South Tyrol and the Veneto

… great report. Impressive to me: it must have been just a few days earlier when I made the VFR-trip with the DA42 from EDFE overhead LOWI down to to BRENO (Brenner, Sterzing etc.), then back to KPT and finally to EDMA, but there was by far not that much snow as I can see on your photos. Now it looks even more impressive, I have to admit.

Additionally: thanks for mentioning Asiago airfield, this place was totally unknown to me, and actually it looks pretty nice when one check out the airflield’s homepage.

What’s the biplane pictured at LIKE? A SPAD replica with a four-cylinder-engine?

Googling the N-number shows that it is a Boredom Fighter, a US built scratch-built homebuilt now deregistered in the US and imported to Italy. Link. Looks like it was built in 1985 and the last US owner was the EAA Foundation. That probably means it was donated to them and subsequently sold. Link. The engine is a Continental, looks from the data to be an A75.

I bet its fun to fly in that environment. We visited good friends in Pordenone in September and there’s a reason why there are so many airfields there!

if I owned an ultralight, I would be down in Italy at least once a year for a couple of weeks and really get into “strip hopping mood”, enjoying all the hospitality that is found in those places.

No need to tell me about the hospitality and the superb table pleasures of the Veneto and of Emilia-Romagna (which I know slightly better, following several visits both for leisure and for work). Trouble is I either have no job, thus plenty of time but no income, or I do have a job hence a fair bit of income but no spare time – free-lancers must recognise the situation. And with those Alps in the way (even the most proficient and best-equipped round here state that there is no flight planning certitude, there), and unwelcoming Austria and Switzerland (I carry neither transponder nor ELT in my microlight) I need two weeks at least for such a trip, through CZ, SK, HU, SLO. Magnificent, and I really look forward to it, but fall 2015 is the earliest opportunity. Before that, a sneak weekend in my famous campervan is the next best plan.

I might open a new thread dedicated to ultralight flying in the Northeast of Italy

You will have at least me for a close follower, and I am sure there will be more! So sad that fellow microlighters are so taciturn, here.

I’m a microlighter (too) Jan! It’s a whole different world to flying aircraft – as you know, obviously – but I think the two activities are very complementary and there’s much to be learned at both ends of the spectrum. It’s a great pity there often seems to be a such a divide between microlighters and avioneurs. Anyway, I diverge – please forgive me and let’s get back to Bosco’s excellent trip report

Very nicely done. Great pictures and I love the detailed narration. I would also be interested in fees charged. Unless of course, to ask is to not be able to afford it.

Its nice to see one can cross the Alps without going to FL150. My only question is what are your sources for WX reports. I use the reports available on RR. But feel that they are not as complete as I had when flying in the US. Can you list some sources that I can pull up on the internet? Those radar images look like the Nexrad images Im familiar with. There is hope, I think.

Thanks for posting the prices. What about parking? Handling? Passenger tax? Just curious most places in the US no landing, handling, or any other fee if if there is, than fuel purchase usually covers it.

I guess you go VFR. IFR requires oxygen. The WX info I have is so unreliable its like throwing darts. Im going to Munich this Fri. The Wx who knows, weather underground is wrong more often than right. Partly cloudy to them is broken to overcast. Clear is a cloud deck at FL120. Often I have no clue till the morning off and even then I have the following questions. Where are the tops? Are there layers? Pireps? Base reports?

I miss the expertise and professionalism of the FS Briefer.

What is DWD?

Once again thanks.