VFR Archives - Golf Hotel Whiskey

What’s your favourite airport approach?

Aileen's Cannes July 036-w480-h480

VFR approach into Cannes

I was part of a judging panel for PrivateFly’s favourite approaches poll. My three suggestions (which I have flown myself) were:

Cannes

When you fly the VFR approach, you fly right over the centre of the town, over a beautiful medieval walled village and then turn south and fly down to the actual runway with a view of the sea ahead. It’s utterly beautiful.

Amsterdam

The VFR approach to Amsterdam is insane. There’s a short-ish GA runway and you approach from the East at low altitude and only turn finals when you are over the midpoint of the runway. But the truly beautiful approach is the ILS for the GA runway that takes your right over the centre of the city. In good weather, the view over the canals is beautiful.

Belfast

Perhaps not as glamorous as Cannes or Amsterdam but my memories of flying into Belfast City at night are very strong. I popped through a cloud layer at about 4,000 feet and the city was lit clearly below me and, after a long flight, it felt very welcoming. I had to go to Belfast to get my Visa for my CPL training so it was a quick overnighter and a great example of how flexible you can be if you have an instrument rating and a well-equipped plane like the Cirrus at your disposal.

So, what are you favourite approaches? Comments below please. Also take a minute to vote at PrivateFly.com on the shortlist we chose.

Three top PC flight planning tools

I have been using Jeppesen FliteStar for about ten years for my VFR and, later, IFR flight planning. It takes a bit of learning but it is a powerful tool for flight planning and viewing instrument approach plates.

However, there are two big problems with it. First, it is hellaciously expensive. For VFR and IFR planning with digital IFR and VFR plates for Europe, it was costing me around €1,800 a year. Even in the context of an expensive hobby, that’s a lot of money. Bill Gates thinks that’s a lot of money.

Second, their billing is so obscure and their accounts department so incredibly unhelpful that it is impossible to change plans or figure out what, exactly, you are paying for. Or at least, that was my experience. For example, when I changed plans last year (it took three months to do this), they kept sending me an invoice even though they actually owed me money.

As a side issue, I was using Homebriefing.com to actually file my flight plans. I can’t get my head around AFPEx (even though I work with computers all day). Also, it doesn’t work on my iPhone which makes it useless if I’m abroad. Homebriefing is great and they have helpful people at the end of the phone to sort out problems but for an infrequent user, it feels like you have to hand over money every time you log on. Either my annual subscription has expired or I have run out of coupons for flight plans. Arghh.

So what am I using now? I looked at a few things but here is my plan from now on:

VFR Flight Planning

I’m going to use SkyDemon. It’s easier to use than Jeppesen, integrates NOTAMs and weather to produce a lovely trip kit and really attractive maps that filter out information you don’t need (e.g. airspace above your planned cruising altitude). It includes charts for most of Europe and they look very clean and easy to use.

Map view from SkyDemon

It feels like a simple, quick, efficient way to pull together everything you need for a VFR flight without wasting time or hopping between programs. It costs £119. You can (optionally) renew your subscription to charts etc. for £59 a year after the first year.

IFR Flight Planning

I’m going to check out RocketRoute. It combines IFR route planning with plates and online filing for flight plans. It is like a combination of the functional bits of Flitestar, Jeppview and Homebriefing.

Jeppesen’s tool for automatically planning an IFR airways trip never really worked very well and I often ended up refining them manually. This is why I really like RocketRoute’s AutoRouter. It produces valid routes between airfields quickly and then automatically validates them with Eurocontrol (which Jeppesen did not do). I think I’ll need to buy Jeppesen paper airways charts in case it generates routes that don’t work for my circumstances but that’s not a big expense – £10 a year or something. Once you have set up your aircraft, you can reuse them in flight plans cutting down on the amount of time it takes to file plans in future.

RocketRoute

RocketRoute supplies two types of plates: Pooleys iPlates which are the familiar VFR plates in electronic form. It also grabs the latest IFR plates from the various European AIPs. This is less satisfactory than using Jeppesen plates because they do not share a standard format from one country to the next. However, they are free, in English and usable. Since the planes I fly have glass cockpits with Jepp plates onboard, these printed plates are belt-and-braces (and a legal requirement).

