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Brighton City (Shoreham) airport<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Brighton City (Shoreham) airport<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Inside the old terminal<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>The cafe at Shoreham<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n\n\n\nA friendly local pilot at Shoreham had spent some time on the phone with me the day before, talking through departure procedures; it’s all very well reviewing the published literature, but nothing can beat local knowledge. As such it was simple to gain access to the airport, even at this early hour (although we had to ask in the cafe as the usual entry was still locked). Planey was sitting outside the Flight Cal hanger; nobody was around so they had generously pulled him outside the day before so he’d be ready for us. We spent a short time packing the aircraft, and I also changed the air filter, ready for the long flights ahead.<\/p>\n\n\n
Electric aircraft charger<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Early morning at Shoreham<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n\n\n\nThe weather could best be described as interesting. At first glance it looked awful; there was poor visibility in mist, low temperatures of just 4 degrees C, and a cloud base of a few hundred feet. However, looking deeper things were not quite so dire; the cloud tops were at about 1,500ft, and the freezing level all the way up at about 7,000ft, meaning that we could take off and quickly climb through the thin cloud layer to cruise in the sunshine on top, all with no risk of picking up ice. The low overcast was forecast to continue all the way to Austria. A departure like this does come with some challenges; in event of an emergency after take-off, it is challenging to return and land (we’d probably have had to go to Gatwick or Southampton in that event), but we chose to accept this calculated risk.<\/p>\n\n\n
Preparing Planey<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Changing the air filter<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n\n\n\nNo take-offs are permitted at Shoreham before 9am on a Sunday, seemingly due to pressure applied through the local council by the classic idiots who buy houses next to a long-established airfield and then complain that they can hear airplanes. This presented some challenges as our destination, Maribor, would close at 1630 local time, giving us just 6 and a half hours to fly the 718 nautical miles in between. We would be flying IFR of course; apart from the weather, it just makes life much easier on a trip like this as airspace clearances are all implicitly given as part of your IFR clearance. Planning an IFR route in Europe is almost impossible without the aid of computer-based tools due to the 30,000+ constantly changing and often nonsensical restrictions and limitations put in place in European airspace at any time. I had therefore used the Autorouter tool to identify and file a route, and it had done a good job for us, finding one with not too much overhead in terms of extra distance.<\/p>\n\n\n
Saying goodbye to Dad<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Ready to go<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n\n\n\nWe killed the remaining time in the cafe before heading out to the aircraft and starting up. Winds were negligible, being variable in direction at just three knots, and the radio operator kindly switched the nominally active runway for us so we could take off south towards the sea instead of north towards the hills. Just moments after takeoff we entered the cloud at 300ft, and not long after that we broke out at about 3,000ft and continued our climb in bright sunshine, the English coastline invisible below the overcast which spread from horizon to horizon. London Control gave us radar vectors along the coast before clearing us direct to KOK VOR, at the border of Belgian airspace, as we climbed to our initial cruising altitude of 9,000ft.<\/p>\n\n\n
Clouds over the English Channel<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Flying above the clouds over the Channel<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n\n\n\nBrussels ATC gave us a direct clearance from our entry point on one side of Belgian airspace, straight to the other, eliminating a few wiggles from the route and saving a few miles. At the German border we were handed over to Langen Radar who sent us off to the south of the planned route, before having us rejoin it a little way east of Mannheim. Not long after that we were given another 150nm direct routing as far as Munich, cutting out a few more little corners from the original route. We could hear “UPS 1” on frequency with us, and I was curious what flight would be assigned this flagship number. Turns out it’s a flight from Sharjah in the Emirates, to Cologne.<\/p>\n\n\n
Three hours into the flight, the blanket of cloud below us began to break up, and before long we had great views of the south German hills below us. Frost was still visible in the fields in those sections that were shaded by the tree rows. Clouds returned now and then, but by now the Alps were coming into view off to the right. United Airlines flight 760, from Denver to Munich, could be heard flying the ILS approach to land on runway 26R as we passed by.<\/p>\n\n\n
Cockpit views<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Cloud breaking up over Southern Germany<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Wind turbines in the mist<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n\n\n\nJust before entering Austrian airspace we were handed over to Linz Radar, and cleared direct to the Austria\/Slovenia border. This would take us straight over the eastern end of the Alps and necessitated a climb up to 11,000ft. The dramatic terrain below us was explanation enough for ATC’s direction to increase our cruising altitude, and indeed this had been expected, with the airways in this region all having higher minimum altitudes.<\/p>\n\n\n
