“Golf Alpha X-ray Zulu Delta, you are number two: follow traffic on final to runway 23 Right” came the controller’s voice from the tower of Letnany Airport, Prague……..
Letnany airport is right next to (and I mean right next to) a military airport, Kbely, with exactly the same runway layout. The difference is that Letnany has two grass runways whereas Kbely is asphalt. There are plenty of stories of aircraft landing at the wrong airport. I was not going to add to that statistic.
Once again – like the approach to Vienna – Letnany airport was upon us before we knew it. It didn’t help that after being handed over from Prague Radar to Kbely Control our transponder wouldn’t work. “Golf Alpha X-ray Zulu Delta, I repeat: squawk (the term used for a transponder code) 7043” instructed Kbely. “7043 but we are having problems with our transponder, Golf Alpha X-ray Zulu Delta” I replied. With no transponder we wouldn’t show up with identification on Kbely’s radar screen. We busily tried to resolve the problem, recycling the transponder, switching it on and off, recycling again but it wasn’t working. “Golf Alpha X-ray Zulu Delta: failed radar indentification. Route direct to Lima Kilo Lima Tango” (the phonetic coding for Letnany Airport) instructed the controller from the military radar facility.
Eventually, the transponder blinked its orange light showing that it was now sending out its signal. “Golf Alpha X-ray Zulu Delta now radar identified. Contact Letnany on One-Two-Zero, decimal Three-Two-Five. Have a nice day sir” announced the Kbely controller. “Thank you. Letnany, on One-Two-Zero, decimal Three-Two-Five, Golf Alpha X-ray Zulu Delta. Goodbye” I replied.
The landing on the grass runway at Letnany was soft. I’ve been told that grass runways are beautiful to land upon but I have never landed on one despite my many years of flying. As we turned off the runway Letnany Tower announced, “Golf Alpha X-ray Zulu Delta, landing time: Fifteen Oh One” (the time in UTC [the ‘old’ GMT] which is two hours behind local time in Prague). What I thought was a cat turned out to be a huge hare running in front of our plane across the grass. He was our only greeting party. How things have changed since our royal receptions at Salerno, Dubrovnik and Zagreb.
It’s all a blur now. It’s hard to believe that only a few hours ago we were sitting on the outside balcony area at the airport in Vienna eating lunch and now we were in a new country with lots to explore.
Below: G-AXZD on the stand at Voslau Aiport, Vienna (first two photos) and then, on the grass stand at Letnany Airport, Prague.
Prague:
2015 Euro Flight 