Travelogue Kathrin Kaiser

Travelogue Kathrin Kaiser – 17 countries in 17 days

Intro

17 countries in 17 days: In the coming days we share with you the great report on this trip by @pegasus_kathrin. We'll post the 6-part continuation series for you every day at 5:30 pm.

Here's a bit more about her:
Kathrin Kaiser has been a private pilot since 2019 and already has an impressive 500 hours on the clock. Even before she had her license to fly in her hands, she bought a 50-year-old airplane. Those who know her know that she is a power woman: Single parent with 2 children and a full-time job, she still manages to take off with her Grumman Traveler often enough.
In addition, she participates in and organizes charity flights for disabled children herself and is the founder of the Grumman Fly-In in Bonn-Hangelar EDKB.
Last year she already flew to the North Cape and this year she wanted to participate in the #GreenlandAirTrophy - a rally across the North Atlantic - where we would have loved to support her and accompany her digitally. Unfortunately, this international sporting event was postponed to 2022 due to Covid-19. Without further ado, she changed her summer plans and embarked on what she calls an experiment: to fly to as many countries as possible in the time available to her. This turned into a journey through 17 countries in 17 days, in the southeast of Europe!

PS: The Grumman Fly-In mentioned above will take place from September 03-05. We will be there as well. You can find more info on our event calendar ≫

PPS: For those who would also like to take a trip through Europe, we recommend the book Cross Border Information and our V500-Europe maps.

Part 1

„This year my trip went to the southeast of Europe, to the Balkan region. I had never been there before and was really excited about what to expect. I took off from Bonn-Hangelar, my home airfield, but first I had to take the kids to summer camp. So I flew a small detour over Jena and from there on to Augsburg. The relentlessly approaching weather left no time for a break except for a refueling stop. I crossed the Alps before they would be impassable for the next 5 days. I left a rainy Germany and flew over an equally rainy Austria. The sun was finally shining over Italy. And after a really long day of flying, I arrived in the evening at a rather hot Portoroz in Slovenia, where, funnily enough, you are offered a schnapps right after arrival. The airport has a really very good restaurant overlooking the apron and I stayed within walking distance with a very nice family who run a bed & breakfast, where I could see my plane from the terrace. The next day I rented a bicycle at the airport and rode past Portoroz to Piran. I was fascinated by the view over the old town to the sea that you have from the bell tower. The people are very relaxed and the food is just delicious, everywhere you get freshly caught fish. The next day I drove inland with a rental car and visited the stud farm of the famous Lipizzaner horses in Lipica, as well as a huge stalactite cave in Postojne. I ended the day with a detour to Trieste, Italy, where I enjoyed the sunset at the harbor in an excellent restaurant.“

Part 2

"With a light tailwind, I took off in a westerly direction towards the sea and shortly thereafter turned to the southeast. The flight was very turbulent from the beginning. Over the Adriatic it became calmer. The air was humid and hot. Fortunately I can open my top and with a convertible airplane it is immediately much more pleasant. I flew all the way to Brac in Croatia. Refueling was handled by the ground crew with no problems. The paperwork was done surprisingly quickly and just 30 minutes after landing I was heading for Bol. Again I was lucky with my choice of accommodation: quiet, spacious apartment with kitchen, a pool and close to the harbor. There are beautiful boats, great restaurants for every budget, different music on every corner and stores for everything you need. For the 2 days I spent here, I rented a boat to explore the area. My first stop was in Hvar on the neighboring island, there is an interesting old fortress there. I then sailed to Stari Grad, where you can eat very well with a view of the ships. On the second day I went to the Croatian mainland. In Makarska I found a free parking place and stopped for lunch at Osejava - with a breathtaking view of the landscape.
Afterwards I spontaneously met with the president of AOPA Austria, who happened to be there as well, and some friends. It was a funny round with good conversations among aviators.
As a super rounding off of my stay here, I was able to admire quite a few fish while diving later."

Part 3

"Flying along the Croatian coastline is a beautiful sight - hundreds of islands lie off the mainland. My next destination was Dubrovnik, the southernmost city in Croatia. But I didn't want to fly this actually short leg directly. On the way there I first turned left to Bosnia-Herzegovina. In Mostar there is the "Stari Most", a very old bridge. Since 450 years young men jump down from there into the river. I did a lap around the beautiful city and then flew over the international airport thanks to the permission of the nice tower man. Shortly before landing in Dubrovnik, I was also allowed to circle over the old town for sightseeing. Many scenes from the series Game of Thrones were shot here. A day later I walked on a guided tour through the hot old town and once completely around on the continuous city wall. My room was in a small nondescript side street right next to the cathedral. I sat for dinner in the largest restaurant on the harbor and watched the medieval sailing ships that kept leaving with new passengers. A cable car took me to a hotspot 500 meters higher up to enjoy the view of the beautiful architecture and the sunset. The city itself was full of people, although the cab driver said that was only 40% of normal tourism.Dubrovnik is definitely worth a trip, no matter what mode of transportation. But flying is of course the fastest and flying yourself the most beautiful. ?"