Flying over Europe<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Frost in the shadows of treelines<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Frost on the ground in Germany<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>A city in Southern Germany<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Wintery fields in Austria<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Approaching the Alps<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n\n\n\nBefore long Maribor came into sight and we were handed over to tower, flying a right downwind to land well in advance of closing time after just over five hours of flight time. I touched down firmly – I had clearly not flown in too long – and we turned off left and followed the “follow-me” car to parking. An airport handling agent was there to meet us, and turned out to be a pilot herself, of light sport aircraft. She coordinated refueling from a venerable avgas truck, the operator of which was also an airport firefighter; he gleefully informed us that they all went on high alert whenever our handling agent went flying. She seemed unimpressed!<\/p>\n\n\n
Eastern end of the Alps<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Crossing the Alps<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Crossing the Alps<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Crossing the Alps<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Graz, Austria<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Approaching Maribor<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n\n\n\nI loaded 20 gallons of fuel into the ferry tank, so that we could prime and test it on the next flight, and be sure it was working properly before setting out on a long flight where we’d need it for real. After fueling, we were offered a place in the hangar for the night. This was gratefully accepted; it’s always nice to keep Planey under cover! <\/p>\n\n\n
Final approach to Maribor<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Preparing to refuel in Maribor<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Refueling in Maribor<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Parked aircraft in Maribor<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Refueling in Maribor<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>A large crowd turned out to help<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Moving Planey to the hangar<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Parking in the hangar<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Planey tucked away for the night<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n\n\n\nCustoms and immigration was quick and easy, and we were soon in a taxi to downtown Maribor. I had given Ben the task of coordinating ground activities, while I concentrated on flying, and he started off strong with a lovely, well-priced hotel in the middle of town. I did have to laugh at the rooms, which were remarkably long and thin. After a few minutes to settle in we put on our warmest clothes and headed out to explore. It was much colder here than it had been in the UK and I was glad of my woolly hat.<\/p>\n\n\n
My very narrow hotel room<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Stolna \u017eupnija Maribor<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Inside the Stolna \u017eupnija<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Streets of Maribor<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n\n\n\nI had not known that Slovenia itself is a very young country, having only seceded from Yugoslavia in 1991. Maribor is situated in Slovenia’s east, and is the country’s second largest city with a population of about 330,000 people in the metropolitan area. This seems small for a second city until you realise that the population of Slovenia as a whole is only just over 2 million. Settlement in the area has been confirmed as far back as the fifth century BC, and Maribor in its current incarnation was first recorded as a castle in the year 1164 (although it is likely the castle itself was built earlier), followed by a market in the year 1209, and received town privileges in 1254.<\/p>\n\n\n
Maribor riverfront and the Splavarska bridge<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Road bridge over the Drava<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Maribor riverfront<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n\n\n\nWe strolled from the hotel down towards the river, crossing over one bridge and returning over another. Holiday activities were still in full swing with multiple Christmas markets and fairs, and a surprising number of people out and about given the cold. Finding somewhere for dinner was more challenging than expected; a lot of places were offering drinks but not food, but we eventually chanced upon a lovely Italian restaurant. Given the fact that Slovenia borders Italy, I deemed this authentic local cuisine.<\/p>\n\n\n
Maribor Christmas market<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Maribor Christmas market<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Maribor Christmas market<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Dinner in Maribor<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n\n\n\nThat evening I finished off the preparations for the next day’s flight; IFR flight plan filed using Autorouter, primarily. We had already been in touch with the airport to confirm fuel availability and methods of payment; a surprising number of places have very limited forms of payment that they’ll accept. In the case of our next stop, Skopje, it was cash only. By checking well in advance, I was able to ensure I had plenty with me!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Today’s flight would be one of the shortest of the trip, just a few hundred miles south across the Balkans to North Macedonia, taking about three hours. We therefore didn’t need to leave early, and started the day with breakfast at a nearby coffee shop Ben had spotted the evening before. Before departing for the airport we stopped in to a supermarket to buy some essentials; mandarins (a very convenient flying snack) and a few other things to nibble on during flight. One thing to bear in mind with food is that some countries are very strict about what you can and can’t bring into the country due to biosecurity laws. No such issues existed along our present route however.<\/p>\n\n\n
Morning in Maribor<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Morning in Maribor<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>An inspirational message<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>