It took a couple of visits before I felt confident landing at Glenforsa airfield. It’s a grass runway with no margin for error: hills on one side and the Sound of Mull on the other. Having said that, there has never been a serious injury at Glenforsa although the Glenforsa Airfield History includes some incredible photographs including this one:

See the history page on the Glenforsa Airfield Web site for more great photographs and the story of the airfield.

Location: Glenforsa is on the east side of the Isle of Mull, Inner Hebrides, Scotland

Airfield: Glenforsa Airfield (Mull)
Website: Home – Glenforsa Airfield
Phone Number: 01680 300402 / 07799 744908
Email: dsh@glenforsaairfield.co.uk
Hours: PPR Essential 0900-1700
Frequencies: 120.8
Runways: 07/25 (marked as 08/26) grass 780m x 28m
Airfield Height: 15′
Notes: level end to end but slowping down to the sea. Attempt to land on the high (south) side of the runway.
Circuit Height: all circuits to the north at 800ft
Fuel: None
Weather Info: If possible on “Fly-in” days, advisory weather will be placed on the answer-phone attached to 01680 300402 and this will only be updated if there is any significant change to the advised conditions.
Divert: Oban Airport, 18nm SE

See also: Destination: Oban

Joining instructions: If possible, join overhead at 1,500ft. If using R07 then fly a curved approach from base leg, inside the hill.

Google Map View

The notes for the airfield have a wonderful personal touch. I found it reassuring to know that the strip is clear of sheep at weekends. You are also warned that accommodation on the island is limited but you can camp for free beside your aircraft.

I can vouch for the fact that David Howitt, who administers the airfield, is always helpful and willing to go the extra mile to help make visits to Mull a success. On one occassion, when the weather closed in around the island, he got in touch with Scottish Info to pass us a message so that we had plenty of time to choose an appropriate divert. He’s happy to arrange a rental car if you give him plenty of notice, so that you can land at the airfield and immediately make your way to your holiday destination. And when I expressed some reluctance to take the plane off on damp grass heading directly into a hill, he took the time to reassure me as well as offering practical advice as to when to abort and how to minimise the risk in general terms.

Glenforsa Hotel has a webcam pointing at the airfield. A big fat raindrop just landed on it while I was watching but usually you get a clear view of the runway and the windsock.

This weekend we’ll be flying to Mannheim City Airport. We’ve been there a number of times before, it’s a lovely destination. The runway is long, the staff are professional but friendly and usually the weather is good. The fact that the airfield is two tram stops away from my Uncle’s house on the Neckar is just lucky coincidence.

Location: Mannheim

Flight Date: 29 May 2009
Sunset: 21:22 CEST 19:22 UTC

Note: Do not rely on other people to gather information for you – and for the love of safety don’t rely on my notes being correct for your flight! Always verify all details yourself.

Airfield: EDFM
Website: Flugplatz Mannheim
Phone Number: 0621-419390
ATIS: 0621-4193966
Hours: Mon-Fri 0500-2000Z, Sat-Sun 0900-1900Z
Frequencies:
Tower 118.400 and 122.5
ATIS 136.550
Langen Radar: 127.5
Runway: 09/27 1066×25m asphalt
Airfield Height: 94 meters (308 feet)
Circuit Height:
Fuel: Yes
Weather Info
Possible Diverts: Karlsruhe EDSB, Egelsback EDFE, Frankfurt EDDF or in an emergency maybe Coleman ETOR

Google Maps: Google Map View

From Wikipedia:

Mannheim is situated at the confluence of the rivers Rhine and Neckar, in the northwestern corner of the state of Baden-Württemberg. The Rhine separates Mannheim from the adjacent Rhineland-Palatinate city of Ludwigshafen. The Hessian border is north of the city. Mannheim is the largest city of the Rhine Neckar Area, a metropolitan area with 2.4 million inhabitants.

Mannheim is unusual among German cities in that its central area is laid out in a grid pattern (called Quadrate, squares), much like many North American cities. The main route through the squares leads to an enormous 18th-century palace. This former seat of the Electors of the Palatinate now houses the University of Mannheim.

Mannheim’s city symbol is der Wasserturm (the water-tower), located in the east of the city centre.

