Exploring Poland part 2

For previous episode – click here.

Having landed at Pobiednik Airfield at 21:35 LMT I had to secure the aircraft and stay somewhere overnight. Luckily, my family lives in nearby Kraków so I could rest my bones in pretty much “my own” bed. I returned to the airfield the day after, checked the fuel quantity, did the pre-flight inspection and set off to Rudniki Airport.

I was crossing the Kraków-Częstochowa Upland at approximately 1200ft AGL. There was no wind, no turbulence – little would one encounter at 8 am. Being ahead of time, I reduced power to 2000 rpm to save some fuel. I passed the Upland and headed towards forests and a village called Żarki. Suddenly, the engine lost the power and the revs dropped to 1200 rpm! I quickly turned the fuel pump on and reached for the tank selector handle to switch it to the other tank. After three long seconds I got the power restored. I’ve never felt more awake before. I checked the fuel indications – the left tank is empty, the right one is 1/3 full. That means I have 60 minutes of endurance left but I’m going to land in about 15 minutes, so it’s just enough to stay above the legal limit.

A perfect day for a long cross-country flight. Rudniki, Poland.

I landed at Rudniki at 8:15 LMT and taxied to the fuel pumps. Having my aircraft refueled, I left it at pumps and went to the office to pay for 120 litres of AVGAS.

“When you’re heading to today, Chris?” one of the Flight Instructors asked.
“To Bagicz,” I replied, thinking about a post-soviet airfield, 400km away from Rudniki.

FI seemed to be quite taken aback yet he wished me good luck with my veeery long trip. Little did he know I was about to do one even more crazy, just the day after.

The turnaround took me not-very-impressive 4 hours 21 minutes, including refuelling, having a breakfast and flight planning from scratch. I phoned Kolobrzeg-Bagicz (ICAO: EPKG) airfield to check if I can visit them and refuel. The man said I should rather talk to the people on the spot after I land, he only knows the airfield is operational. Such a lovely customer service.

The flight took just under 3 hours. Having no additional tasks to deal with, I could admire the landscape of Greater Poland and look out for some landmarks such as lakes and cities.

The airfield itself is set out just by the Baltic sea, being seperated only by the beach and some woods. The runway is parallel to the coastline. I checked in on heading 080 for final approach. When descending, I encountered some strong turbulence and crosswind. I rolled slightly to the left to keep the aircraft aligned with the runway’s centerline. I touched down and taxied towards a concrete stand to park up next to a PC-12. A marshall came out from the office and stood on the grass, leaving enough free space between himself and the turboprop. As I was approaching him, he signed “taxi forward” and I did so. Then he showed me a very unique (post-soviet maybe?) sign “park up in front of me” which looked like “turn right” so I revved and turned the aircraft towards the PC-12.

Approaching EPKG. Baltic Sea, Poland.

Needless to say that once I turned the engine off, he started yelling at me and we went through a little argument about it. It was pointless to convince the old man that I was right, so I just gave it up. We went to the office later on, where I had to pay 100 PLN (~25 EUR) landing fee, at the airstrip located in the middle of nowhere, with no facilities. There was no fuelling services available, whatsoever.

It’s 4pm. I need to be back in the air on my way to Rudniki by 07:00. I have no place to stay overnight, the fuel I’ve got left is sufficient only to reach one airfield in Slupsk, which is obviously not on the way to EPRU.

“Let’s go find any civilization”,  I decided.

I jumped over the airport’s gate and headed east. After a few minutes of walking, I spotted an old man riding a bike towards me.

– Good afternoon! Where can I find any civilization? – I asked.
– Not this way, young man. The nearest village is 30 minutes away by walk, in the opposite direction. Follow me – man replied.

After a half an hour of walking and having a nice conversation with the old lad, we reached Podczele. My comrade showed me a spot where I could ask to stay overnight and we split up. It was a large complex build in 1990’s; it had three floors, small windows and it was made of red bricks. I knocked the door and after a while I saw a 40-year-old man.

