Planning a flight to Austria in May

[MarcusH]

Our club is planning a flight to Austria in May of this year. The plan is for one crew of 2 to fly out out c172 from Weston to Vienna, base ourselves in the area, visit places like Budapest, Balaton, down to Slovenia. Ideally our base would have a club where there would be local knowledge. A week later a second crew would arrive, tour then bring the plane home.
Can someone recommend somewhere to base ourselves?
Are there any especially interesting places to fly into?
Finally are there any gotchas about flying in this region?

[rnzoli]

A friend of mine was visiting me in Hungary from LOAV, near Vienna. Home
I am not sure what clubs are there, but I can ask for more information.


(When flying to Hungary, don't miss LHTL or LHBS near Budapest, and LHSM or LHSK near Balaton.)

[Armchairflyer]

LOAV and LOAN are the two main GA airports near Vienna, with several flying clubs each. Unfortunately, no English version of their homepages apparently.

Regarding aviatic gotchas, three things that come to my mind are

• the restricted airspace around LOWW (and Vienna is a no-fly zone except for a VFR route along the Danube, but that's not something I'd recommend for non-locals);
• both aerodromes have quite stringent traffic patterns (the LOAN one is a bit tricky as a military aerodrome is just "across the road"), and
• flying along/across the alps needs good weather (planning), but offers a magnificent view.

If the "interesting places" extend to food-related premises, you might look here, too. Regarding Hungary, no firsthand experiences, but IIRC there have been some thoroughly positive reviews of this premise by a few fellow pilots who have been there.

[MarcusH]

If you could get some information that would be very helpful. In particular we would need English speakers, and advice on where to stay etc.

[Jan Olieslagers]

@rnzoli: what is special or remarkable about LHTL Tokol? I visited once, it seemed an ex-military place, very much run down not to say dilapidated, with not even a pilot's bar or clubhouse?

Regarding the Balaton area: I'm not sure there'll be lots of activity - I have an impression that place is busy as a beehive in the summer holiday months and totally dead at other times. LHBK has its own website at Startseite but it is in German - less mysterious than the local language, though.

[FullWings]

I’ve flown in/out of Voslau and they were very friendly - don’t know much about the immediate area, though.

Wiener Neustadt East is good strip and not far from the town itself, which has a decent selection of hotels, guest houses and restaurants and there are several within walking distance of the airport. It’s a “new” town but that was in 1194, so plenty of history and culture. The Diamond factory is on the airfield and the facilities are excellent. The field is on the low ground with the first foothills of the Alps beginning about 5 miles away, so ceiling and visibility shouldn’t be an issue for getting in and out.

That area is convenient for exploring by air into the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Hungary, eastern Austria and NE Italy. If the weather is OK (and May is a good month as it’s warm but the storms haven’t really got going yet) you can nip over to places like St Johann-in-Tirol which is a spectacular alpine trip. There’s Klagenfurt and Graz to the SW with much more open terrain if the high mountains are cloudy. If you want to take a day off flying, Vienna is only a short train ride away.

Depending on your experience level and the conditions, there are quite a few airfields in the main valleys of the Austrian Alps that would make interesting additions to the logbook. Many are PPR but I’ve never had a refusal after a polite enquiry.

I would definitely take a PLB and/or a SPOT device if I were going flying in these areas, though.

[rnzoli]

Originally Posted by Jan Olieslagers

@rnzoli: what is special or remarkable about LHTL Tokol? I visited once, it seemed an ex-military place, very much run down not to say dilapidated, with not even a pilot's bar or clubhouse?

That's correct, it's dilapidated and run-down. It's a bit of time-travel into the past. I only recommend this base for first-timers in Hungary for the following fundamental safety reasons:
- it's easy to find by geographical pattern of the Danube, limiting the risk of busting the TMA around LHBP internation airport (up to 3500')
- there is always English-capable AFIS from SS-SR all year round, weekdays and weekends
- the traffic pattern can be congested, but no gliders and limited trikes/UL-s
- the runway is asphalt, no risk of breaking your landing gear on not-so-well-maintained grass strips
- fuel, hangarage is available, the area is 24/7 guarded
- maintenance teams are available for small adjustments / repairs / batteries , if needed
- if you get weathered in, take a 30 min taxi ride to Budapest and enjoy the pubs there (wear a couple of bars on your shoulder and they will LOVE you .


If you are coming next time and want to see clubhouse near Budapest, best to try LHFH Farkashegy, near Budakeszi. There are no less than 3 club houses, you can buy refreshments (no restaurant), fairly active airfield. But the differences are as follows:
- easy to find, but the hills are near the pattern - some folks coming from southern Hungary flatlands are overexcited when they need to skim the trees on landing or takeoff, but you can't fly higher than 2500' due to TMA LHPB
- AFIS is only available on weekends, provided by one of the glider clubs, not always speaking English
- on weekdays, the place is nearly deserted, on weekends there is huge congestion, 2 glider clubs on the side, motor planes in the middle, need to be careful about crossing tow ropes etc., must watch for gliders all times and angles
- runway is a bumpy grass strip, if not careful, you will bounce and if you are not used to that, a broken nose gear will be the outcome - this happened last year to one of the guests, they turned over, 1 minor 1 serious (a sturdy C-172 should be able to absorb the beating)
- everything is PPR and very casual, you might have to wait long for anything you need, or you can get it in 5 minutes - but you never know in advance
- there is no free hangar space, only outside tie-down available, there is no guard over night, must remove everything valuable from aircraft
- motorized aircraft maintenance only during weekdays (in the mornings, not in the afternoon)
- Budapest is also close here, no difference in this aspect.

Regarding the Balaton area: I'm not sure there'll be lots of activity - I have an impression that place is busy as a beehive in the summer holiday months and totally dead at other times. LHBK has its own website at Startseite but it is in German - less mysterious than the local language, though.

Also a relevant observation, Lake Balaton might be too cold for swimming in (early) May, but that doesn't mean the places are all empty A lot of people are enjoying riding around Balaton on their bike, May and September are the best months for this activity, instead of hot summer months. Balatonkeresztur is open from 1st of April usually, and another very busy place is LHSK Siofok-Kiliti. Balatonkeresztur is a friendly little place, with possibility to stay in nearby hotel, can rent a bike. The local owner is very nice person, he often accommodates entire fleets of friends touring together from various countries. Siofok-Kiliti LHSK is a bigger place, with runway lights, with restaurant and maybe a paved runway by this spring, but it's also a sky-diver base, which means getting in and out is an issue, must expect delays in taking off or entering the drop zone around the airfield.

I am not sure what Marcus and his friends are looking for, but I can recommend two more places in Hungary.
LHFM Fertőszentmiklos is a short distance from Austria, has restaurant and very lively, paved runway. But there are so many of our Austrian friends coming over there to practice there, they will feel like still being in Austria
If they are willing to come a longer way, LHJK Jakabszallas can be a good option too. Although it's neer an MTMA, there is also a VOR transmitter nearby. Has restaurant, hangarage, hotel, it's a popular place for pilot meet-ups and various events on weekends. On weekdays, lots of training flights pass by or land for a drink / lunch / toilet break.

[MarcusH]

I will make sure to check out Wiener Neustadt in Austria. Do you know if they are giving any mountain flying courses there? We were planning on keeping out of the Alps unless the weather was excellent or we were able to get some instruction.