My mother is coming from New Mexico and we’ll all spend the weekend in Mannheim Seckenheim which is a 5-minute taxi ride from the airfield. Seckenheim has a lovely high street with shops and still maintains the feeling of a village. It also has a railway station and tram lines so that you can easily get around the local area without a car. Privathotel Löwen and Hotel Weingärtner are local hotels which I am happy to recommend, although Seckenheim is really the wrong side of the airfield if you are aiming for city centre which is just 3.5 kilometres away.

There is a small snackbar at Mannheim City Airport and I’m told you can get decent snacks there although we’ve never stopped for more than a coffee. The staff are friendly and I found everyone very helpful to GA pilots in both English and German. We are always given easy access to the plane for picking up/dropping off the large amounts of shopping bags I tend to accumulate when I’m back in Germany (Schnapps, Gummi Bärchen, Schinken und Brot).

However, I should share a word of warning about getting flights from Mannheim City Airport: if the pilot is in a bad mood, it is more than possible to miss your flight – even if you are her son!

I’m surprised to find out that I haven’t written a destination piece on Oban, one of my favourite airfields. In fact, I’ve only mentioned it once.

Update from Abroad, March 2008

We used Oban airfield instead which has recently undergone renovations and has a new 1,264m runway. It is a great airfield, easy to spot from miles away and as soon as we’d taxied off the runway, there were people coming out to help us unload the plane and organise a taxi. Very helpful and friendly. It was a quick trip from the airfield to the ferry where we sat in the bar and watched the mainland recede and the island come into view. A very comfortable trip, despite nasty 30 knot headwinds all the way in.

The location is stunning, the runway is a comfortable 1,264 metres long and the people are unfailingly polite and helpful. The airport (with fuel available seven days a week) is optimally placed for exploring the Hebrides and there is a B&B directly across the bridge which you can use as a base if you want to make an early start.

If you don’t want to make it a flying holiday, you are still well-placed in Oban with ferries to the local islands and well-connected by train.

But don’t take my word for it. Here’s a recent description of the airfield on PPRune:

What’s happening at Oban?

You cant beat the view from the airport at Oban on a nice sunny day! Either summer or winter the view is breath taking no matter which direction you look! Fantastic place to use as a base to explore further up the West coast and indeed to Inverness and the East travelling up the Great Glen. Fuel is available there which is in short supply once you leave the Central belt of Scotland!
The guys there are fantastic with nothing being too much trouble and if passing and fancy a quick stop I have called on the radio and never been refused a landing! There maybe a PPR rule but as with most things in aviation circumstances change and Oban Information seem to be very accommodating! One of the best airports I have visited!

My first flight into Oban was nerve-wracking due to the thousand-foot hill a mile to the north of the runway, that’s when I learned what a dog-leg was. Since then, I’ve been lucky enough to fly into 01, which makes for a simple straight-in approach, with a fairly gentle left turnout on a go-around.

Although we only stopped for a cup of tea (I’ve since been told that they offer Jammy Dodgers as standard, we missed out!), I am reliably informed that the nearby Lochnell Arms offer a good meal if you are looking for something more satisfying.

Note: Do not rely on other people to gather information for you – and for the love of safety don’t rely on my notes being correct for your flight! Always verify all details yourself.

Oban

Airfield: EGEO
Phone Number: 01631 710910 (Strictly PPR)
Hours: 09:00-18:00 GMT
Frequency: Oban Information 118.050 Mhz
Runway: 01/19 1264×30 Asphalt
Website: http://www.argyll-bute.gov.uk/content/roadsandtransport/planebranch/obanairport
Divert: Glasgow

Oban officially want a 3 hour PPR but we’ve never been turned down even when phoning a scant hour ahead. The landing fee of £15 is a wee bit steep so in future I intend to insist on a Jammy Dodger to defray my costs.

And if that hasn’t whetted your appetite, then take a look at this awesome collection of aerial shots from the South-West Highlands, one of the most beautiful places on earth.

Strasbourg has two airfields serving the city: Entzheim (LFST) and Neuhof (LFGC).

Neuhof (LFGC) is much more convenient for the city but has a number of restrictions. It is not a customs airfield. There is no air traffic control and the radio is in French. The runway is 819 metres of grass.

I didn’t get a chance to worry about the radio or the runway length; we were flying in directly from England and so needed to go to a customs airfield. This made LFST a no brainer.

For general details, see the links in my Flying in France post.

Note: Do not rely on other people to gather information for you – and for the love of safety don’t rely on my notes being correct for your flight! Always verify all details yourself.

