OK, so as I explained, I am a newly minted IR/ME pilot. While I'm still flying my single-engine DA-40NG, I have now done five IFR flights across Europe on my own. These are my first impressions. They might be of some use if you are considering going for your IR ticket.
The flights I've done so far are:
Stockholm to Gothenburg
Gothenburg to Kassel
Kassel to Basel
Basel to Cannes
Cannes to Perugia
Fuel range - Oops, I guess I could have figured that out
So, flying IFR means always having to file an alternative destination. (There are exceptions, but since we "never" land at an AD with two independent parallel runways, the exceptions don't apply to us.) Filing an alternate is fine, but you also have to carry fuel sufficient to reach your alternate. That fuel is in addition to your 45 minute reserve for piston engines (which under IFR you are not allowed to use without declaring a fuel emergency). You may also want to have contingency fuel, if weather is questionable or you are flying into a very busy AD, etc. So, the upshot, is that where I regularly counted on flying 4 hours VFR (with 45 minutes reserve, which I could use in the event, if necessary, as a matter of course), flying IFR with the same fuel capacity means a more normal flight range of 2.5 to 3 hours, depending on how close the alternate is to my destination. Thus, more flights. More flight planning. More time landing, re-fueling, taking off. It just simply takes longer to get where you are going.
Let it rain
As long as the temperatures at altitude are above freezing and there are no CBs or TS, you just fly. That is very nice. No worries about normal overcast levels (usually well above minimums). Rain is not a problem. Showers not a problem, just keep an eye on the storm scope. You can plan to go somewhere and have a high probability of being to get there when you said. My landing at Kassel on this trip was in ceilings down to about 700ft. That sounds like it's plenty high, but you are enveloped in clouds well after your final point of descent. That was a localizer approach, since their glide slope was not working. I was pretty busy checking altitudes and following the localizer, but when the lights finally showed up, I was about where I needed to be. It really is a fantastic system for getting back on the ground in bad weather.
Ice
The new nemesis is icing. Instead of monitoring cloud cover forecasts, I now monitor the icing forecasts. Icing during the warm part of the year is usually above FL100, or even FL150, but can be lower. When flying IFR on the continent, you have to file on the lower airways (as far as I know right now). This often means that you have to be up between FL100 and FL150, because the MEAs are up there. So even in the Summer, you can have issues with icing risk. That's a new wrinkle for flight planning. This is dependent on what kind of equipment you have, of course. My DA-40 has no anti-ice equipment of any kind. So for me, NO ice is the only policy. I cannot fly through the icing layer to get on top of it, unfortunately. If I had certified FIKI (flight into known icinig) equipment, and the icing layer was reasonably shallow, then I could get on top of the ice and back down through it without any risk.
Traffic and air space
The other nice aspect of IFR flying is that you no longer have to expect traffic conflicts. You can't of course abdicate your responsibility to be aware of traffic and avoid it, but the controllers, as long as you are in controlled air space, have a responsibility to separate you. There are exceptions, of course, depending on what class of airspace you are in, but for the most part, you are separated. That is a very nice feeling and it raises the safety level considerably. Being IFR also means you can now fly in class 'A' air space, so you probably won't be diverted as much. I have yet to know in practice how this really works. You can always get vectored off your route for traffic reasons, but you don't have huge tracts of air space that are just completely off limits, anymore.
Service
My experience on this five flights, especially on arrival, is that the service level you are provided with by the controllers makes a huge difference in the complexity of getting down on the runway. For example, arrival at Cannes (LFMD) involved an especially busy airspace. Both Marseilles and Nice are in the area, and Cannes itself is pretty active. The controllers are talking almost without break. I was a little nervous about getting a word in, but as soon as I was identified, I was on vectoring. I just followed the instructions and lo and behold, eventually I was both on the correct initial altitude and lined up 30 degrees off the localizer for my approach. No worries! I was vectored also at Gothenburg, Kassel and Basel. At Perugia, I got a standard arrival to follow. I really feel like I have all the assistance necessary to get safely to the runway, no matter how much traffic there is or what the weather conditions are.
Tuesday, July 2, 2013
Now its IFR
I have been offline for a good many months, now. During that time, I acquired my IR/ME ticket, so now I'll mostly be flying IFR. I am as I write this at FL50 over Denmark, inbound to Alsie, in weather that is decidedly IMC. Above me, around FL80, icing starts. At this alt, I'm in clouds with occasional showers. Every now and then, I've gotten up and down drafts that force the AP 50ft or so off my altitude. I increased the power a little to make sure my airspeed is sufficient for the climbs. All this tells me the embedded CBs that were forecast are not far away. I'm keeping a careful eye on the storm scope for strikes, of which I've seen a few at a safe distance (so far). I am on my way from Gothenburg to Kassel, right now. Depending on how things look, I may continue to Basle-Mulhouse.
The whole IFR experience is brand new to me, so I can't give any sage advice about it. I can share my experience as it is gained however, for those who might be interested. What I can do is talk a little about why I decided to do all the work (and spend all the money!) to get the IR/ME rating.
First, the IR am talking about is a "full" IR rating, not the "IMC" rating they have in England. The IR rating means you fly in the same system as the commercial pilots (although, for me, only in the low airways, since my DA40 has a 16,000ft service ceiling). This rating means I can depart and land in IMC, down to, in principle the same minimums as the commercial planes, allowing for differences in my on-board equipment (no radio altimeter = no Cat II/III landings), and a single-pilot crew has higher visibility minimums. It also means you have a responsibility to fulfill all the requirements of the IFR system. For example, fuel becomes more of an issue, since you have to both file and have fuel to reach an alternate destination. This effectively reduces your range for a lot of flights.
It's taken me seven months, calendar time, of pretty intense focus to get my ratings. There are seven theory subjects to take exams on, to start with. I had heard these are very difficult. In the event, it did take a lot of work, but the subject matter is not that difficult. What is required is a LOT of rote memorization, however. So it does take some sweat. Then there is the practical training: learning to fly in IMC and do approaches using the different kinds of nav aids. This was the part that really took work, at least for me. I had the good fortune of being able to fly intensively, 3-4 times a week, and more than that in the final sprint. I think this helped enormously.
