To the Sun and Back
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I finish the entry in my logbook and think about the trip that has just ended with this line. The final leg, which took me back to the starting place from which my wife Katharina and I had taken off ten days prior, concluded a gorgeous and memorable vacation. Already last year we had taken our two-seat gyrocopter – an MT03 powered by a 100 hp Rotax engine – on a tour to the Mediterranean coast of Croatia. Back then we had already known that we would do it again. And we did.
This time we wanted to explore the west coast of the Istrian peninsula, experience its beaches, food, history and people that all separately and jointly reflect its rich and varied historic background deriving from once belonging to Italy, Austria and now to Croatia. We planned to take off from Fertöszentmiklos (LHFM), Hungary, fly to Maribor (LJMB), Slovenia, for customs and refuelling, and on to Portorož (LJPZ), to spend the first night. From there we wanted to cross into Croatia and visit Vrsar (LDPV), Medulin (LDPM) and Unije (LDPN) as our southernmost point of excursion. How long we would stay at each place and which route we would take back we left open. It’s been my motto that too much planning can ruin even the most carefully prepared vacation ;-)
We optimized our luggage down to 10 kg (22 lbs) in order to stay below the legal limit of 450 kg (992 lbs) MTOW and still be able to take on fuel for 2.5 hrs of flight with a 30 minutes’ reserve. I’m grateful to Katharina that she isn’t the kind of woman who take a vacation with less than two suitcases and accommodations with fewer than four stars as a personal insult. A look at the weather forecast for the week of July 21 told me that we had to leave on Tuesday in order to escape an approaching cold front.
The first leg to Maribor was almost routine except for my initial call to Maribor Tower, in which the controller advised me to watch out for an Airbus 380 in the pattern doing touch-and-goes. We were told to remain at 3000’ until cleared lower. Now, I’m used to a lot of different metal in the traffic pattern practicing their landing skills, but an Airbus was a first to me. Once we had the airport in sight, the airbus on final was hard to miss. By the time we got close to the airport, on our way to enter a left downwind for runway 15, the airbus came right at us on its right downwind leg for the same runway. Even though I knew that he was told to remain at 2500’ or lower – and I was still at 3000’ – it is a scary sight to have such a big bird come right at you. Believe me, it’s a unique experience to hear, see, and feel such a big plane crossing your path only 500’ underneath your behind. We were cleared to land following the A380 and I scrounged up my knowledge of wake turbulence avoidance. The landing went well and we were met by a friendly follow-me car that took us to a huge parking spot. After refuelling, customs, and filing a flight plan to Portorož, we returned to our proud, little gyro sitting all by itself on the huge apron in a parking position designed for Boeings and Airbuses.
Even though we had spent less than an hour on the ground, the nice puffy cumuli had grown considerably during this time. With the mercury at 31 °C (88 °F) and humidity to boot it sure looked like a storm, or at least some strong rain showers, was brewing. Since the two hour leg to Portorož with plenty of mountainous terrain lay before us, I wasn’t sure how that situation would pan out. Nevertheless we departed Maribor and set course along the VFR route to the Slovenian coast. After about 30-40 minutes’ flight time the prospect of some serious weather turned from suspicion to reality. There was an extended line of showers with lightning on our right drifting ever closer. Deviating to the left was not such a brilliant idea either, since something similar was happening there. A small gap was still open between the two, although rain had started to fall there also. I shoved the throttle forward, ducked and pushed on as heavy raindrops started to splatter against the wind shield. To make a long story short: we made it through and managed to give our gyro a nice wash at the same time. On the radio, we overheard the conversation between Ljubljana Approach and a pilot behind us on the same route. The hole had closed and the other plane had to divert, land and wait the storm out. Life on the other side of the shower line was once again sweet and fine. The sun shone, the wind was favorable and so we reached our first day’s destination in no time.
Portorož – the “port of the rose” – sits right at the sea, the southernmost city on the short stretch of Slovenian coast between Croatia and Italy. We took a cab to Piran, a couple of miles north of the airport. Piran boasts a beautiful old town center with a great view of the bay. Right during our dinner the bad weather we had managed to dodge earlier passed overhead and brought an hour of rain and some thunder. After this, the weather showed itself from its friendly side and remained sunny and warm throughout our entire trip.
