With regards to Peter’s recent post about factors that sap currency and confidence through the winter months , I agree with all of Peter’s items on his list, except maybe number 9. Operating in a group of like minded people, I don’t lack interesting (nice) people to fly with.
On a broader view,with the social side in mind, I wonder if EuroGA could get a panel together to organize one big tour per year along the lines offered by Prepare2Go? Their tours do offer some interesting itineraries but to my mind, at over the top expense. I also came across a tour organised by a French company namely Toulouse to Dakar. Their charges were much more reasonable but I declined due to the amount of flying and the destination. What do members think?
I see two ways to approach this. One is when pilots of roughly similar experience just fly together to an interesting destination, and this is already happening on a limited scale here at EuroGA. Alternatively, it can be a two-tier undertaking, with dedicated organisers taking care of operational matters for the rest of the group. Prepare2go is obviously the ultimate case of the latter approach (I’d say it’s possible to fly the same routes they fly for about one fifth of their budget). The amount of flying, the distance to destination and the difficulty of the route itself don’t have to be extreme, and for the not-so-extreme cases I’d certainly be willing and able to do the organising.
Besides tours from point A to point B to point C and so on, one can also organise some interesting flying at a single location. One thing that instantly comes to mind is a course in aerobatics. Such courses are offered by many schools and clubs, but I suspect we could get it substantially cheaper by forming a group and contracting a private instructor with his own aircraft. A more advanced thing could be a basic test pilot course, with the same rationale – doing it on a private basis would be much less expensive. Incidentally, if I remember correctly, EASA does not require either of these two kinds of training to be conducted at an authorised training organisation.
Interesting…
I think the basic issue is that once you go outside “civilised Europe” you can be into significant logistics, which somebody has to organise, which jacks up the cost a lot and leads to having to charge a hefty participation fee – hundreds of € is what one German outfit charges – to lock people in and stop them dropping out at the last minute because their kid is having a birthday party or whatever…
Sadly I think that trying to organise a long trip without a large participation cost would just result in a financial mess which the organiser(s) would be stuck with to sort out. It’s not an issue if we are going to Mali Losinj or Corsica or whatever (where half the people who said they will come don’t turn up) because it is still very nice and no group booking of anything is involved.
Logistics aside, the flying is just like any other flying, except that the destination might be interesting. And IMHO if the destination is a dump, there’s no point in doing it. And having spoken to people who have done this sort of thing, anything too far into the 3rd World is challenging in the comfort and edible food department (unless yet more money is spent – I am sure Angelina Jolie stays in total comfort anywhere in deepest Africa).
I am not against this proposition at all… I am just doing my “black hat” bit, but you all knew I was going to do that anyway. As a friend commented: all engineers are black hats 
Coincidentally I was just about to do my post about flying to Greece 
I have taken the liberty to move the thread to Trips & Airports, since few people visit the IT/Website section.
Thanks Peter,
As soon as I hit the post button, I could see it was in the wrong section.
I may be being naive but if we were out of the “civilized world” would the thing not be doable with the help of people like White Rose aviation for overflight clearances/avgas etc?Participants would be responsible for their own accommodations/food etc The Toulouse-Dakar tour have mechanic and doctor as part of the overall package.
Thinking about it maybe I will do your Greece trip and get a longer one for another year?
would the thing not be doable with the help of people like White Rose aviation for overflight clearances/avgas etc?
Yes it would be. Last time I looked at using one of those firms (for Luxor, Egypt – never went in the end) it was something like €70/person for visas, which is fine. Avgas barrels cost a lot more though…
I think if you can get avgas, or can get the barrels delivered at a price you want to pay (and they don’t get stolen before you arrive – an issue reported by some), then you can fly “anywhere”. Security is becoming a bit of an issue, over the last few years…
It’s a great idea if you can get a group together.
I am not actually planning a EuroGA Greece trip right now – that was just a thought for an idle moment I have been there in the TB20 many times and will do two more this year (one airline and one TB20). For 2015 we have Prague and Venice, already.
I did a tour through Africa and the Middle East where White Rose Aviation helped with delivering me most of the overland and landing clearances and Prepare2Go did help me find fuel in 1 or 2 instances where I had trouble finding it myself. It took me some time to figure things out and a trip to verify what worked and what not.
Can you indicate any costs, AeroPlus?
Um, if you can do any of our trips for 20% of the cost then please let me know how!
We have an approximately 20-30% margin (when it goes perfectly smoothly – which as you can imagine is rare!).
Please, do a trip to somewhere ‘complicated’ and then add up not just the final cost, but also the time and stress – then let me know whether you still think we’re very expensive.
Our trips are a lot of money, but they are not expensive.
Safe flights, Sam.
I can confirm that Sam /Prepare2Go can be of great help in getting fuel in remote places and White Rose Aviation in getting the needed overland/landing clearances. That said, I am working on organizing a self-fly trip into the Sahara next year winter. Anyone interested?
Quote I can confirm that Sam /Prepare2Go can be of great help in getting fuel in remote places and White Rose Aviation in getting the needed overland/landing clearances. That said, I am working on organizing a self-fly trip into the Sahara next year winter. Anyone interested?
I went on Sam’s first trip to the Sahara through Libya. I’d be interested in another trip.