-Can I help? – the man asked in a firm voice.
-I am looking for a place to stay overnight. May I please stay somewhere here? – I asked him.
-Well, normally it wouldn’t be a problem but I’ve got a large number of guests arriving tomorrow morning… – he answered.
-I only need to spend the night somewhere, I want to leave before 7 am anyway – I insisted.

He smiled and told me to come in.

-Thank you! So, I have another question then. Because I got here by plane… – I started telling him my story.

His eyes were getting bigger and bigger, until I asked him to do me a favour.

-..so I need to refuel my aircraft somehow. I’ve got a few cans inside my aeroplane and I just need someone to give me a lift to a petrol station. – I said.
-Ok mate, let’s meet here downstairs at 7pm and we’ll go get that fuel for your aeroplane – he commanded.

He then showed me my room where I left my belongings, got changed and called my family to tell them I’ve got a place to stay overnight.

At set time, I went downstairs where I also met a friend of the owner. I followed them to the garage where the landlord kept his old VW Transporter. We dropped by to the airport on our way to the petrol station to collect the cans from my plane. As we were approaching Shell station, the landlord’s mate got texted by his wife.

-Where are you? – wrote his wife.
-We’re buying fuel for an aeroplane at the petrol station – he responded.
-Don’t lie to me! You guys must have been drinking again!- she texted back.

Once we arrived at Bagicz, the lad asked me to take a photo of him standing next to my aircraft. She didn’t reply after he sent her the picture.

I refuelled the plane and we headed back to our place. Having realised how lucky I was to meet these helpful guys, I asked them:

-Alright, boss, how much do I pay for the handling?
-Hey, we’re serious men, got it? Besides, we have the year of Mercy now – the owner answered.
-Fair enough! – I laughed – At least tell me how much I owe you for the overnight st-
-I told you something, did I not? – the man said, ending the discussion.

As if I wasn’t given enough hospitality, I got invited by my handling agents to watch a football match on TV. There was vodka, tatar and salmon. Obviously I only tried the last two.

***

06:00LMT. I was more than disappointed to see it was raining cats and dogs. Despite the fact that the weather was rubbish, I gave it a try to get back to the airfield, hoping the weather is going to be good enough to fly. While I was thinking about how to get off the ground, I didn’t notice I turned the wrong way, and I walked northbound along a taxiway, instead of eastbound.

As I got closer to the sea, I left the taxiway for a walkpath along the coastline to take some photos and not to get lost again. A few minutes later I re-entered the airfield and got in the plane.

Coming up next: exploring Poland part 3. How does it feel to declare minimum fuel?

Walking along the coastline. Bagicz, Poland.

Exploring Poland

June 2016. A warm morning with showers of rain across the country. The expedition we have been planning for the last few months is about to begin just in three days. Flight planning is done, accommodation booked and all airports approved our PPR requests. Now the only thing left is to pick up the plane from maintenance, give the plane’s owner a lift back home, and collect a pair of brand new headsets from the other side of the country.

Afternoon. Raining cats and dogs. At least in the capital. I get to Babice Airfield, looking for the plane and its owner. I see neither of them, so I ring him up. The owner tells me to meet up near the control tower which is on the other side of the runway. Great. Now I have to walk a few more miles around the airport through some woods while it’s still raining. After an hour of walking, wet yet happy, I’m getting on the plane. Once I  got familiarised with the cockpit layout of the white-green Socata Rallye, we taxied to the runway and took off. The next station: Wroclaw-Szymanow.

This footpath going around the airport was the only way to get to the aeroplane from where I had arrived. Warsaw, Poland.

It took us unbelievable long 2 hours 18 minutes to get to Wroclaw because of a strong south-western wind. Once we landed, I refueled the aircraft and made some flight planning to Zator, from where I was supposed to collect my brand new headsets. I looked up at the sunset, then at my watch. It was already 8pm. “Someone’s going to sleep in the plane tonight”, I thought to myself.

