And finally – mountains!

For previous episode – click here. To read from the beginning – here.

Before a 10-minute flight towards Bled.

8th and 9th June 2019, days three and four

We’re flying to the Alps!

But before we set off, we have to get the regulatory rest first. To be fully rested I shall not fly for more than 3 or 4 consecutive days which must be followed by 1 or 2 days off respectively. In our particular case, the roster pattern was 2-1-3 (2 days on, 1 off, 3 on).

Saturday turned out to be the day off. We moved out of our place in the morning to leave the baggage in another one, which was close to the city center. We spent the rest of our day visiting coffee shops and some less popular places and discussing political and religious topics (in a polite manner 🙂 )

Sunday, on the other hand, was a very active day. We took a bus to the airport in the morning where we made an efficient flight preparation. The flight time to Lesce was 10 minutes, same as the taxi time together with waiting for the takeoff clearance.

Soon after reaching 2500 ft we started approach briefing and immediately after completing it, I changed the frequency to Lesce where we received information about the local traffic and runway in use. Yet another time clapping was heard after touchdown.

We shut down the engine, secured the aircraft and went towards the car park. We wanted to get to Lake Bled, 6 kilometers away, though we didn’t know how to do it. Also, we had to get back to the aircraft in the next 4 hours as we had to land at our last destination of the day before the sunset.

There was a woman walking across the car park whom Michael asked for a ride. She was here with her little nephew who was doing his trial flight at that time. It didn’t look like she would be able to help us but we obviously sparked her curiosity.

– How did you get here? Who brought you here? – she asked.

As a captain, I stepped forward and proudly stated:

– I did. I flew them here on a plane.

She just couldn’t believe us. She was still denying it when dropping us off by Bled to which she gave us a lift, presumably only to find out more who we are and how we got there. ‘Cause it’s impossible to fly that far in such a small plane!

Lake Bled. You can actually see the island in the middle of it.

Just a casual break between the flights.

We had enough time to rent a boat with oars for two hours, reach the island in the middle of the lake, get off to have some ice cream and turn back. After returning our 4-seater vessel we went back on land and headed to the nearest petrol station to hitchhike. The first attempt was unsuccessful, our second try was an Austrian-registered brand new Mercedes. The 60-year old driver was distinctly shaking his head so I wasn’t hoping for much. A few seconds later though, Michael called me to show that he had arranged two seats! Paul and I got in the car; we had to be back first to prepare the aircraft for departure.

This looks even better in reality.

It turned out that our driver was an active glider pilot based in Tirol, occasionally visiting Niederoblarn as well. Lesce airfield was not really along their route but they decided to detour to drop us off directly at the aeroclub’s car park.

We took our time getting to the aircraft being confident that the other two will arrive at least half an hour later… it came as a surprise to me to see them walking towards us just 10 minutes after our arrival. 

The aircraft is ready for the flight, we are departing 15 minutes ahead of schedule. My requested altitude is FL100 (10,000 feet) and the routing to Seitenstetten is via Zell am See and Niederoblarn. I also have a plan B – in case we are unable to climb that high, we will not be able to clear the terrain. Therefore flying at 6-7 thousand feet should also be just fine, provided that we will deviate some 30 degrees to the right, flying more or less towards Niederoblarn, avoiding the region of extremely high terrain near Zell am See. We quickly found out that Plan B is more reasonable and we ended doing a step-climb to 8 thousand feet and flying an alternate route.

All this hassle, hours of flight planning, phone calls. It finally paid off.

Wakey wakey, you’re missing the best views mate!

Maintaining even 8000 feet was sometimes not enough to be clear of terrain.

Everywhere around us there were just mountains. It is a completely different feeling when you have to eyeball the possibility to jump over the ridge…

The views were just so stunning. We overflew several areas of flat ground totally covered in snow, despite the fact that the temperature at the sea level was exceeding 35 degrees Celsius!

It seemed that encountering traffic at 8000 feet, in the Alps, far from any airfield is improbable but we did get traffic flying in an opposite direction at the same altitude. We hadn’t been warned about it by the controller. It taught us a lesson that we must stay vigilant even at times when it would be reasonable to just sit back and relax.

We obviously kept our eyes open while approaching Grimming which was besieged by a number of gliders, towplanes and paragliders.

Closer towards the end of the flight, the terrain was getting lower though the views were still awesome. After about two hours of flying, we landed at Seitenstetten (LOLT) for refuelling. AVGAS was fairly expensive but we had to buy some to get back all the way to Poland.

Before the last departure of the day, I sit down to do my performance calculations… and just can’t believe what I see. It’s all red! How is that possible? I am recalculating the performance but it seems I have put in the right figures. I’m checking Google Maps for obstacle limitations – there’s just a group of trees just right of the runway centreline and other than that, it’s fine. I extended TODA up to 150% of runway length and this time it showed me a green light.

All done, I’m getting my crew aboard and off we go. Lift off went as planned, then I made a slight left turn at 50 ft AGL to get away from the trees (we could have overflown them anyway).

The last flight was uneventful. After landing we parked up next to some tents and a military car registered to Austria – I double checked that we actually landed in the Czech Republic.

Next to the airfield there was a house of a local retired parachutist. He invited us for a coffee and home-made orangeade. Meanwhile, we phoned up a hotel to rent a room. 

Turned out we got the whole place for ourselves! The building seemed to be abandoned quite a few decades ago and was only rented to cover the cost of maintenance and taxes. I played a bit with the lighting in the restaurant and turned on some radio (which only played some Czech disco music). We also got a pizza from the town.

