Month: May 2017

Posted on

invitation “going Dutch” fly-out weekend


I am planning a dutch weekend for the Luxembourg pilots, here are the details. It will bring a whole Luxembourg fleet to the Netherlands in July. Air traffic control will be surprised. Here are the details

FLY OUT – GOING DUTCH – JULY 7TH-9TH 2015 – DETAILS  and SCHEDULE

 On Friday morning July 10th, you’ll fly 216 NM to the island of Texel at the Dutch coast, where you’ll check in at your hotel
Sweeping white-sand beaches, wildlife-rich nature reserves, sun-dappled forests and quaint villages are among the highlights of Texel, the largest and most visited of the Wadden Islands. About 3km north of the coast of Noord-Holland, Texel (pronounced “tes-sel”l) is 25km long and 9km wide. You can either enjoy a relaxing day at the beach or discover the island per (electrical) bike
On Saturday morning July 11th after breakfast, you are flying 90 NM to the newly re-opened airfield nearby Enschede airport (Twente), where the Dutch AOPA organizes an international Fly-In.
Because the event is also promoted by AOPA in Belgium, the United Kingdom, France and Germany, it promises to be an international pilots gathering actively supported with host Enschede Airport Twente, will provide a full-fledged program for young and old.
There is a wide variety of delicious food and drinks from local suppliers; there are very interesting and entertaining seminars to attend; there will be various stands of interesting aviation companies, such as aircraft brands, maintenance and training.(seminars about Mobile flite deck, short field landing, etc….)
You’ll end the day with a luxurious barbecue where the Dutch AOPA and the Enschede/Twente airport promised to take special care of you and your family!
UPL- AOPA Members have free access and do not have to pay a landing fee (you have to bring your UPL-AOPA membership card with you however)
The more courageous can jump into the nightlife of Enschede with plenty of bars in the city
On Sunday morning July 12th, you’ll take it very easy and will be flying out to Genk-Zwartberg in Limburg, Belgium (91NM) where we’ll enjoy a relaxing lunch on this vivid airfield where there’s always something going on. From there, we’ll have a short flight to Luxembourg (78NM)
SCHEDULE
Tuesday July 4th at 7pm 
6pm                        Pre tour briefing at the Aéro-Sport clubhouse
Friday July 7thth  
10am                      Flight from Luxembourg to Texel
Check-in at hotel
2pm                        Guided tour of the island per (electrical) bike, covering the island highlights
                                Or simply enjoy the beach
7pm                        Group dinner
Saturday July 8th 
9.00 am                 Take off for Enschede airport (Twente), where we are welcome by AOPA Netherlands
10:45 am               Joining the international pilots fly-in with a full program for pilots and passengers, setup by AOPA Netherlands.
5.30 pm Pilots BBQ at the Enschede/Twente airfield
9 pm                       Discover the bars and exciting nightlife of Enschede
Sunday July 9th 
10.30 am               Take off for Genk Zwartberg , where we’ll enjoy a small lunch prior to fly back home

Posted on

Norderney – Teuge

A nephew of me, Franky Coene, started recently taking flying lessons in Kortrijk. I invited him to join me last Sunday to fly to the island of Norderney, which I planned to discover during a one day flight. He and his son are also aviation enthusiasts

Franky en Johan Coene



Franky has been travelling from Oostende to Genk Zwartberg to meet with me, together with his son Johan. The weather outlook was not perfect, but I wanted to give it a try nevertheless.

However, being a VFR pilot proved once again to have its limits. The weather reports for Kleine Brogel, Maastricht and Liège were alternating from IFR to MVFR to VFR as the cloud basis was quite low and visibility poor. However, north of Groningen, the weather seemed fine.

We arrived in the morning at the airfield and prepared the airplane. We hoped that the cloud basis would lift around noon, but I had to wait until early afternoon to take off with the Cessna 172 (OO-LVA) of my flying club in Genk.

Our flight did not last very long, visibility and ceiling were too poor to make a comfortable flight to Norderney. Further, a weathermap showed that fog was rapidly coming in from the North Sea in Norderney. An alternative was to fly to Teuge in the Netherlands and attend a visit to an internet pilot pal Mark Perlot, but flying at 1500 feet with poor visibility is no fun.

So we turned back and landed again in Genk-Zwartberg, opting to stay at the safe side. 
this is the island of Norderney, which we finally did not manage to reach