Flying Trips

A month back or so, I informed around to see who would be interested in flying with me to Spain.... one of things on my fliying-wishlist. Etienne liked the idea, also to obtain a few IFR hours.

Although Girona is in the north of Spain, flying to Girona from Rotterdam takes about 6.5 hours if you don't have head wind, so it is not a short trip. To make it more fun, we tried to not be any longer in the air than 2 hours at a time, because landing is fun, and it allows for personal pit-stops and fuel.

The goal of the trip was also to take some family living on the Costa Brava for a local flight over their house and businesses.

We prepared the flight during a couple of weeks and had selected a grand variety of airports (from regional airports to ultra small aerodromes and quiet airfields).

Last week I flew to Cambridge, an exciting trip! The goal was to visit my aunt who lives downtown Cambridge, and celebrate her birthday (somewhat belated). I planned for this trip already in July, but in that weekend the weathergods prevented any (VFR) trip between the UK and the continent.

We arrived at 9.30 at the club, and start to collect the neccessary items: life jackets, tie-downs, aircraft papers, etc. We brought some drinks and food for during the trip, next to the overnight suitcases.

I had updated my navigation plan from the one I created in July already at home. The customs form was faxed to Cambridge airport operations the day before, and on my way to Rotterdam I had called dutch customs, which is needed for any direct non-Schengen flight.

The weather forecast was fine for Saturday (disregarding some scattered showers and isolated CBs), but Sunday would be tricky as some front was crossing UK from west to east. However, if we would leave early there should be no problem.


Blankenberge (Belgium) from 1300 feet

Another flying adventure in progress... We had planned to fly across the UK and Ireland to our destination Islay (an island in West Scotland, famous for its peaty single malts like Bowmore and Laphraoig). 2 private pilots (Wim and me) and a passenger (Jurjen) in a Cessna 172 (PH-VDM). The trip was well prepared with diverting airports along the route.  Underneath is the map of the planned flights.

Zo! Terug na 2 vermoeiende maar erg gave dagen in de lucht. In totaal hebben we zo'n 8.5 uur in de lucht gehangen (pure vliegtijd), 1370 kilometer gevlogen, 14 landingen gemaakt (waarvan vele met flinke crosswind), 8 keer een nationale grens overgevlogen, 8 keer met de FIO Amsterdam gebeld om een vluchtplan te filen, heel veel weertypen gezien (zon, regen, sneeuw), en wind tot 30 knopen waardoor de ground speed ergens tussen 66 en 140 knopen lag. De uiteindelijke route was als volgt: (De rode lijn = dag 1, de gele lijn = dag 2