Around 11PM it turned out that we’re actually not alone. Had to turn off the radio.

Thunderstorms and decisions

6th June 2019, day one

80 questions. That’s how many I had to answer to pass the Aircraft General Knowledge exam which I sat in the Polish CAA. After submitting my final answers (I passed, of course) I set off to Modlin Airport.

We gathered at 3pm and went to our TB10 aircraft which was already waiting for us, having gone through an engine overhaul.

My passengers – Monica and Michael – were exploring a wide range of aircraft parked up in the hangar. Meanwhile, I took my co-pilot to complete the pre-flight inspection. The plan for today is to reach Znojmo (LKZN) and make one technical stop on the way in Czestochowa (EPRU). The PFI caused a slight delay as I had to drain about 0.5 litre of water from the fuel tanks.

Pre-flight inspection in progress

We were all boiling in the 30 degrees Celsius which was not beneficial for the aircraft performance either, so I taxied all the way to the runway end to use the full length for takeoff. The first flight was uneventful and we even had some time to have a meal in the local restaurant and to chat with other people.

Following Ryanair all the way to the end as we need the full runway length too

A quick meal and weather review before we set off again…

We were coming back to the aircraft when I noticed a group of people surrounding it. One of them was sitting on the leading edge. I yelled at them to get off my aircraft not knowing who they were or what they were doing there. It turned out that all of them were pilots of another German-registered TB10 and they just wanted to see what our plane is equipped with.

Our next takeoff was in the late afternoon. The blueness of the sky gave way to frequent thunderstorms and lined up over Silesia creating an east-west border. Soon we saw frequent bolts of lightning which left us with only one option – fly along the front.

And the mother Earth is preparing a surprise for us. At this time I was still only considering a course deviation but not a diversion.

It’s time to make a tough decision. One that is safe, economical and convenient.

I chose to go upwind (eastbound). We had to carry on deviating from our original route until reaching the west end of the Krakow CTR, where we managed to steer south safely again. It all happened within controlled airspace so my every movement had to be cleared by the ATC.

It was obvious that now we can’t make it to the Czech Republic before the sunset. I could either divert and land at one of the local airstrips on the Polish side (EPNT or EPKP) or jump across the border and hit one of the Slovakian ones.

And we’re making it just before the sunset.

The weather in Slovakia was looking promising, thus I decided to land at Ruzomberok (LZRU). The surroundings were somewhat challenging for the approach but the landing itself was straight-forward. Nice soft landing, a quick taxi to the grass apron and a few moments later we were on the ground enjoying the views and breathing fresh air.

Finally, we had to take care of overnight accommodation. One can never tell where we are eventually going to end up, so it’s good to leave arranging hotels ’till the end.

With the help of a local Slovakian tourist (who clearly struggled to spell the name of the nearest town), we found a place to stay just 20 minutes away from the airfield.

We went out in the late evening to get some food but only bars were open so our only catering were chips and chocolate bars for that night.
The weather forecast was showing thunderstorms through the night and ending in the early afternoon, so we didn’t rush with planning the next day…

To be continued…

“24 gusting 40 knots, cleared for takeoff!”

For previous episode – click here. To get back to start of the trip – here.

April 14th 2018, day three

I woke up at sunrise in Rabat, the capital city of Morocco, in the Yasmine hotel. Today was the last day of my ferry flight – that will be two flights, first stop in Tanger and then in Malaga. I washed my face in the wash basin which is contrary to the recommended practices for tourists in Morocco. Then I had a breakfast – a piece of bread with some pate of unknown origin, olives and an awkward-looking yoghurt (in a liquid state).

Having packed my stuff, I left the hotel to catch a taxi. The sound of imams singing Quran could be heard coming from everywhere around me. It was a steady, creepy sound but what a great soundtrack for me, a private pilot, walking down the streets of Rabat.

Unlike the time before when I flew to Rabat just three months earlier, now I couldn’t get a lift to the airport for a reasonable price. Eventually I paid 40 dirhams for an old Mercedes W123 but having arrived to the airport, the driver started arguing with me, as he had to pay extra money to enter the airport’s car park. I gave him an extra tenner and I walked away to the terminal.

At the airport, there was literally no member of staff who would know if and how I can get a permission to enter airside. Having filled out 5 immigration (“landing”) cards I had to show my licence and convince them that I work for an airline as a crew member. Finally, I was cleared to the apron.

Then I had to do even more paperwork after completing which I was given a lift to the tower for a compulsory weather briefing. I again received a piece of dead trees telling me stuff about the weather en-route, at my destination and alternate aerodromes. When I came back to my aircraft I carried out my own, reliable self briefing, since somehow I got a wi-fi connection from the terminal and I could check the weather on-line.

– Rabat Tower, SP-GCE at GA stand, departing to Tanger, request engine start-up.
– SP-GCE, Rabat Tower, you have to come back to the Tower, we need to talk to you about something before you go. The car has been sent to you.

What do they still want from me?! I made a few inappropriate about them to myself and got out of the aircraft.

– Flying without a GPS onboard like you did it yesterday is unacceptable and I am not going to grant you clearance for flying any further. Unless you’ll get a navigation system from somewhere and request a special permission from Casablanca.
– But based on what rules you’re telling me I shall carry a GPS and why do I need a special permission? – I fought back.
– Because it’s not safe! Unless… you will prove to me that you have tracks and distances for this flight written down.
– If that’s the only thing you want from me then yes, I do have an operational flight plan and a VFR chart in my plane.
– Haha, in your plane? You don’t have it with you here, so I don’t believe you. Here, take his piece of paper and I will tell you the tracks and miles for each and every point.

