This last leg is a long one, 700 odd miles. I am hoping to break it down into just two hops rather than three. I have tried to plan a route which is a straight line heading west. The obvious thing to do would be to do the first leg 350 miles and the second one the same distance (approximately). This hasn’t been easy. Finding airports in Luxembourg or Germany along my desired track which don’t require a mortgage to pay the landing fees took some searching. It’s not just a matter of finding a reasonably priced one; I don’t want a massive airport which is going to take up loads of time for formalities (mind you, if it’s in Germany I would imagine administration will be a well lubricated machine) or requires transport to get from the plane’s parking stand to the terminal for a coffee. Equally, it will need to be an airport with customs clearance (I think I need this coming from Prague) and one at which I can be assured of getting fuel (the only reason, apart from coffee I’m stopping at all).
So, I ruled out Frankfurt Main or Frankfurt Hahn. Luxembourg airport was also out (it’s got a MASSIVE runway which would have been fun). I also dismissed Stuttgart. I stumbled across Mainz Finthen (EDFZ). What appealed to me was the website: MAINZ AIRPORT. Although it was all wirttien in German and I couldn’t find an English version, Google translate did a great job and it was clear the airport was GA friendly. Look at the opening page:
I think this will be a great airport to put down for a break. Below is the airport’s location (note the town of Bacharach to the west)
and here is the route as set out on Sky Demon:
The leg distance for this first stage is 251 miles. The next hop require a few zig-zags to avoid Paris and danger/prohibited areas. This leg is 411 miles. If I get a nasty headwind I may start getting short of fuel and of course, the time it will run out will be at the end between leaving the French coast at Lessay and arriving in Jersey, in other words, over the sea. But as you can see from the route on the map below, the leg takes me through a very busy area with lots of places to put down to give the plane a drink if he needs it. I have Beauvais, Rouen and Caen all directly below me on the way home:
This is going to be a tiring flight. But thankfully, I’ll be arriving back on Jersey’s runway on Friday 28th August with Saturday, Sunday and bank holiday Monday to rest.
MAINZ AIRPORT: MY OPINION
A small but very busy airport. Great bar/cafe at which we had very very nice food. Everyone was really really helpful and friendly. Martin, the air traffic controller stands out. He couldn’t have been nicer. Really kind young man. We got stranded at this airport and when we went back the following day to leave the cafe was closed. Martin made us coffee in the control tower. What a lovely guy. He also arranged a hotel for us to stay at and a taxi to get there. He also sorted out details with customs and the border police. Martin, thank you.
Prices:
We parked one night. The costs for landing and parking was a mere €20.98.
Fuel is self service. You pull up at the fuelling station and press an intercom bell. The tower then activates the pump and you fill up. You then go up to the tower and pay. The fuel price including taxes was €1.70 per Litre making this the cheapest of all the airports.
2015 Euro Flight 