The weather in Istria during summer is usually warm and sunny with an occasional thunderstorm in the afternoon. One thing to look out for, however, is a treacherous north-easterly wind called “Bora” by the locals. It is very turbulent and extremely gusty so that even big airliners are wary when it prevails. On my previous trip to Croatia I experienced a mild version of Bora and counted myself lucky that I was on the ground and my gyro securely tied down. The only good thing about Bora is that it can be forecast reliably.
Since we really wanted to explore the Croatian part of the Istrian peninsula, we continued on toward Vrsar the next day but not without first taking a half hour of sightseeing and snapping photos flying over the stretch of coast between Portorož and Piran. The flight to Vrsar is only about 20 miles, following the coast line to the south into Croatia. We landed at Vrsar, cleared customs and went to see the airport manager. At small airports, the manager is usually the only person on site and often provides a lot of valuable information regarding transportation, accommodation and recommendations about where to eat and which beach to visit. In Vrsar, “Engineer Alex”, as he referred to himself, fit right into that picture. He pulled out the number of a friend of his who would pick us up from the airport, drive us into town, get us a room in the house of his grandmother, and dinner at the restaurant he works at. It usually pays to shop around a bit and not to accept the first offer immediately. In this case, however, “Engineer Alex” made such a good impression on us that we decided to take him up on his offer. We were indeed picked up by his friend Marco, who put us up in a nice room about 10 minutes’ walk from the beach. For dinner he promised us a four course sea food meal with all-you-can-drink wine in a small local restaurant just around the corner. Hard to beat, we though, and accepted. But first we wanted to explore the town a bit and have a good swim.
We set out toward the beach, which lay just on the other side of the old town. Should be easy enough, I thought. It wasn’t that I didn’t know in which direction the beach was or which direction we came from. It was just that Vrsar is a town consisting almost entirely of cul-de-sacs. An arrangement that is as difficult to navigate as it is charming to walk through. Narrow cobble stone streets lined with Oleander bushes and Bougainvilleas, people sitting on rickety chairs and playing cards on the street, the atmosphere is ripe with Mediterranean flair. After half an hour of alternatingly walking and turning back we found a cozy café next to a church where we plonked down in the shade and ordered some wine. Then we had a coffee and later some ice cream. To make a long story short, we didn’t make it across town that day and returned to our base camp. The next day, against all odds, we managed to find a way to the beach where we took pretty much all day to recuperate from the all-you-can-drink part of the previous night’s dinner. The only productive thing I managed was to write a few postcards. I didn’t feel the least bit guilty and just let the vacation feeling seep in. Life was good.
The next day saw us at Vrsar airport, ready for our next leg to Medulin. With the tanks half full (I have always been an optimist and refuse to consider them as half empty) and a flight time of about 30 minutes, strictly speaking I didn’t need any fuel to reach Medulin. But with Medulin even smaller than Vrsar, I was not expecting to be able to top off my tanks there. Unfortunately, there was no fuel to be had in Vrsar. Engineer Alex offered to bring some tomorrow morning, but I didn’t want to wait the day. So we got into our little flying machine, fired up the engine and … watched as six planes arrived in the next ten minutes, all flying in from Italy. Then a twin disgorging a handful passengers arrived, followed by a sleek Cirrus of German registry. As we sat watching and waiting at the ramp, the remote sleepy airport turned into a busy international travel destination. All the while Engineer Alex was running hither and yon, marshalling airplanes on the ground to their parking positions, directing people to the customs office, and talking to approaching aircraft on the radio. It was great fun to listen to him on the radio, speaking a mixture of Croatian, English and Italian and using a unique phraseology that had me chuckle once or twice. Chiding an Italian pilot who turned off the runway at the wrong spot had Engineer Alex running, waving and yelling in three languages simultaneously. But the operation was efficient, with safety never at stake. Once the aerial invasion was over, we got to take off and head south toward Medulin.
Passing Rovinj on the way provided a great photo opportunity. It is unbelievable how many houses together with a church can fit on one tiny peninsula without falling off at the edge. The airport of Medulin is located just a couple of miles south of the international airport of Pula and well within Pula’s control zone. So we were talking to Pula approach who cleared us directly over the city of Pula and the harbor. This provided us a great aerial view of the ancient Roman amphitheater. We decided to visit Pula and take an up close tour of the amphitheater. Upon switching frequency from Pula Approach to Medulin Info, I was unable to raise anybody on 123.50 MHz. But since we were already at downwind and the only traffic in the air, I simply landed in front of the little restaurant place next to the runway.