I got off the ground, this time on my own. I’m passing Opole, Gliwice, trying to squeeze through two prohibited areas near Tychy and Auschwitz (Oswiecim). The sun is about to fall below the horizon. It’s getting dark now. I can see the lights of the Zator Theme Park in the distance. I descended a little bit and started looking out for the Zator airfield, with no result though. Meanwhile, somewhere in Krakow, a Flight Information Service Officer was watching a wandering blip on his radar screen.

– Sierra Oscar November, Krakow Information, have you got Zator Airfield in sight? – officer asked. – Krakow, Sierra Oscar November, negative contact, still looking for the airfield – I answered.

I tried once again to approach the area where I was expecting to spot the airstrip. But it was already so dark, it was no point in trying to land, even If I finally found the airfield.

– Krakow, S-O-N, I would like to file a flight plan to Pobiednik.
– S-O-N, Krakow, You can choose either Pobiednik or Kaniov, Kaniov is closer to your position. Unless you are more familiar with Pobiednik Airfield? – he asked.

I’ve never been to Kaniov, nor have I known anything about that airfield. The last time when I went to Pobiednik was when my Dad bought me a trial flight in a glider; I was 14.

– Krakow, S-O-N, I am more familiar with Pobiednik – I honestly answered.
– S-O-N, Krakow, roger. I need your full reg, souls onboard and fuel, please.
“Hell.. he’s asking me about such things he would ask If I declared an emergency”, I thought.
– S-O-N, Krakow Information, I will also need the name of Pilot In Command and your telephone number – he added.
“Well, great, now he’s gonna file a report and tell me off after landing.”

I answered all his questions and after a while, he called me again.

– S-O-N, Krakow Information, please remain clear and south of the Krakow-Balice controlled airspace. Once you land, there’s going to be a Chief Flying Instructor waiting for you.

Anyway, I rate the night panorama of Krakow 9/10. For obvious reasons, I didn’t even try to take a pic of it. Maybe next time when I have less workload or a passenger to take a photo for me.

9.30pm, Pobiednik. The silent night gets disturbed by a lit spot, hovering 1000 feet above the ground. Grass runway gets lit up by tens of white runway lights. I joined the pattern on “left downwind” and established communications on the local frequency, after saying “bye bye” to the FIS Krakow Officer.

Mixture – rich – set. Carb heat – on. I’m decreasing my airspeed a bit and setting 10 degrees flaps down. Suddenly, slots extend rapidly and the runway lights go out. I’m using Push-To-Talk button to reactive them but then CFI tells me on the radio that I have to do it on another frequency – 122,4 MHz. I read back, told him I’m going around and hit the gas while trying to turn the lights back on. I approached the field from the other side (the wind has already calmed down) and, after a long flare, touched down.

My mobile phone wasn’t the best one to capture such amount of dark. Pobiednik Airfield, Poland.

Once I landed and parked up next to a post-soviet An-2, I called the officer to confirm I got back to the ground safely, then we chatted for a while. He said everything is fine and I shouldn’t worry much about it, just to be careful next time.

– Alright, so you landed at 19:35, correct? – he asked me.
– Nooo, no, I do have my night rating! You can make it 21:35 – I answered.
– But I have to make it a UTC time so can I write 19:35 UTC? – officer laughed.

– High time to go to bed – I thought. I confirmed the landing at 19:35 UTC, thanked him once again and wished him a good night. Then I started answering back 24 missed calls on my mobile phone, telling people that yes, I’m still alive and I’m doing well.

An-2 “Wiedeńczyk” and my Socata parked up next to it. Behind them there is a G-reg Piper. Pobiednik Airfield, Poland.

So, that’s how I completed my first solo on this aircraft type. At night, far away from home, a bit tired. Luckily I have family living in nearby Kraków so I spent a night at their place and returned to the airfield next morning. Having had enough fuel onboard, I only did the pre-flight checks and departed to my next stop – Rudniki (EPRU).

Coming up next: exploring Poland part 2. How does it feel to fly to a middle of nowhere with no fuel left for a return flight and no accommodation arranged?