So here I was, sitting behind the desk like an 8-year-old child, writing down useless stuff. Since I could see what the controller was dictating me, I finished writing while he was halfway through the reading.

– Now I can give you departure clearance. You may go!

I took off from runway 03 and after a couple of minutes I turned right onto heading 084, towards point ANIBI. Initially I was circumnavigating a massive rainfall from my left. The massive cloud settled over Kenitra and was extending further north parallel to Sebou river. Unfortunately, my next point IBDIR was inside of the rainfall area but the VFR chart offered me yet another option – to fly to Tanger along the north-eastern route – via Tetouan.

– Rabat Tower, SP-GCE, due to IMC ahead, request rerouting via Ksar el Kbir and Tetouan, to Tanger.
– SP-GCE, negative, follow the route on your flight plan or I will divert you back to Rabat.

Fine. So what, is it then better to fly in adverse weather conditions instead of following a safer route which is as official and published as the original one? I decided to carry on to Moulay bul Selham and, if I need to, I will declare PAN-PAN and get to Tanger safely, my way.

Having entered the rainfall, the visibility was continuously decreasing and the ceiling pushed me down to 1000 feet above the ground. Yet just after a minute of flying in these marginal VMC conditions, I flew out of the precipitation into an area of excellent weather with sunny spells and scattered cumulus here and there. Their cloudbases were pretty low, so I kept clear of them by avoiding them from the side.

Just got clear of weather when approaching Moulay Bou Selham. Further north you can see scattered Cumulus clouds.

The city of Larache with its distinct, clearly visible Loukkos river.

A much smaller town called Asilah. Halfway to Tanger.

An airfield which did not appear on my VFR charts. I didn’t catch it on Google Maps, whatsoever.

Welcome to Tanger!

I arrived to my destination, after overflying Larache and Asilah. Now it was the final time to refuel with the african AvGas and to say goodbye to Morocco.

That’s probably how they ship Coca-Cola bottles overseas!

I was preparing stuff for my flight to Malaga. Costa del Sol Airport released a NOTAM which made me wait another 4 hours in Morocco, as they couldn’t handle any GA traffic during peak times in Malaga.

The weather forecast didn’t look very good…

TAF GMTT 121100Z 1212/1318 23021KT 6000 BKN016
BECMG 1213/1215 23024G34KT 4000 RA SCT008 BKN016
TEMPO 1215/1219 2000 TSRA SCT008 BKN016 FEW020CB
BECMG 1219/1221 24012KT 6000
TEMPO 1223/1303 2500 SHRA SCT010 BKN014 FEW020TCU
TEMPO 1309/1315 24020KT 3000 SHRA SCT010 BKN014 FEW020TCU=

The worst case scenario is that I will take off just an hour before the thunderstorm commences, in a strong crosswind, and then I will almost teleport in no time to a place with a still relatively good weather.

Around 12:45UTC the winds began gaining their strength. I decided to take off much earlier, just double-checked if it’s actually safe to do it at that moment and I went back to the aircraft. Staying here to survive the squall was not a good option for the aircraft and taking off on schedule was not safe for myself, whatsoever.

I taxied to the runway 28 at no more than 5-6 knots. I did not carry out the engine run-up while holding short of the runway, as it could overstress the control surfaces being exposed both to the tailwind and the air blowing from the propeller, at the same time. I lined up on the runway, off the centreline and facing a bit to the left to counteract the crosswind component. Here it was a good place and time to check the engine parameters.

– Tanger, SP-GCE, ready for departure.
– SP-GCE, wind is now 250 degrees, 24 gusting 40 knots, runway 28 cleared for takeoff.

Leaving gusty Morocco with a 50-knot tailwind.

The takeoff looked more like a winch launch in a glider. Three seconds from releasing the brakes, the aircraft lifted off. I kept it close to the ground, pointing the nose at the horizon to secure the airspeed – that is to reach 70 knots or more. At the same time I turned gently into the wind to begin a “coordinated flight”. I must have had some 30 knots Ground Speed and a rather impressive vertical speed. After a whiiile I reached the coastline where I turned northbound towards Gibraltar. Or should I say, 45 left from Gibraltar, to stay on track.

Bye bye, Africa!

Flying over the strait of Gibraltar was spectacular. Having reached 2000 feet I was now flying with a very strong tailwind. According to my calculations, I had GS of 120 knots while the airspeed indicator was showing just 70. The air was very smooth but I kept my seatbelt securely and tightly fastened in case of any unforeseen turbulence. A few moments later I flew past Ceuta where the controller told me to change radio frequency:

– SP-GCE, Tanger, contact 131.2 Gibraltar, bye bye.
– 131.2, SP-GCE, thanks, bye.
– Gibraltar, SP-GCE, good afternoon.. – I started with a usual piece of information
– SP-GCE, you got wrong frequency, contact Gibraltar on 122.8.

Well, I wasn’t expecting that.. alright, let’s do this again.. twentyyy…twoo…point eight!