So stiffer requirements, often shorter fuel range, a ton of work and money... Why go through all that? As always with flying, the answer depends on why you fly, what kind of flying you like to do, your "mission". For my part, I like to travel. For many years, as part of my work, I flew commercial flights (as a pax) all over the place. I am, bluntly, sick to death of flying commercial airlines, no matter what "class" the ticket is. I think it is enormous fun to fly myself around Europe to the destinations I want to visit. I also like to meet people, maybe take a meeting now and then, and I need to be able to get back home when the time comes.
All that is just really difficult VFR. The weather, even in the Summer, can always get in the way (if you want to fly safely). In the end, you never can really plan to do something and know that it will happen. That said, the IR rating doesn't completely solve that. There is still icing, CBs and TSs to watch out for. But, at least during the warm half of the year, it increases your chances dramatically. So that was my rationale for going for it. Now I'll see how it works out in reality. I'll try to post here, in case any of you want to find out.
The whole IFR experience is brand new to me, so I can't give any sage advice about it. I can share my experience as it is gained however, for those who might be interested. What I can do is talk a little about why I decided to do all the work (and spend all the money!) to get the IR/ME rating.
First, the IR am talking about is a "full" IR rating, not the "IMC" rating they have in England. The IR rating means you fly in the same system as the commercial pilots (although, for me, only in the low airways, since my DA40 has a 16,000ft service ceiling). This rating means I can depart and land in IMC, down to, in principle the same minimums as the commercial planes, allowing for differences in my on-board equipment (no radio altimeter = no Cat II/III landings), and a single-pilot crew has higher visibility minimums. It also means you have a responsibility to fulfill all the requirements of the IFR system. For example, fuel becomes more of an issue, since you have to both file and have fuel to reach an alternate destination. This effectively reduces your range for a lot of flights.
 |
| IMC taking off from ESGP this morning |
It's taken me seven months, calendar time, of pretty intense focus to get my ratings. There are seven theory subjects to take exams on, to start with. I had heard these are very difficult. In the event, it did take a lot of work, but the subject matter is not that difficult. What is required is a LOT of rote memorization, however. So it does take some sweat. Then there is the practical training: learning to fly in IMC and do approaches using the different kinds of nav aids. This was the part that really took work, at least for me. I had the good fortune of being able to fly intensively, 3-4 times a week, and more than that in the final sprint. I think this helped enormously.
So stiffer requirements, often shorter fuel range, a ton of work and money... Why go through all that? As always with flying, the answer depends on why you fly, what kind of flying you like to do, your "mission". For my part, I like to travel. For many years, as part of my work, I flew commercial flights (as a pax) all over the place. I am, bluntly, sick to death of flying commercial airlines, no matter what "class" the ticket is. I think it is enormous fun to fly myself around Europe to the destinations I want to visit. I also like to meet people, maybe take a meeting now and then, and I need to be able to get back home when the time comes.
All that is just really difficult VFR. The weather, even in the Summer, can always get in the way (if you want to fly safely). In the end, you never can really plan to do something and know that it will happen. That said, the IR rating doesn't completely solve that. There is still icing, CBs and TSs to watch out for. But, at least during the warm half of the year, it increases your chances dramatically. So that was my rationale for going for it. Now I'll see how it works out in reality. I'll try to post here, in case any of you want to find out.
Thursday, December 27, 2012
Scandinavian Winter
Just a note to say I haven't stopped flying, but from the middle of November until the end of December, we can expect to get very little VFR weather in Sweden. The rest of Northern Europe isn't much better. I am working on my IR now, and that will help get me where I need to go during those cloudy, warmish months in the Spring and Autumn. Unfortunately, the Winter brings ice and the clouds are treacherous for that reason, so I'll probably always be subject to this early-Winter down time. It's a good season to be indoors hitting the books, however, so that's what I'm doing.
With a little luck, things will look better in January and February. Still cold, of course, but we often get clear Winter days that are a joy to fly in.
- Brian
Sunday, November 11, 2012
Munich, Salzburg, Kassel, Duxford - June 21 to July 1, 2012
This was my first long cross-country trip on the continent. I had two different goals. First, I was meeting an old high-school buddy and his girlfriend, who were to be in Munich for a few days. Then, with a flying buddy from Sweden, a visit to the Duxford Flying Legends Air Show (a fly-in).
The whole trip was planned to span over about two weeks at the end of June, but I made sure to have plenty of leeway to allow for weather stops. That time of year can be unpredictable. I had some confidence it would work out, since it seems to me that the summer more often brings cold fronts with their showers and thunder storm weather. You really don't want to be flying in TCU or CBs, but you can usually find a way around them. So I figured, with a little patience I should be able to fly my routes.
ESGP - EDHL
June 21 - 2.4 hrs - 255 NGM
The whole trip started that way, as cold-front weather made its reliable entrance for Swedish Midsummer. My first goal was to get down to Augsburg (EDMA), just to the West of Munich. To avoid getting socked in in Stockholm, I flew to Göteborg (ESGP) to position myself for the flight down to Lubeck (EDHL - my first re-fuel). This worked and the next day, I made the relatively short flight (2.4 hrs) down. I was forced by the fronts to stay in Lubeck for a couple of days, but this is a mild punishment, Lubeck being a very pleasant place to be. I toured the town, took some photos, saw some of the beautiful older buildings (from the Hansa period).
The route down to Lubeck from Göteborg goes along Sweden's West Coast, a really beautiful flight if you have any kind of clear weather (which of course we always do, flying VFR). I chose to leave the coast and enter Danish airspace at the SVD VOR, flying then right over the top of Roskilde at or below 1500 ft. This keeps you out of all of Kastrup's charlie airspace. I have actually been cleared through Kastrups CTL once, just north of the AD. But I tend not to press my luck. I realize the controllers have a lot of big commercial traffic they need to attend to, and having flies buzzing around in the space just adds to the workload. So I usually plan to go either north or south and stay low.
The route then continues over Lolland, the southern-most island of Denmark and also beautiful to see from the air. Flying directly from Roskilde to the Mickelsdorf VOR keeps you east of the huge R-area, Langeland. After you pass into Bremen Information's airspace you almost immediately leave them for Lubeck tower. I flew late in the day (after waiting in Göteborg for the weather to clear) and arrived at Lubeck at 2035 LT. It was still before civil twilight, however, it being the longest day of the year!