Once you have filed your plan, you can download or fax a briefing pack with a plog, ICAO flight plan, METAR/TAFs, NOTAMs and plates. Print it out and away you go. It really couldn’t be much easier. I can also access it via my iPhone to send delay notices and change flight plan details overseas.

It costs €144 a year for up to 50 filed flight plans plus €35 for online access to Pooleys VFR plates. Trip support (e.g. telephone filing of flight plans, slot booking etc. costs €5-€35 depending on what you ask them to do. It would be useful to have this to fall back like a personal flight department.

Easier, faster, cheaper

So, I’ve ditched Jeppesen, saving €1800 a year and picked up a VFR and an IFR flight planning system that costs me about €300-ish this year and a bit less next year. That’s a big saving and I think the end result is, actually, a better, more flexible system.

Jeppesen FlightStar and JeppView

I use FlightStar and JeppView to plan my trips. The software is easy to learn, although there are some power user features that take more time and parts of the interface are idiosyncratic. With the optional weather downloads and JeppView software, you can set up an aircraft, plan a route and print out a complete trip kit with approach plates, enroute charts and pilot log.

It can display Jeppesen-style VFR charts and airways. You can also view VFR plates for airports and IFR approach plates. These charts are updated automatically over the internet. It’s powerful stuff and good enough for a corporate flight department. The only downside is the price. For the IFR version with European charts, it costs me around €1700 a year.

Cheaper (possibly free) alternatives include Autoplan IFR for planning airways trips and Tony Griffiths’s Cross-wind, which is a comprehensive VFR flight planning program.

Jeppesen FlightStar airways

Top tips for flying in the UK

I fly Cirrus SR-22s out of Denham Aerodrome in Northwest London. Vincent has asked me to write an article for Plastic Pilot about the eccentricities of flying in the UK.

I wrote an article for COPA’s Cirrus Pilot about flying in Europe a while ago and I opened with the good news: the laws of aerodynamics are the same on this side of the channel. However, many other things are different. This article is only an overview. I recommend plenty of ground school and a flight with an instructor.

Pre-flight

Weather information. The Met Office has a free basic weather briefing service for GA but you have to register for it.
Airfield information and NOTAMs. You can download free approach plates, airfield information and NOTAMs from the NATS website. Again registration is required. Most pilots use an airfield guide like Pooley’s. You can also use my site, GolfHotelWhiskey.com, to look up airport reviews and find interesting places to visit.
Charts. The CAA publishes very good GA charts in 1:250,000 and 1:500,000 format. They are available from aviation shops and most airports and FBOs. Many foreign pilots prefer to use Jeppesen charts which are consistent wherever they fly and these are valid too.
Busy areas. The area around London – especially Luton, Stanstead, London City, Heathrow, Farnborough and Gatwick airports – and also around Manchester are very busy with narrowly defined VFR corridors and class A airspace at low level (sometimes down to 1,500 feet). These areas need careful study before you fly into them to ensure you don’t bust controlled airspace. See Fly On Track’s tips for avoiding infringements and their excellent guides to busy areas.
Restrictions. Call 0500-354802 (+44 208 899 2401 from abroad) to get a daily briefing on temporary restrictions (e.g. royal flights, Red Arrows displays etc.)
Flight plans. My preference is to file flight plans online via Homebriefing but many pilots will file them at their departure airport. You need to give at least an hour’s notice. Flight plans are optional for most flights within the UK.

Radio

Radio. ATC in the UK is usually efficient and professional, especially when dealing with larger airports and military radar services. You can download a free copy of the official guide to R/T from the CAA (PDF). Appendix one contains a list of differences from ICAO standards. I have often heard foreign pilots (including American airline pilots) struggle with routings to unfamiliar places so it pays to study the map before you leave and familiarise yourself with the main navigation waypoints and their names.
IMC outside controlled airspace. The UK issues IMC ratings which allow PPLs to fly in IMC outside Class A airspace and fly instrument approaches. It’s a bit like a simplified instrument rating. This leads to a peculiarity whereby pilots will fly in IMC without filing an IFR flight plan. I don’t know how this affects foreign pilots with instrument ratings but I guess they could do the same.
ATC services outside controlled airspace. The rules and services changed very recently. The Flight Safety Initiative has a video that explains the new rules.
LARS. The Lower Airspace Radar Service covers most of the UK. It is provided by a mix of civilian and military ATC units. It can provide a Deconfliction or Traffic service which is especially useful for flying in IMC. The controllers can choose whether or not to provide the service depending on how busy they are and some sectors become congested, especially on weekends. However, it is a very useful service and popular with UK-based pilots.
London Information / Scottish Information. On your UK map you’ll find frequencies for London or Scottish Information. These services provide a basic service but they can be very useful. For example, UK-based pilots will often use them to join airways outside controlled airspace (they’re in the same room as en-route controllers) or for VFR cross-channel flights. I have always found the service to be immensely helpful and professional. Of course, the emergency frequency 121.5 is also available and provides a wonderful service for people with problems or people who get lost.

