Croatia
In June 2008, with a formation of two ultralight airplanes, we reached Lošinj Island in the Adriatic Sea, Croatia. The two airplanes participating to this flight were: YR-6161, a Remos G-3, piloted by Liviu Ionescu and Daniel Bornaz, and YR-5069, an Atec Zephyr 2000, piloted by Ionel Hanga and Gabriel Iosif.
Preparations
The idea behind this trip came from Gabi, who previously visited this island (by car), and was so pleased about the days spent there that decided it’s worth to return.
I liked the idea, and I immediately started to study possible routes to Lošinj Island. As a direct leg Arad – Lošinj is too long for the endurance of our airplanes, it was obvious an intermediate stop was required. In order to avoid repeating the same leg on the return flight, I suggested a western route on the way to Lošinj (via Varaždin) and an eastern route on the way back (via Osijek).
As paperwork, the first concern was to inform the Romanian authorities about the dates of exit/entry in the Romanian airspace, and to obtain the flight authorization number, to avoid delays at the border.
Regarding foreign paperwork, according to both AIP Hungary and AIP Croatia, no special authorization is required, but, based on previous experience and to avoid problems, I considered that a notification would be helpful, so I sent the flight details, including FIR reporting points, both to Hungarian Civil Authority and Croatia Control, and to entry/exit airports.
Day 1: Strejnic – Varaždin, June 20th
Leg 1: Strejnic – Arad, ATE: 03:12
Route: Strejnic (06:03Z) – NILOV (06:34) – Tg. Jiu LAMIT (07:28) – Herculane (07:59) – LRCS Caransebeş (08:26) - LIPOV – LRAR Arad (09:15)
Departure was a bit hectic; planned departure time was 05:30Z, but unfortunately Zephyr was more than 30 min late and also had a short dispute with the local controllers (Strejnic Tower, 118.400) due to intermittent radio failures, so we decided to take off as soon as possible, skipping the usual briefing.
After a hasty takeoff on runway 27, to be sure we remain outside the class A TMA Bucharest, we stayed below 2.000 ft up to NILOV (Bucharest Approach, 118.250). After NILOV we slowly climbed to 4.500 ft and proceeded to Tg. Jiu. The Approach controller suggested to monitor Bucharest Radar on 125.150, but since they did not reply, we directly contacted the MOPUG Radar on 121.375.
Sea of Clouds
Weather was fine, with a slight headwind. Between Piteşti and Tg. Jiu we encountered a sea of broken clouds, that was a delight to fly through.
We crossed the mountains in the Herculane area, at about 5.500 ft, and entered the Cerna Valley.
On the western side of the mountains the weather was even better, with sun shine and almost no clouds, so no wonder the outside air temperature slowly increased from 20 to 26°C.
Arad
We passed close to the abandoned Caransebeş airport and, after slightly more than 3 hours, we landed at Arad, runway 27.
At Arad we greeted our airclub friends and refueled with (very expensive) AVGAS; after filing the flight plan for the next international leg to Croatia, and completing the passport control required by the exit procedures, we were set to go!
Leg 2: Arad – Varaždin, ATE: 02:41
Route: LRAR Arad (10:34Z) – MOPUG (10:53) – MAVIR (11:27) – The Danube (12:00) – KOPRY (12:57) – LDVA Varaždin (13:15)
We landed at Varaždin for entry visa.
Day 2: Varaždin – Lošinj Island, June 21st
Leg 1: LDVA Varaždin – LDLO Lošinj, ATE: 02:06
Route (via PANONIA 1): LDVA Varaždin (08:19Z) – N1 (08:39) – Samobor (08:55) – Karlovac (09:08) – Wrbovsko (09:23) – LDRG (09:42) – Plomin (09:58) – Cres (10:07) – Osor (10:19) – LDLO Lošinj (10:25)
Day 3: Lošinj Island, June 22nd
Day 4: Lošinj Island – Osijek, June 23rd
Leg 1: LDLO Lošinj – LDOC Osijek/Čepin, ATE: 02:19
Route (via PANONIA 3): LDLO Lošinj (09:24Z) – Senj (09:48) – TNJ (10:05) – Topusko (10:22) – Sunja (10:38) – Novska (10:50) – Sibinj (11:14) – A (11:28) – LDOC Osijek/Čepin (11:43)
Neither LDOS nor LDOC did not respond.
Day 5: Osijek – Strejnic, June 24th
Leg 1: LDOC Osijek/Čepin – LDOS Osijek/Klisa, ATE: 00:13
Route: LDOC Osijek/Čepin (06:39Z) – LDOS Osijek/Klisa
(06:52)
We landed at Klisa for refueling and exit procedure.
Leg 2: LDOS Osijek/Klisa – LRAR Arad, ATE: 01:53
Route: LDOS Osijek/Klisa (08:12Z) – BAREB (08:30) – The Danube (09:01) – MOPUG (09:48) – LRAR Arad (10:05)
We landed at Arad for refueling and entry procedure.
Leg 3: LRAR Arad – Strejnic, ATE: 03:00
Route: LRAR Arad (11:29Z) – LIPOV (11:44) – LRCS Caransebeş
(12:19) – Herculane (12:43) – LAMIT (13:09) – NILOV (13:58) – Strejnic (14:29)