EDHL - EDMA
June 23 - 3.2 hrs - 325 NGM
Early on the 23rd, I took off from Lubeck for Augsburg. The route couldn't be simpler. Three VORs, HLZ, ERF and ERL, line up almost straight south to guide you right there. The skies were clear that day, so I took the easy way out and got cleared by Bremen Information up to FL95 almost directly, and stayed there until I began my descent after clearing Nurnberg at ERL. Bremen passed me to Munich Information over Magdeburg. In Germany (in Europe, actually), although you file a flight plan, the Information controllers apparently don't get the plan. So they always want to know your departure, destination and type when you contact them. Also, you get a new squawk from each one, so they tell you to squawk VFR when you leave their space and expect you to be on 7000 when you call the first time.
This route took me east of Hannover, over Erfurt (west of Leipzig), and right over Nurnberg, but their charlie space ends at FL70, so I don't bother them. Augsburg lies under Munich's charlie space, but there it's up at FL85, and I descended way below that by the time I got there, so you get handed off directly from Munich Info to Augsburg TWR. They have an ATIS service, which we dutifully listen to and report on reaching their Oscar 1 reporting point. I had programmed all their reporting points into the G1000 on the way down, so whatever instruction they'd give me would be easy to comply with. The list of reporting points with coordinates is in the AD VFR chart (which Rocket Route conveniently makes available for your flight when you file). Having the reporting points in the system puts them on the moving map (MFD), so flying the approach is easy and leaves you right on base for the chosen runway (in this case, 25).
Augsburg is a very convenient AD with JetA and plenty of parking on the apron. You can stay as many days as you want, no prior notice necessary and no handling required. I was there more or less in high season, but there was no problem. You fuel at the pumps (no fuel truck) at the west end of the apron and then park as directed. Once I was west of the tower, once east of the tower. It's all good. And the fees are reasonable. For three separate landings and five days of parking, the total bill was €88.
I caught a taxi into Munich, where I had booked a B&B on the west side of the city, to be closer to the airport. That worked great, as the Stadtbahn is typically very easy to use and takes you anywhere in town you want to go.
EDMA - LOWS - EDMA
June 24 - 1.2 hrs each way - 100 NGM
I had a day to spare before my friends arrived from the U.S., so being a pilot, I had to find somewhere to fly to. I considered points West, like Basle-Mulhouse, but that seemed like a bit too long for a day trip. I settled instead on Salzburg. I've been there before and love the city, and flying in just had to be done, so it was decided.
I had planned a route over the most convenient VORS, MAH and MUN, to go south of Munich's CTL. The safe altitudes on the Jeppesen charts in that area rangt from 3400 to 3800, so I was going to fly at least at 4000 ft. That meant the MAH VOR was inside Munich's charlie airspace, and the controller did not want me there. So I jogged to the south right over Oberpfaffenhofen to the MUN VOR and then flew direct the Tachinger See reporting point for Salzburg's TMA. Munich Information passed me right to Salzburg, so I never talked to Wien Info.
Flying into Salzburg from the North was one of the most spectacular experiences I've had. What you notice as you plan the flight is that you are dealing with real altitudes. Coming from Sweden, we fly around most the time over landscape that is at or near MSL.
The Salzburg AD itself is "only" at 1411ft, but the mountains just south of it rise up to 6, 7, 8 and 9000 feet. As you fly south toward the airport, not yet being able to discern the runway, you are descending from your 4500ft cruising altitude down to 2500 or so for your approach. As you are descending, you get closer and closer to the mountains that all seem to be getting higher and higher. It is spectacular, and was also a little disconcerting the first time. I was lucky enough to be number two behind a Citation, so I could follow his approach path toward the runway.
The Salzburg AD is a larger, regional airport. They are used to bizjets (as one might expect), and a sort of handling-lite is required. Basically, you get a follow-me truck to your parking spot and then a bus from your plane into the GA terminal (where they have glossy magazines, leather chairs and bottled water). They'll arrange a taxi for you and handle all your paperwork (coming from Germany, there was none needed). The bill for all this was €62, which considering everything was OK. It's not cheap, but it is Salzburg, after all. After a day in town, I was back out at the airport in the afternoon for the flight back. (Unfortunately, I was unaware of the Red Bull hangars at the Salzburg airport, so I didn't get the chance to go by for a tour. Arrggh! Next time, for sure.)
By the way, I'll again tip you that having all the reporting points programmed into your GPS is very helpful. At Salzburg, they really want you to fly directly over Whiskey, and will notice if you don't find it (judging from the radio traffic i heard), so be warned.
The flight home, I went north of Munich's CTL, instead, just for the change of pace. It was not as beautiful a flight, though. I wouldn't route that way again. The route south, right over the city, and in view of the low Alps rising up to the south, is by far the more enjoyable one.
EDMA - EDVK - EDMA
June 26 - 2.1 hrs out, 1.7 hrs back - 197 NGM
My high-school buddy had planned to visit an old friend of his who lives in Kassel. They could have taken the train 3 hrs each way or so, meaning they'd probably stay over night. Instead, being a pilot, I offered to fly them up there and make a day trip of it. They thanked my profusely and I was just as thankful to have a "mission".
The route was again simple. Generally, I've experience Germany being pretty straightforward to fly around. They don't have scads of restricted areas all over the place (compare with Belgium, for example, or even eastern France). Even if you can't get up to higher flight levels, you can pretty much fly to your destination with out diversions, as long as you don't fly over the big international ADs. They will not allow you in their charlie airspace, so plan to fly around or over them.
This plan was north to the Dinkelsbuhl VOR, then WUR and FUL (to keep us east of Frankfurt's TMA) and then straight over Fritzlar to Kassel-Calden. On this trip, we actually had some ceilings to deal with. They were a little tricky, as it was SKC near Munich, becoming FEW and then SCT further north. I climbed up to FL75 or so to begin with and then stayed up there as long as I dared for the clear, turbulence-free air. Eventually, I had to get back down under the cloud cover, though, and we finished the flight at 3500 feet prior to our approach.
The approach was a little interesting. It turns out they are building a new runway there, and I rather clumsily lined up my long final with the new runway instead of the current one, which I noticed as I got a little closer and saw all the machinery and debris. No real problem, as it was an OK base for the real runway, but a little disconcerting for me. That experience taught me that it is good to always check your heading (or actually, track) to see if it matches with the runway you are supposed to be on final for. Seems like a good idea.
