Schiphol

[nick ritter]

Hello,

I am in the planning stages of a trip to Amsterdam for the May 28th long weekend (leaving from EGLM in a PA archer I hope)

Having searched the sites I see that Lelystad is a cheaper GA option and read Slipway’s account of his trip into Rotterdam, but I am happy to pay the premium for the one off experience to visit Schiphol and would love to hear some experiences or advice for my proposed flight

KLM Jet Centre quoted a price of €300 which includes the handling, landing and then 2 nights stay etc. This sounds ball park right? Anyone else that I should be contacting?

I also have a small issue that I almost certainly will need to stop off somewhere for fuel – any good suggestions, ideally somewhere which is a nice place to stop off for a lunch etc (will be with wife and brother)

Any advice and experiences, I would love to hear them

Thanks in advance
Nick

[Jan Olieslagers]

Any intermediate stop on the continent will have to be a customs aerodrome, and these are not that many. You might consider Calais LFAC but the restaurant has been unstable, no idea of the current status. Ostend EBOS might be another option, or perhaps even well-known Le Touquet.
But frankly why would you need to?

[BackPacker]

No avgas at Schiphol so make sure you've got plenty on board for the return trip.

Practically speaking this will probably mean you've got to uplift fuel on the inbound and outbound trip somewhere in the general area of EHMZ. Which is a customs airfield (although it has PNR for customs, I think), has avgas and has a decent restaurant. 1000 meter grass, well maintained, well recommended. Just don't overfly the campsite due west of the field.

300 euro sounds about right for Amsterdam. This includes handing and landing, but will probably NOT include the ATC fee (of about 30-40 euro I think). This is charged by LVNL (the Dutch NATS) but they have outsourced their billing to Eurocontrol, who will invoice the registered owner or operator, under the name of "Terminal Charges". So if that Archer is not your own, make sure you warn the owner/operator beforehand that he is going to get a bill from Eurocontrol for this. More information: Terminal charges | EUROCONTROL (http://www.eurocontrol.int/services/terminal-charges)

Once you have confirmed handling from KLM Jet Center there's nothing more you need to do, other than filing a flight plan (mandatory not just for a FIR boundary crossing, but also to fly to/from a controlled airfield in the Netherlands, so also for the EHMZ-EHAM leg). KLM Jet Center will let Schiphol ATC know they've got you covered. Once you leave taxiway G at GA or so, there are signs next to the taxiway saying "Contact KLM Jet Center at XXX". If you do, they'll come to help you park, and will take you to the handling center.

Furthermore, Schiphol is a very busy airfield. Although you will *probably* be landing on the "short" (2 km) 04/22 runway (which is relatively quiet) you will be talking to Schiphol Tower who may also be handling up to three "big" runways at the time as well. So make sure you're on the ball. Enter over Victor, then follow the SPL radial (128? I'm not sure) to A and B. Fly the circuit just SE of the big hangars and make sure you join base where and when they tell you to. If you get a "threshold base" then fly that base leg at the threshold level, with the turn to final over the numbers at 300' or so. If you extend downwind past the threshold, your final leg will infringe on either 36R or 27 and they are NOT happy with that.

Once you've vacated the runway, switch to ground immediately. Don't wait for the tower to tell you to.

Do check the NOTAMs well in advance. I was at Schiphol for a meeting a week ago, and 04/22 was not available then due to extensive maintenance. I don't know if that maintenance has been finished. If not, they'll have to slot you in on 18L/36R or 09/27 and that might require holding over various points before they've created a gap for you. Plus it'll be a very long taxi with lots of opportunities for errors. So come extra well prepared in that case.

Last, you will find the service at Schiphol (both ATC and the Jet Center folks) very courteous and very professional. If you follow ATC directions and the marshaller signals immediately and properly, you'll have no problem at Schiphol. But as I said it's an extremely busy place and if you f*ck up you'll find yourself being vectored (or even escorted by a police helicopter - happened a few weeks ago) out of the CTR in zero time flat.

(In which case you can always go to Lelystad EHLE or Hilversum EHHV...)

[Reverserbucket]

Having flown light aircraft into busy European airfields in the past I would have to say that on the whole, I found the experience expensive and really not worth it. As suggested, Lelystad is a nice place with fairly easy rail connections to Amsterdam and you could also visit the Aviodrome whilst there.