As everywhere, the gyro drew a lot of interest and quickly a small crowd had gathered around it even before we had got out. It turned out that there was a flock of parachutists from Slovenia and a helicopter school from Austria based there for the summer. After tying our gyro down, we went to the restaurant to sit down and enjoy a cool beer and talk with the locals. It turned out that Boris, the airport operator, had already made the acquaintance of a gyrocopter. Two years previous, an armada of 10 French trikes and two gyros landed in Medulin, unannounced, without a flight plan and completely illegally. The mystery why nobody was available at the local frequency was that the frequency listed on the approach chart was wrong. Instead of 123.50 it was 121.20 MHz. Also, the contact telephone number was wrong. It should be +385 (98) 420577 and that will get you Boris Delić on his mobile. Don’t be thinking, though, that I had old charts. I updated my charts only days before the flight. Well, even Jeppesen isn’t perfect…
It’s about 6 km (4.5 miles) into the town of Medulin, and Boris’ wife Tamara offered to take us. We found a nice room to stay right next to the beach and immediately got dressed for the occasion. Medulin is definitely more touristy than Vrsar. There is a variety of boat trips available to visit nearby islands or the natural reserve of Briun. You can rent your own little motorboat and putter to one of the picturesque little bays, beaches or islands. Or go parasailing, banana boat riding, jet skiing, snorkeling, diving, sailing, windsurfing, whatever. The beach is lined with restaurants and ice cream parlors but a bit further on the crowd thins considerably and nature once again prevails. We had dinner at “Oliveta”, a restaurant that I promised myself I would mention since the food there is top notch, wines are very good, the service is excellent, and you are sitting only meters (yards) from the sea under some large and shady trees. Oliveta became a fixed agenda item for dinner while we were at Medulin.
We spent four days in Medulin during which we behaved as regular tourists, for a change. We rented bikes (the best way to get around cheaply and efficiently) and rode them to Pula, which is about 10 km (7 miles) to the northwest. Pula is the biggest city on Istria. It used to be an important naval base during the war and the past 2000-3000 years. That’s also why there is a well preserved, big Roman amphitheater which we already saw from the air. Approaching it on the ground is no less impressive. It was built around 50 A.D. for some bloody fights of the gladiator type and is still used today – for performances of a less bloody and more cultural variety. One day we visited the airport to take a sunset flight around the area. Pula Approach had nothing against our puttering around below 1000 feet as long as we remained clear of the approach sector for the runway in use. It really is beautiful to see the green islands in midst of the turquoise sea dotted by white boats. We met the heli-instructor from Austria who teaches in a R-22 in Medulin during the summer. He had never before flown in a gyro and we went for some yanking and banking. A little demonstration of the gyro’s capabilities got me a small audience and several cold drinks after landing. We arrived back in Medulin happy and exhausted sometime after 9 pm.
On Tuesday we wanted to continue on to Unije. We had heard the reports of a Belgian couple we had met the previous year, and they spoke of a remote, sleepy, and relaxing place. Just what we needed. Unije is a small town of about 80-100 people located on the island of the same name, some 15 miles off the southern tip of Istria. Since I didn’t want to fly over such a stretch of open water, I decided to file a flight plan going up the east coast of Istria, crossing over to the island of Cres (only 2 nm across water), follow its coast south to where it meets Lošinj island, which then only requires another short hop of 2 nm over to Unije. All in all a flight of about 1 hour. Already on the runway and warming up the engine, ATC couldn’t clear me as filed because of a military training exercise in the area. So it was either staying in Medulin for another day or take the direct route across the sea. I opted for the latter. The plan was to climb to 4500 feet before crossing over to Unije. With a glide ratio of 4:1, this would still leave about 6 minutes where I couldn’t make it to either shore in case the engine stopped. But I decided that since I was in continuous radio contact with Pula Approach and with a lot of vessels in the sea, it was a small risk to take. Our contingency plan in case of an engine out was to make a Mayday call to Pula Approach and set up for a water landing next to one of the many vessels. Before reaching the surface we would disconnect our intercoms and open the buckle of the seat belt so that we can be quick exiting the gyro and not be dragged down with it. Once the wheels touch the surface I was prepared for a quick submerging of the gyro since the cabin is open at the bottom permitting water to enter easily. Before it submerges we would slip out of the harness and be ready to exit as soon as the rotor hit the water. Luckily it never came to that and we had an exhilarating and gorgeous flight across the open sea and an uneventful landing at Unije.