LFST Strasbourg Entzheim

Phone Number: +33 3 88 64 67 67
Hours: 24 hours

Frequencies

ATIS: 126.92
Ground: 121.80
Approach: based on entry direction:
119.45 (East)
120.70 (West)
119.57
FIS Reims Information: 124.10

Online Information

Website (no general aviation information)
VFR Plates

The weather was not very good and the cloud was low. In the end Cliff flew us into Strasbourg IFR (another good reason for LFST) but as you can see it was a lovely landing!

If you are lucky enough to have time to spend in this beautiful city, then I can highly recommend skipping lunch and having one of the Sauerkraut dinners at Maison des Tanneurs in Petite France. And for personal friends who read this site: Tony says could you please take him with you when you go.

Shoreham Airport is one of my favourite airfields with a convenient location and easily spotted from the air, whichever direction you come in from. They have a decently long (1,036 metres) asphalt runway with PAPI but their commercial traffic isn’t very high, so they are still General Aviation friendly and ATC has always been helpful.

One evening, we were coming in late. We’d left Málaga on time that morning but we were held up refuelling in France and then we had fierce headwinds all the way across France and the channel. I asked London Information to speak to Shoreham on our behalf: we had a passenger that needed dropping there and the taxi was already parked and waiting. Shoreham confirmed that they closed at 2000 which was approximately our ETA but that they would wait for us to get in. When I explained that we weren’t staying but wanted to taxi to the terminal and then go out again, the controller barely flinched. Everyone was watching the clock – we got in before closing but was a minute past closing time before I could get the plane in the rolling. The controller was patient and never pushy – he took his time without rushing me to switch to Farnborough so that he could shut down. Shoreham could have justified charging us through the nose for the extra five minutes of ATC but the controller was very friendly about the whole fiasco.

The end of last year the word was out that the Shoreham was in financial trouble – proposed expansion to the airfield was put on hold. Then on April 14th it seemed it was over: Shoreham Airport went bust with debts of over a quarter of a billion pounds. Stupidly I stopped paying attention at that point – and so did everyone on Wikipedia, which ends the story of Shoreham Airfield with all flights being blocked.

I know better than to use Wikipedia for research, dammit! In reality, the closure only lasted a single day and the airfield was immediately purchased and re-opened for business.

Certainly their their website makes it clear that it is business as usual, so my worrying was pointless. That’ll teach me!

So, my cheat sheet for the flight:

EGKA Shoreham
Date: 23 May 2008
Sunset: 19:55 GMT
Phone Number: General Enquiries: 01273 467373
Hours: Mon – Sat 0800 – 2000 (or sunset) Sun 0830-2000
Frequencies: APP/TWR 123.15, ATIS 125.30
Runway: 02/20 1036 x 18 Asphalt
Website: Shoreham Airport
Useful: Circuit Map
Divert: Biggin Hill

This’ll be a quick stop to pick up my son and then fly straight to Germany, where my presence has been requested at a family-get-together. So we’ll be flying to Mannheim City the same day and spending the weekend there. Wow, the Saratoga is seeing more action this month than it has all year!

Alfons Eigenmann’s description of Altenrhein airfield, as translated by Harald Rauch and edited by Ed Rathje:

The Altenrhein airfield was built in the years 1927-1928 by pumping mud from nearby Lake Constance (Bodensee) onto a swampy area close to the shore line. Almost in the middle of this area a turf runway of 600 x 100 meters was built, laterally marked on both sides by a ditch 240 cm wide and 80 cm deep, which was filled up with yellow gravel from the Jura (the mountain range bordering France in the west of Switzerland). The grass taxiway areas were on both sides of the runway. As the airfield was certified for light single engine aircraft only, it was not capable of heavy bomber aircraft operations.

It doesn’t exactly inspire one with confidence to hear that the airfield is based on mud piled onto swamp! Luckily I’ve been to Altenrhein before and I know it’s a wonderfully simple approach and at 1,500 metres the runway is more than enough for me to feel comfortable.

My quick reference notes:

LSZR St Gallen (Altenrhein)
Date: 16 May 2008
Sunset: 18:54 GMT
Phone Number: +41 71 858 51 65, +41 71 858 51 44
Hours: Montag – Freitag 06.30 – 12.00 / 13.30 – 21.00 Uhr
Samstag 07.30 – 12.00 / 13.30 – 20.00 Uhr
Sonntag 10.00 – 12.00 / 13.30 – 20.00 Uhr
Frequencies: Tower 118.65 MHz (119.7 MHz), ATIS 123.775 MHz
Runway: 10/28 1500m x 30m
Website: Airport St. Gallen – Altenrhein

Note: Do not rely on other people to gather information for you – and for the love of safety don’t rely on my notes being correct for your flight! Always verify all details yourself.

