Hello all,
So I’m looking for some expert advice on planning a European VFR trip. In return, I promise a detailed trip report! Something tells me I’m looking at the right place here. 
I have a lot of different questions and as the discussions on this site are not threaded, I’ve decided to post them as individual threads to keep things tidy. I will link all the individual questions within this thread to keep them tied together. Hope that’s fine with everyone.
I’d like to use this thread for a discussion of the general plan.
Here’s the fixed parameters:
The trip should be flexible in terms of the destinations, both taking into account weather and our desire to go to whatever place the next day… Having said that, we know that as pilots, we cannot live into the day just like that, so what I’m doing at the moment is putting together potential routes for which I can gather detailed information beforehand. Final decision will be on the day of departure. We may skip intermediate destinations at any time.
I’ve made out the following preliminary routes:
Our favorite so far (based on a shared passion for the Balkan culture):
Frankfurt-Egelsbach – > Sonnen (highest airfield in Germany) for lunch – > Bratislava – > Budapest – > Belgrade – > Sarajevo – > Split – > Losinj (heard good things about that one 
) – > Ljubljana – > Zagreb – > Vienna – > Frankfurt-Egelsbach
Second favorite:
Frankfurt-Egelsbach – > Berlin (e.g. Schoenhagen) – > Heringsdorf on Usedom – > Gdansk – > Warsaw – > Krakow – > Budapest – > Bratislava – > Prague – > Frankfurt-Egelsbach
Other options that I have not planned out in detail yet are:
) )I’ll appreciate any GENERAL advice, input, recommendations, warnings etc. on these general thoughts in this thread!
There are specific threads for the following topics:
Thanks a lot in advance and cheers!
Patrick
Your first favorite is IMO much more interesting landscape wise than your second favorite. Poland IMO is effectively flat and everything looks the same from above.
Poland IMO is effectively flat and everything looks the same from above.
That’s not entirely true. In the south there are the Tatra mountains and the Baltic coast is really nice. And then there are some of the most wonderful cities in Poland, that Europe has to offer, like Krakow and Gdansk. V
•UK (possibly up to Dublin) via Belgium and London (I’m worried about the weather here, mostly)
Both the UK and Ireland have a lot to offer. But you are correct to be worried about the weather. It is “unpredictable” and will no doubt interfere with your best laid plans!
•Denmark, Sweden, incl the Baltic Sea coast in Germany (I’m worried about the erratic weather and the cost of living )
Indeed! It’s certainly not cheap!
I too would favour your first plan. Not sure about the costs of using some of those airports (I’ve never seen any GA at Bratislava or Vienna).
The Accor group of hotels are excellent for this sort of trip. They have a range from 0 star hostel type accommodation to excellent 4 start, so you can have whatever level of comfort you want. But the reason that I recommend them is that they usually offer rates that are slightly more expensive, but can be cancelled up to 4pm (6pm in some cases) on the day of arrival. This takes away any pressure to get to where you want to be on a time table, but also removes the hassle of trying to find suitable accommodation when you get there ;)
Bring enough cash for a tank of fuel, a taxi and a hotel for the night ;) Not everywhere will take a credit card, especially for fuel.
Rhino,
your approach is fine.
Make initial preparations for two or three of these trips, then decide a day or two before departure.
The most important thing on a private fun trip by GA is not the destination, it’s the weather.
A few notes:
-the Balkan countries can be very hot in high summer. I would probably prefer more northerly destiantions. But if you do it, resolve to fly early (and I mean early) in the morning only, especially in the mountainous areas.
-Poland sure is great. Beside the major cities, should stay somewhere in the Mazury region and pitch a tent somewhere. Or stay at a place like Kikity. The fyling is partly a bit boring in central Poland.
-The Atlantic coast of France and Spain are nice in high summer. Also, flying in France is comparatively cheap (see my last trip report).
-Re UK and Ireland: do it! I wouldn’t worry much about the weather. You don’t really have a “destination” anyway, so no risk of a plan getting scrapped. Also, the weather is not too bad at all in summer. It’s changeable, but not too bad. Continously considering the weather – that’s what VFR flying is about.
-If the weather is good up there, go for the Baltic countries. It’s great. I’m off to Palanga in a week…
Sonnen EDPS is not an easy airfield to land. Approach is over a quarry and the runway is extremely narrow and has a strong slope. It’s great to land there but one of the more difficult. The owner/operator (it’s one of the very few private airfields in Germany) is pretty much deaf and not a great help on the radio. Do a low pass and then just land. Due to the slope, you have to get a good idea of the wind, you really do not want to land downhill unless there is a strong wind.
PS: Belgrade sells AVGAS for 1,15 €/l (earlier this year) if you leave the country. That alone makes it worth a visit
Hi,
Regarding Poland, Gdansk is beautifull destination with nice and GA friendly airport relatively close to city.
Warsaw Babice (EPBC) is main and heavy loaded by GA traffic airfield with high glider activity. Please note: in class G almost no one speaks english!
In Warsaw it’s almost nothing to see: it’s modern business city.
Regarding Krakow, you probably will have only Pobednik (EPKP) as option: when I’ve landed there, main Krakow Balice did not accept GA traffic and had very limited parking abilities. When you’ll take grass parking in Pobednik,check it’s coniditon! I’ve parked there after few days of heavy rains and after I could not taxi even on take off power setting…
Krakow is beatiful place to see. There are some points of interest, like Schindlers Museum and Wawel.
Also, you may wish to check Wroclaw – another old city on south-west of Poland. It has big and GA friend airport with separate GA terminal.
For Prague, I’d recommend LKLT (Letnany) and for Vienna – LOAU (Stokerau):
Gdansk is beautifull destination with nice and GA friendly airport
Last time (about 2 years ago) we paid around 100€, and the payment took about an hour, so I’ve seen friendlier airports…
Based on my experience (autumn 2012) it was less than 50 eur with 3 nights of parking.
Sonnen (highest airfield in Germany) for lunch
Be careful in planning. Hot and High demands propper planning of the aircrafts performance.
