Flights tales

From Genk-Zwartberg to Parma (Part 3) : The bay of Genua

August 17, 2019

Preparing to take off We are in Cannes right now, preparing to take off for Parma this morning. According to Aeroweather, skies are clear, but on the satellite picture, it tells me something different. Maybe a thin cloud layer in the Bay of Genua. Anyway, we’re going for it. It is the first time I’ll…

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From Genk-Zwartberg to Parma (Part 2): stopover in Cannes

August 16, 2019

Changing plans There’s a lot of rain on its way to Luxembourg on this long August 15 weekend. I planned to go to a pilot’s fly-in in Kalinigrad initially and meet there with a Polish pilot, and attend an AOPA supported event, but as I fly VFR, seems not to be a good idea to…

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From Genk-Zwartberg to Parma (Part 1) : the departure

August 14, 2019

A new engine for the Mooney I drive to Hasselt to visit my mother, who’s 89 years old now. After staying overnight at her house together with my son, my mother drops me off the next morning at the Genk-Zwartberg airfield. Today, we are going to pick up the Mooney of our flying club. The…

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Private flight to Fayence : flying back to Luxembourg :

July 29, 2019

Return delayed due to bad weather Bad weather followed us to Fayence and the next day looks really bad. Impossible to take off again and so we have to wait until the sun appears again the next day. Bad weather never takes long in Fayence however and the next morning, I woke up with clear…

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Private flight from Luxembourg to Fayence – GDL69 failure

July 28, 2019

A hot Summer day flight My family and me remember late July 2019 in Luxembourg for its extreme hot record temperatures of 40 degrees Celcius. I’ve booked since quite some time a Cessna 172 SP – call sign LX-AIO – at my flying club Aéro-Sport for a long weekend fly-out. I always enjoy when my…

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Part 4: From Castellane (ES) to Almeria (ES)

May 22, 2019

Southern Spain Franky and me enjoyed a lot flying around the Spanish coastline. We rapidly approached Almeria where we considering making another fuel stop. There was a bit more wind in the Almeria region, but the views were absolutely stunning. Melilla: yes or no ? We have been flying two hours when approaching Almeria and…

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Part 3: From Béziers (Fr) to Castellane (ES)

May 22, 2019

The longest day This May 2nd became a day to be full of adventurous flying. Every team topped up their planes with AVGAS as we’ll have to cross most of Spain. There will be no AVGAS available for our planes in Melilla, so I planned to make a fuel (and toilet) stop somewhere in between…

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Part 2 : Macon (FR) to Beziers (FR)

May 1, 2019

Taking it easy On May 1st, our group of AOPA Luxembourg planes (8 in total) was all supposed to land in Béziers in Southern France. That would be the first gathering of our group. As we were already ahead as being in Macon, we took it from the relaxed side on this Labour day. I…

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Part 1 : Genk-Zwartberg (BE) to Macon (FR)

May 1, 2019

Departure in Genk Our fly-out to Melilla starts ! By late Tuesday April 30th in the afternoon, our Mooney got out of the 100 hours maintenance by Smets aviation at the Genk-Zwartberg airfield. Ready to go ! As I learned from the french AIP (Aeronautical Information Publication) and the NOTAM’s (notice to Airmen) that there…

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Check-list and apps I use for long fly-outs

April 28, 2019

If one leaves on a multiple-day fly-out, one needs to be well prepared. Here’s the list I prepared for the Melilla fly-out of 2019 My full check-list for a long haul flight Passport & Pilots license & Medical certificate Serengeti sunglasses & a couple of spare glasses Air million maps for Belgium, France, and Spain.…

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