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VFR Europe trip in July, tips appreciated!

Hi I am planning to go visit some friends scattered all over Europe this summer.

As I am quite new to flying outside of my comfort zone in southern Sweden, Denmark and top north of Germany I like some input and tips.
Don’t be afraid to call me crazy or stupid, but please don’t just tell me that, help me out instead.
I will go in my Socata TB-9 Tampico with extended tanks, and most of the time not clime very high.

In an early stage I’m planning the following route:
ESMS – EDAY – EDDC – LKKB – LOWW – LOWG – LJLJ – LIPQ – LIPV – LIMJ – LFMN – LFMD – LFML – LFLU – ELLX – EBGB – EHEH – EDDW – EDHL – ESMS

I am sure there are good alternatives to many of the airports and some is not intended to land on, just for navigation at this stage.
I need AVGAS so that is a must, also even if my airplane is IFR equipped I myself need some additional training before skill test……
So VFR weather is a must.

I have no time frame or a loose one, I don’t have to be home a fixed date and I plan on 2 – 3 weeks starting around the 8 of July.
I plan to take it easy and stay a day or two at many locations. But 20 airports in 2 weeks staying over… well you get the point I guess.

So what do I need then? MAPS and PLATES ! A really good start don’t you think? But I also need tips and pointers, ideas and if anyone is willing to lend maps or charts or make some copies I would be happy! I am also unfamiliar with where to obtain good weather forecasts in southern Europe.

I will be flying alone or with a friend, I do have room to spare if someone needs a lift part way.

ESMS

Stay away from LOWW. There are alternatives, even smaller VFR fields. If you really want a big airport, try Bratislava instead and save landing and handling. There is a train from Bratislava to downtown Vienna (1 h) for just a few euros round trip, and you can take the opportunity to visit the city.

Same goes for Nice and Marseilles. For Nice, Cannes is probably close enough. For Marseilles try Aix Les Milles.

In Southeastern France Avignon is also highly recommended, as are Montpellier and Carcassonne (south-western)

And why Luxembourg? Try Strasbourg or Colmar instead. Both are highly seaworthy. Or Mannheim/Heidelberg.

Concerning plates the most convenient place to get them for all countries except Germany and Switzerland is the Autorouter briefing section.

Concerning maps, paper maps is somewhat a thing of the past now that Jeppesen has discontinued the VFR+GPS series. I recommend using a tablet-based navigation app like AirNavPro and buy the electronic (raster) charts. You can also get the VACs there. If you want paper as a backup you can buy the Airmillion or other 1:1000000 charts.

Concerning weather briefings I would again recommend Autorouter even if you currently fly VFR. But you will also need some tool to file your flight plans. In that case you may want to pay 10 €/month for a EuroFPL subscription and use that for briefings and filing.

There are other electronic tools that provide all in one and that I am sure others will recommend.

I personally feel your program is somewhat ambitious over a three week period. I would aim at spending a couple of nights in each place so you get a full day. There is a lot of overhead associated with landing, getting into town, check in, sight-see, check out, get back to the airport etc day after day. You’ll be beat. Lower the pace and enjoy.

Last Edited by Aviathor at 12 Jun 20:17
LFPT, LFPN

First, let me just say YES!
That is great! Adventure! Of course it will be a challenge. Why go flying for any other reason?
Your ambitious idea is really exciting and I’m glad to read about it.
Wish I could fly alongside you for the trip. Sounds like it will be an epic adventure you’ll not soon forget.

Aviathor wrote:

Stay away from LOWW.

Agree completely about LOWW, and most major airports for that matter.

In general it is probably best to avoid major International airports when flying VFR and having a good time.
Accessing smaller, GA airfields nearby is usually far more cost-effective and the approach procedures are more relaxed.

I’ve not flown too far north, so I don’t know what it is like in your ‘neck of the woods’ but I know that Germany can be a stickler about noise pollution, so definitely want to have your Noise Certificate handy to save some money.

Also, if you’re flying into smaller airports (highly recommended) you’ll want to make sure you have the correct VFR approach routes. A lot of these cool little airports have villages nearby that require you to take a snakey circuit in the pattern (not all racetracks patterns).

SkyDemon just introduced a lot of them, but they didn’t show the actual patterns, just the reporting points. That helps a lot.
If you simply let the airfield know you’re not familiar, but have have reporting points, they should be able to give you the reporting points in sequence and you can just dodge the villages along the way…

If you want a cheap alternative for having all the airport taxiways and layouts, I’d recommend installing OSMAnd+ on your tablet and downloading the countries you’ll be visiting.
The airports are pretty details and the taxiways are labeled. It is fully offline and GPS capable, so there isn’t any issue with networking.
That trick isn’t “approved” by any means, but certainly it is a lot cheaper than the 400/yr option from Jepp.

