Nothing spectacular this time, just a few lousy photos I thought I’d share.
This is the sort of bimbling I do here, when the weather is good but time is short (thank you, flysto.net!):
The first leg, heading south-southwest, is our standard issue VFR departure to almost everywhere south, be it Croatia or Italy or apparently even Spain. More direct routes tend to lead either along the spine of the Alps, on the leeward side of some quite spectacular Alpine peaks – or at least exactly through the middle of Vienna TMA. So it’s usually worth to make a little detour.
An artificial reservoir providing drinking water for my town (Jezioro Goczałkowickie):
Vistula river, not very far from its springs. This river goes through a few major Polish cities all the way to Gdansk:
On the plain just ahead of the wing tip, you could almost see the runway of LZZI. Never been there, but it sure is an important alternate when returning from the south.
Strečniansky priesmyk, another critical waypoint.
When bound south in cloudy weather, clearing this pass always evokes a sigh of relief. Beyond it, the landscape gets much safer. Much better visible on a topographic map:
But this time I did not cross it, turning sharp to the East instead. Now, time for a selfie!
Flying along the main Malá Fatra ridge. A most recommended mountain range for hiking trips. The highest peak is 1709 m. Unfortunately the photos are taken almost into the sun.
Now that’s a shady valley!
Jezioro Orawskie, another artificial lake. Actually the largest body of water in Slovakia.
Here’s what I came here for – the Tatra Mountains – the highest range in the whole of our Carpathian mountains. They are superb and we love them… but please don’t come unless well advised on best seasons to visit. Sadly, most of the time the place is grossly overcrowded.
Czerwone Wierchy – I know these peaks by heart, since a vast network of natural caves lurks underneath and caving is my thing even more than flying is. I have seen a mountain rescue helicopter in the distance, but it was too far to catch it on a photo.
There’s an R zone up to FL115 over the Tatras, and I am fully convinced it should be there! So what we usually do is fly along the national park boundary.
Finally some real autumn colors. Just ahead the wing tip: Babia Góra, another mountain range between Poland and Slovakia.
Some funny manouvers are needed if one wants to stay in the freedom of class G and avoid Krakow TMA. This last serious moutain one passes on the way back to EPKM must be Leskowiec (3025’) …
… and within a few miles the TMA starts at 3500’. To be fair, when asking for a real A-B VFR transit on a flight plan, Krakow Approach will usually let you through. And even if they don’t, the landscape very soon gets really flat.
As a matter of fact, if you fancy proceeding further north, it looks quite similar for another 250 miles, and then suddenly the Baltic sea appears. But again, this was supposed to be a short bimble, and I am headed back to Katowice EPKM! In this kind of weather, visual navigation by coal fired power stations works best; one of them is visible on the horizon.
Passing a prohibited zone around some important chemical plant. Further away we have another “P” zone over a museum established at a former nazi concentration camp site . It wasn’t there when I passed my PPL nine years ago, but again, knowing a local pilot “personality” or two … I am actually happy it is there now!
Have I mentioned I was flying just below a somewhat busy TMA… ?
I had no time to take photos on the approach, as it was quite exciting. When I was almost on right downwind for 05, a Cessna ahead of me reported a go-around, advising a flock of deer is happily sunbathing on the runway. Someone on the ground reported they are on their way to scare them away, but apparently the Cessna’s lowpass had already succeeded in that.
So, fast forward to the end of my flying day, which of course involved pushing the Fox Oscar into my favourite, far corner of the hangar.
Nice! How long was the whole trip? One hour?
Oh my. I forgot to mention the basics. Time in air: 1h 35m and total distance: 188 NM. I also just realized I had lost a rare opportunity to start the “weekend” thread, as Friday could easily count as weekend!
Wonderful trip and super photos
Even the short ones are great
The valley formations in Malá Fatra are very interesting. I don’t know anything about the Carpathians, so nice to see some photos (thank you 😀), especially in autumn colours.