Procedures

Overhead joins. This form of VFR arrival can cause confusion, even to British-trained pilots. Full details are in the AIP but the principle is that, if instructed to fly an overhead join, you (a) Overfly the aerodrome at 2000 ft aal; (b) descend on the ‘dead side’ to circuit height; (c) join the circuit by crossing the upwind end of the runway at circuit height; (d) position downwind. I always find drawing a diagram helps to work out where the deadside of the airport is and how I’m going to fly the approach. You can usually ask for something simpler like a straight-in or base leg join if that is going to be safer. In general, however, aircraft in the UK do not practice the mid-downwind join favoured by US pilots and so asking for a downwind join is much less common.
Joining Airways. Many small airfields in the UK have special arrangements for flights departing into the airways system. It’s worth talking to air traffic to find out what the recommended procedure is. If there is no procedure, the best way to get an airways join is usually to call London Information or a LARS service while remaining clear of controlled airspace. They can open your flight plan and get you into the airways system. In many parts of the UK, class A airspace descends down to 2,500 or even 1,500 feet and it’s important not to fly into controlled airspace until you have an explicit clearance to do so.

In my experience, pilots everywhere in the UK are delighted to welcome visitors from overseas and happy to offer advice and make allowances for language difficulties. So, come on over. I’ll buy you a drink!

Amsterdam Schiphol (EHAM)

I have flown to Amsterdam four times now, once VFR and three times IFR. It is probably the biggest airport that a European PPL can visit. It is therefore a challenge and, when you’ve done it, a source of pride. Plus it’s very impressive for passengers. Don’t let the size put you off. It is surprisingly GA-friendly and easy to do, providing you prepare yourself properly.

VFR

The GA terminal is on the Northeast corner of the field and there is a runway right next to it. If you go in VFR, the approach is fiddly and low-level but you arrive right next to the terminal and have a pretty straightforward time of it. It means approaching a point several miles east of the field called Point Victor just below 1,500 feet. This is an easily-identified intersection of roads and canals. From there you turn towards the airport and begin a gentle descent to Point Bravo which is on the corner of a park. Once you report Bravo the tower will tell send you to either end of the runway 04-22 for a threshold join or to the centre for a mid-point join. The runway is long enough to turn at one end at 500 feet as if turning final and still land with plenty of room left. Avoid aiming at the wrong runway – the one you want is partially obscured by hangars until you get pretty close.

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IFR

The planning feels a bit daunting. There are pages and pages of Jeppesen notes for the airfield. This is an airport that demands preparation.

Every time I have visited I have landed and taken off on 22/04 which is dedicated to GA traffic but I have sometimes been vectored to other runways first.

Although it has loads of runways, once you know which one you’re going to (and they told me when I was half way across the North Sea) it was just like an ILS approach anywhere. Nothing to be worried about.

It’s worth studying the ground charts and planning your touchdown points and runway exits just in case they bring you in on one of the main runways rather than the GA runway.

When I went in March 2008, they vectored me for an ILS on runway 36R and then I broke right at a few hundred feet to land on 04 which runs up to the GA parking area.

More recently, they told me to expect 18R (which is a couple of miles taxi from the GA terminal) and then changed it to 22. They brought me in on a four mile final and I had to drop down from FL70 in short order. I still managed to put it down on the numbers and make the first exit right into the GA parking area. Great fun, especially with a 12 knot gusting crosswind.

When you leave, call clearance delivery. They will often give you a SID but sometimes the tower controller changes this at the threshold to give you a heading that will take you right over the centre of the airport at low level. Either way is fine but the airport tour can be a bit of a surprise if you’re not expecting it.

On the ground

On the ground, you’ll be met by a follow me truck and then a van to drive you from the ramp to the terminal. Passengers quite enjoy the VIP experience which is enhanced by parking next to some very flash business jets.

