Our exploration tour to Georgia has been succesfull. Reason enough to start with the planning of setting up a international pilot’s rally to Georgia and the European Caucasus in 2016. Together with Jean Birgen, the plan is to have this rally between Saturday in August 2016.
The plan is indeed to bring private pilots from near and far to the glorious skies of “Georgia and the European Caucasus” in August 2016.
This rally will quite likely be labeled as the 5th edition of the “Hans Gutmann memorial tour”.
It will incorporate mountains, forests and seas prior to get to the most remote country of Europe, Georgia.
Pilots can either:
- Fly to Georgia, Europe with their own or club plane
- Rent a plane in Romania, Burgaria (or Turkey) and fly from there to Georgia
- Rent a plane in Georgia (at least one C172 and one C182 available)
The plan is to fly to Georgia in three legs/days.
For the boldest pilots who leave from their home bases in Western Europe, we’ll schedule a gathering on Saturday August 13th in Jakabszallas (LHJK) in Hungary.
Leg 2 brings us the next day to Istanbul in Turkey, where we’ll be joined as well by the pilots who rented planes in Eastern Europe.
Leg 3 brings us to the Georgian border town of Batumi, where we’ll be expected on the international airport. After customs clearing, we’ll head to our home basis nearby capital Tbilisi where we’ll be joined by the pilots renting a plane locally in Georgia.
Georgian State Minister Davit Bakradze confirmed in a message received after our visit to him early August, his readiness for welcoming our rally, which is a huge support as they are some practical burdens to be handled in advance.
We now are going to put together a team a persons helping to prepare this unique event, to boldly fly where no private pilot has gone before !