Memories of Hangelar EDKB...

Even better. The sillyness of a laser ranger enforced +/- 150 tolerance on the circuit track was imposed by the third tier of German bureaucracy (“Bezirksregierung”), and somehow the AOPA managed to escalate this to the second tier (“Landesregierung” / state government) and the ministry for transport of the state then asked an expert.

That expert established many things, such as

• The charts on which the circuit is published are not precise enough for the required tolerance
• That is is impossible to identify the exact circuit track using buildings, roads or other ground features alone
• That the required precision is far above the required performance for a PPL, and far in excess of the tolerances permissible in IFR flight using certified equipment
• That even IF the charts wre accurate and IF there were sufficient ground features, and IF the pilot were perfect, the view from a typical cockpit makes it impossible to fly within the required tolerance (they actually measured that!)
• That the precision of the laser ranger used was insufficient to establish whether a pilot was flying within tolerance
• That in practice, using it for a moving target lead to numerous wrong measurements
• That the location and mode of use was agains the instructions for use of the range finder and how it sholud be calibrated
• That the circuit as specified is unsafe for faster aircraft
• That excessive focus of the pilot on track keeping could lead to reduced safety

All in all, 75 pages…

After that, the ministry told the local government to take their 150m rule and stick it where the sun doesn’t shine.

Indeed I remember the occasion well, though not that particular restaurant. It is a fine memory, except that indeed both the aerodrome and the nearby village seemed like totally deserted.

Regarding the local circuit procedures: I seem to remember that they brought in some “Hai-Tech” observation equipment, perhaps from Zürich, that was supposed to track pilots very narrowly for circuit adherence – but failed miserably, so that the local nimby’s now keep quiet, and flying has returned to “normal” practice.

MedEwok wrote:

The absurd circuit limitations in EDKB have long since been lifted by court order, or so I read. The airfield can be flown into with the same precautions as almost any other German airfield. Don’t fly directly over densely built up areas where possible and you’ll be fine.

I flew with an instructor from EDKB. Just before joining the circuit he overlaid the circuit diagram on the moving map and told me to follow the line. I did (almost perfectly, I got lucky…) to which he said “you don’t have to be exact”. This was back in June. Glad to hear common sense prevails in this case.

EDKB is likely to be my new base come the end of March. If anybody knows of any syndicates or clubs on top of those listed on the EDKB website I’d be happy to hear about them!

The absurd circuit limitations in EDKB have long since been lifted by court order, or so I read. The airfield can be flown into with the same precautions as almost any other German airfield. Don’t fly directly over densely built up areas where possible and you’ll be fine.

I read about the stringent circuit requirements and was prepared to fly it exactly as published, but when I was approaching from a direction that would force me into a Z-shaped maneuvre, the FISO spotted me from the tower and said not to bother and just go straight to final. I’ve been there several times, and every time the FISOs were very friendly and willing to go out of the way to help (stay for a few minutes after closing time, give me a lift to the station when I had a big backpack, etc.). Definitely recommended.

Strangely enough I’ve always avoided Bonn Hangelar like the plague after I read reports that they had people on the ground with equipment measuring the deviation from the circuit and legal proceedings were taken accordingly, even though aviation groups proved that there was no way a pilot could adhere to the circuit all the time accurately and still be safe. I also recall one pilot challenging the fine issued for not following the circuit and claiming he had diverted from the published circuit to avoid some large birds and the case was thrown out. However I just thought – why risk the hassle – and head off to Koblenz instead

Oh yes I flew into Cologne and went to Hangelar by land. That restaurant shut as soon as we left and there was absolutely nothing open in the area after that

I remember that day very fondly!