General

A typical tour will consist of a group of 4-6 aircraft with two persons on board, a pilot and a non-flying companion. Of course we welcome two pilots per aircraft, who can share the flying experience; however PIC must be in the left seat. The group will be led by the lead aircraft, operated by the lead pilot and the tour director.

Aircraft

We either hire or own a fleet of Cessna 172, well maintained by strict JAA regulations and equipped with all necessary navigation and communication equipment.

All aircraft have a tour dedicated pre-programmed Garmin 296/495 with all flight routes, enroute and sightseeing waypoints and communication frequencies prepared for your convenience. All you have to do is just follow the magenta line from one waypoint to the other. The log from the GPS unit is regularly downloaded, stored and made available after the tour to refresh your memories.

Beside the GPS unit every pilot will get all paper charts, clearly marked with all necessary fight information, such as main and alternate frequencies, airspaces and reporting points. Most of the sights will also be marked on the charts.

Typical flying day

Every morning before the flight, the lead pilot will conduct a detailed briefing of the route flown, pointing out any special considerations. The VFR flight plans and weather information will be prepared for you, too.

A typical daily leg of flying is about two hours, which allows ample time for leisurely sightseeing activities at daily destinations.

All flying is day VFR, according to JAR regulations. We will try to stay at the altitudes between 1000 and 3000 ft most of the time to provide maximum flightseeing and photographic opportunity.

Flight rules

Please be aware that GA flying in Europe is much more regulated than overseas; most legs will require a flight plan and communication with ATC. A CFI will have a detailed presentation on all differences and specifics of the JAA regulations on the familiarization day before the tour begins.

We will use a special frequency for intra-fleet communication. Each aircraft will monitor and communicate at the designated frequency to ATC and at the same time monitor the intra-fleet frequency. Should there be a problem of misunderstanding with ATC, the lead pilot will help either by communicating to the ATC or by talking to the pilot on the intra-fleet frequency.

In general the flying will be done in loose formation. This means that the distance between the planes is in the order of 1 NM or more. We will try to keep visual contact to at least the two planes in the group closest to us. When the visual contact is lost we will coordinate our positions on the intrafleet frequency.

As a rule we will not submit formation flight plans which means that all pilots have to do their own communication with ATC. In general ATC is able to speak English everywhere on our routes, but it may turn out that the English being spoken is very very limited. In many countries it is usual to speak English only on major frequencies (like international airports and major FIS), but even in such countries you will hear a transmission in local language when the pilot runs out of his vocabulary. In other countries it is perfectly normal to speak in local language to the ATC, so you will have to get used to this.

At some ATCs it may be possible (at the discretion of the controller) to do the communication for a "loose formation" from the lead aircraft only; this usually applies only to enroute communication. Landing clearances are always given to each aircraft separately.

We will be using transponders at all times. The lead airplane is equipped with the PCAS so that it has some information on the position of other aircraft in the fleet.

In general we will be avoiding complicated and congested airspaces. We will however need to pass many class C or D airspaces and we will need to avoid prohibited and restricted areas. The lead pilot will emphasize any potential restrictions and call your attention to the sections of the route where a strict adherence to the altitude and route is required. The lead pilot knows the habits in certain airspace: is a certain CTR easily crossed or we will be vectored all around, can we hope to get a clearance to enter certain restricted area or not, can we ask to enter a prohibited zone or not. This information is based on the experience; it may change depending on the controller on duty or depending on the situation in the air (or on the ground), so please follow the instructions of the ATC.

A significant part of the tours will be flown in the uncontrolled airspace. In many areas the Flight information service has quite good information and advice on the traffic. There are places where a lot of utralight traffic is going on without radio connection and with no transponders. There are also known congested glider areas and areas with extremely dense paragliding traffic. The gliding activity heavily depends on the weather. Lead pilots will warn you about such places. A special rule will apply in uncontrolled airspace: any observed traffic should be reported to the group on the intrafleet frequency ASAP. We are a large group and we should be aware that airplanes tend to be so busy avoiding the first airplane in the group that they do not notice the other ones.

Licensing

We will organize pilot license amendments or conversions for all FAA licensed pilots to allow them to operate aircraft under JAR regulations. Please note that this license amendment is for leisure flight only and (formally) applies to aircraft registered under the amendment issuing authority (at present this authority is Slovenian Civil aviation Authority, thus your license amendment will allow you to fly anywhere in JAR region, but S5-registered aircrafts only). We will try to have some N-registered airplanes available.