You can book in over the internet, although be careful to check if you need an arrival slot as well. Handling was pretty efficient and the terminal was pretty smart with a pilot’s lounge and other facilities.

If you call KLM JetCenter on the radio when you are fifteen minutes out they will call a taxi and have it waiting for you. From plane to taxi generally takes about ten minutes but sometimes you have to wait a while for a cab to arrive.

They have 100LL fuel but it is a self-service pump. I did it once and it took a long time to deal with the paperwork. I think Jet-A1 comes from a bowser and might be easier. I try to avoid fuelling up a Schiphol now.

Returning to the GA terminal can be difficult. Two taxi drivers have insisted on taking me to the main passenger terminal. Ask the staff at KLM for a map to the GA terminal and hand that to your driver. The key phrase, if I recall correctly, is ‘Schiphol Oost’ (Schiphol East).

Schiphol is not cheap. Last time I went, in a Cirrus SR-22, it cost me over 200 euros. Also, beware the additional navigation charge levied through Eurocontrol for IFR flights. It’s only another 20-30 euros but it can be time-consuming to pay it as they invoice you after the flight.

Schiphol history

Schiphol was opened as a military airfield in 1916 but quickly switched to civil use after the first world war with the national airline KLM beginning operation in 1920 and a hut for passengers arrived in 1921. In 1926 the Amsterdam municipality bought the airport.

A proposal to close both Amsterdam and Rotterdam airport in favour of a new centralised airport didn’t meet with much favour from Amsterdam residents. In July 1938 more than 15,000 people rallied at the airport in favour of keeping the airport. This is surely a first.

During the war the Germans attacked the airfield and then used it. By 1945, it had become virtually unusable and it took heroic efforts to allow the first DC-3 to land on 8th July.

Since then the airport has grown and grown with the result that it is one of the largest and busiest airports in Europe and becoming, in the words of the operating company, an Airportcity.

Contact information

KLM Jet Center
Department : SPL/WH
P.O. Box 7700, 1117 ZL SCHIPHOL, The Netherlands
Phone: +31(0)20 6492455
International airport: www.schiphol.nl
GA Handling: www.jetcenter.nl
Handling requests can be made online or by phone.
Note that slots are required at busy times. These can be booked with KLM. See also: www.slotcoordination.nl

Enjoying Amsterdam

I am learning Dutch and so I try to visit The Netherlands every month or so. Here are my top recommendations for visitors to Amsterdam:

The Rijksmuseum. During the current renovations, the best bits of the collection are on display in a small, walkable exhibit. Lots of Vermeer, Rembrandt and so on. Excellent. Buy tickets online in advance if you’re visiting on a weekend.
The Van Gogh Museum. Fantastic collection of Van Gogh’s works. I prefer the old masters but my wife loves this museum. Again, buy tickets in advance.
The Amsterdam Historical Museum. A good insight into the history of the city and the people who live there. I like museums but I reckon this is better than a boat tour.
Restaurants: Moeders for authentic Dutch food, De Bakkerswinkel in the centre for perfect Dutch sandwiches and cakes, Cafe ‘t Smalle in the Jordaan for an antique pub that is very friendly with seats outside by a pretty canal and, if you have time, try to visit and Indonesian restaurant and have a rijstafel. For fine dining, Restaurant Christophe and La Rive both have Michelin Stars and I can recommend them both from personal experience.
Walking around. The centre is very compact and it is lovely to just wander around the canals and streets to see what you see. You can get taxis back to the airport from Central Station or Liedseplein (and I’m sure other places too but this is where I go).

A few words of Dutch

Most Dutch people speak English and some speak it very well indeed. However, I like to surprise them by mispronouncing their own language so here are a few useful words and phrases.

Goede Morgen / Middag / Avond. Good morning / afternoon / evening.
Tot ziens / Dag. See you later / g’day.
Dank u wel. Thank you (polite).
Alstublieft. Please (polite)
Naar Amsterdam / Naar de luchthaven. To Amsterdam / to the airport (e.g. isntructions for a taxi driver)
Ik wil graag een koffie . I’d like a coffee.

