Tech stops, interesting airfields for ferry flight
 

Hi there,

I am bringing a VLA in a 1200 NM ferry from Poland to Spain and some doubts arise when planning the flight. Where can I stop?

Of course, the objective is to move the plane, but also I want to make it in an interesting way, and I don't know airfields for GA aviation in the area I'm overflying. So apart of the obvious needs of refueling, I realiced there is no info about good places to land and having a good meal or having some spear time. I checked IAOPA and the forums... nothing.

Anyone knows any web with a "nice techstops airfields" list?

Otherwise, here is my route, straight line... it means I will be diverting from that in case of finding some good stops to catch some rest.https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.gmf...0c72003f29.png

aprox route

THAnks for your help and happy landings!!!

I'm going to assume you're going to do this VFR. In that case, I would suggest you avoid high terrain such as the Alps and the Massif Central in France. So route north of Switzerland, and in France get into the Rhone valley ASAP and follow that down to Marseille. Then follow the coast, turning inland into Spain after the Pyrenees, or maybe a bit north of Valencia. Or something like that. But high terrain leads to more challenging weather and to a lesser extent more challenging airspace, and you don't want those on a ferry flight.

Once you've got that route sorted, then look for airfields. But "interesting" would be low priority for me. I would first look for fields that are full fuel/empty bladder distance away from each other (300-400 nm), and where a relatively quick, painless and cheap turnaround would be possible. And after a 600-800nm day, I don't think I would be up to exploring an "interesting" feature nearby. A decent hotel would be my number 1 priority.

Consider stooping in/passing over Innsbruck Austria, following the Brenner Pass, and then continuing southwest through Italy and France once you're south of the Alps. When I flew the Brenner pass, I found Innsbruck ATC very helpful in what was VMC, though not ideal conditions. It's also very pretty.

It feels very strange to disagree with dear Pilot DAR :) but I would rather agree with BackPacker in this case: stay away from the high ground - unless you know what you are doing. Especially because of the increased unreliability of weather. But it must be said that, as a pilot, I don't come even near his level of expertise.

Also it would be good to have a better idea of your flight:
* as already asked: VFR? IFR? Will you consider "VFR on top"?
* how many stops do you plan en route, or in other words, what's your bladder endurance?
* what fuel do you require, Avgas or Mogas?
* what makes an aerodrome "interesting" for you? I agree with the suggestion of hotel and restaurant, but perhaps you'll enjoy a museum visit also?

That said, a few ideas:
* generally, you almost can't go wrong in Germany. Plenty of well-equipped fields, many with a decent or outright good eatery. Fine radio comm's, too, generally.
* France is a bit more varied but still good. And you cannot avoid it anyway. "incontournable" as they say there. Beware of fields that do R/T only in local language.
* Speyer EDRY has a famous museum of aviation and more technology
* the Stampe & Vertongen museum at Antwerp EBAW is nice too, and so is the city, and the airport restaurant. A bit out of your way, though, perhaps
* Bremgarten EDTG must have a collection of warbirds but I never went there.
* Schwäbisch Hall has two aerodromes, EDTX and EDTY, one very rural, the other high-end. Very nice Italian resto on the northern one. The city has a reputation for beauty, too, with many historical buildings.
* I read good reports about Coburg, spectacular approach over the city.
* if mountain flying does not deter you, think of La Cerdanya LECD

LECI - directly on your route, great restaurant and one of the few airfields I know with it's own swimming pool! Even has AVGAS...

Your route seems to go very close to St Gallen /Altenrhein LSZR which is a GA airport in a scenic location between the shore of Lake Constance (Bodensee) and the Alpine foothills. From here dependent on weather and your own preference you could choose to route through the high Alps or follow the lower ground north of Zurich.

LSZR is a port of entry for Switzerland, its friendly and efficient, not overly expensive but not as cheap as French airfields. There is a decent restaurant on the airfield. They have AVGAS but possibly not MOGAS. You need to take account of the lunchtime closure period ! The principal concern may be the cost of accommodation and food in Switzerland if you are thinking of spending any time there.