Kassel-Calden is another convenient, smaller GA AD with TWR service and asphalt RWY. JetA and help booking a taxi were available, but no handling required and really reasonable landing fees, €18 including parking for the day. I suppose one should keep reading the AIP as the new runway is being built to see if any of this changes.
The flight back was in clear skies with a tail wind. Same route, and now I was "experienced" landing at Augsburg. The idea of "basing" the plane at an AD, staying at a B&B near there, and exploring the area with day trips was very, very nice. I will consider planning another vacation in that way. It's a great kind of pilot's vacation, but can be interesting for non-pilot family members as well. You have an enormous range of possible sites to see. From Augsburg, you have Austria, Southern Germany, Southeast France and Northern Switzerland all within reach for a day trip. Imagine doing the same thing based at Dijon in France, or somewhere in Italy or Spain, or near Prague. Many possibilities!
EDMA - LFAT
June 28 - 3.6 hrs - 394 NGM
My U.S. friends left Munich for the next part of their trip, and I met a flying buddy who came down from Stockholm. We had planned to fly out to Duxford to see their Flying Legends Airshow, the first leg of which was to Le Touquet on the French coast. Now the interesting flying would begin. The airspace on the French side of the border around Metz is pretty complicated. There are a lot of restricted areas. They also have the (in)famous low-flying military jet corridors that stretch from 800ft to, for example, 2500 ft AGL. They are in mountainous terrain, so figuring out what MSL you need to stay out of their corridors is a little tricky the first time.
Our route went west from Augsburg to the Tango VOR, then Karlsruhe (KRH), then continued northwest to Pirmasens, west to cross the FIR boundary near Saarlouis. I planned that way because at that point I had still not quite understood that they just don't want transit flights through charlie airspace, period. So in the event, we were asked to route south of Stuttgart to stay out of their TMA. We obliged, of course, and then followed the rest of the route.
If you look at the route (This is the Rocket Route display with the airspaces shown), you'll see the red military corridor that the route follows. I planned this to fly above the corridor, which as long as you have the ceilings for it, provides a great route clear of other restricted areas (for the most part). Once we crossed into the French FIR (Strasbourg Info), we did this direct Montmedy (MMD) VOR, then Cambrai (CMB) and it worked just fine. From there, it was a clear shot to Le Touquet.
We talked to Strasbourg Info on the way into the FIR (took a while to get them on the phone), then eventually switched to Paris Info, and then Lille Info. They just monitored our flight, but otherwise had no opinions on our route or progress. Lille handed us off to LFAT TWR.
Le Touquet (full name of the area: Le Touquet-Paris-Plage) has a wonderful smaller airport. JetA, no handling, plenty of parking on the apron, TWR service, customs handling. It tends to be windy, being on the coast. The town itself has lots of nice hotels, and the restaurants are French, so low expectations not necessary. If you can't make London (or whatever destination you are aiming for in the UK) on one hop, this is a great place to stop. We had booked rooms at a local hotel. We ate dinner, took an
invigorating walk by the water and then slept well. The next day, we were bound for the UK.
LFAT - EGMD
June 29 - 1 hr - 40 NGM
We were actually headed for Duxford, but that is not a customs AD, so we needed to check into the UK somewhere, first. I also had the brilliant idea that we would contact a flying club in the UK and see if we couldn't get an instructor to sit with us and talk about flying in the UK airspace a little bit. I've read a little and it seemed that they use some terminology that is a little different, and flying around the London area can be a little tricky, since there are so many ADs in such a small space.
The choice was Lydd. The AD sits out on the southeast most corner of England, right next to a nuclear power plant and a military training area (firing range). We filed to enter at the SOVAT FIR reporting point and then fly direct to the AD. Lydd has specific instructions about reporting on approach, which I'd read and followed on the way in. My surprise, for some reason, was that the trip was so short. It all happened to quickly, I had hardly any chance to get up to the altitude I had planned to climb to over the channel. I was so focused on "altitude = safety", that I didn't bother to do the math and figure out there wouldn't be any time to climb up to FL65 (where the alpha airspace begins). Lydd us also on the coast, also very windy at times. I had the most "exciting" landing of the whole trip here. I don't remember what the cross wind was, but it was very gusty, so I felt good about getting all three gear on the pavement without hurting anything.
In any case, we did pass customs at Lydd, parked the plane, called Duxford to get a landing slot for the next day. We also had a 15 minute session with one of the instructors, which proved helpful. You never know what will be of use until you actually listen to a knowledgable person for a while. If nothing else, it helped our confidence to pick our way between ADs on the way up to Duxford the next day. The instructor helps us out for no charge (very nice, very like a flying club) and the fees at Lydd totalled €21 for landing and parking over night. Well, at least it was cheap.
We had re-fueled at Le Touquet, and my plan was to do the legs to Lydd, Duxford and then back to Calais before we fueled again. So we spent the night near Lydd (Not recommended - see my blog entry on Aerodromes), and the next day we left so as to arrive for our 1020 landing slot.
EGMD - EGSU
June 30 - 0.9 hr - 88 NGM
The flight to Duxford was indeed interesting. We flew the Detling VOR, then the Lambourne (right over Stapleford, talking to them as we passed), then BPK, southwest of Stanstead to BKY, then back northesast to our Duxford approach. There again, we followed protocol, calling at BKY and got slotted in to land.
There was a lot of traffic for that whole flight. You are talking to Farnborough East in that part of the London area. (It's Farnborough West beginning at Southampton, and Essex starting north of Stanstead. They are very busy people. You call them with your tail number and when they have a time slot for you they repeat your number and say "pass your message". You then have about a half a second to start telling them exactly what they need to know. If you don't get that right, they just go on to the next station and you wait another cycle. What they need to know is nothing new: DEP, DEST, TYPE, squawk, altitude, position. And what kind of service you request. There are different alternatives for VFR traffic, but usually everyone just asks for "basic service". That means traffic following.
They will not do conflict avoidance, however, not as part of basic service for VFR traffic. I have to say that the TAS (traffic advisory system) in SDV came in very handy in this situation. It really kept us up-to-date on most of the traffic around us. I was very glad to have it.