– Gibraltar, SP-GCE.. hello?
– SP-GCE, Gibraltar, good afternoon, say your position, altitude, squawk, aicraft type, intentions and your request – the controller answered with a very clear, posh British accent.
– Gibraltar, SP-GCE, abeam CEU, 2000ft, squawk 7000, requesting basic service and direct to Malaga. Aircraft type is Socata Rallye.
– SP-GCE, Gibraltar, you are cleared into controlled airspace of Gibraltar, QNH 1008, report leaving. And what is the type of aircraft you’re flying, Sir?
– Socata Rallye, it’s a small, light, one-engine aircraft, SP-GCE.
– Roger, thank you 🙂

And a few minutes later I contacted Spain. Not without trying to overcome the language barrier.

The weather in Malaga looks wonderful.

– Malaga, buenas tardes, SP-GCE after PIMOS and my ETA is 1500Z.
– SP-GCE, buenas tardes, radar identificado.. – and I didn’t get the rest in Spanish.
– Malaga, SP-GCE, I understood radar contact and I don’t speak Spanish 😐
– SP-GCE, Malaga, you don’t speak Spanish and what else?
– ETA is 1500Z and I speak three other languages, SP-GCE.

Aaaand I have the runway in sight!

After having this strange conversation I was asked to enter holding over Fuengirola and then over Torremolinos which was an area of strong turbulence caused by the mountains in vicinity. I spent there some half an hour and got a permission to land on runway 13 (on the right side, towards the Alboran sea). I touched down without any problems.

-SP-GCE, Tower, vacate via Echo-4, hold short of Alpha. Expect Alpha to Golf-2 where you will find the marshaller at the GA apron.

Senores pasajeros, bienvenidos a Malaga!

I gave way to a large passenger jet, taxiing from the terminal towards the active runway and I got a clearance to get to my parking stand. I parked up my old Socata between some expensive business jets for VIPs.

Parked like a boss!

And that’s how my 3-day trip across Morocco has come to an end. I flew 950 nautical miles in 14 hours 15 minutes. I crossed the ocean again, using only a VFR chart. I overflew Sahara desert. I saw from above how Moroccans live away from the big cities and witnessed from the ground how people live in the smaller towns, away from the tourists. I worked with controllers either following the stupidest procedures or not following the right ones. I also had a honour to work with people who somehow found their place in this strange world, yet they show their intelligence and professionalism.

Trip over Morocco in one picture.

April 2018

My second ferry flight and a return trip from Tenerife North to Malaga, across Morocco.

Episode 1
Crossing the Atlantic

Episode 2
Problems with GPS? I’ve no GPS!

Episode 3
“24 gusting 40 knots, cleared for takeoff!”

Landing in Italy

For previous episode – click here.

– Ljubljana Information, SP-GON, good afternoon.
– SP-GON, Ljubljana Information, good afternoon, go ahead.
– Ljubljana Information, SP-GON over RADLY, flight from Lima-Oscar-Golf-Oscar to Lima-Juliet-Lima-Juliet.. – I made a standard announcement after crossing another border in a small, white-green aeroplane.

When you’re flying from one country to another, you can clearly tell the difference between the two. We left the Austrian landscape dominated by mountainous terrain to penetrate some inhabited uplands with signs of civilisation living in grey, old, communist blocks of flats, scattered across the valleys we were overflying.

Having passed a heavy thunderstorm moving in the opposite direction, towards our departure aerodrome, we received a weather information stating that conditions at Ljubljana Airport are good and are improving.

We approached the airport from the north-east, via VFR reporting point Kamnik. While I was approaching it, I spotted smoke coming out from the woods, a couple of miles away from Kamnik village.

– Ljubljana Information, SP-GON, inbound to Kamnik and just to let you know – there is a forest one nautical mile south of my position, and I can see smoke coming out from that forest – I was pronouncing every word very carefully, so they connect “smoke” with “forest”, not with my aircraft registration.

– SP-GON, Ljubljana Information, thank you for reporting. You can contact Ljubljana Tower on 118,0*. Bye bye.

I made another position report on the new frequency, and having received new instructions we joined right downwind to runway 30, to land. There were two airliners already set up on the approach and I had to squeeze in between them. Little did I realise then, that my best forward speed of 80 knots with flaps retracted is not sufficient to keep up with the other traffic. Soon after that I could hear the guys reporting a go-around on the radio.

Turning onto final to runway 30 at LJLJ. Ljubljana, Slovenia.

After landing I vacated the runway and taxied via Foxtrot, Alpha and Tango to the General Aviation apron.

“SP-GON, Ljubljana Tower, after Tango follow the Follow Me car to the general aviation stand” – the controller said on the radio.

We followed the black-yellow car for another 50 metres to the complete stop. I shut down the avionics and the engine, shortly afterwards an airport mini-bus stopped next to my aircraft.

The airport staff was really friendly and spoke very well in English. A dispatcher – Elza – who took care of us in the GA terminal, spoke fluently English, Slovenian and Polish.

One thing I had not been aware of is how one can refuel the aircraft at controlled airports. We desperately needed more petrol to make our way to Alicaorle and then back to Ljubljana. I called the Tower saying: “Ljubljana Tower, SP-GON, at stand 6, request taxi to refuel.”. Wrong. ATC only got the part about taxiing so she gave us directions to the runway! Having realised that the lady in the tower misunderstood us, I requested 180 and taxied back in shame. You can see in one of the photos, why it would be more appropriate to call “request fuel truck” rather than “taxi to refuel”.