The island of Unije can only be reached by boat or by aircraft; there are no roads and no other settlements except the town of Unije with about 100 people living there permanently. You will find three restaurants/bars and one café in Unije. The food is delicious, particularly the seafood. Don’t bother asking if it’s fresh. If you get up around 7 am, you can see the fishing boats return and the locals buying their seafood from them. That’s about as fresh as it gets. The distance from the airport to the beach is 100 yards. Living in Unije you’d be hard pressed to make it any farther than that from the beach since the town nestles right up to the sea. During the summer months Unije attracts some tourists, but mostly Croatian families and only few international tourists. There were five other planes parked at the edge of the grass strip. The airport manager, Drago, also doubles as Unije’s baker – although some people might see it the other way around, I imagine. Finding a room was easy. There are only private rooms available, no hotels. Because of the water shortage over the summer, you will not find a room with its own bathroom and shower. You might get lucky, however, that the other room is not occupied and you have those facilities for your exclusive use.
Don’t be looking for excitement and tourist attractions. Instead, slow your pulse and lower your blood pressure to match the pace of life there. Have a seat at one of the restaurants right at the beach, enjoy the view, smell the sea, feel the breeze, taste the food and watch the people around you doing the same. Choose your spot on the endless beach that surrounds the island. You can be as close to or as far away from other people as you like. The atmosphere is such that topless sun bathing is not a problem.
On Wednesday, the end of our vacation was near and we prepared for our return flight the next day. Since there were afternoon thunderstorms forecast along the entire route, we opted for an early departure. Our route was to take us from Unije to Rijeka (LDRI), from there to Maribor, and lastly back to Fertöszentmiklos – all in one day. The other benefit of an early departure is the cool temperature and hence lower density height associated with it. Right after Rijeka we needed to cross the coastal mountains on our 2,5 hour flight to Maribor. Because of fuel considerations we couldn’t afford to spend a long time climbing to 5000 feet, so weight was a primary concern. We sorted our belongings into essential and non-essential, leaving anything non-essential behind. This included two towels, two T-shirts, tooth paste, sun cream, etc. All in all, we saved 3 kg (6 lbs) this way. Lift off was at 6:15 which would take us to Rijeka shortly after the opening of the airport at 7:00 o’clock. I’m not sure the old saying of “The early bird catches the worm” quite captures the serenity and sheer beauty of a flight across islands and sea at dawn. Unfortunately, this kind of ambiance is very hard to capture photographically, and I have no in-flight photos to show; so you just have to take my word for it.
We arrived in Rijeka, refuelled, cleared customs for our border crossing into Slovenia, filed a flight plan and departed right behind a Boeing 737. Using some lift off a mountain slopw, we were able to climb to 5000 feet in about 10 minutes and cross the coastal mountains, proceeding north-easterly toward Maribor. The landing in Maribor was similarly efficient concerning customs and flight planning, and we were off again after one hour, en route to Fertöszentmiklos. We arrived back in Fertöszentmiklos just around noon and in time to watch the towering cumulus clouds build from the safety of the airport restaurant.
So, that’s the story in a nutshell. On our flight we covered a distance of just over 500 nm in approximately 8 flying hours. What more is there to say? Well, maybe a few words for those who wish to experience Croatia themselves. There is no special permit required to fly an ultralight gyrocopter in Croatia. You are just treated like any other aircraft, regardless of size. Personal weather briefings are to be had under the phone number +385 (1) 6259240. You can file a flight plan over the phone by calling one of the ARO offices whose phone numbers are listed in the Jeppesen chart kit. There are ARO offices in Zagreb, Pula, Rijeka and Lošinj as well as some other bigger airports. Avgas is available only at bigger airports, mogas is hard to come by. However, it is usually possible to arrange a short trip with someone to the nearest gas station and fetch fuel that way. In terms of landing fees I paid 17 € in LJMB, 10 € in LJPZ, 35 € in LDPV (including parking for 2 nights), nothing in LDPM, 10 € in LDPN, and 19 € in LDRI. Avgas is about 2,30 € per liter (8,80 € per gallon), mogas runs around 1,50 € per liter (5,80 € per gallon). Since Croatia is not an EU member state, you need to land at an international airport after crossing the border. It worked out well for me to cross the Slovenian/Croatian border either via Maribor/Rijeka or Portorož/Vrsar. Those airports have custom officials available during opening hours at no additional charge. The Croatian AIP is available online here upon a free registration.