Landing at Duxford was also a little stressful, since there were so many AC on the way in. You had to really listen to the controller all the time and be ready to follow any instruction. He instructed me to vacate the runway, for example, the second the main gear were on the pavement. Not what you would normally expect. But, we parked on the grass along with all the other fly-ins and had a great day at the air show. An amazingly well produced show. The air demonstrations followed one after the other like machine gun fire. You hardly got a break to buy a hot dog. So we were running around taking photos the whole day. Visited the museum, etc. I recommend this highly to any pilot.
If you do go fly in to Duxford, here's a little inside tip: Know that all the planes park on the grass on the opposite side of the runway from the museum, apron, exhibits, etc. So they have a bus shuttle service running to take pilots and their passengers from the planes to the apron. Once you leave your plane, you cannot get back to it during the day, so you have to be able to take with you everything you need for the day. At the end of the day, you can take the bus back out, get your luggage for your overnight stay, and then get back to the apron to get transport to wherever you are staying. The next morning, you have to get the bus back out to your plane to leave. The moral of the story: leave plenty of time for the bus trips, pack light, and have a backpack you can use during the day for everything you need with you (camera, lenses, long sleeve shirt, cap, etc.)
EGMD - LFAT - ESTA
July 1 - 5.5 hrs - 632 NGM
Again we'd rented rooms nearby at a B&B. Had a great curry and I slept like a baby. The next day we were back at the AD. The show was continuing the next day, but we needed to get out of there, so we hopped the bus to get back out to our plane and waited for a slot to get onto the runway. Again, it was stressful and we basically had to do a rolling start from the grass out onto the runway and up into the air.
Our plan was to stop in Calais to refuel, but (as I had suspected) the Calais TWR service was closed when we arrived. The AD was still open, but it was now RADIO, so you had to speak French to land there. Somewhat chagrined, we turned south back to Le Touquet, landed, re-fueled and re-filed our flight plan to Angelholm, Sweden (oh so easy to do with Rocket Route on the iPad). The mission now was just to get back to Stockholm, and Angelholm was a convenient fuel stop.
The route there is one I like a lot. You basically follow the north coast of France, Belgium, Holland and then up through Germany and Denmark into Sweden. We started out direct Koksy VOR (KOK), then Costa (COA). Through here we stayed between 1500 ft and FL55 to avoid charlie and alpha airspace. then on south of Rotterdam via the RR NDB/TACAN to PAM VOR. In that area, they don't want you above 1500, to avoid the big guys on approach to Schiphol. We happened to run into showers of rain just then, and had to pick our way carefully over the smokestacks. Once past PAM, direct to the Eelde VORTAC (EEL), again watching our altitude, not to conflict.
From there it was into German airspace, Bremen Info, over Helgoland and into Denmark by the Alsie VOR. Then Trano VOR to Sveda and direct into Angelholm. It is a relatively relaxed flight, with relatively good freedom on altitudes. Bremen Info can be a little difficult to get on the phone sometimes, but otherwise, no issues.
Angelholm, it turns out, is a very expensive place to fuel. Fuel itself has the more friendly "Nordic" price, something like 2/3 to 1/2 what you pay on the continent for JetA. But they charge €50 just to land (!!) Amazing. And as far as I know, they offer no services whatsoever. This is an AD to avoid, if at all possible. I think Roskilde can be a better alternative, but I haven't been there yet, so I don't really know.
In the event, we just refueled, stretched our legs and decided the 2 hrs back to Stockholm felt like no problem, so we were off again, and it certainly felt good to be home.
The whole trip was planned to span over about two weeks at the end of June, but I made sure to have plenty of leeway to allow for weather stops. That time of year can be unpredictable. I had some confidence it would work out, since it seems to me that the summer more often brings cold fronts with their showers and thunder storm weather. You really don't want to be flying in TCU or CBs, but you can usually find a way around them. So I figured, with a little patience I should be able to fly my routes.
ESGP - EDHL
June 21 - 2.4 hrs - 255 NGM
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| The route ESGP-EDHL |
The route down to Lubeck from Göteborg goes along Sweden's West Coast, a really beautiful flight if you have any kind of clear weather (which of course we always do, flying VFR). I chose to leave the coast and enter Danish airspace at the SVD VOR, flying then right over the top of Roskilde at or below 1500 ft. This keeps you out of all of Kastrup's charlie airspace. I have actually been cleared through Kastrups CTL once, just north of the AD. But I tend not to press my luck. I realize the controllers have a lot of big commercial traffic they need to attend to, and having flies buzzing around in the space just adds to the workload. So I usually plan to go either north or south and stay low.
The route then continues over Lolland, the southern-most island of Denmark and also beautiful to see from the air. Flying directly from Roskilde to the Mickelsdorf VOR keeps you east of the huge R-area, Langeland. After you pass into Bremen Information's airspace you almost immediately leave them for Lubeck tower. I flew late in the day (after waiting in Göteborg for the weather to clear) and arrived at Lubeck at 2035 LT. It was still before civil twilight, however, it being the longest day of the year!
EDHL - EDMA
June 23 - 3.2 hrs - 325 NGM
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| Central Germany, FL95 |
This route took me east of Hannover, over Erfurt (west of Leipzig), and right over Nurnberg, but their charlie space ends at FL70, so I don't bother them. Augsburg lies under Munich's charlie space, but there it's up at FL85, and I descended way below that by the time I got there, so you get handed off directly from Munich Info to Augsburg TWR. They have an ATIS service, which we dutifully listen to and report on reaching their Oscar 1 reporting point. I had programmed all their reporting points into the G1000 on the way down, so whatever instruction they'd give me would be easy to comply with. The list of reporting points with coordinates is in the AD VFR chart (which Rocket Route conveniently makes available for your flight when you file). Having the reporting points in the system puts them on the moving map (MFD), so flying the approach is easy and leaves you right on base for the chosen runway (in this case, 25).
Augsburg is a very convenient AD with JetA and plenty of parking on the apron. You can stay as many days as you want, no prior notice necessary and no handling required. I was there more or less in high season, but there was no problem. You fuel at the pumps (no fuel truck) at the west end of the apron and then park as directed. Once I was west of the tower, once east of the tower. It's all good. And the fees are reasonable. For three separate landings and five days of parking, the total bill was €88.
I caught a taxi into Munich, where I had booked a B&B on the west side of the city, to be closer to the airport. That worked great, as the Stadtbahn is typically very easy to use and takes you anywhere in town you want to go.