Refuelling with AVGAS 100LL using a fuel truck. Ljubljana, Slovenia

Off we go, we taxied to the runway (again) and lined up on 30 to… depart into the face of an arrival. I hit the full power and as soon as we got airborne, I requested “direct to Sierra 2” to get off the collision course with the big guys.

The rest of the journey was pretty much uneventful. We headed towards the Italy-Slovenia border, having been entertained by a local Slovenian radio station, interfering with the Flight Information Service frequency.

Soon we established radio contact with Ronchi – ATC responsible for the airspace around Trieste-Ronchi Airport and its vicinity. The controller gave us a clearance to fly along published VFR route which would lead us to fly along the coastline. The views were not as epic as we thought they would be, as the visibility dropped down to about 10-15km. There was no ceiling though, therefore I kept the aircraft at 3000ft, before I started the final descend towards Caorle town.

After reaching Caorle – where we were supposed to stay for two nights – I adjusted my heading to reach Alicaorle Airfield. I spotted the grass runway about 3 or 4 miles away from me. We entered right downwind to easterly runway 11. We landed at 20:25 local time, approximately 30 minutes before sunset.

There was nobody at the airfield at that time, however a board hanging just outside the airport’s office gave us some more information on how to get to the town – that is, by taxi. We called the first advertised phone number and asked for a lift which cost us about 10 EUR one way.

We left our stuff in the hotel and rushed on foot through the town centre towards the beach. I checked if the water is warm and having been satisfied with its temperature, we returned to get some food for the evening.

Coming up next: town sightseeing and return flight. One would think now that we have flown all the way from Poland to Italy, the return sectors will be like a walk in the park! No, it doesn’t work like this and we did encounter a few issues on the last two legs aswell…

Flying in Alps part 3

For previous episode – click here.

Tauplitz, Austrian Alps. It’s 4:00 AM now. The task for today is to fly from Niederöblarn (LOGO) to Alicaorle (LIKE). The weather forecasts brings variable, light wind, and some thunderstorms in the late afternoon. I decide to fly an almost direct route along the ridges – or above them, if it will be possible. There’s only one issue that started messing up other things one by one...

Fatigue. After a whole day of mountain walking, we did not wake up at 4 am. We overslept, nearly missed our train back to Niederöblarn and once we got to the airfield, we spent even more time on refuelling and flight planning.

Beware of sharks at pumps! Niederoblarn, Austria.

Then we had to wait for another hour to set off, since it is required to file a flight plan 60 minutes prior to takeoff – for some reason I hadn’t done it earlier on. The cumulonimbus clouds seemed to spawn in Italy and Croatia first and moving northbound, towards Austria and parts of Slovenia. The time is now 12:20pm, which means we only have 2-3 hours to reach Alicaorle, before the thunderstorms do. I still make a decision about performing the flight, making a “Plan B” to divert to any airfields along the route if the weather deteriorates.

METAR LOXZ 160820Z VRB02KT 20KM FEW025SC BKN045SC 14/11 Q1008
           NOSIG RMK BKN=

TAF LOXZ 160815Z 1609/1618 VRB03KT 9999 SCT050 SCT070
         TEMPO 1610/1617 20015G25KT=

The early morning was really promising. No wind until noon, broken clouds at about 6000ft above sea level. Temperature fairly low. That’s the time when we were supposed to take off (08:20 UTC).

METAR LOXZ 161020Z VRB03KT 30KM FEW040SC BKN050SC 18/12 Q1008
           NOSIG RMK FOEHNWALL SW/BKN=

Weather report issued at the time of the actual takeoff. It’s getting warmer. Air mass was very unstable, the wind was sometimes gusting up to 15 knots (according to TAF). There were also reports of Foehn Walls though I didn’t see any.

The weather was actually even worse comparing to what the nearest METAR claimed…

1. Turbulence

We’re taking off from runway 22. The weather seemed to be fine upon the initial climb-out but as soon as we turned 4000ft AMSL, we hit moderate turbulence. It’s a bit concerning, as we are clear of any obstacles, flying in the middle of a 2,5 NM wide valley.

I tried to call out Wien Information on 118,525 but they couldn’t hear me. I switched back to 122,7 Niederöblarn Radio.

After 10 minutes the aircraft reached 5000ft AMSL. I followed the route to enter another valley, narrower one. We encountered even worse turbulence and slats were constantly deploying and retracting to prevent us from stalling.

2. 5000 ft

Suddenly, we hit a downdraft. The Vertical Speed Indicator (VSI) showed -3 m/s. I hit the full power and pulled back on the stick slightly, to maintain the altitude. It didn’t help for too long though. Our airspeed dropped to 70 knots and we were still descending.

– We’re not gonna make it, we should divert now – my passenger said.
– No, I don’t wanna divert in a downdraft, let’s wait it out – I insisted.

We now left the last village behind and were overflying a forest. VSI started dropping again and when I looked at it for the last time, it showed -10 m/s. I could easily see the pressure rising in my altimeter. It just can’t be happening…

3. 4000 ft

– Get back to the airfield, now! – my pax yelled.
– There’s a safer place to do it!

We were reaching the end of the woods. Behind the forest was a large lake and further away the terrain was rising. I decided to make a 180 over the water. I lowered flaps and flew towards the ridge on my right, to make myself more space for turning.

The point of no return. Austrian Alps. Source: maps.google.co.uk.

4. 3000 ft

The VSI was showing no change in altitude but I felt I was flying too close to the stall speed to make a turn. I dropped the nose to sacrifice the rest of potential energy for airspeed. I started diverting. I believe that we maintained the minimum legal seperation of 1,000 ft AGL but there was no time for calculations.

