I was back in Georgia last week, it is a great place for skiing and unknown by most Europeans. No long cues on the ski slopes (they haven’t got carnaval holidays), lots of fresh snow. The Gudauri station where we went for the second year is at 2200 meter and goes to 3300 meter altitude. We loved it.
A second reason to go there was to visit my pilot friends at the Natakhtari airfield, the main general aviation airfield north of capital Tbilisi. With AOPA Luxembourg we are facilitating a private pilot VFR rally this June bringing French and Luxembourg planes to this place. Some 17 planes confirmed and as with every organisation, there were some issues to take care of.
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Vanilla Sky – Cessna flying in Georgia, Europe |
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Airfield with a swimming pool |
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Dinner offered by Amiran Manjavidze, owner of Natakhtari airfield |
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Natakhari is a regional hub, terrain will be extended to 2500 m |
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old power lines at end of runway |
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Amiran’s newest purchase…to tow gliders |
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for glider towing |
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old timers 1 |
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old timers – a gift for Amiran for his 60th birthday |
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old-timer Sovjet Gouvernment car |
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The Russian answer on Fiat 500 |
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General aviation develops at Natakhtari airfield, Georgia |
General aviation develops at Natakhtari airfield, Georgia |
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They install a Jet-A fuel tank, AVGAS is available in barrels |