Anther option is South then South-West rather than West then South-West: Lodz - Vienna - Graz - Venice - Marseille - Barcelona - LECU. This avoids the Pyrenees and most of the Alps.

Thanks for the answers!

As JAN requested, yes it will be VFR and I'm not willing to do VFR on top... if it can be avoided.
Legs of 300 NM and "interesting" means beautiful scenery, good restaurant, museums, good facilities or special friendliness to GA... courtesy car.... (although I never saw it in EU)
Fuel is not an issue, MOGAS or AVGAS are fine.
Thanks for the museum's suggestion!

High grounds are a possibility, the planning is the planning and I will prepare different routes depending on how the weather might be in 2 weeks time when I will be flying. Moutain airfields in the alps sound really nice and I expect to cross some valleys in the Alps and Pyrenees, but I'll not get in there before knowing the engine and performances of a plane I never flew before. I have sufficient experience in aviation to see the danger of an environment I am not used too, and it feels better when you have 675Hp like I had in Africa flying in hot and high fields. Now we are talking of a P2002.... slightly different situation.

Brener Pass..... uffff looks amazing! Its going to be difficult not to go there now that I saw the pictures... Thanks for the tip DAR!

La cerdanya was already in my mind, but also LECI looks nice, Good tip for the pool!
Tagron, thanks for the Lake Constanza field. its a good decision point to evaluate weather to continue or not.

Thank you all for the ideas.

It should be a database of common knowledge of this things, not just the Accukwik "it has fuel or not" database.

Ah, I fly the P2002JF a lot. Are you going to pick up the Sierra (UL), or the certified (JF) version?

Another field you should note is Letnany LKLT near Praha. Spot on your straight-line route. Very G/A-friendly, no resto in place but there is a metro station nearby to take you into the city.

Letnany (actually Kbely airfield which is right next to it) has a great museum.

Yes, the museum at Kbely is great. I was especially impressed by the slightly elderly people serving there as guides, from what I perceived as a sense of duty towards society. Or perhaps it gained them some kind of social or even financial merit, but it cannot have been huge.

But do not confuse the topic-starter, we do not want him to land his LSA on the military runway of Kbely, thinking he is at the rural Letnany field. Those two are really dangerously close to each other!

Right, I believe the museum is state-owned, and it is free-entry, so the people manning it are probably all volunteers.

Absolutely, make sure you land on the grass one. If you find your wheels on concrete you are in trouble :P
In fact Prague airspace can be quite scary to navigate, Letnany is inside the MCTR of Kbely, and there are restricted areas overlapping and prohibited areas nearby. For flight information AISView and IBS is available mostly in English.

Do the Italians fly like they drive? :eek: :E

Hm, their driving has improved a lot since they changed the rules for the driver's license... and not before time indeed.

As for their flying, I cannot really judge, still I'll not soon forget this scene, perhaps some 10 or 15 years gone:
A sunny Sunday morning at LILR Cremona Migliaro.
11 am, me on the terrace, quite alone, sipping white frizzante, nothing moving;
12 am noon, apron filling up with SEP's and 3-axis ultralights. Crews filling the terrace, sharing my table, politely introducing themselves and shaking hands. Very nice and polite people, nice chats even with my limited bit of Italian;
1 pm, terrace absolutely full, everybody having a fine lunch with plenty of wine; followed by coffee with grappa, followed by a digestivo;
2 pm, everybody off again, flying quite quite correctly; apron soon empty again, or nearly so;
3 pm, myself still quietly sipping frizzante, recovering breath...

If you opt for this, consider going a bit out of your way to include LJPZ Portoroz - recommended by many as the finest G/A field in Europe - and certainly include Venice's G/A field LIPV San Nicolo (sp?). But speaking against this route is the complicated, almost forbidding airspace around Nice.