Trip from Uk to Slovenia

[aftermay]

Hi

We are planning a trip from England to Slovenia in our C172 in July this year.

We shall stop off at Troyes, Gap, somewhere in Italy and end up at Bled airfield. We might fly back the same route or continue round the Alps - not decided yet.

Has anyone done this route or visited Slovenia recently - any tips on where to stop off / visit would be welcome

June

[Scalper]

if you plan to refuel in Italy make sure that they actually have fuel and that they are willing to sell it to you.
oftentimes fuel is either not available, or available only to based aircrafts.

[IO540]

Aftermay, you have disabled PMs, otherwise I could send you some info. PM me your email if you like.

[drambuster]

I strongly recommend the Bottlang VFR manuals for each country, available as one-off trip kits from Transair and others. A wealth of information.

I regularly fly to Hungary (Gyor) adjacent to Slovenia, but we route via Strasbourg, Speyer (fuel/food stop south of Frankfurt), Nurnberg, Linz and then down the valley heading east to Vienna before turning south. i.e we route north around the Alps.

It is also worth looking at the national AIS online services which are very helpful, such as:

German: DFS Deutsche Flugsicherung GmbH - AIS-Portal (http://www.dfs-ais.de/pilotservice/index.html)
French (watch out for their military low altitude network!): SIA - La référence en information aéronautique (http://www.sia.aviation-civile.gouv.fr/default_uk.htm)

and the other countries you visit will have something similar if you Google.

Well worth visiting Diamond Aircraft ( Diamond Aircraft :: Home (http://www.diamond-air.at) ) at Wiener Neustadt in south east Austria. They will lay on a great tour of the factory if you book in advance . . . plus a free lunch in their cafe !

And a great site for Europe wide NOTAMS and general briefing is Skybook ( skybookGA™ - The Online Pre-Flight Briefing Service for Busy Pilots (http://www.skybook.co.uk) ). Worth every penny in my view.

Have fun . . . . .

[aftermay]

Thanks for the info. We are planning to thru France and Italy as we don't have mode S yet and I think we need this if we go into Germany.

I would really like to visit Austria, and the factory sounds interesting - will investigate more...

June

[vanHorck]

A mode S is also a safety feature... You may want to bring forward the investment in this piece of kit.

Routing north of the Alps is indeed a nice option.Linz or Salzburg are great places to visit. The Austrian airfields are professional. I seem to remember Linz did not take CC for fuel though.

In Italy Pescara (Adriatic coast) is a great airfield to land with Avgas

Enjoy your trip!

[aftermay]

Thanks for that.

Suggestions for stop offs are great as just looking at the map is a bit of a hit and miss operation as far as helpfulness/CCs/etc is concerned.

[172driver]

If you decide to route through Germany and Austria, a great fuel stop (for both plane and pilot!) is Siegerland EDGS (http://www.siegerland-airport.de/gat/gat_frameset_e.htm). You need to call them for customs/immigration - which is then done by the fuellers! Very friendly place and great restaurant.

In Austria, be aware that there has recently been a big reshuffle of airspace. Haven't flown there myself in a while, so not yet familiar with the details, but check before you go.

Not sure about CC for fuel in Linz, but I do know that there is a cash machine in the terminal. Also quite a good restaurant. And one of the World's oldest beergardens in town !!

If visiting Wr. Neustadt (Diamondair) make sure you land at the correct airport. There are two within a couple of miles, one is military, the other one is the home of Diamond. AFAIK the mil guys are pretty used to sending nonplussed wayward pilots on their way :E

ATC is very professional (and in fluent English) in both countries.

Have a great trip!

[markkal]

Hi, am glad to share some info with you about travelling to Slovenia.

I am now based in Slovenia (Murska Sobota) where I fly a Sukhoi and Yak both were based in France a couple of years ago ( Chambery). Have been flying there quite often.
Most convenient route was Chambery LFLB (France) about 60NM east of Mont Blanc. May be a good stop on your way (Check also Annecy nearby west). You can go there anytime, reasonable landing fees for medium sized airports (About 10 euros) went I was there, Fuel 100LL available anytime.

Italy a bit tricky, would avoid airports, always a hassle, expensive landing fees, documents checks...

BUT -and this is a big plus, often unknown to foreign pilots- Italy has an astounging network of "private fields" for private/experimental / ultralights aircrafts, making up 90% of the total italian fleet. These fields are everywhere, friendly, open to GA, no landing fees, some of them will provide you with AVGAS (AVGAS in most of big airports for tax reasons is available to local aeroclubs only, with exceptions and at an outrageous cost).

One of those fields half a way from France to Slovenia, is just east of Bologna: Aviosuperfice Ozzano Emilia, they have AVGAS on a self-service basis, just bring your credit card. And a good restaurant, no landing fees, no hassle, no questions asked!!! Better call them anyway in advance, just to make sure, but there was never a problem for refuelling.

Typical route I take is Chambery (France), then head east toward the Frejus pass (Look on a road map), you will be able to cross at 9000 feet and then avoiding Torino descend to about 1000FT agl where by circumventing and staying below controlled airspace you can cross all the way to Bologna following the highway to Alessandria, then keeping 15 NM south, parallel to highway to avoid CTR's and overfly the appenines mountains 1000 FT agl and head for Parma,Modena, Bologna..(Ozzano).

By doing so you avoid the hassle of communicating with controllers who will give you reporting points all the way. Remember, only outside controlled airspace, 1000FT AGL and squawk 7000 and of course file a flight plan, Schengen airspace is free of customs formalities, but you are still crossing borders.


You may want to cross those TMA's and CTR's but be prepared to a lot of routing!!!

