I was happy to see such a positive reaction.
This thread is meant to be an open discussion on what it should look like.
Then we will look for a specific area. I don’t have any fixed ideas.
The objective is to build a plan which is both fun and doable (don’t tell me Iceland/Svalbard ).
As this fly-in would have a “purpose”, people may feel frustrated to cancel for weather (I would be).
So maybe a destination reachable via CAT and time flexibility would be nice to relieve some of the get-there-itis.
For example, Scotland/Ireland/Wales are lovely but they will require IFR to be reached (probably).
My vote:
How long? Hiking only or with days off? – Negotiable
What kind of area? – Any beautiful place; maybe a slight preference for mountains. Open-air hot springs would be incredibly nice.
What kind of lodging? – Tents or rustic accommodation or a mixture of the two on different days
What kind of airport requirements? – Avgas, 700 m grass or 500 m tarmac
Other stuff: having mobile phone coverage will be a big plus for those of us who are at work 24/365, including the majority of freelancers and entrepreneurs.
I do have the same preferences as @Ultranomad has. I would only prefer a destination outside UK or Ireland because I would like to take my dog with me and going to UK this is really complicated with private plane and dog.
I’ve just visited Bolzano for hiking. I’ve not used the airport yet, but the city is a lovely destination.
Let’s consider 3 days of hiking, plus 2 days for flying in/out, plus 1/2 days of weather buffer → that makes 6/7 days.
Accomodation : I would say one/two nights out, the rest in hostels or B&B
Airport : I think it would be more enjoyable if we could meet up in a field close to the hiking area, which implies VFR fields. The ideal would be to target a small field with an IFR one not too far away.
Hiking itself : would you prefer an A to B march with stops along the way or day-hikes with nights at the same place ?
For the area, I started looking at the Vosges in France and the Ardennes in Belgium. I ‘m afraid I don’t know much about more eastern destinations.
Any suggestion is welcome !
Vosges are nice, we lived in Karlsruhe, not far away, for many years.
A suggestion further away would be La Seu (LESU) where we’ve been last year though we didn’t do any hiking then. The area looked very promising and only very short transport by bus or taxi appears to be required to reach the trailheads.
LESU seems a very good spot for hiking indeed !
Airfield looks welcoming from the pireps I found. Not the usual Spanish airport hassle.
Air BP 100LL and JetA1. Rental cars on site. No customs unfortunately.
Who would be OK to fly there (except terbang who don’t count miles anymore ) ?
I just discovered LECD La Cerdanya was close to LESU. LECI is also in this area.
@aart, which one would be best for a small fly-in ?
Not the usual Spanish airport hassle.
Perhaps because it is in Catalunya? :evil grin:
Jan_Olieslagers wrote:
Perhaps because its in Catalunya? :evil grin:
Please not this debate ! We’ll fill up about 50 pages before Peter erase them all