This is the final episode in my European Adventure series. I fly from Linz in Austria to Redhill in England.
Having been split up from our group, due to challenging weather over the Austrian Alps, my friend Alastair and I plan and execute our return to the UK. The challenge facing us on this flight was low cloud and visibility across northern Europe in the morning. It was forecast to clear, but it had to be closely monitored so that we didn’t set off, above a cloud layer, unable to descend through it en route. In the UK this wouldn’t have been a problem, because of my restricted instrument rating, but for 4-5 hours I legally couldn’t use this to help me.
Siegerland was mid-way on our route back to Lydd (where Alastair had left his car), they had AVGAS, and with an email to customs/border force there we could use the strip as our pit-stop. The airport was extremely helpful and friendly, had a very efficient fuel service, and the full-service restaurant was a real change from the usual airport dining options.
The leg from Sigerland to Lydd was positively boring! We flew a straight line all the way back to Lydd through Germany, Belgium and France. We were even cleared through the Brussells TMA. Imagine doing that VFR over the top of London at FL060.
I hope you enjoy the film!
If you have any questions arising from this series, please comment on the video, or drop me a line. I shall be teaming up with James from Buddy’s Aviation, who organised the excursion, to answer those questions in a forthcoming episode.
You can read a full trip report here, if you haven’t done so already.