Before I finished the turn, I saw the ridge on the opposite side of the valley, coming straight on to us. Even though I was psychologically destroyed, I remained calm on the controls during the maneuver, like If I was soaring in a beautiful day, in a glider, at 8000 ft.

5. Positive rate

Just after finishing the turn, the aircraft started getting further from the ground. I looked at the VSI again and this time it was showing +2 m/s! I laughed. Maybe because we managed to get away with it. I retracted the flaps and soon after that I saw slats retracting too. I decreased the power as the engine temperature was reaching its normal operating limits.

I reported on the radio we are diverting and they acknowledged. We escaped and avoided major downdrafts on our way back but still I had to cope with the turbulence. The worst one we got, rolled the plane to the knife edge position in less than a second, yet the recovery took me three times as much.

If that wasn’t enough, we were not cleared to land at first because there was a glider on the runway. The wind direction had changed since we took off 30 minutes before, so we touched down on runway 04 this time.

We got off the aeroplane and exchanged a few words common for most of the Central European languages. I phoned the Airport Reporting Office (ARO) to close the flight plan (even though I had no chance to activate it). I carefully checked the entire airframe and slats for any signs of damage but it looked like the white-green Socata didn’t bother about that flight at all. Good girl!

I have been thinking for months why it took me so long to make the decision to divert. I realised it after watching “Sully” film. A fast and accurate decision-making is only possible, when the crew had been trained and is prepared for a similar event. However, no one trains airline pilots how to behave during a dual-engine failure, no one trains private pilots what to do when they encounter 10 m/s downdraft. Because it (almost) never happens.

***

If I had any cigarettes on me, I would smoke the whole lot. But I didn’t have any (because I don’t smoke) so I decided to make myself feel better by eating a Hawaiian pizza and drinking a can of Pepsi with ice and lemon in the restaurant at the Niederöblarn Airfield. Once I started feeling better, I headed to the briefing room to prepare for the next flight.

METAR LOXZ 161220Z 16004KT 30KM FEW040SC BKN050SC 21/12 Q1007
           TEMPO 20015KT RMK FOEHNWALL SW/BKN=

I had introduced a new rule: “avoid mountain flying as much as possible”. A bit tricky to obey it in the middle of Austrian Alps. We still were going to fly to Alicaorle Airfield in Italy but this time by flying over lower terrain. I wanted to fly along motorways via: Trieben (LOGI), Loeben, then via VFR reporting points Whiskey and Sierra into Graz TMA. It wasn’t possible to follow a motorway southbound after Loeben as the road was going into a tunnel in a 6000ft high mountain.

After penetrating Graz TMA we switched frequencies to Ljubljana Information over exit point RADLY. We had escaped the Austrian Alps..

Coming up next: visiting the largest airport in Slovenia. How we made our way to Italy through a country we hadn’t intended to fly across?

Graz, Austria.

Flying in Alps part 2

For previous episode – click here.

Day 1 – Arrival

After parking up at Niederöblarn Airfield I paid the bills (15 EUR for landing, no parking fees for the first 4 days) and we headed towards the train station. The weather deteriorated very badly thus we were already soaking wet before we got to the platform. The “Zug” (German for “train”) took us to Liezen, where we waited about 30 minutes for a connecting train to Tauplitz, which was on the other side of the Grimming mountain. Basically, we went around it.

“Zug – CityShuttle”. Styria, Austria.

Another 30 or maybe even 90 minutes later, once we got off at Tauplitz train station, we made our way uphill, across the village, to the hotel. The hotel staff invited a lady from a Tourist Information Centre who spoke English – to explain it to us everything we need to know and answer our questions, i.e. how much do we pay, do you have WiFi here (nope), is there any breakfast included (nope), can we order a pizza (nope) or are there any shops in the village (yes, but already closed). It all may sound a bit negative but they were actually really friendly. Once the lady had to leave, one of the staff members wanted to chat with us in German. Because we only knew the basics, the conversation looked more or less like this:

– /unintelligible/.
– ehmm.. Ja, ja, danke!
– /unintelligible/?
– Entschuldigung?
– /lad asking us how long we’re staying for/
– ehm.. un-til Donnerstag!
– /sounds like “Alright then, can I do anything else for you?”/?
– Nein, danke schon, alles gut!

Then my phone rang so I left my mate to carry on talking to the Austrian lad, while I walked out to the hall to answer the call.

– Hey Chris! How are you doing? – it was the aircraft owner – Greg.
– Fine, thanks, and you?
– Not bad, listen, are you still somewhere near the aeroplane? Because I need you to double-check something in the documents you have onboard – he continued.
– No sorry, I’m not coming back to the airport until Thursday.

In the meantime it seemed that the hotel guy and my mate have found a common language because now they were laughing and talking loudly. And not only I could hear them…

– Are you in Germany or where, anyway? – asked Greg.
– Nah… in Austria – I answered a bit anxious.
– Wow… good effort!

At least now he knows 😀

The old building on the right is our hotel. In the background you can see Grimming mountain. The train station is somewhere at the foot of the mountain. Tauplitz, Austria.

As we were informed by the lady from TIC, the stores were closed and the hotel doesn’t provide any food so we had to starve till the next day…

Day 2 – Food

We woke up at 11:30 AM local time. While walking towards the shop, we spotted a restaurant (with free wi-fi!). We dropped in for a little breakfast… but I ended up ordering a full course dinner which consisted of a soup, main course and a cake (all this for 11 EUR). After the breakfast, or dinner – whatever it was – we headed to that shop… only to find out it’s closed!!

