2008/10 Texel - Holland's greenest airport

click on the title to see the video on DailyMotion

YES! I managed to pass the IFR exam last Friday (Oct.10th). Performing an exam is not my favorite hobby, but the flight to De Kooy (EHKD) and back with examiner Jan van Wonderen went quite OK. Thanks a lot to Wings over Holland, Patrick and a special thanks to Eelco. Eelco did not only prepare me for the exam in only a couple of months. His attitude towards using the capabilities of the Diamond to the max will certainly help us when we'll really be using it in our next travels.

Having an instrument rating still does not mean that you can always fly, but gives additional possibilities and easy of mind in a lot of situations. Of course we still respect the fact that we fly in a single engine plane, without any form of de- or anti-icing like for instance the DA42 or in the near future the DA50 will provide. Apart from that the Diamond DA40 TDI G1000 offers an amazing number of features that enable inexperienced pilots like us to fly the plane in a relaxed and comfortable manner.


I still have to wait until the IR is added to my license (I wonder how long this will take this time) but it feels great that it's in the bag. Just the feeling that I can do this already gives a lot of support for our Pancake trip next week to Portugal.

To celebrate Marijke and I decide to fly to Texel the next day and spend the night in the airport hotel. Ed and his son Mike are indisputably the warmest hosts we have ever seen at any airport so far. It is only a short flight, but it is always fun to visit the billiard like long grass strip on the island. Even if it's only for coffee and back again. There's always a lot to see at the airport with a lot of parachute drops and plenty of old planes.


The next day we first flew to Eelde to let Marijke make additional practise approaches for her IFR training and then back to Lelystad. Har and Rud, Marijke's parents would come to Lelystad as well to fly with us to ......Texel and back again. In the meantime I had the chance to take some images of Martin's Air Charter, the PH-DDZ Dakota during its landing on Lelystad.









Pancake Airlines Crew is trained by Dwarf Powered Gliders (www.dwarf.nl) and Wings over Holland (www.wingsoverholland.nl). Information on the PH-PCA Diamond DA40 can be found on www.diamond-aircraft.at. You can click on the title link to see the HD video on DailyMotion.

2008/04 First IFR training PCA

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On 25.2 I managed to get my PPL/SE license. I was not very proud on my performance during the exam, but apparently it was enough to pass.

Also in February both Marijke and I had started our ATPL theory course via Orbit Groundschool in Arnhem. Orbit uses the Bristol material in a distance learning program. The material is quite good and especially when using the Bristol practise databases as well (and putting in enough effort) it is not a real problem to pass the theoretical examinations.
But it really is a awful lot of material and you have to know the most ridiculous details about virtually anything. For ATPL you have to do 14 exams. Some exams are almost the same (e.g. VFR and IFR communication) and the examination costs at CBR are ridiculous (131 euro per person per exam per attempt).

In March and April we were that occupied with our theory lessons (first exams in april) that we did not find the time to fly. At the end of April after passing the first 8 exams we started our IFR training course.

The first IFR lessons for both Marijke and me was from Lelystad to Eelde and back again.
IFR flying in the Diamond DA40 is not that difficult once you master the capabilities of the G1000 in combination with the autopilot. In the new Diamonds the autopilot is even integrated in the G1000, we use the G1000 with a KAP 140.
If you understand the systematic logic of the IFR procedures it is easy to learn the appropriate functions of the G1000 that support the specific parts of the departure, en-route flight and the arrival and approach procedures.

Some air work, like steep turns, are even easier in IFR mode compared to VFR mode; just concentrating on the instruments.

IFR training is in my experience all about increasing handling speed and the workload capabilities. During the first couple of lessons it seems virtually impossible to combine flying the aircraft with ATC communication. You think you will never be able to do this but repetition does the job. I very much liked it to have only short time spans between the lessons. That way it is much easier to pick up the level were you were the lesson before in stead of partially starting over again.
The other very important element is building up a reference based on all kinds of different situations. In the beginning when you are about to think that you can do it, something happens that you did not anticipate for and you mess up completely.
Finally if you have encountered certain situations before you are able to respond in a more relaxed manner. The weather and related circumstances like visibility and turbulence do have a major impact on the general sensation during certain manoeuvres although the basic technical handling you have to demonstrate is the same.

Eelde airport is pretty busy, a lot of flight schools use it, and you see more and more commercial airliners and business jets as well. It helps a lot that local ATC is used to a lot of training flights, they always seem to be in control and are still very flexible to all kinds of training requests.
Strange feeling still, the first time you see a Transavia 737 waiting at the holding point during the approach in stead of the usual Cessna or Socata.

On the video (which is in HD from April 2008 onwards thanks to the super Sony HDR-SR12E I got for my birthday) you can see how the instruments support you on a manual ILS approach, and during a steep turn. The G1000 makes it easy, especially when you train yourself to perform maximum preparation of all potential next steps during the relaxed moments before or during the flight.


Pancake Airlines Crew is trained by Dwarf Powered Gliders (www.dwarf.nl) and Wings over Holland (www.wingsoverholland.nl). Information on the PH-PCA Diamond DA40 can be found on www.diamond-aircraft.at. You can click on the title link to see the HD video on DailyMotion.

2008/02 Hilversum to Norderney

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After performing some local trips it now was time for an international journey. Easy does it, so lets first pick a close by German Island. Norderney turn out to be a fine choice. It is one of the German Wadden Islands, it's not as flat as most of the others. There is a descent asphalt landing strip, with more than enough length. You can easily find it, just aim for the lighthouse. And it's only 1 hour flight from Hilversum or Lelystad.

Later on I have posted another video of a flight to Norderney, but I still wanted to include this one as well because we took off from the grass field of Hilversum. First we had to clear all the ice off, because we are still on the waiting list for a spot inside. But the cold weather was fine, and we had a chance to produce some nice images over the field and over the water at Loosdrecht before heading north.

The route to Norderney goes straight over Eelde (EHGG), so we had the chance to have a look at the most wanted location for Sander's future study before crossing the water to the Island. Norderney not only has a fine airport but a lot of other interesting features. Right next to the airport is a fine golf course in the middle of the dunes. The Golf Hotel is right next to it, we stayed there a couple of weeks later after having walked along the coastline of half the island.

This time we only crossed the island from south to north and back again. On the north shore, at the end of the "birken pfad" there is a perfect lunch location called "Weisse Dune". It's only an half an hour walking from the airport. Perfect atmosphere, perfect food (try the fish soup).


Pancake Airlines Crew is trained by Dwarf Powered Gliders (www.dwarf.nl) and Wings over Holland (www.wingsoverholland.nl). Information on the PH-PCA Diamond DA40 can be found on www.diamond-aircraft.at. You can click on the title link to see the video on DailyMotion.