There is a way to fly directly over Vienna…
If you’re not afraid to try this, you might look at flying along the Danube over Vienna. There is only one flight path you can take to do it….
https://www.pilotsofamerica.com/community/threads/vfr-to-vienna.94849/
Put more simply, it is (basically) from Stockerau along the Danube over the LOWW VOR and then out of the LOWW airspace.

After you’ve landed either at Voeslau or Stockerau, just ask the pilots there how you can fly exactly along (over) the Danube and they should be able to give you clear idea/instruction on it.
When you depart the local airfield, take that route…
If it is a clear day, you’ll get a spectacular view of the city that most will never see…

Aviathor wrote:

I personally feel your program is somewhat ambitious over a three week period. I would aim at spending a couple of nights in each place so you get a full day. There is a lot of overhead associated with landing, getting into town, check in, sight-see, check out, get back to the airport etc day after day. You’ll be beat. Lower the pace and enjoy.

This is wise.
The most likely case is that you will encounter weather and be forced to stay for a few days anyway, so it is good to plan less airfields.
Something that also works, is picking a ‘home’ airfield and then making small trips out from it to other nearby airfields if you get bored there during the few days you’ve planned.

It is a shame you’ll be so close to Croatia and won’t fly there.
I’d personally cut out some of the trips in the middle (ahem, Germany) and get to the Adriatic and spend more time there. That’s my personal taste though, so take that with a block of salt.

Last Edited by AF at 12 Jun 22:00

Some basics that are probably redundant for you:

Quoting wiser people here, fill your tanks when you land.
Saves a lot of time when you’re ready to take off, and, in general, just makes things generally smoother and easier.

Take some oil and the necessary funnel, as you’ll probably burn enough along the way and it is just easier to grab it from the back and pour it in than it is trying to source it locally.

Pack water and some snacks, like Trail Mix (nuts, raisins + chocolate) or some kind Potato Chips or Veggie Crisps. I find the salted nuts are great when flying longer legs (bladder control) and keeps you from getting bored (yes, it can happen).
The water bottle is also your emergency toilet…

You might want to grab one of these for keeping your tablet charged on long flights:
https://www.amazon.de/dp/B00M3PI1M4/
Not certified, but they don’t create radio interference like most others and it has 2 × 2.4A for more power.

Last Edited by AF at 12 Jun 22:12

use LIMG instead of LIMJ.

Albenga is an international GA airfield, costs less has always parking space and Avgas is available. Turn around time is fast and in 5 minutes you’re on the beach in Alassio.

If you arrive at LIMJ Genova during commercial traffic hours you might be stuck at the airport for quite some time. Secondly, I don’t like the city at all.

LSZH

I too would recommend the very scenic Adriatic especially the islands Mali Losinj LDLO or Brac LDSB. Wonderful places to spend a few days. I have some trip writeups here. The Sep 2016 one is a brief writeup from a EuroGA fly-in to Brac.

Administrator
Shoreham EGKA, United Kingdom

If I were you I would go for a monthly subscription of SkyDemon if you don’t have it already. I like it a lot and it fairly cheap for this kind of trip. Borrow an extra iPad as backup in case the other one goes bust and then you do not have to worry about the paper charts at all. Lycka till, du kommer att ha jättekul!

ESSZ, Sweden

Thank you all for your comments and inputs!
I really appreciate all the input and will stay out of LOWW ;)
Most of the trip after LIPV is just a way to get home ;)
I do have some friends in Brussels that I like to visit but the rest is totally open for rescheduling.
And little me and my dog don’t like to go over the high tops of the alps anyway.

I’ll be redrawing maps all day, thank you! ( I’ll gladly redraw them every day due to good inputs ;) )

/Mårten

ESMS

In Germany the basic SkyDemon map shows all the traffic patterns – not only the reporting points.

A somewhat flippant comment: a pilot based at my base was also trying to “avoid LOWW” and killed himself trying to get into LOAV. N403HP. There are times when the “avoid this airport” (as posted on aviation forums regularly, on the UK sites for any airport that charges more than £10 ) is not good advice, especially for a one-off trip when the extra cost is not an issue, compared to cost of avgas, food, hotels, etc. At the time LOWW was about €50.

Administrator
Shoreham EGKA, United Kingdom
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