Part 4

"The flight from Dubrovnik was interesting in many ways. Due to the operating hours of my destination airport, I had to wait until 12 noon local time to take off. I flew south along the Adriatic coast in 800 ft for a while. In Montenegro, I climbed to FL95 and headed east to fly over the huge mountains. After some back and forth with the Albanian controllers, I was allowed to enter Kosovo and even ended up circling over Pristina. But Serbia was unfortunately a no-go, they really threatened me with the MIGs. So I flew directly to northern Macedonia and landed in Ohrid. The ground crew is exceptionally friendly, they don't see small GA planes very often. To my dismay, they had first brought jet fuel, but then dug up the AvGas somewhere, which I had ordered in advance. The costs at this airport were the cheapest on my whole trip. Here I have an acquaintance who had invited me to her place and so I didn't have to worry about accommodation or food. As a thank you for the great hospitality I invited her husband to a sightseeing flight and I showed him his home from above. Lake Ohrid is one of the oldest and deepest lakes in the whole world and a World Heritage Site. The old town with its typical houses is quite a delightful place. In this relatively small town alone there are an incredible 365 churches. Every year is the famous summer festival in Ohrid, for which people come from all over."

Part 5

"On we went across mountainous Macedonia to the equally high mountains of Greece. Fortunately, the radio worked very well on my route north of Thessaloniki. It was a completely different story in Turkey. Neither Istanbul nor Atatürk could talk to me directly. So it went only over Relays with commercial airliners. Quite different in Bulgaria - clean, clear directions guided me through their airspace.
The next stop was Varna. Unfortunately, the airport operated by Fraport is not really geared to general aviation. Varna itself is an up-and-coming city, but there are still some unsightly corners, unfortunately. My accommodation, however, was a comfortable new-build apartment that I found through a private provider and cost only a fraction of the nearest 4-star hotel. Here I could recover from my long flight. The next morning it was already hot as hell at the airport in Varna. Waiting for security, customs, the bill, a free toilet and ground staff didn't make it any better. In addition, I had to delay my flight schedule by one hour due to the delay. My conclusion on Varna: except for the apartment, unfortunately, rather disappointing.
Finally I flew in my sauna northwest to Romania and further to Hungary. Here I stopped immediately in Bekescsaba to refuel. After a rest I started for the first time in this vacation with the first flap stage and brake despite full throttle, because at 36°C, 400kg payload, only 150hp and additionally not the whole runway usable, the 14 kt crosswind was the smallest problem."

Part 6

"My destination for the day was Budapest, the capital of Hungary. I had chosen Tököl as my landing site. I learned a lot while sightseeing, for example that the city is divided into Buda and Pest. The locals, however, call their city only Pest. From there, I took off further north and followed the Danube for a bit.
The tower at the airport of Bratislava in Slovakia allowed me a panoramic flight over the city after a request. The old town is located directly on the Danube and looks stunning from above.
Continuing along the river, I headed to Vienna in Austria. To save myself a few euros, I landed south of the city in Voslau. Since I have several friends in Vienna, I was guaranteed a private ride. Without further ado, I took a horse-drawn carriage through the sometimes narrow streets to see Vienna's interesting city center. On my list I ticked off the Spanish Riding School, the Sissi Museum, St. Stephen's Cathedral and finally the Prater, including a ride on the historic Ferris wheel.
The last day of our vacation dawned and we headed back to the airport. Between Vienna and Linz, you simply have to fly through the Danube valley and preferably as low as allowed, because the view is really worth it.
Near Linz I turned north and flew over the border to the Czech Republic in the direction of the Vltava - here I wanted to fly over the beautiful Lipno reservoir.
And then I was already back in German airspace. On FIS all hell broke loose - Friday afternoon and great weather.
After a refueling stop in Augsburg for the plane and pilot, I flew to Gera to collect my kids again. The crew was now complete again and it was time to go home."

Fazit

"I started my journey in bad weather, and that's how I got home, because the rain started shortly before Bonn. But apart from that, I must say I was really lucky with the weather the whole time. And I am glad that everything worked out without major incidents. All in all, I flew through 17 countries and over 3000 NM in the 17 days. I met great people and mostly ate very well. I learned a lot about the countries with their different traditions and cultures. The highlights were almost all destinations, I was a bit disappointed by Varna. With credit card you could pay almost everywhere, but in countries with other currencies the Euro in cash was very popular. Corona was never a problem or obstacle for me, I just had to pull out my vaccination card everywhere. It was a pity, however, that I could not come to Serbia. All in all, with meticulous and disciplined preparation, this vacation was a complete success.

And now I am looking forward to my next event, the Grumman and Friends FlyIn in EDKB and hope to see many of you there. Likewise, I hope I could encourage one or two of you to try such an adventure yourself."

PS: The Grumman Fly-In mentioned above will take place from September 03-05. We will be there as well. You can find more info on our event calendar ≫

PPS: For those who would also like to take a trip through Europe, we recommend the book Cross Border Information and our V500-Europe maps.