After some weeks of waiting, weather conditions became good enough for me to go solo for the cross-country navigation flight (which is mandatory for obtaining PPL). Minimum requirements for this flight are: “at least 270 km (150 NM) that includes full stop landings at 2 aerodromes different from the departure aerodrome“.
Route suggested by my club was:
Leg 1: EHEH ⇒ Vianen ⇒ Geertruidenberg ⇒ Bruinisse ⇒ EHMZ
Leg 2: EHMZ ⇒ Bridge on Veerse Meer ⇒ Intersection Dinteloord ⇒ EHSE
Leg 3: EHSE ⇒ Intersection SW Breda ⇒ Baarle-Nassau ⇒ EHEH (Whiskey)
However, due to military exercises around Weelde Air Base (EBWE), I have decided to alter the plan for the last leg of the flight and to fly the following route: EHSE ⇒ Breda ⇒ Tilburg ⇒ EHEH.
Of course as this route requires crossing the (military) Gilze-Rijen CTR, i had to be allowed to cross, meaning that I had to have an alternate route that takes me north and around the EHGR CTR.
Luckily I have been given the permission to cross the EHGR CTR from Breda to Tilburg, on my last leg. This also meant that i got to enjoy both Tilburg and Breda from the air, for the first time.
Here is the route I have flown:
At the end, my flight, took me around 3 hours, for around 180NM (330 Km), with stops at Midden-Zeeland Airport (EHMZ) and Seppe / Breda International Airport (EHSE).
Here you can see the short video of base and part of the final leg on approach to EHMZ RWY 09:
Additionally here are some photos from the flight… Unfortunately, the sun was always positioned in such a way that my phone was not able to cope with the back-light 🙁
And of course… Nothing without a selfie for the end 🙂