EDMA - LOWS - EDMA
June 24 - 1.2 hrs each way - 100 NGM
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| The route EDMA-LOWS |
I had planned a route over the most convenient VORS, MAH and MUN, to go south of Munich's CTL. The safe altitudes on the Jeppesen charts in that area rangt from 3400 to 3800, so I was going to fly at least at 4000 ft. That meant the MAH VOR was inside Munich's charlie airspace, and the controller did not want me there. So I jogged to the south right over Oberpfaffenhofen to the MUN VOR and then flew direct the Tachinger See reporting point for Salzburg's TMA. Munich Information passed me right to Salzburg, so I never talked to Wien Info.
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| The Alps, south of Munich |
The Salzburg AD itself is "only" at 1411ft, but the mountains just south of it rise up to 6, 7, 8 and 9000 feet. As you fly south toward the airport, not yet being able to discern the runway, you are descending from your 4500ft cruising altitude down to 2500 or so for your approach. As you are descending, you get closer and closer to the mountains that all seem to be getting higher and higher. It is spectacular, and was also a little disconcerting the first time. I was lucky enough to be number two behind a Citation, so I could follow his approach path toward the runway.
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| Taxiing out at Salzburg LOWS |
By the way, I'll again tip you that having all the reporting points programmed into your GPS is very helpful. At Salzburg, they really want you to fly directly over Whiskey, and will notice if you don't find it (judging from the radio traffic i heard), so be warned.
The flight home, I went north of Munich's CTL, instead, just for the change of pace. It was not as beautiful a flight, though. I wouldn't route that way again. The route south, right over the city, and in view of the low Alps rising up to the south, is by far the more enjoyable one.
EDMA - EDVK - EDMA
June 26 - 2.1 hrs out, 1.7 hrs back - 197 NGM
My high-school buddy had planned to visit an old friend of his who lives in Kassel. They could have taken the train 3 hrs each way or so, meaning they'd probably stay over night. Instead, being a pilot, I offered to fly them up there and make a day trip of it. They thanked my profusely and I was just as thankful to have a "mission".
The route was again simple. Generally, I've experience Germany being pretty straightforward to fly around. They don't have scads of restricted areas all over the place (compare with Belgium, for example, or even eastern France). Even if you can't get up to higher flight levels, you can pretty much fly to your destination with out diversions, as long as you don't fly over the big international ADs. They will not allow you in their charlie airspace, so plan to fly around or over them.
This plan was north to the Dinkelsbuhl VOR, then WUR and FUL (to keep us east of Frankfurt's TMA) and then straight over Fritzlar to Kassel-Calden. On this trip, we actually had some ceilings to deal with. They were a little tricky, as it was SKC near Munich, becoming FEW and then SCT further north. I climbed up to FL75 or so to begin with and then stayed up there as long as I dared for the clear, turbulence-free air. Eventually, I had to get back down under the cloud cover, though, and we finished the flight at 3500 feet prior to our approach.
The approach was a little interesting. It turns out they are building a new runway there, and I rather clumsily lined up my long final with the new runway instead of the current one, which I noticed as I got a little closer and saw all the machinery and debris. No real problem, as it was an OK base for the real runway, but a little disconcerting for me. That experience taught me that it is good to always check your heading (or actually, track) to see if it matches with the runway you are supposed to be on final for. Seems like a good idea.
Kassel-Calden is another convenient, smaller GA AD with TWR service and asphalt RWY. JetA and help booking a taxi were available, but no handling required and really reasonable landing fees, €18 including parking for the day. I suppose one should keep reading the AIP as the new runway is being built to see if any of this changes.
The flight back was in clear skies with a tail wind. Same route, and now I was "experienced" landing at Augsburg. The idea of "basing" the plane at an AD, staying at a B&B near there, and exploring the area with day trips was very, very nice. I will consider planning another vacation in that way. It's a great kind of pilot's vacation, but can be interesting for non-pilot family members as well. You have an enormous range of possible sites to see. From Augsburg, you have Austria, Southern Germany, Southeast France and Northern Switzerland all within reach for a day trip. Imagine doing the same thing based at Dijon in France, or somewhere in Italy or Spain, or near Prague. Many possibilities!
EDMA - LFAT
June 28 - 3.6 hrs - 394 NGM
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| The route EDMA-LFAT |
Our route went west from Augsburg to the Tango VOR, then Karlsruhe (KRH), then continued northwest to Pirmasens, west to cross the FIR boundary near Saarlouis. I planned that way because at that point I had still not quite understood that they just don't want transit flights through charlie airspace, period. So in the event, we were asked to route south of Stuttgart to stay out of their TMA. We obliged, of course, and then followed the rest of the route.
If you look at the route (This is the Rocket Route display with the airspaces shown), you'll see the red military corridor that the route follows. I planned this to fly above the corridor, which as long as you have the ceilings for it, provides a great route clear of other restricted areas (for the most part). Once we crossed into the French FIR (Strasbourg Info), we did this direct Montmedy (MMD) VOR, then Cambrai (CMB) and it worked just fine. From there, it was a clear shot to Le Touquet.
We talked to Strasbourg Info on the way into the FIR (took a while to get them on the phone), then eventually switched to Paris Info, and then Lille Info. They just monitored our flight, but otherwise had no opinions on our route or progress. Lille handed us off to LFAT TWR.
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| SDV on the apron at Le Touquet LFAT |
invigorating walk by the water and then slept well. The next day, we were bound for the UK.
LFAT - EGMD
June 29 - 1 hr - 40 NGM
We were actually headed for Duxford, but that is not a customs AD, so we needed to check into the UK somewhere, first. I also had the brilliant idea that we would contact a flying club in the UK and see if we couldn't get an instructor to sit with us and talk about flying in the UK airspace a little bit. I've read a little and it seemed that they use some terminology that is a little different, and flying around the London area can be a little tricky, since there are so many ADs in such a small space.
