66 Munich - Zell Am Zee

9. Feb 2010

After a night in Munich in a hotel close to the main railway station, I went shopping for my new camera. By noon I got the train back to Augsburg, about a 30 minute train ride away. Then a taxi to the airport.

Augsburg airport is a very friendly place. On the approach yesterday I picked up ice going through freezing fog on decent ILS to runway 8. It is a mandatory item on the checklist to turn on pitot heat (the pitot is a sensor that registers the airflow and therefore the airspeed of the plane). I was reminded of turning the heat on, when my airspeed indicator suddenly showed 0! I a couple of minutes the indicator reading was back on.

After landing I was asked if I wanted the plane in a hanger – a very nice gesture, and I happily agreed. I was marshaled to the hangar, and the staff towed the plane inside and took me for a ride back to the terminal.

This morning I was taken back to the hangar again and they helped me pushing the aircraft back out of the hangar. All that service came to a total cost of about 40€!

For the trip to Zell AM Zee, I had filed a flightplan at the airport office by the fax provided.

But after starting the engine up, and having told the controller that I was ready to copy a clearance, I was told that he did not have any flightplan on file – and that he could not refile it for me. I would have to go back to the terminal to file again. I replied that I did not want to do that since the plan already had been filed once and I did not want to have to start up the engine again in the -8 centigrade temperature. So I got on the phone to Naviair in Copenhagen, to ask them to file a flightplan  for me, but after reporting all the details, I was told that the other plan was active with Eurocontrol??

Getting back in touch with the tower, he confirmed he now had the plan, and I was cleared for an immediate departure. After taking off I was expecting him to sign me off to the departure frequency. When I questioned him about it after a minute or so, he told that according to the AIP I was supposed to change frequency myself just after departure!

So rather than signing me off and say goodbye, he had me taking off in solid IMC on my own! Some controllers are just of some special breed – but fortunately very few.

But I got the departure frequency from him, and I was on my way for a short flight to Zell Am Zee in the Alps. Climbing to flight level 90 I got over the clouds and the approach into  Zell Am Zee was just stunning. I knew the weather at the airport was clear, because I checked their webcam before departure! So about 50NM out IFR was cancelled and the approach was in VMC.

Coming in for landing I had to do a 360 degree turn to lose some altitude. After landing, the aircraft was towed into a hanger by the airport staff.