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I finish the entry in my logbook and think about the trip that has just ended with this line. The final leg, which took me back to the starting place from which my wife Katharina and I had taken off ten days prior, concluded a gorgeous and memorable vacation. Already last year we had taken our two-seat gyrocopter – an MT03 powered by a 100 hp Rotax engine – on a tour to the Mediterranean coast of Croatia. Back then we had already known that we would do it again. And we did.
This time we wanted to explore the west coast of the Istrian peninsula, experience its beaches, food, history and people that all separately and jointly reflect its rich and varied historic background deriving from once belonging to Italy, Austria and now to Croatia. We planned to take off from Fertöszentmiklos (LHFM), Hungary, fly to Maribor (LJMB), Slovenia, for customs and refuelling, and on to Portorož (LJPZ), to spend the first night. From there we wanted to cross into Croatia and visit Vrsar (LDPV), Medulin (LDPM) and Unije (LDPN) as our southernmost point of excursion. How long we would stay at each place and which route we would take back we left open. It’s been my motto that too much planning can ruin even the most carefully prepared vacation ;-)
We optimized our luggage down to 10 kg (22 lbs) in order to stay below the legal limit of 450 kg (992 lbs) MTOW and still be able to take on fuel for 2.5 hrs of flight with a 30 minutes’ reserve. I’m grateful to Katharina that she isn’t the kind of woman who take a vacation with less than two suitcases and accommodations with fewer than four stars as a personal insult. A look at the weather forecast for the week of July 21 told me that we had to leave on Tuesday in order to escape an approaching cold front.
The first leg to Maribor was almost routine except for my initial call to Maribor Tower, in which the controller advised me to watch out for an Airbus 380 in the pattern doing touch-and-goes. We were told to remain at 3000’ until cleared lower. Now, I’m used to a lot of different metal in the traffic pattern practicing their landing skills, but an Airbus was a first to me. Once we had the airport in sight, the airbus on final was hard to miss. By the time we got close to the airport, on our way to enter a left downwind for runway 15, the airbus came right at us on its right downwind leg for the same runway. Even though I knew that he was told to remain at 2500’ or lower – and I was still at 3000’ – it is a scary sight to have such a big bird come right at you. Believe me, it’s a unique experience to hear, see, and feel such a big plane crossing your path only 500’ underneath your behind. We were cleared to land following the A380 and I scrounged up my knowledge of wake turbulence avoidance. The landing went well and we were met by a friendly follow-me car that took us to a huge parking spot. After refuelling, customs, and filing a flight plan to Portorož, we returned to our proud, little gyro sitting all by itself on the huge apron in a parking position designed for Boeings and Airbuses.
Even though we had spent less than an hour on the ground, the nice puffy cumuli had grown considerably during this time. With the mercury at 31 °C (88 °F) and humidity to boot it sure looked like a storm, or at least some strong rain showers, was brewing. Since the two hour leg to Portorož with plenty of mountainous terrain lay before us, I wasn’t sure how that situation would pan out. Nevertheless we departed Maribor and set course along the VFR route to the Slovenian coast. After about 30-40 minutes’ flight time the prospect of some serious weather turned from suspicion to reality. There was an extended line of showers with lightning on our right drifting ever closer. Deviating to the left was not such a brilliant idea either, since something similar was happening there. A small gap was still open between the two, although rain had started to fall there also. I shoved the throttle forward, ducked and pushed on as heavy raindrops started to splatter against the wind shield. To make a long story short: we made it through and managed to give our gyro a nice wash at the same time. On the radio, we overheard the conversation between Ljubljana Approach and a pilot behind us on the same route. The hole had closed and the other plane had to divert, land and wait the storm out. Life on the other side of the shower line was once again sweet and fine. The sun shone, the wind was favorable and so we reached our first day’s destination in no time.
Portorož – the “port of the rose” – sits right at the sea, the southernmost city on the short stretch of Slovenian coast between Croatia and Italy. We took a cab to Piran, a couple of miles north of the airport. Piran boasts a beautiful old town center with a great view of the bay. Right during our dinner the bad weather we had managed to dodge earlier passed overhead and brought an hour of rain and some thunder. After this, the weather showed itself from its friendly side and remained sunny and warm throughout our entire trip.
