Some European flying videos

[peter-h]

It's a while since I was here last... the layout has changed

Here is an IFR one from UK to Croatia, and it includes ATC interaction

Here is a scenic one from a low level VFR flight, Ireland to Scotland and back

This one is within the UK - Shoreham to Cambridge, VFR

Flight UK to Croatia, with some difficult wx at the end and a diversion

And finally Croatia back to the UK, IFR... this one is short because the camera iced up

Note that Vimeo downsamples to about 5mbits/sec, but the videos were made mostly at 5x that data rate. If you use the Download option on Vimeo you get the original size file which is generally of much better quality, especially if you watch it at 1080P (which needs a fast computer).

 

[Velocity173]

Thanks for posting. Loved flying in that area. Croatia, Bosnia and Kosovo, all with turbulent pasts but all beautiful to fly around.

 

[exncsurfer]

That 'Ireland to Scotland and back' was great, I couldn't stop watching it.

 

[peter-h]

"Croatia, Bosnia and Kosovo, all with turbulent pasts but all beautiful to fly around."

Were you in the US military? There are still prohibited areas over (I think) Kosovo, 25 years on. Not sure whether one can transit them IFR.

 

[Velocity173]

"Croatia, Bosnia and Kosovo, all with turbulent pasts but all beautiful to fly around."

Were you in the US military? There are still prohibited areas over (I think) Kosovo, 25 years on. Not sure whether one can transit them IFR.

Yep, stationed in Germany but I spent about 8 months in Kosovo. Don't recall if any areas prohibited for GA but GA is pretty much dead around there anyway. I know Pristina had a few airliners that would periodically come and go.

Flying in Kosovo is like trying to jet ski in a pool. Typical legs were 10-15 mins at most. Even going to Macedonia was a quick hop. No real low altitude IFR structure so we were VFR everywhere we went. Pretty area though.

 

[SCCutler]

Peter, as always, I love watching your videos and reading your descriptions of flying in Euroland.

Are you expecting or seeing any changes in treatment, etc., secondary to the "brexit" vote?

 

[peter-h]

No real changes expected.

It is a complicated picture but basically *already* anybody flying out of the UK already has to head for an airport (the destination one) which has *Immigration*. You can't just fly to some grass field club in France, etc (on top of which most of those are French-only so you can't fly there legally without a French proficiency qualification).

When the UK leaves the EU, we will need Customs and Immigration.

And the same coming back to the UK; you will have to depart from a C+I airport.

That narrows the options somewhat but not massively, because most airports that have one also have the other. Main exceptions occur in Germany and Italy where many airports have Immigration (often on a prior notice basis, anything up to 24hrs) but no Customs.

France has been withdrawing these facilities from many airports, which affects where we can fly, already. This started in 2012 and has accelerated after their recent terrorism issues. They are going into panic mode, seemingly realising their police are ineffective, spending most of their time playing pokemon on their phones. They have big problems which have been swept under the carpet for years.

There is also some job creation going on, because both Customs and Immigration can be done by a single police officer, who is usually needed 24/7 for airport security anyway. That is how Croatia does it for example. But traditionally this doesn't create enough jobs, so two police forces exist... and these have different rules.

In the very much longer run, the EU may collapse. I think the Schengen concession (no immigration controls within the zone; most EU countries are members) will collapse sooner. It is already de facto suspended in a few countries in that they want your full details before flying there.

But really too early to tell.

On the scale of general hassle in GA, I don't think this is too big

At the UK end, Customs and Immigration are implemented with a notification form on which you list everybody's details. For departure to the EU you can go from any farm strip, no notice required. For return you need 4hrs' notice. For non-EU (basically Switzerland or Norway) you need 24hrs' notice. That isn't the whole story but it is the basic picture... It's a good system because we are not limited to airports that have police presence.

 

[Lanasmil]

I enjoyed watching the videos, thanks for sharing them.