Other ways to fly to The Netherlands

Rotterdam. I prefer Rotterdam Airport to Schiphol for IFR trips. It’s not cheap but it is friendlier, smaller and easier to get into. Public transport in Holland is so good that you can get anywhere pretty fast by train. It’s actually easier for The Hague and pretty towns like Delft as well as, of course, Rotterdam itself.
Maastricht. I only went to Maastricht airport once and that was to visit a great restaurant in Belgium. Still, it’s a good mid-size airport. [Update 20.9.12 – I’ve been back a few times and it’s much more GA-friendly now and Maastricht the town is well worth a visit.]
Lelystad. During daylight hours Lelystad is a VFR-only airport but at night it reverts to IFR and has an NDB approach. However, on an IFR trip you can drop out of controlled airspace over the Ijsselmeer down to a low level and fly the last few miles VFR into the busy circuit. It is, however, the best GA airport I have ever visited with a lovely restaurant, a great museum and good facilities.
Eelde / Groningen. In the North, Eelde Airport is an excellent IFR airport that is friendly and not too big but fully equipped. The nearby town, Groningen is nice to visit too. I went there a lot a few years ago to get our group’s Cirrus aircraft upgraded with DMEs.

Tips for VFR flying in Switzerland

This post was initially released on my home blog www.plasticpilot.net and as it is full of tips for foreign pilots visiting Switzerland I publish this updated version here.

If you want to add a new destination to your logbook in 2009, why not Switzerland ? As a local, I can give you some tips to make your swiss operation seamless and enjoyable.

Customs
Important things first: Switzerland is not member of the European Union, so you’ll have to clear customs. Some airports and airfields offer permanent or on request customs service. This can range from shaking hands with a customs guy to fill-in a form, and it is mandatory. As Switzerland finally ratified the Schenggen treaty, it should be easier, but the transition phase starting early April 2009 is still quite fuzzy. Shenggen applies to persons only, not to goods and this makes things complicated. My best tip is to contact your destination airport before your flight to sort out all details.

Airspace structure
Swiss airspace is split in two, along a south-west to north-east line. North of the line is the “Plateau” area. This has Class-G airspace up-to 2000 ft AGL (except in CTRs), then Class-E up to FL 100, and Class-C from FL 100.

South of the line is the “Alps” area. The Class-E is up to FL 130 in case of military activity and up to FL 150 if military are not active. Above that is Class-D airspace (mandatory clearance) up to FL195, and Class-C above.

All CTR’s are Class-D and TMA’s are Class-C. Flying within Geneva (LSGG) or Zurich (LSZH) TMA is normally not allowed. Crossing Bern (LSZB), Payerne (LSMP) or Emmen (LSME) is just matter of calling on the radio.

The country is split in two FIRs, Geneva and Zuerich, each with its Information frequency. The boundary runs along Bern (LSZB) TMA.

Routes on controlled airports
All controlled airports have mandatory VFR reporting points and routes for both arrivals and departures. You can’t just call “10 miles east for landing”. Most of these airports also have ATIS broadcasts that you’ll have to copy before callint TWR.

Sectors on non-controlled airports
Non-controlled airfields procedures are based on sectors through which you must arrive and depart. The AFIS service is generally very limited, and most of time you’ll have to do blind position reports (sector – overhead – downwind – base – final).

Operation times
Be careful with airfields operation times – many restrictions do exist. Some airports even close from 12:00 to 13:30, and violating such a rule could cost you up to 700 swiss francs (approx. 600 US dollars).

Flight Plan filling
You can get briefing and file flight plans using computer based system called “AMIE” or “self-briefing” which is available at all airports and airfields. You can create an account if you want, so as to be able to close your flight plan on arrival. This system is for free at airports, and if you prefer to use it on the internet you’ll have to pay a yearly fee.

Landing fees
Talking of thees, you’ll have to pay for landing fees in all swiss airports. The price will depend of the MTOW of your aircraft, but can also vary depending of the services you’ll use (parking, customs, …). Landing fees will vary from 10 to 80 Swiss francs.

PPR
Many airfields, but at some times also major airports require a prior permission for VFR flights. For mountainous airfields it is also important to get informed about runway status as snow cleaning is not always granted.

Mountain flying
If you want to fly over the mountains and are not used to, be extremely careful with weather and winds. I personally don’t fly in mountains if wind is over 20kts ! Envisage hiring a local instructor if you want an introduction.

Tailored service
If you want more details, or some help to plan your flight to LSxx, feel free to contact me directly. I’ll be happy to provide you some support, and may be to meet you.