The weather in Istria during summer is usually warm and sunny with an occasional thunderstorm in the afternoon. One thing to look out for, however, is a treacherous north-easterly wind called “Bora” by the locals. It is very turbulent and extremely gusty so that even big airliners are wary when it prevails. On my previous trip to Croatia I experienced a mild version of Bora and counted myself lucky that I was on the ground and my gyro securely tied down. The only good thing about Bora is that it can be forecast reliably.
Since we really wanted to explore the Croatian part of the Istrian peninsula, we continued on toward Vrsar the next day but not without first taking a half hour of sightseeing and snapping photos flying over the stretch of coast between Portorož and Piran. The flight to Vrsar is only about 20 miles, following the coast line to the south into Croatia. We landed at Vrsar, cleared customs and went to see the airport manager. At small airports, the manager is usually the only person on site and often provides a lot of valuable information regarding transportation, accommodation and recommendations about where to eat and which beach to visit. In Vrsar, “Engineer Alex”, as he referred to himself, fit right into that picture. He pulled out the number of a friend of his who would pick us up from the airport, drive us into town, get us a room in the house of his grandmother, and dinner at the restaurant he works at. It usually pays to shop around a bit and not to accept the first offer immediately. In this case, however, “Engineer Alex” made such a good impression on us that we decided to take him up on his offer. We were indeed picked up by his friend Marco, who put us up in a nice room about 10 minutes’ walk from the beach. For dinner he promised us a four course sea food meal with all-you-can-drink wine in a small local restaurant just around the corner. Hard to beat, we though, and accepted. But first we wanted to explore the town a bit and have a good swim.
We set out toward the beach, which lay just on the other side of the old town. Should be easy enough, I thought. It wasn’t that I didn’t know in which direction the beach was or which direction we came from. It was just that Vrsar is a town consisting almost entirely of cul-de-sacs. An arrangement that is as difficult to navigate as it is charming to walk through. Narrow cobble stone streets lined with Oleander bushes and Bougainvilleas, people sitting on rickety chairs and playing cards on the street, the atmosphere is ripe with Mediterranean flair. After half an hour of alternatingly walking and turning back we found a cozy café next to a church where we plonked down in the shade and ordered some wine. Then we had a coffee and later some ice cream. To make a long story short, we didn’t make it across town that day and returned to our base camp. The next day, against all odds, we managed to find a way to the beach where we took pretty much all day to recuperate from the all-you-can-drink part of the previous night’s dinner. The only productive thing I managed was to write a few postcards. I didn’t feel the least bit guilty and just let the vacation feeling seep in. Life was good.
The next day saw us at Vrsar airport, ready for our next leg to Medulin. With the tanks half full (I have always been an optimist and refuse to consider them as half empty) and a flight time of about 30 minutes, strictly speaking I didn’t need any fuel to reach Medulin. But with Medulin even smaller than Vrsar, I was not expecting to be able to top off my tanks there. Unfortunately, there was no fuel to be had in Vrsar. Engineer Alex offered to bring some tomorrow morning, but I didn’t want to wait the day. So we got into our little flying machine, fired up the engine and … watched as six planes arrived in the next ten minutes, all flying in from Italy. Then a twin disgorging a handful passengers arrived, followed by a sleek Cirrus of German registry. As we sat watching and waiting at the ramp, the remote sleepy airport turned into a busy international travel destination. All the while Engineer Alex was running hither and yon, marshalling airplanes on the ground to their parking positions, directing people to the customs office, and talking to approaching aircraft on the radio. It was great fun to listen to him on the radio, speaking a mixture of Croatian, English and Italian and using a unique phraseology that had me chuckle once or twice. Chiding an Italian pilot who turned off the runway at the wrong spot had Engineer Alex running, waving and yelling in three languages simultaneously. But the operation was efficient, with safety never at stake. Once the aerial invasion was over, we got to take off and head south toward Medulin.
Passing Rovinj on the way provided a great photo opportunity. It is unbelievable how many houses together with a church can fit on one tiny peninsula without falling off at the edge. The airport of Medulin is located just a couple of miles south of the international airport of Pula and well within Pula’s control zone. So we were talking to Pula approach who cleared us directly over the city of Pula and the harbor. This provided us a great aerial view of the ancient Roman amphitheater. We decided to visit Pula and take an up close tour of the amphitheater. Upon switching frequency from Pula Approach to Medulin Info, I was unable to raise anybody on 123.50 MHz. But since we were already at downwind and the only traffic in the air, I simply landed in front of the little restaurant place next to the runway.