St Gallen actually has live webcams so I’m thinking that I might twitter my estimated time of arrival and see if anyone can spot us coming in!

I don’t know a lot about Lausanne but hopefully that’s about to change. After a bit of a refresher in North Weald, I’ll be braving a border-crossing into Switzerland: flying to Lausanne to meet with some people and hopefully to waste some quality time sitting at the edge of the lake looking at France.

My quick reference notes:

LSGL – Lausanne
Date: 14 May 2008
Sunset: 19:00 GMT
Phone Number: Phone +41 21 646 15 51, Fax +41 21 646 15 91
Hours: 0800 am to 0800 pm
Frequencies: ATIS 118.82, AFIS 123.20
Website: Lausanne airport (moves your browser, ugh!)
Useful: Circuit Details
Runways: 18 / 36

Note: Do not rely on other people to gather information for you – and for the love of safety don’t rely on my notes being correct for your flight! Always verify all details yourself.

One of my favourite bloggers, Plastic Pilot, used to be based in Lausanne. He has a video of the approach on his site so I almost feel as if I’ve been already.

I wondered which runway to expect and he told me the following:

Runway 18 has power lines on short final and a downslope. Be ready to go-around. Runway 36 is a bit tricky as you come in from the lake as the terrain on final slopes up. Preferential for no wind is RWY 36.

I can’t say that I prefer either of those approaches but I’m sure it’ll look less disconcerting when I’m coming in. Well, I hope so anyway.

I’m hoping to end up with some extra time in Lausanne to explore. Plastic Pilot was good enough to send me recommendations and a list of interesting places to fly to including what looks like a somewhat exciting approach at Saanen which he recommends trying out, with an instructor, simply for the experience.

Riss gave me a more down-to-earth recommendation:

The Musee l’Art de Brut is worth it, if strange. It’s not your typical museum.

The Museum is focused on a Japanese exhibition at the moment so I’m really hoping we’ll get a chance to see it.

Hopefully I’ll have interesting photographs (and boring stories about my landing) to share with you all soon!

North Weald airfield was established in 1916 to protect London during the First World War and prides itself for being a frontline airfield in the Battle of Britain in 1940. The military abandoned the airfield in 1964 but the Essex Gliding Club has kept the now unlicensed airfield active since the 1970’s.

My quick reference notes:

EGSX North Weald
Arriving 12 May 2008
PPR: 01992 524510
Hours: 09:00-19:00 or sunset
Sunset: 19:45
Website: North Weald Airfield
Useful: Airfield layout
Runway: 02/20 1920×45 asphalt (unlicensed)
and 13/31 – 916 × 45m asphalt (unlicensed)
Circuit height: 800′ QFE / 1200′ QNH
Divert: Stapleford
Location:Google Maps

Note: Do not rely on other people to gather information for you – and for the love of safety don’t rely on my notes being correct for your flight! Always verify all details yourself.

Arriving by car, you are advised to give way to aircraft at all times, a frightening thought. The airfield is a confusing mishmash of unlicensed asphalt runways and roads. Runway 13 is closed on Saturdays so as to host the local market but 31 remains in use. My copy of the plate has “do not go here on a market day” scrawled upon it, the idea of flying into a runway have covered with cars and market stalls is frightening.

However, North Weald also has some great advantages. The main runway (02/20) is 1,920 metres long and easily spotted – especially as you have to remain under 1,500 feet to keep out of of London Stansted’s Class D airspace. It is one of the friendliest airfields I’ve been to, with pilots, mechanics and students all smiling hello and often stopping to get a better look in the plane. And the Squadron has one of the best fried breakfasts in Essex.

The Saratoga is currently parked there, having undergone minor maintenance, leaving us to fly commercial in the meantime. I’m sure it’s lonely and dying to get off the ground and I want some practice before attempting the downsloping runway at Lausanne! I’ll be meeting up with Lee, one of my original instructors. Lee flies jets these days but fancies a bit of a spin in the Saratoga and wants to see how I’m flying these days. Masochist.