode response. I admit, I do not use transponder too often. Next time I shall press the ALT instead of ON button. I did and FIC calls again: “I do not see the altitude information”. This one I know: “Altitude sender still heating up”. And sure enough, in a couple of seconds my transponder showed the altitude readout, I could proudly ask FIC for checking the response and got confirmation. Good. Now let’s fly a bit. The weather was beautiful, wind pushed us forward, and in a couple of minutes I was able to report “entering airspace of Austria”. Nice clouds over Sumava:

FIC responded “Contact Wien Information 124.4 have a nice flight”. I confirmed the frequency and tuned it on radio. This is the point when the journey really begins. I thought about what to say and called “… with flight plan over LOBG”. A known voice responded “124.4 good bye”. What? E-eh, yes, press the Transfer button! I did, called again and got a response from which I understood only Wien Information. “Sorry Sir say again”. The same response, a bit too fast, a bit too unusual accent, a bit of a noise perhaps, bad luck. After a third attempt I caught “routing”. The only answer I could imagine was “destination Maribor”. Next message came where I picked “shortcut”. “Yes, Sir, would be nice if weather permits”. Wien Information confirmed by “Roger” and that was the end of this dialogue. Didn’t I say I am affraid of radio abroad?

Now I was glad the comm is over and I can aviate again. Quick glimpse outside – still straight and level, clear air, no traffic. Quick glimpse inside – all in green, magenta line nearby. Time to enjoy the views. Flying just over Rappotenstein castle. Owned by the same family since 1664, what a continuity!

We kept the heading southwards towards Alps, to see if there is an option to cross that part of the mountains, as we were quite curious about the famous sceneries. The weather looked beautifully, with nice cumuli over the hills just in front of us. We kept enjoying as we were getting closer and closer. Surprisingly, the clouds were somehow growing and their bottoms darkened. The clearance between the hilltops and clouds was OK and seemed clear. But, the darker and darker cloudbases looked worrying. And then, suddenly, I noticed a lightning. In a fraction of a second later I found ourselves flying east, towards our planned route and around the dark danger.

The transformation of weather took perhaps ten minutes, no more. I thought about telling the FIC about the heading change, but probably there is no need for a VFR flight in uncontrolled airspace to keep a controller busy. We had a peaceful flight again. Crossing Donau seven minutes later, still flying around the storm:

At 4000ft over the Hohe Wand we felt like being in a big bowl. It is a pity we cannot capture feelings with the camera.

Wien Information switched us to a new frequency and from that moment onwards we understood all the controllers very well. What a relief! Shortly we received a traffic warning. While the radio frequency was quite busy, this was one of only two aircraft we met during the trip.

Three minutes before NIDLO I reported our position and was requested to contact Maribor Approach. I told the Approach “over NIDLO heading ME3” and then we were led via ME3 and ME1 to the airport. We shall see it by now. Is it that green area over there? Yes. Actually no, it is the next one! Maribor has a nice grass runway along the tarmac one. I did not want to take a chance and requested landing on grass – rwy 14 left. Approach confirmed “Excellent, at your discretion, Sir”.

Maribor is the most fragrant airport we have ever visited, says Pavla. The scent of thyme, coming from the fields around, was all over the airport.

Marshall brought us to parking and handler to the immigration. We just presented the passports and in a couple of seconds later we were on the way to the handler’s office. The handler, nice young person, asked about gas (no need for the next short leg) and handed me a phone to file the flight plan. The man on the phone was nice to talk to, very helpful, in a minute the FPL was filed and then he asked when do we want to take off? I said in ten minutes and that was it. No need for an hour between filing and flying?

Time to pay. The invoice included 10 Euro landing and 10 Euro handling. But as it was just a technical stop, we got a 50% discount on handling and paid 15 Eur in total.

OAT was 35C and the engine still hot. I shall be quick after startup as the aircraft does not cool too well on the ground. Good thing is that the taxiway is short. When Tower offered the backtrack option I requested a take off from abeam the taxiway. Still plenty of tarmac ahead. I pushed the throttle forward (not full forward, no need for turbo power here) and aircraft slowly started moving and accelerating. So, this is what density altitude means, thought I when she gently lifted up, and my eyes went quickly over the panel. Then I made silent oops and put the propeller fully fine. The change was quite noticeable. In a minute or so I decreased the vertical speed and throttled back a bit. We were flying about 95kts and 300fpm climb with as low power as it gets, making sure temperatures are safely under the red lines. It was really hot outside.

Terrace wineyards around Ptuj:

We got direct PETOV and shortly we were over it, at the border crossing. Here, just after PETOV, is the castle Trakoscan. Looks like new, but stays here since 13th century.

Maribor requested me to switch to Zagreb Information. Good bye, Maribor, you are a very nice, quiet, efficient international airport at the border of Schengen.

I tuned the new frequency, thought about what to say and then fired – withflightplanoverPETOVheadingNovemberone. The response was immediate “135.050 goodbye”. Oh no, not again! I pressed Transfer, passed the message and Tower said “Are you familiar with Kasina?”. “We have it on the map” said I. The VFR approach route N1-Kasina-N3 turns right over that village. But how to find out which village is the one? Pavla did not miss a beat, turned on the car navigation in her mobile and, voila, situation was clear. Then she said “Slow down, there is a 50km speedlimit over here”.

We got switched to Zagreb Tower, cleared to N3 and 2000ft with “number four to approach” and requested to circle over N3. That was a time to admire the big guys landing and taking off at the Zagreb airport. The Tower was really good, he spoke with all of them in a very professional speed, and with me slowly, to make sure I catch it all.