As everywhere, the gyro drew a lot of interest and quickly a small crowd had gathered around it even before we had got out. It turned out that there was a flock of parachutists from Slovenia and a helicopter school from Austria based there for the summer. After tying our gyro down, we went to the restaurant to sit down and enjoy a cool beer and talk with the locals. It turned out that Boris, the airport operator, had already made the acquaintance of a gyrocopter. Two years previous, an armada of 10 French trikes and two gyros landed in Medulin, unannounced, without a flight plan and completely illegally. The mystery why nobody was available at the local frequency was that the frequency listed on the approach chart was wrong. Instead of 123.50 it was 121.20 MHz. Also, the contact telephone number was wrong. It should be +385 (98) 420577 and that will get you Boris Delić on his mobile. Don’t be thinking, though, that I had old charts. I updated my charts only days before the flight. Well, even Jeppesen isn’t perfect…
It’s about 6 km (4.5 miles) into the town of Medulin, and Boris’ wife Tamara offered to take us. We found a nice room to stay right next to the beach and immediately got dressed for the occasion. Medulin is definitely more touristy than Vrsar. There is a variety of boat trips available to visit nearby islands or the natural reserve of Briun. You can rent your own little motorboat and putter to one of the picturesque little bays, beaches or islands. Or go parasailing, banana boat riding, jet skiing, snorkeling, diving, sailing, windsurfing, whatever. The beach is lined with restaurants and ice cream parlors but a bit further on the crowd thins considerably and nature once again prevails. We had dinner at “Oliveta”, a restaurant that I promised myself I would mention since the food there is top notch, wines are very good, the service is excellent, and you are sitting only meters (yards) from the sea under some large and shady trees. Oliveta became a fixed agenda item for dinner while we were at Medulin.
We spent four days in Medulin during which we behaved as regular tourists, for a change. We rented bikes (the best way to get around cheaply and efficiently) and rode them to Pula, which is about 10 km (7 miles) to the northwest. Pula is the biggest city on Istria. It used to be an important naval base during the war and the past 2000-3000 years. That’s also why there is a well preserved, big Roman amphitheater which we already saw from the air. Approaching it on the ground is no less impressive. It was built around 50 A.D. for some bloody fights of the gladiator type and is still used today – for performances of a less bloody and more cultural variety. One day we visited the airport to take a sunset flight around the area. Pula Approach had nothing against our puttering around below 1000 feet as long as we remained clear of the approach sector for the runway in use. It really is beautiful to see the green islands in midst of the turquoise sea dotted by white boats. We met the heli-instructor from Austria who teaches in a R-22 in Medulin during the summer. He had never before flown in a gyro and we went for some yanking and banking. A little demonstration of the gyro’s capabilities got me a small audience and several cold drinks after landing. We arrived back in Medulin happy and exhausted sometime after 9 pm.
On Tuesday we wanted to continue on to Unije. We had heard the reports of a Belgian couple we had met the previous year, and they spoke of a remote, sleepy, and relaxing place. Just what we needed. Unije is a small town of about 80-100 people located on the island of the same name, some 15 miles off the southern tip of Istria. Since I didn’t want to fly over such a stretch of open water, I decided to file a flight plan going up the east coast of Istria, crossing over to the island of Cres (only 2 nm across water), follow its coast south to where it meets Lošinj island, which then only requires another short hop of 2 nm over to Unije. All in all a flight of about 1 hour. Already on the runway and warming up the engine, ATC couldn’t clear me as filed because of a military training exercise in the area. So it was either staying in Medulin for another day or take the direct route across the sea. I opted for the latter. The plan was to climb to 4500 feet before crossing over to Unije. With a glide ratio of 4:1, this would still leave about 6 minutes where I couldn’t make it to either shore in case the engine stopped. But I decided that since I was in continuous radio contact with Pula Approach and with a lot of vessels in the sea, it was a small risk to take. Our contingency plan in case of an engine out was to make a Mayday call to Pula Approach and set up for a water landing next to one of the many vessels. Before reaching the surface we would disconnect our intercoms and open the buckle of the seat belt so that we can be quick exiting the gyro and not be dragged down with it. Once the wheels touch the surface I was prepared for a quick submerging of the gyro since the cabin is open at the bottom permitting water to enter easily. Before it submerges we would slip out of the harness and be ready to exit as soon as the rotor hit the water. Luckily it never came to that and we had an exhilarating and gorgeous flight across the open sea and an uneventful landing at Unije.