The choice was Lydd. The AD sits out on the southeast most corner of England, right next to a nuclear power plant and a military training area (firing range). We filed to enter at the SOVAT FIR reporting point and then fly direct to the AD. Lydd has specific instructions about reporting on approach, which I'd read and followed on the way in. My surprise, for some reason, was that the trip was so short. It all happened to quickly, I had hardly any chance to get up to the altitude I had planned to climb to over the channel. I was so focused on "altitude = safety", that I didn't bother to do the math and figure out there wouldn't be any time to climb up to FL65 (where the alpha airspace begins). Lydd us also on the coast, also very windy at times. I had the most "exciting" landing of the whole trip here. I don't remember what the cross wind was, but it was very gusty, so I felt good about getting all three gear on the pavement without hurting anything.
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| A very cool Czec-built twin on the apron at Lydd. They were also bound for Duxford. |
We had re-fueled at Le Touquet, and my plan was to do the legs to Lydd, Duxford and then back to Calais before we fueled again. So we spent the night near Lydd (Not recommended - see my blog entry on Aerodromes), and the next day we left so as to arrive for our 1020 landing slot.
EGMD - EGSU
June 30 - 0.9 hr - 88 NGM
The flight to Duxford was indeed interesting. We flew the Detling VOR, then the Lambourne (right over Stapleford, talking to them as we passed), then BPK, southwest of Stanstead to BKY, then back northesast to our Duxford approach. There again, we followed protocol, calling at BKY and got slotted in to land.
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| A lot of cool planes flew in to Duxford |
They will not do conflict avoidance, however, not as part of basic service for VFR traffic. I have to say that the TAS (traffic advisory system) in SDV came in very handy in this situation. It really kept us up-to-date on most of the traffic around us. I was very glad to have it.
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| Seven Spitfires and two Messerschmitts flying by. This is Duxford. |
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| Red Bulls P-38, am amazingly nimble aircraft |
EGMD - LFAT - ESTA
July 1 - 5.5 hrs - 632 NGM
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| The route LFAC-ESTA |
Our plan was to stop in Calais to refuel, but (as I had suspected) the Calais TWR service was closed when we arrived. The AD was still open, but it was now RADIO, so you had to speak French to land there. Somewhat chagrined, we turned south back to Le Touquet, landed, re-fueled and re-filed our flight plan to Angelholm, Sweden (oh so easy to do with Rocket Route on the iPad). The mission now was just to get back to Stockholm, and Angelholm was a convenient fuel stop.
The route there is one I like a lot. You basically follow the north coast of France, Belgium, Holland and then up through Germany and Denmark into Sweden. We started out direct Koksy VOR (KOK), then Costa (COA). Through here we stayed between 1500 ft and FL55 to avoid charlie and alpha airspace. then on south of Rotterdam via the RR NDB/TACAN to PAM VOR. In that area, they don't want you above 1500, to avoid the big guys on approach to Schiphol. We happened to run into showers of rain just then, and had to pick our way carefully over the smokestacks. Once past PAM, direct to the Eelde VORTAC (EEL), again watching our altitude, not to conflict.
From there it was into German airspace, Bremen Info, over Helgoland and into Denmark by the Alsie VOR. Then Trano VOR to Sveda and direct into Angelholm. It is a relatively relaxed flight, with relatively good freedom on altitudes. Bremen Info can be a little difficult to get on the phone sometimes, but otherwise, no issues.
Angelholm, it turns out, is a very expensive place to fuel. Fuel itself has the more friendly "Nordic" price, something like 2/3 to 1/2 what you pay on the continent for JetA. But they charge €50 just to land (!!) Amazing. And as far as I know, they offer no services whatsoever. This is an AD to avoid, if at all possible. I think Roskilde can be a better alternative, but I haven't been there yet, so I don't really know.
In the event, we just refueled, stretched our legs and decided the 2 hrs back to Stockholm felt like no problem, so we were off again, and it certainly felt good to be home.
Tuesday, November 6, 2012
Winter discontent
The last leg back to Stockholm is what I have left. According to the TAFs, cloud cover will break up sufficiently along the whole route around midday today. The ceilings are on the lowish side, but nothing more than SCT, and dissolving into FEW as the afternoon wears on (before rains associated with the next warm front arrive from the West).
So all looks good, really, but for one thing: Winter has come, and with it comes icing. The Swedish weather service is predicting light to moderate icing along much of the route between 1000 and 4000 feet. Up around Stockholm, the TAFs say the cover should break up to SCT or FEW by noon. And the region around Stockholm does NOT have icing in the forecast.
So my strategy is to:
1) wait a little while to let that warming action happen;
2) fly at F75 or so, above the icing; the sky will be clear above the SCT;
3) pick my way back down to surface when I arrive, which should not be a problem with only SCT to deal with. Half the sky is open to fly in, even if icing were to be a risk in the clouds.
/Brian
Update 1835 LT - Well that worked, too. The plan was great until I got as far as Norrköping AD. I had asked for and gotten clearance to FL75 immediately after getting out from under Hamburg's C airspace. I was a good 1500 feet, at least, above the FEW and SCT in clear, smooth air. That lasted until Växjö, where it looked to me that the clouds were starting to consolidate into SCT. I had been listening to the VOLMET and Arlanda, Bromma and Skavsta all were reporting BKN at 900 to 1100 ft, so I knew that I would have to get down under that while there were still gaps in the clouds. As I neared Växjö I asked Kronoberg how their ceilings looked; they reported SCT020. So I got cleared down to 1600 or below by Kronoberg TWR. That was of course more turbulent, but it's always nice to be down where you can see things.
My first clue that things were going to get close came when I asked Norrköping for transit at 1400ft through their control zone. The response was, "I''m sorry, but we're special VFR, so I can't allow you transit." That meant I had to sail around them to the West. Not such a big deal, but it also meant their ceiling was below 1500ft. As I rounded Norrköpings CTL, the clouds started descending. I was getting pushed down toward terrain. The G1000 was giving me terrain alerts and warnings; I was scanning the sky ahead and the MFD for masts. Eventually, just 10 minutes or so from Eskilstuna (who told me when I called them that their ceilings were "OK", so I knew I could land there) I finally had to pop up through the clouds instead. I couldn't go down any more, safely. To give you an idea, I only had to go up to 1800 ft to get "on top"!
A little dramatic because I really take seriously not flying in cloud, but there was no choice. I just focused on the panel, kept it level and watched my climb pitch and air speed. After just a couple of minutes I saw Eskilstuna AD and took a completely normal right base approach and put it down. After re-fueling, the hop over to my own field was undramatic, as by that time the cloud cover had dissipated almost entirely.