We got the clearance, joined base and then turned final, the conditions could not be better with clear sky and almost no wind, aircraft gently descending towards the aiming point, flare, delicate work with the stick to dissipate energy and prepare for a perfect two-wheeler, she still wants to fly, one more bit, and then the wheels kissed the ground…

Well, even a really positive kiss is a proof of relationship, right?

BTW, I believe I know what you think about the PAPI. I was aiming short to stop nearby a taxiway, to reduce taxying. And it worked, we stopped short after Bravo. The Tower requested us to backtrack and vacate that way. Marshall led us to the parking and the handler, a nice young lady, was with us immediately. “Do you need gas?” asked she, “For your information, this Gentleman is waiting for more than one hour” points she to a pilot preparing a beautiful DA40 for departure just next to us. We thought – one hour? then the fuel truck must be here in any moment – and confirmed. In a minute or two the truck arrived and started fueling the Diamond. The fuel person was running between the aircraft and the truck, looked worried. Shortly his colleague showed up helping him and the handler explained “They have a problem with it. Perhaps it would be better for you not to wait and refuel on departure”. I said that it depends on how quickly they fix it. If in ten minutes, we better wait. And the lady: “Nothing takes ten minutes in Croatia!”. Then there was nothing to wait for, she took us through the immigration and then we were out of the airport. We did it! With big smile on our faces we took the taxi and got to the hotel.

The non-aviation part of the story will be short. We spent two nights in a hotel Antunovic, a modern hotel with very good prices that include a great wellnes at the top floor. The business meeting went very well, it looks we have a good partner now in Croatia.

By the way, we love Croatia. For us as scuba- and freedivers Croatia is the nearest beautiful sea. Add the coastline, weather, food and people, and you get a mixture that is hard to find. At the business lunch I told the partners about my feeling. Of course, I am not alone, during summer the whole Europe goes for vacation to Croatia. I asked “I have always wondered where you, Croatians, like to go for vacation?”. And they said “To Croatia”. Quite understood.

Every proper writeup at this website shall include also photographs of some food. I am sorry I do not have any. Let me just mention that it was all great, being it a plieskavica, cevapi or burek.

We dedicated some time in the second evening to prepare the return flight. We already knew what to do. The weather promised a flyable route over Alps and that was what we planned. A hop to Maribor to enter Schengen, then straight over Alps to Hosin to refuel (this time the gas pump shall be open) and back home.

In the morning at the airport the same handling lady brought us through the GA immigration to security. All that was very friendly, but also very serious. My Leatherman was accepted without a word, but notebooks, electronics and whatever remained in the bags were screened slowly and in all details. This was much more serious than what the baggage of regular tourists is undergoing. Maybe it is so, as we have a free access to the cockpit?

Fueling was quick and easy. We got the aircraft ready and then went back to handling to file a plan and pay. I wrote the plan on a paper form, handed over to the handler, she faxed it and I got the fax receipt as a proof. As to payments, we paid the following: 91 Eur for landing, two nights parking and handling. 36l of gas for 64 EUR. That is 1.8 EUR/l. It makes it about 14l per hour with 105kt average speed. Not bad.

I started up the engine, waited for the temperatures and then called the tower “ready for departure”. “Standby” responded the tower. I turned the engine off. Yes, hot outside. And in a minute or two we saw two MIG21 jet fighters taxiing, lining up and taking off with a roar.

Then we got a clearance to taxi to holding point B rwy 05. During taxiing the tower asked “ready to copy your clearance?”. What? Whom? Me? What shall I say? My mind is full of steering the aircraft. Within a short moment the tower called again. I stopped, already nearby the holding point, responded and got my clearance – after departure turn left, N3, N1, PETOV. I confirmed and got the lineup and takeoff clearance. In no time we were flying. I turned left, heading N3, and then, mid of the way, started feeling strange about flying over the city and somehow turned right towards N1. Tower caught that quickly and called, with a bit of a tone of disappointment. Finally he gave me “direct N1, but next time follow the clearance accurately, Sir!”. I am sorry, certainly I will.

In 40 minutes we were back in Maribor, quick immigration, quick FPL filing and we are ready to go. Takeoff from Maribor via rwy 14 was easy, 180 turn and direct MUREG. Then we were transferred to Graz Radar 119.3. Our route was along the eastern border of Graz TMA and I . I requested climb to 7000. Graz allowed us to 3800ft, I shall request the climb to 7000 only when we really need to.

Soon we got to the mountains, requested climb to 7000ft and then just looked around and admired the views.

What an adventure! I kept looking for meadows suitable for emergency landing, as well as for possible ways out through the valeys to the eastern lowlands for cases of worsening weather.

And then we met this guy and cooled down a bit. Apparently, with the right skillset one even does not need an engine to enjoy the mountains.

We are through. I am reporting a descent to 4000.

Time for a decision. Quick look at the totalizer shows that we still have more than enough gas in the tank. The fuel level gauge just confirms that. We did the fuel tank calibration this winter so we know how much of fuel, flying time and estimated distance we still have available. Pavla feels comfortable with continued flying, me too. Europa is a small but surprisingly comfortable aircraft. I called the FIC and asked him to close my flight plan, as we do not want to land at Hosin, but continue to our home airport, LKKL. He confirmed and wished a good flight.

And here we go. This is the atom heart of our country.

That green stuff down there around the Zvikov castle is really a water.

A house of our former minister of foreign affairs. He inherited it, not purchased. Out of that crowd he is actually the less bad kind of a guy.

A house of our former king. Good guy with no doubts (judged from the distance of 700 years). And we are getting close to our house.

Our home runway at LKKL, we did it! No, actually not yet, the plane shall be flown to the full stop and power off, so keep focus!

What to say for the summary – a lot of fun, a lot of experience gained. And the fact that this lovely journey was actually a business trip adds a special flavour to it.