Pilot requirements: a valid PPL(A) license, a valid medical certificate and at least 100 hours of PIC time will be sufficient for most tours. Please make sure that you are familiar with Cessna 172 operation and that you have logged at least 5 hours on the type during last 12 months.

Accomodation & food

Our accommodation on the tour will be carefully selected 3-4 star hotels, preferably with a local character. Breakfast will be served before morning departures, and if feasible, we will have weather and route briefings at breakfast.

If you have special dietary requirement please inform us with your application. We will do our best to accommodate your needs.

With only one or two exceptions per tour on a non-flying day, all dinners in local restaurants are included. The food will be a combination of international cuisine and local specialties, and will include sampling the local wine, wherever applicable. However we will not compromise the 8 hours from bottle to throttle principle, for we are responsible pilots.

Skills

Some landings will be at grass airstrips and will require some short field techniques on a basic level. The coastal flying may sometimes be made more interesting with moderate (and gusting) crosswinds. However, this can all be considered basic piloting techniques, no extreme flying.

We will have a quick briefing and a short check ride with a local examiner before the tour. If you do not feel confident with the aircraft, we advise you to book a few C172 hours in home environment before coming to the tour, so that you will fight only with the differences in flight regulations and ATC, not the airplane.

Luggage

Luggage allowance: on the tour there is a limit of 40lbs of luggage per person (you as a pilot will do the weight and balance calculations). Please pack a soft bag that can be stored in the C172 luggage space. On some airfields our ground transportation will not be able to come close to the airplanes, so you will be expected to carry your own bag to the car. Our base in Portorož will provide storage facility for your overseas luggage which will not come of the tour with you. In general, the luggage in the airplanes is safe overnight, so you may consider packaging the luggage so that you leave some heavy piece in the airplane and carry only the necessities with you.

Contingencies

Each of the routes was carefully planned to allow for some variation caused by weather. We will be flying in the alpine and other mountainous regions where weather may easily prohibit the VFR flying. We will try to do the route as close as possible to the schedule, but safety is paramount. Our lead pilots are prepared for many of such variations: we may use alternative routes, we may delay the tour for a day and catch up in a scheduled non-flying day and similar. Our tour directors and the logistics support from the base office will provide alternate activities that should be similarly attractive as the planned ones.

The lead pilot and tour director are also capable of solving minor technical problems with the airplanes (like flat tyre or similar). All aircraft are thoroughly checked by a certified aircraft technician just before the tour begins (and also on the day the tour ends), so we expect no problems with the aircraft during the tour. On most of the airports there are at least some maintenance facilities available to make a quick fix in case a need arises. We have an aircraft technician on stand-by at the base should a more serious repair be needed.

Insurance

All aircraft are insured for liability to third persons. They also carry a full accident insurance but with a certain limits (like 2% or similar). Additional full coverage accident insurance is available at additional cost. We definitely recommend the renter's insurance for each pilot to cover any gray area. For non accident damages the pilot is liable to cover any damages done by mishandling, negligence or pilot errors.

Non flying days

Non flying days are meant to give you a day to relax from the group and explore a place on your own. Usually the dinner on the night before a non flying day is also not organized, so you are free to explore the place of your taste, the dinner at the end of non-flying day is usually organized to regroup and brief for the next day. There are exceptions to this rule, especially when some wine tasting is organized which is usually on the night before the non-flying day.

Optional flights

On most of the scheduled non-flying days, an optional flight route is available. These routes are usually not lead by the lead pilot; he will assist you with the planning and provide you with all information but in general you are on your own on such flights. There may be exceptions to this rule if most of the group will choose to go on an optional flight.

Other flying on your own

It is always possible to arrange for a leg to be flown on your own if you would like to take-off later or you would like to go along a special route. In such case the lead pilot will provide you with all necessary weather and routing information and leave to your own planning and flying. In such cases you may well need to arrange the transfers to and from the airport.

Special arrangements

If you would like to change the schedule for a particular day, we will be glad to help. If you would like to arrange for an event (e.g. Opera Tickets in Vienna), please let us know. If you have any special requirements, be aware we are here to help you with these. However, please let us know of any such requests well in advance so we are able to help and adjust.