So all looks good, really, but for one thing: Winter has come, and with it comes icing. The Swedish weather service is predicting light to moderate icing along much of the route between 1000 and 4000 feet. Up around Stockholm, the TAFs say the cover should break up to SCT or FEW by noon. And the region around Stockholm does NOT have icing in the forecast.
So my strategy is to:
1) wait a little while to let that warming action happen;
2) fly at F75 or so, above the icing; the sky will be clear above the SCT;
3) pick my way back down to surface when I arrive, which should not be a problem with only SCT to deal with. Half the sky is open to fly in, even if icing were to be a risk in the clouds.
/Brian
Update 1835 LT - Well that worked, too. The plan was great until I got as far as Norrköping AD. I had asked for and gotten clearance to FL75 immediately after getting out from under Hamburg's C airspace. I was a good 1500 feet, at least, above the FEW and SCT in clear, smooth air. That lasted until Växjö, where it looked to me that the clouds were starting to consolidate into SCT. I had been listening to the VOLMET and Arlanda, Bromma and Skavsta all were reporting BKN at 900 to 1100 ft, so I knew that I would have to get down under that while there were still gaps in the clouds. As I neared Växjö I asked Kronoberg how their ceilings looked; they reported SCT020. So I got cleared down to 1600 or below by Kronoberg TWR. That was of course more turbulent, but it's always nice to be down where you can see things.
My first clue that things were going to get close came when I asked Norrköping for transit at 1400ft through their control zone. The response was, "I''m sorry, but we're special VFR, so I can't allow you transit." That meant I had to sail around them to the West. Not such a big deal, but it also meant their ceiling was below 1500ft. As I rounded Norrköpings CTL, the clouds started descending. I was getting pushed down toward terrain. The G1000 was giving me terrain alerts and warnings; I was scanning the sky ahead and the MFD for masts. Eventually, just 10 minutes or so from Eskilstuna (who told me when I called them that their ceilings were "OK", so I knew I could land there) I finally had to pop up through the clouds instead. I couldn't go down any more, safely. To give you an idea, I only had to go up to 1800 ft to get "on top"!
A little dramatic because I really take seriously not flying in cloud, but there was no choice. I just focused on the panel, kept it level and watched my climb pitch and air speed. After just a couple of minutes I saw Eskilstuna AD and took a completely normal right base approach and put it down. After re-fueling, the hop over to my own field was undramatic, as by that time the cloud cover had dissipated almost entirely.
Sunday, November 4, 2012
Looking good - LFPL to EDHL
OK, so now it looks good to get up to Lubeck. I've filed a block time 0800 to get out before the showers start here. Also gets me past Dusseldorf before they get rain (all according to the TAFs). I've got predicted ceilings min BKN020, that's here when I start, then BKN035 or better all along the route. No predicted high winds or rain while I'm flying, although they come later in the day. Not looking good in Sweden, however, so I'll stay the night in Lubeck.
You can compare my route to the USAF surface analysis for the same time period. The break in the clouds goes right where I'll be flying.
Update 1015 LT - Sitting at Lognes, now. The BKN013 never materialized, but the TEMPO BKN006 with rain was right on time at 0900. I am not catching any breaks. Now I'm just monitoring Orly's METAR to see if I get 1000ft or better so I can take off. It still looks like it clears up north of Paris, so I just need to get out of here.
Update 1610 LT - It worked. On approach to Lubeck, the sky seemed clear. In reality, FEW014, Burt the evening sun was shining through. The start from Lognes was a touch dramatic, with a 1200 ft ceiling and rain decreasing visibility to the 5k minimum. As expected the ceiling held and then opened successively up toward the northeast. After I was handed off to Brussels info, I asked for and got FL65. Below me it was SCT and the upper layer was at 75 or so. That situation closed in on me a little more than I would like, but with the Auto and GPS, there's no need to panic, and it didn't last long (as the TAFs had predicted). Calling Langen info, I asked to come back down to 3500, and I could stay there until the Osnabruck VOR, when ceilings forced me back down to 1500 again. It is amazing, that the actual cloud cover I ran into followed the USAF surface analysis almost exactly (see above)! The weather guys are really good. I have learned to rely on the TAFs; not blindly, but the quality has held, for the most part. What this means in practice is that I never disregard a TAF if it is telling me something bad is going to happen. On the other hand, I do prepare alternatives in case the good predictions it makes don't turn out. It is so nice to be back in Lubeck. I love that airport; so uncomplicated. I was re-fueled and out of there within 30 minutes of landing, as usual. And Lubeck is a fine, little town.
/Brian
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| This is what it looks like on the cloud cover forecast. |
Update 1610 LT - It worked. On approach to Lubeck, the sky seemed clear. In reality, FEW014, Burt the evening sun was shining through. The start from Lognes was a touch dramatic, with a 1200 ft ceiling and rain decreasing visibility to the 5k minimum. As expected the ceiling held and then opened successively up toward the northeast. After I was handed off to Brussels info, I asked for and got FL65. Below me it was SCT and the upper layer was at 75 or so. That situation closed in on me a little more than I would like, but with the Auto and GPS, there's no need to panic, and it didn't last long (as the TAFs had predicted). Calling Langen info, I asked to come back down to 3500, and I could stay there until the Osnabruck VOR, when ceilings forced me back down to 1500 again. It is amazing, that the actual cloud cover I ran into followed the USAF surface analysis almost exactly (see above)! The weather guys are really good. I have learned to rely on the TAFs; not blindly, but the quality has held, for the most part. What this means in practice is that I never disregard a TAF if it is telling me something bad is going to happen. On the other hand, I do prepare alternatives in case the good predictions it makes don't turn out. It is so nice to be back in Lubeck. I love that airport; so uncomplicated. I was re-fueled and out of there within 30 minutes of landing, as usual. And Lubeck is a fine, little town.
/Brian
Saturday, November 3, 2012
No cigar
Well, I packed everything together, checked out and took the long, expensive cab ride out to Lognes AD. The fueling service was closed when I arrived last Wednesday, so I needed to re-fuel in any case, which I have now done. And, there was a chance the TAFs were lining up for a flight straight up to Lubeck via Dusseldorf. I was seeing SCT025 and better, but then Hamburg and Lubeck both showed TEMPOs with RN and BKN008 or worse late into the evening. So, maybe tomorrow.
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