Flying into Italy
Join Date: Mar 2006
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IO540,
just an additional bit of information from a friend of mine who flew into Oristano in early August, just a few weeks before your trip.
They bought 100LL at LIER without any problem, so clearly that NOTAM you found was there due to a fuel shortage, in a way similar to what happened in France last summer.
I am wondering whether at some point in time last summer something happened in the manufacturing and distribution chain for 100LL in Europe, and you've been caught in the middle...
Great trip report!
Ciao, Luca
just an additional bit of information from a friend of mine who flew into Oristano in early August, just a few weeks before your trip.
They bought 100LL at LIER without any problem, so clearly that NOTAM you found was there due to a fuel shortage, in a way similar to what happened in France last summer.
I am wondering whether at some point in time last summer something happened in the manufacturing and distribution chain for 100LL in Europe, and you've been caught in the middle...
Great trip report!
Ciao, Luca
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It's possible but nobody indicated this as the cause.
I did ask several people at LIER when I was there, over 2 days, all of whom spoke enough English (the airport has about 5x more staff than it needs
) but nobody would say anything about it. And my preflight planning written enquiries were never replied to.
I see the current airport notams for LIER do not mention avgas, so they may have it now, but one has to be careful with this because an airport is entitled to cancel a notam the instant the information has been sent off for publication in the national AIP. And nobody is going to treat the Italian AIP as definitive
Thank you for the kind comments
I did ask several people at LIER when I was there, over 2 days, all of whom spoke enough English (the airport has about 5x more staff than it needs
) but nobody would say anything about it. And my preflight planning written enquiries were never replied to.I see the current airport notams for LIER do not mention avgas, so they may have it now, but one has to be careful with this because an airport is entitled to cancel a notam the instant the information has been sent off for publication in the national AIP. And nobody is going to treat the Italian AIP as definitive
Thank you for the kind comments
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I did ask several people at LIER when I was there, over 2 days, all of whom spoke enough English (the airport has about 5x more staff than it needs 
) but nobody would say anything about it. And my preflight planning written enquiries were never replied to.
) but nobody would say anything about it. And my preflight planning written enquiries were never replied to.
Here is a pic I took in 2007, when 7 microlight planes raided Oristano and asked for 100LL.
The 3 people on the left wing are all staffers, and so is the fourth guy standing by the fuel pump. The two guys close to the right wing are the pilots of that plane.
So 4 people to refuel a microlight plane... see why Italy is sooo broken? And these folks all have wages to be paid at the end of the month, and Oristano is a very dead airport. So who pays their wages in the end? Of course it's the taxpayers!
And speaaking of AIP, NOTAMs are worse than the AIP. They are worthless in this country, it's an endless maze of useless information, with the real important information carefully hidden by a heap of crap...
'nuff bitching, let me go to bed and dream of flying in the USA...
Ciao, Luca
My tips for flying in Italy:
1) Take a Jet-A burner (which we did!)
2) Do not bust the Torrino CTR in dramatic fashion (less success here)
3) If you bust the Torrino CTR in dramatic fashion, phone them and apologise, it works wonders
1) Take a Jet-A burner (which we did!)
2) Do not bust the Torrino CTR in dramatic fashion (less success here)
3) If you bust the Torrino CTR in dramatic fashion, phone them and apologise, it works wonders
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4) bring a girl (as pictured above)
That's what I do
Not suggesting Italian girls are less than attractive (well, prior to marriage, anyway) but they are Catholic, aren't they?
That's what I do
Not suggesting Italian girls are less than attractive (well, prior to marriage, anyway) but they are Catholic, aren't they?
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Hmmm, I did wonder how Berlusconi got all those 16 year olds round to his house 
Now I know...
I used to think it was his hair.
My father worked at Trieste post-WW2. He loved Italian women. Never stopped talking about Italy... much to the anger of my mother In his old age he suggested going back there to find some of his girlfriends. My mum - always practical - suggested he starts in the cemeteries
Anyway, one of my first long trips had a stop at Trieste so I could check it out. I can see why he liked it; it's a bit like a (somewhat decrepit) version of Prague with a seaside.
Now I know...I used to think it was his hair.
My father worked at Trieste post-WW2. He loved Italian women. Never stopped talking about Italy... much to the anger of my mother
In his old age he suggested going back there to find some of his girlfriends. My mum - always practical - suggested he starts in the cemeteries Anyway, one of my first long trips had a stop at Trieste so I could check it out. I can see why he liked it; it's a bit like a (somewhat decrepit) version of Prague with a seaside.
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Ljubljana (60 miles away) is a definite mini-Prague
LJLJ was my first foreign landing after I got the IR
Slovenia is a really beautiful country. Mountains, forests, lakes, all in a very small area. And it's well organised, with everything working smoothly. At the airport GA office they even hand you a custom briefing pack with weather, etc.
Thread Starter
Fully off-topic: Having visited Trieste extensively, and Ljubljana brieferly, I gently please to confirm that both are most enjoyable places. The Trieste waterfront is particularly beautiful indeed, and with a good nose one can smell some Strauss music down the old town alleys. But IMHO neither city can claim much resemblance to Prague - try Stockholm rather then, or even better, Vilnius. Certainly Prague is a beer place, whereas Trieste and Ljubljana are rather into wine.
I never flew to any of these beautiful cities, more's the pity; but my time is coming now. Approaching fast. Will keep you posted.
I never flew to any of these beautiful cities, more's the pity; but my time is coming now. Approaching fast. Will keep you posted.
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I really like Trieste, the edgy feeling mixed culture included, and came close to taking a job there three years ago. I guess the Bora could impact your flying in the winter... boy, does that wind blow.
Indeed is all about wine in the evenings there!
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nevertheless the guys at the Prosecco airfied had nice activity in the happy weekend wind break
Yes, there is a small uncertified airfield closer to Trieste than Ronchi dei Legionari (LIPQ), but it's only a microlight strip. Never landed there, though.Trieste is definitely part of the Alpe Adria region, and is much more Central Europe than Italy in many ways. Lovely town, but heck, that Bora wind is hard to survive not being from Trieste!
Ciao, Luca
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Trieste is a super airport but does it still have that Mad Max avgas pump at the end of the long narrow taxiway, with no way to turn around at the end without using the towbar?