The island of Unije can only be reached by boat or by aircraft; there are no roads and no other settlements except the town of Unije with about 100 people living there permanently. You will find three restaurants/bars and one café in Unije. The food is delicious, particularly the seafood. Don’t bother asking if it’s fresh. If you get up around 7 am, you can see the fishing boats return and the locals buying their seafood from them. That’s about as fresh as it gets. The distance from the airport to the beach is 100 yards. Living in Unije you’d be hard pressed to make it any farther than that from the beach since the town nestles right up to the sea. During the summer months Unije attracts some tourists, but mostly Croatian families and only few international tourists. There were five other planes parked at the edge of the grass strip. The airport manager, Drago, also doubles as Unije’s baker – although some people might see it the other way around, I imagine. Finding a room was easy. There are only private rooms available, no hotels. Because of the water shortage over the summer, you will not find a room with its own bathroom and shower. You might get lucky, however, that the other room is not occupied and you have those facilities for your exclusive use.
Don’t be looking for excitement and tourist attractions. Instead, slow your pulse and lower your blood pressure to match the pace of life there. Have a seat at one of the restaurants right at the beach, enjoy the view, smell the sea, feel the breeze, taste the food and watch the people around you doing the same. Choose your spot on the endless beach that surrounds the island. You can be as close to or as far away from other people as you like. The atmosphere is such that topless sun bathing is not a problem.
On Wednesday, the end of our vacation was near and we prepared for our return flight the next day. Since there were afternoon thunderstorms forecast along the entire route, we opted for an early departure. Our route was to take us from Unije to Rijeka (LDRI), from there to Maribor, and lastly back to Fertöszentmiklos – all in one day. The other benefit of an early departure is the cool temperature and hence lower density height associated with it. Right after Rijeka we needed to cross the coastal mountains on our 2,5 hour flight to Maribor. Because of fuel considerations we couldn’t afford to spend a long time climbing to 5000 feet, so weight was a primary concern. We sorted our belongings into essential and non-essential, leaving anything non-essential behind. This included two towels, two T-shirts, tooth paste, sun cream, etc. All in all, we saved 3 kg (6 lbs) this way. Lift off was at 6:15 which would take us to Rijeka shortly after the opening of the airport at 7:00 o’clock. I’m not sure the old saying of “The early bird catches the worm” quite captures the serenity and sheer beauty of a flight across islands and sea at dawn. Unfortunately, this kind of ambiance is very hard to capture photographically, and I have no in-flight photos to show; so you just have to take my word for it.
We arrived in Rijeka, refuelled, cleared customs for our border crossing into Slovenia, filed a flight plan and departed right behind a Boeing 737. Using some lift off a mountain slopw, we were able to climb to 5000 feet in about 10 minutes and cross the coastal mountains, proceeding north-easterly toward Maribor. The landing in Maribor was similarly efficient concerning customs and flight planning, and we were off again after one hour, en route to Fertöszentmiklos. We arrived back in Fertöszentmiklos just around noon and in time to watch the towering cumulus clouds build from the safety of the airport restaurant.
So, that’s the story in a nutshell. On our flight we covered a distance of just over 500 nm in approximately 8 flying hours. What more is there to say? Well, maybe a few words for those who wish to experience Croatia themselves. There is no special permit required to fly an ultralight gyrocopter in Croatia. You are just treated like any other aircraft, regardless of size. Personal weather briefings are to be had under the phone number +385 (1) 6259240. You can file a flight plan over the phone by calling one of the ARO offices whose phone numbers are listed in the Jeppesen chart kit. There are ARO offices in Zagreb, Pula, Rijeka and Lošinj as well as some other bigger airports. Avgas is available only at bigger airports, mogas is hard to come by. However, it is usually possible to arrange a short trip with someone to the nearest gas station and fetch fuel that way. In terms of landing fees I paid 17 € in LJMB, 10 € in LJPZ, 35 € in LDPV (including parking for 2 nights), nothing in LDPM, 10 € in LDPN, and 19 € in LDRI. Avgas is about 2,30 € per liter (8,80 € per gallon), mogas runs around 1,50 € per liter (5,80 € per gallon). Since Croatia is not an EU member state, you need to land at an international airport after crossing the border. It worked out well for me to cross the Slovenian/Croatian border either via Maribor/Rijeka or Portorož/Vrsar. Those airports have custom officials available during opening hours at no additional charge. The Croatian AIP is available online here upon a free registration.
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