– What’s the time now?! – I asked my mate.
– 1.30pm – he said.
– Shit, we’re 30 minutes late. Let’s go to the Tourist Information Centre, there must be some other stores in the area… some open ones!

We went there and were told that in Bad Mitterndorf there is a SPAR supermarket, open until 7 pm.

Now I need to stop here and think for a minute – this blog is about flying. Am I supposed to tell you about how we went for shopping, bought stuff for pancakes I made later on, and broke 2 eggs at the checkouts? Well, I’m telling you now anyway. Not only I did all this, but also confused corn flour (or some other one) with wheat flour. Therefore, my pancakes had a very… unique taste and colour.

When we went back to the train station still in Bad Mitterndorf, while waiting for the train running 10 minutes late, we spotted an eco, unlimited-range, heavy load vehicle:

Bad Mitterndorf, Austria.

We didn’t go out anywhere once we got back to the hotel. We had enough adventures for the day (that is, hunting for food).

Day 3 – Mountains

Now that we had enough food and bottled water to survive in the mountains, we could set off to capture some hill tops. Before we even get out of Tauplitz we had a little argument on where to go, so we just decided to split up. I headed eastbound. In silence. So I won’t talk about it, instead I’m going to show you what I saw:

Tauplitz, Austria.

It was really hard to get here. But definitely worth it. Once I did, I got overflown by… an Austrian fighter jet! It was going so fast I didn’t even manage to take my camera out and it already disappeared.

Just after I reached the top of the hill, I ran out of water. Luckily, I could get some more from this river before I got back to the town.

On my way back to the hotel. The weather had improved significantly.

Coming up: day 4 – departure. How we ended up at the biggest, international airport in Slovenia on our way to Italy? Check the updates on the facebook fanpage to find out!

Flying in Alps

For previous episode – click here.

From one trip to another. I had lost almost 2 hours on flying around the segregated airspace, suddenly activated by Exercise Anakonda – probably one of the largest military exercises in Europe since Cold War times. Having thought I avoided penetrating TSA, I established my plane on final approach to Rudniki Airport (EPRU). As I got closer to it, I spotted military helicopters, transporters and a large number of troops walking across the airport’s area. I landed and parked up the aeroplane at pumps, when one of the local aircraft mechanics walked up to me so I asked him if the airport was closed, but he denied. Then I saw a soldier passing; I attempted to get some info from him:

– Are you from Anakonda, Sir?
– No, we’re from GROM and Anakonda pisses us the f*** off!

Oh, fair enough. Looks like the army has also reserved the airspace above the airfield and CTs can’t parachute anymore.

I refuelled the white-green Socata as it had nearly empty tanks (yes, 30 litres of fuel is considered to be “nearly empty”), met my mate who I was going to travel with in a few hours and we headed to the office to plan the next leg.

When I set off to “find a civilisation” the day before, I left most of my luggage on the plane – including my towel, which I needed to at least dry my hair. At least now I look like a real explorer! Rudniki, Poland.

So today we’re flying to Niederöblarn – a small airfield hidden somewhere in the eastern part of Austrian Alps. It should take us about 3 hours to get there, so my both tanks had to be filled with AVGAS to the full. We are briefed and ready. The airspace is OK to the south. We are going to squeeze underneath Katowice CTR and ask Ostrava Radar for transition to their airspace.

We’re taking off from runway 08. It takes as a bit of a time to reach 2000ft as it’s quite hot and we’re heavy. See for yourself:

METAR EPKT 131130Z 11011KT 070V140 CAVOK 22/08 Q1003=

In addition to this, a TAF report was issued minutes after I checked the weather for the last time before takeoff. Nothing good in it – some Cumulonimbus clouds which we could see along the route later on:

TAF EPKT 131130Z 1312/1412 11011KT CAVOK
         TEMPO 1312/1321 BKN035CB
         BECMG 1321/1324 VRB02KT
         BECMG 1403/1406 BKN013
         BECMG 1406/1409 BKN030TCU
         TEMPO 1410/1412 VRB15G25KT TSRA BKN025CB=

Rain over the Czech Republic

I was really surprised that we got cleared into another country’s airspace. It was my very first time to cross a state’s border and it really felt for me like travelling interstellar to a different, unknown world. But the controllers dealt with us in the same way as with other traffic – they kept all conversations to the minimum, yet were helpful and polite.

– Ostrava Radar, SP-GON, request descend to 4500 ft for weather.
– SP-GON, Ostrava Radar, approved.
– Approved, SP-GON.

Flying at 75 kts across the Europe, we were slowly moving towards Austrian Alps. For a while the weather got better and the thunderstorms disappeared but as we were approaching the mountains, we were able to spot these awesome, dark, fluffy monsters once again.

After 3 hours of flying when we were supposed to be already on the ground, we’re still in thet air. Having just entered one of the valleys between two massive ridges, I received a radio comm from a controller:

– SP-GON, Wien Information, radar contact lost, how do you hear?
– Wien Information, SP-GON, read you 4, we are now entering mountainous area.
– SP-GON, Wien Information, remember to close your flight plan after landing!
– Ok, we will close the flight plan after landing, SP-GON.
– SP-GON…… Information, please clo….. ………..plan after…

Ok, we’re here and on our own. GPS is useless from now on, since we can’t fly direct anymore. We need to follow the valleys instead. According to the chart, in 2 miles we should turn left… and then straight ahead and right..

