Actually, I am having some doubts now… possibly Norderney, Wangerooge and Borkum MIGHT BE border crossing points. At least, that’s what’s written in an old (2014) list I have from the Bundespolizei (which they don’t publish any longer, unfortunately).
If that were the case, especially Borkum might be a candidate.
Whilst I am not very fond of Borkum as an island, they do have
-Avgas, Jet
-good opening times
-long asphalt plus a crosswind runway
-radio in English (officially)
-comparatively good quantities of accomodation
Maybe Peter would like to enquire about the Schengen entry and give it a try on Friday?
Last month I went to Wangerooge too. This was not really a flying focused trip, but rather flying was the means to do some kiteboarding. Had to take out two rear seats to fit 3 persons with luggage plus two kite quivers. Flights were uneventful due to high pressure weather and took about 1h20m from EPPO. AFIS spoke English.
If you go kiting, visit the kite school first. Owner doesn’t like people kiting without asking him what/where. We only asked the lifeguards and then were chased by surf school owner.
There’s a free running dog beach. Nice for pet owners. There are no cars on the island, which is fantastic.
Overall a nice mission for a SET. Lots of baggage, short runway, trip distance short enough to go both ways without fueling.
Some pictures…
I visited Wangerooge in summer 2017 with non existent German RT skills. I called ahead and was told it was no problem. In fact every time I speak english on the RT and then visit the tower to pay the fee in Germany, I apologise (in German) that I didn’t speak German on the radio. Every FISO in Germany that I’ve spoken to has said that they would rather I speak english on the radio than German if I have no German language proficiency on my licence. Although I can now speak German (without the endorsement on my licence), I am very reluctant to try on the radio because I find they either reply in casual borderline slang or it’s difficult to understand anyway.
Only once have I made an initial call to an airfield and had a reply of “sprechen Sie Deutsch?”, but it was unplanned and I was only flying near their “zone”, not landing.
Anyway, in my experience, calling ahead and asking if english is okay is almost never a problem in Germany. Everywhere I’ve been seems to be very relaxed about it. Like the others, I can recommend the Frisian islands!
if you want ti do kiting, you might also have a look at St. Peter Ording ;)
Reason for the kite school owner chasing you is quite possibly his fear against more restrictions
https://www.windsurfing-wangerooge.de/kitezone/
It is a Nature Reserve there with a defined zone for kite surfing. If many surfers go elsewhere, then he might face additional restrictions…
@EuroFlyer
It is the beauty of GA that when one wants to go kiting, just open Windy and look for most favorable conditions within plane’s range. This time Wooge was best with tropical air mass and steady eastern wind. Maybe be St. Peter Ording next time.
@ch.ess
Yes, thats it. We were at fault. Probably busted a swimmer zone. Not intentionally though and not getting close to any people. However, the way we were handled was not exactly friendly and thats why I warn about it. In other places, for example Bornholm, no one really cares about zones.