The bus service is fairly regular – seems to be about every 15 minutes
Bought a VFR chart at the shop run by the poster above and I’ll be flying to Duxford on thursday. So keep a sharp look out and maybe you’ll see me passing underneath!
Thanks for the great info. Weather looks lovely tomorrow. We will make a fuel stop at Groningen EHGG if winds are in our favour.
Hope your trip was successful @Fly310. You were certainly fortunate with the weather 
Hi there,
A brief report on the trip! Yes, the weather was very nice which was helpful and also necessary since it was my first long IFR-trip in the aircraft type. We only encountered IMC after takeoff from Biggin and on landing at EHGG on the way home, around 2000-3500 ft.
Route:
ESSB – ESMS – EHGG – EGKB
EGKB – EHGG – ESMS – ESSB
Flight planning tools/Equipment: G1000 Jeppesen Charts, iPad with Jeppesen FliteDeck and Skydemon.
At first I had some trouble finding a good route that Eurocontrol would accept, their route suggestion added about 250 nm to a 500 nm trip. It took us a lot more west before we could turn towards EHGG. This gave us more headwind than anticipated and I thought a moment about landing at EKBI in Denmark. Tuned in the ATIS and heared that clouds were at 300 ft so we asked to get clearance di*Bold*rect ESMS for refuelling, straight southbound instead. We got a direct routing from 200 nm away. Perhaps if I had planned via Hamburg or Bremen from the start it would have been possible to do it with only one stop, but I defnitely was not willing to push it.
On ground at ESMS I called the swedish Flight Planning Centre and they helped us to sort out a flight plan from ESMS to EHGG. We got airborne and as soon as we entered German FIR, Bremen Radar more or less gave us a direct routing to EHGG which was very nice, thank you!
From EHGG to EGKB we had an easy route, PAM (airway) XANAM. I thought it was a bit too much water if it could be avoided so asked Amsterdam for a more southerly routing. They seemed a bit annoyed at first that I suggested something other than my filed route but after I explained to them that we were single engine we managed to get a perfect route for the crossing where we could stay within glide distance from land.
After entering UK airspace it was very simple, just as you all had told me. We got vectors for the approach even before passing the DOVER VOR, weather was nice and clear and we finished with a circling to RWY 03. Before leaving for Biggin Approach I got told that I was entering uncontrolled airspace and there was no reported/conflicting traffic.
Flight from EGKB was all good with lovely on top weather, we stayed at FL110 due to headwind. Brussels and Amsterdam gave us nice shortcuts towards our destination. On approach to to EHGG I was cleared direct the NDB VZ for a VOR approach RWY 05. I am not experienced with base turns so I asked for them to confirm if this was considered vectors for the approach or if we were expected to make a full procedure. They just said cleared approach and before MSA/initial altitude we got visual with the runway so I just continued direct on final. What would have been the most proper way to do it if it was IMC conditions? I was not following the STAR.
EHGG GRONINGEN/EELDE VOR APP RWY 05
My suggestion is that I should have gone to the IAF which is SO on the other side of the airport, join holding to get established on the leg towards the base turn, execute base turn and get established on final.
The flight from EHGG to ESMS was uneventful with a beautiful sunset.
Through the day we had been battling headwinds and since our home base closes at 21:00 Z we were pretty stressed when we landed at ESMS. On final we had asked the tower to call the fuel truck. It arrived a few minutes after chocks on. After departure we were served with a direct routing fomr 270 nm away to help us get a chance on making it before closing. With maximum cruise power and 30 kts headwind we managed to land at 20:57 Z and as we taxied to the hangar the airport closed. A great relief!
About the airports:
ESMS: I have been there before but it is always a good stop if going to or from Sweden. The fuel is cheaper there than in most other places, 1.98 euros/litre. Landing fee is 34 euros incl VAT which is fair since it has good facilities(H24, ILS both RWYs) and friendly staff.
EHGG: Nice airport for GA from a visitors point of view. I like the AVGAS self service which was very easy. Fuel price is high in Netherlands but it was expected, 2.55 euros/litre. Landing fee for our aircraft was about 40 euros. Apparently you also have to declare something called a GenDec, they only asked for it on the way back from UK though… And immigration came out to our aircraft to see passports, as expected. Staff was very friendly.
EGKB: Airport was nice and fairly straight forward. Fuel was cheap here, about 1.87 euros/litre. We choose a taxi instead of the 6 minute/2000 GBP helishuttle to London central. Cab ride was about 1 hour to Houses of Parliament. A rough estimate tells me that landing fee + parking was about 125-130 euros.
All in all, a great trip!
At first I had some trouble finding a good route that Eurocontrol would accept
Autorouter to the rescue! :)
What would have been the most proper way to do it if it was IMC conditions?
My suggestion is that I should have gone to the IAF which is SO on the other side of the airport, join holding to get established on the leg towards the base turn, execute base turn and get established on final.
I did my IR training at EHGG so I know the situation there quite well.
It’s confusing that the official IAF for RWY05 (SO) is in the opposite direction so flying the full procedure when coming from the south-west would take you about 20 minutes longer.
When coming from the south/west they alway clear you to VZ which will position you on radial 050 for the approach.
I agree this can be confusing if you expect to fly the full procedure via SO.
Fly310 wrote:
On approach to to EHGG I was cleared direct the NDB VZ for a VOR approach RWY 05. I am not experienced with base turns so I asked for them to confirm if this was considered vectors for the approach or if we were expected to make a full procedure. They just said cleared approach and before MSA/initial altitude we got visual with the runway so I just continued direct on final. What would have been the most proper way to do it if it was IMC conditions? I was not following the STAR.
EHGG GRONINGEN/EELDE VOR APP RWY 05
My suggestion is that I should have gone to the IAF which is SO on the other side of the airport, join holding to get established on the leg towards the base turn, execute base turn and get established on final.
I would say your clearance was incorrect. Unless you are vectored, you should be cleared to an IAF or possibly somewhere between an IAF and IF. You are not being vectored unless ATC tells you so and if all you get is “cleared for the approach” then you can do the approach in any way you want as long as it in accordance with the approach plate. The EHGG plate doesn’t have any arrival route to the IAF from VZ and you can clearly not do a base turn when arriving from the direction of the UK.
Since there is a charted hold/racetrack over VZ marked “ATC discretion”, I would have requested this racetrack and used it for positioning to the final approach track.
Fly310 wrote:
we managed to land at 20:57 Z and as we taxied to the hangar the airport closed.
You still have hangarage for a SEP at ESSB? In the Linta area?
I was writing my posting while lenthamen posted his. I agree that if you are approaching VZ on a track of more or less 050°, they you can self-position on EEL R-230 inbound (not R-050 ) and follow the procedure as charted from VZ. This is not strictly in accordance with the plate but obviously safe.
Using the EuroGA router(autorouter) I get the following, very direct route after 4 minutes 15 s computation:
ESSB N0155F090 NOSLI3Z NOSLI DCT VSN DCT MOLUD/N0158F120 Z32 KELOM DCT AMRAK P999 SOMPO SOMPO1G EHGG
(541 NM)
If I “generally discourage DCTs” I get a slightly longer route
ESSB N0158F120 DKR3Z DKR N872 TOKSI Z32 ALS P999 SOMPO SOMPO1G EHGG
(546 NM)
The great circle distance is 531 NM, so even 546 NM is very good. Therefore, @Fly310, I would consider replacing whatever routing tool you are currently using… 
Wrt to the approach at EHGG, if you were coming from the S-W (if I understand correctly) and cleared to descend to the procedure altitude you would be perfectly positioned for a straight-in for R05, so I do not see the problem.