Mountain tops quickly rose above the 5000ft AMSL we were flying at. Austrian Alps.

Having passed some military airbase, I called out Niederöblarn Radio to make an overhead join, right traffic, to runway 22. While I was flying right downwind, I realised that I can’t descend on the base leg because of Grimming Mountain being just north of the airfield. I maintained the altitude and after turning onto base leg, I extended full flaps, pulled throttle to idle and started descending. Intentionally overshot the final and turned back towards the runway for a short and very steep approach. Having flown 8 hours that day, I eventually made my last landing at a strange airfield, far from home, somewhere in Austrian mountains. A smooth landing.

Check out my landing in Alps!

I parked up the plane on the grass and we got off the aircraft. A man walked up to us and said with a very strong Austrian accent, in English:

– Your flight plan has been closed! We had to close your flight plan for you because you were supposed to land 30 minutes ago!
– Okaay, thank you, Sir! – I answered, pretending that there was nothing wrong about it.
– Besides, you should have make a left circuit, it would be easier to avoid mountains. At least the landing was safe.

Not even 5 minutes later, we were walking in heavy rain to the train station, to catch a train to Tauplitz where our hotel was located.

Click here to get to know what happened next!

Exploring Poland part 3

For previous episode – click here.

7 am. The weather is rubbish yet I’m deciding to set off. While walking for a bit along the coastline I was able to estimate the actual visibility clearly to be more than 5 kilometers. The cloudbase seems to be fine or at least enough to do a circuit and land, should I decide not to fly cross-country. I’m taking off. Water droplets are storming my cockpit. I’m crossing 300 feet AMSL. Flaps up. Apart from the precipitation, the weather seems to be very good. I managed to climb up to 3000 feet and still remain clear of clouds.

About two hours later I was already approaching Złoczew from north-west. It seemed like I’m going to land at Rudniki well ahead of time… until I got called by a FIS controller.

– SP-GON, Poznań Information, I am sorry to inform you that but TSA06 has just been activated for Exercise Anakonda. Please turn right, heading 260, immediately.
– 260, SP-GON.

“Ahead of time”. Not ** quite!

– SP-GON, Poznań Information, I suggest you to divert to Ostrów Wielkopolski and wait there until TSA06 is deactivated or you can fly around; just be advised that TSA06A is also active so you will be able to make a turn towards Rudniki abeam Namysłów.
– Poznań, SP-GON, stand-by.

Right. Nobody has any idea when this crap is going to be deactivated, so waiting at EPOM until that time is pointless. I’m currently about 40 nautical miles NNW of Rudniki. Instead of flying direct to it, I’ll have to head west for the same distance, then make a very wide U-turn and fly eastbound for another 40 NM. I’m calculating how much fuel I’ve got left and how much I need for that while already flying westbound.

– Poznań Information, SP-GON, I’m going to fly around TSA06.
– SP-GON, Poznań Information, report over Oleśnica. Also we have an information that the zone will be deactivated at 10:00 local time.
– SP-GON.

Regardless if I hold over Złoczew until 10 am or continue to fly around the zone my ETA will not change, so I decided to carry on. And according to the fuel gauge indications, I will land with 60 minutes of fuel left in the tanks.

– Poznań Information, SP-GON over Oleśnica.
– SP-GON, Poznań, roger. I’m so sorry but they have extended the activation period til 6 PM local time.

Why am I not surprised?

After a while, I could hear another pilot also not being happy about the Exercise Anakonda:

– Poznań Information, **-***, request FL120 to overfly active TSA.
– **-***, Poznań Information, the upper level is FL660, you cannot overfly this area!
– Poznań, ***, but my passenger – she’s upset about it. Can you at least coordinate it with them?
– ***, Poznań Information, I can try but it is very unlikely that will clear you in. Standby.

Needless to say that no NATO officer couldn’t care less about the lady not being able to enjoy her journey at Flight Level One-Two-Zero. Meanwhile, I was asked to switch frequencies to 119,275 Kraków Informacja.

I was approaching Turawskie Lake, when my engine turned off. Same as the day before, I ran out of fuel in one of my tanks. The other one was still indicating some amount of Avgas onboard. I restored the power and keyed the mic saying:

– Kraków Information, SP-GON, minimum fuel, abeam Kluczbork.
– SP-GON, Kraków Information, radar contact 10 miles east of Opole, turn left heading 075.
– 075, SP-GON.

I am now heading to bust an airspace full of military fighter jets, helicopters and anti-aircraft artillery. How cool is that!

“AIRSPACE AHEAD” – my GPS blipped. I turned 10 degrees to the right.

– SP-GON, Kraków, proceed direct to Rudniki.
– Direct to Rudniki, SP-GON.

I turned 10 degrees to the left. I zoomed in the GPS and then realised that I would have just missed the active airspace, had I not changed the course. The controller wanted me to fly direct, while remaining clear of TSA, instead of following landmarks which obviously would take me longer to get back home. At least I could think for a minute that I have more rights than others 😉

I landed at Rudniki at 11:25 AM local time. The flight took me 1 hour 22 minutes longer than it should have. It’s always good to carry some extra fuel.

Coming up next: the Alps – the beginning of our trip to Austria and Italy. This time with a passenger, so we could take lots of photos and a shoot a couple of videos as well. Stay tuned!

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.