From your stop you will head to Lugo, Chioggia, abeam Venice where you can cut across direct to Portoroz Slovenia, or proceed along the coast north to Bled, Less packed airspace on this second leg, no big hassle being in contact with controllers, but be prepared to report point after point..

Then Slovenia, a GA paradise - Even better is Croatia down south- cheap AVGAS 50% cheaper, beautiful coast, 1000 islands with cristalline seas, and big airports everywhere loaded with germans austrians, italians, french!! And the good looking chicks at Split and Dubrovnik airports, university students working there in summer :-))

If you stick to Slovenia hassle free place, easy route to Bled in the beautiful Slovenian alps covered with pine forests everywhere...then Ljubliana if you want to spend a bit more but the scenery is unbelievable, or go to Maribor, big airport all amenities and really cheap, then if you have time head east if you want to Murska Sobota, at the border with Hungary.. Slovenia is a small country with, few inhabitants big forests, beutiful mountains... You won't be disappointed!!!

[IO540]

I agree; Slovenia is a lovely place, and so is Croatia.

In fact Croatia, with its great scenery (in both respects I am sure ;) ;) ), half price avgas (not dumb enough to be in the EU yet), laid back ATC with good English, and a number of lovely little island airports with Customs so you can fly there direct, is the nearest to GA heaven I have ever seen in Europe. I'll be popping down there this year, maybe 2x.

[aftermay]

Wow, what a fantstic rundown Markkal.

We will get the maps out over the w/e and have a really good look at our route. We are both a bit worried about the Italian bureauracy, so may route North and east of the Alps - we shall see!!

BTW are there any nice "toy boys" in Austria - more to my taste than dolly birds!!!

June

PS You don't by any chance paraglide do you?

[AfricanEagle]

June,

Markkal has already provided excellent advice regarding Italy.

Concerning airfields in Italy place an enquiry on VFR Flight - il forum di chi vola per divertimento - Index (http://www.vfrflight.net)
Many pilots available to supply info in the section "Welcome foreign users!", especially if you say you wear a skirt :)

Ciao.

[markkal]

Hi Aftermay,

thanks for reply, yes also consider flying north, but well north, if you want to be well clear of mountains and then you can turn south when east of austria.. Of course you can cut across the magnificent alps all the way, it's perfectly safe, with few precautions see below!!!!

Beware of weather, south of the alps (italy) weather is much better for much longer...Bring a good GPS since summer days are quire hazy down there!!!!

North of the alps consider only with an high pressure well settled or you risk being grounded..Remember: GA is a fast way of travelling for people who are not in a rush !!!!!

Also whenever you cross the alps, especially in summer with great weather and high pressures, 90% of the time you have cumulus developing in the afternoon blocking the way...So keep in mind that the best time to cross is in the morning. 9000 to 10000Ft will do and you may spend well over 30 min up there!!!

If you want to route west/east all across the alps, do it in the early mornings to lunchtime to avoid thermals and bumpy rides .Just for comfort anyway, no big issue there.

Also make 100% sure THERE ARE NO WINDS ALOFT If you see lenticular clouds on a bright sunny day DON'T GO,:=:= wind is a KILLER, think about those rotors tossing you around with no way of keeping any sort of control.

Don't want to scare you, these are only few precautions I want to bring to your attention.

Learned the hard way myself and got in deep sh..t.


Once many years ago out of my carelessness:ugh: ventured into those rotors. Made it out of pure luck. Weather was beautiful but:oh: there was a big flat rotor, only one hanging over the Mont-Blanc..

Despite having 400HP in a Sukhoi, think about full power applied and 6000 FT per min (Full scale deflection on VSI) sink rate, then a jolt, 6g's on the opposite direction with my head hitting the canopy - I was tight with a 5 point harness:sad:on and then -6g's the other way, 15 min of terror that seemed like a lifetime...
NEVER AGAIN, and it was my fault...My feet where trembling on the rudder, somehow managed to land and kept shaking for at least 1 hour. i was so white that my buddies figured something was wrong and gave me a glass of cognac.....:eek:

Just check weather for wind and possible cumulus buildup during the last part of the day and you will be in business, it will be a lifetime experience, be 1000% confident and enjoy ..

Nothing to worry about just plan everything right, take your time, don't be in a hurry and you will be part of the happy few who will have wandered up there with only magnificent eagles hovering over those permanently snow covered peaks.

By the way I am not a paraglider....Should be great too, In summer in the alps you see hundreds of them flocking around thermals at such unbelievable heights.
Often they infringe Geneva TMA posing a threat to liners downwind to Geneva Airport:} they seem to have great fun nonetheless,
Check for them too when over the alps!!!!

[IO540]

I think it is pretty easy to take one look at the MSLP chart and one gets a pretty quick idea of whether there will be winds over the mountains or not.

It has so far worked for me, a number of times. Not as much as a bump.

On a clear day, one isn't going to get a 50kt wind picking up from nowhere if the MSLP chart shows a large high pressure area.

[172driver]

To add to markkal's comments: when crossing the Alps, also keep a good lookout for gliders. There are loads of glider fields, and these machines are near impossible to spot. Best is probably to land somewhere north of the Alps (e.g. Innsbruck, Salzburg or Linz) and have a chat with the local pilots before setting off.

In any case, don't let these various comments put you off, crossing the Alps on a clear morning is a spectacular flight you'll remember :ok:

PS: I'm sure you'll find some obliging Austrian ;)

[aftermay]

Thanks to everyone for the replies. Lots of things to take into account and also places to stop at.

Looking forward to doing some planning next week, when I shall be less busy.

Happy flying

June