Welcome to BA clubs

After a discussion between a colleague, Gary and myself, it was decided to try to do the EBACE and the Monaco Grand Prix in one hit. Mode of transport was to drive the whole trip. There was meant to be three of us on this trip but one had to drop out because of family issues, unlike myself who was given a blessing of a week away and Gary who is single.

On Sunday May 18^th, at 8pm, we found ourselves departing for Dover to catch the midnight ferry to Calais. Gary needed an Itali A/L MD82 I-DAWZ and we both made the G-TCAC at Gatwick before we decided to hit the road and get going as it was going to be a hard week for Gary as I don’t drive.

At 2am we disembarked at Calais and headed off to Brussels. We arrived in the early hours of the morning to a very quiet airport. We situated ourselves on the top of the car park and settled down. It was pretty slow so Gary got his head down for a bit. The normal stuff arrived and departed but the highlights were 9Q-CJO Hewa Bora B767, Freebird A321 TC-FBT plus a handful of biz.

Our next stop was to be Liege, which was a first for me. It seemed to be a hub for all types of Cargo aircraft with TNT having three aircraft. Highlights were EC-GLT BAe 146 and 9G-AXB Air Charter Express.

Back on the road again heading off to Luxembourg, a place I hadn’t been to for quite a while. I was last here on an Aeroprint Tour in the early 90’s. Obviously much had changed and finding all the holes that Gary knew had either changed or closed off. We managed to read off a couple of biz and then it was down beside the terminal to read off the ramp from there, all three of the -8’s plus the inevitable Embraer 145’s. Gary knew of a place that we could get a better view of the Cargo ramp. There we found 4 Cargolux B747’s including LX-WCV and a Jade B747F which we couldn’t get a reg for. (Anyone got an idea for that day?)

Our next port of call was to be Colmar, never having been there before and having had to drive down some very small roads, the apron came into view. There were only two aircraft on the ramp were visible, OE-GTK C560 and a Katana HB-SPK. Soon it was back on the road again heading off to Basle.

Basle appeared and once again there were many changes as far as Gary was concerned. A place that he knew was being turned into a massive building site. In residence were Constellation HB-RSC, changed registrations since I flew on her out of Geneva, OE-GVY G5, VP-BSJ G5, 9H-AFB Lear 60, OE-HPZ BD100, N999BE Fa7X belonging to Bernie Ecclestone,VP-CNZ, Fa900EX plus a pile more, which have to be worked on.

Back on the road, again heading off to Berne and on arrival a pleasant little airfield, almost typically Switzerland, came into view. To my surprise a handful of biz on the field were soon in the book. D-ADHB from Augsburg Airways was on the ramp and HB-JGA from Skywork Airline arrived just as we were about to leave the airfield. The executive side produced HB-IFQ Fa900, HB-VOS Premier, OE-FET C525, HB-VLZ C560, HB-VOH C550 and HB-JED Legacy.

Soon it was back on the road to our final destination for the day, Geneva. You must realise the distances we had travelled, four countries before lunch on the first day. I won’t spend much time talking about this part of the trip, it will be covered by others. We were camping on this part and soon found our campsite right beside the lake. After setting up the tent, we put the kettle on and set the SBS box to read the over flights and the arrivals at GVA. All I can say is that the EBACE came up to all I was expecting, a good show.

The 21^st dawned and we were on the road again, through the Alps heading to our first stop. Having flown over the Alps many times, it was excellent to see all around me. In fact having flown in the Connie through the Alps, which blew me away at the time, seeing all of these mountains at eye level, it was better than the last time.

Our first port of call in Italy was to be Aoste. Not much to be said about this place, except there wasn’t much around, all prop driven type. The next stop was Biella and the first aircraft to come into view was four AN2’s. They were LY-AEO, LY-AGH, LY-AFD and HA-MDV, quite a nice surprise but not for me as I am a bit selective of what I actually log. There were 24 other prop jobs including HA-DIF C340, D-2391 Glider and F-BXPS RC112, the rest being I-.

The next stop was Milan Linate for an afternoon of biz bashing. 45 went into the book, the highlights were EL-CAR Yak42, RA67217 BD100 (see the back of May’s magazine wearing C-FOMN), N1Z Galaxy, P4-ABC CL604, N2UJ C680 and I-SEAS Fa900. The airliner bit was covered by Air One, Alitalia, Eurofly and Meridiana, so all in all a profitable afternoon, making well over 40. We spent the afternoon sat beside the road over looking the terminals and all the biz movements, brilliant. We then headed off to find our hotel, yes real bed for the night, plus to watch the football, not my ideal sport but having had a brilliant meal it was down to logging all the stuff onto the laptop.

The next morning (22nd) we were woken to pouring rain and bad visibility. We headed off to Malpensa for a bit of spotting from the terminal and although we were there for a couple of hours, we were never hassled once. We sat beside Macdonalds along with two other sets of spotters all in all, seven of us, which at LHR would have attracted the security people. Although the weather wasn’t that much cop, Citation 525A OY-REN went into the book, along with EC-KKO C550 and N128GB CL604. Highlights of the heavier variety were two Air Alpes Do. 328’s (LKA and LKE) and Pulkovo A319 VP-BTQ.

After what seemed to be an eternity of motorway travel down some very twisty roads, we arrived at our next stop, Genova or is it Genoa? Biz appeared as we made our way to the terminal area and it was down to putting more numbers in the log. N162GC G5, XA-BVG G4,G-CERX BAe125, OE-INB Fa900EX, N465QS G4, I-FDED Be400, N187PN Fa50 and PR-XDN BD700 were put into the book, not a bad haul really for a regional airport. There were obviously Italian light aircraft there along with two CL214 water bombers carrying I-DPCT and I-DCPC as well as three Avanti’s two MM- and one registered as HB-LTE.

After a bit of driving we ended up at a minute airport called Villanova. There wasn’t much there really but it was an ideal time to stop and visit the toilets and have a drink. The real surprise was a Citation 550 registered YU-BTB. As yet no real con number has materialised, no doubt it will sometime or other. As I speak a phone call from Gary to sat that the con number is C550-1037!!!

Our final stop for the day was Nice for the arrivals coming in for the Grand Prix at Monaco. Although we only stopped there for a while, 12 biz went into the book, unfortunately most of them were CS-, although OK-SLN Legacy made it worthwhile as far as I was concerned. Then it was off to find a campsite for the next two nights, our second stint under canvas, which wasn’t too bad really except for the geese going on with their racket at all times from across the road plus it poured with rain on the last night so we had to pack the tent away not quite dry. I won’t say too much about the Grand Prix arrivals as again that most probably will be covered by others, if not Mr Editor drop me a line and I will try to put up a report for that.

 On the 24^th, after spending the previous day beside the beach, sailing club and Cap 3000 (a supermarket – I recommend the baguettes!!), we headed off for another mammoth bit of driving Next stop along the coast was Cannes. Having heard reports of many biz there, it seemed to me to be full of light aircraft. There were some biz there including A9C-BXB CL604, PH-DYN C550, OE-IFB CL605, N818TH CL604, N997GC CL601, PR-SPR C680 and D-IBBB Premier.

Marseille was to be the next stop, again after listening to reports of lashings of biz, it turned out to be a bit of a flop with only six biz there, they were N217RR G4, N987AL Fa900EX, N560PL C560, N863CE and N33VC both BAe125’s and D-CVII C650. I lost count of the many times we saw that beast, it was good at first but tiring later. On the Coast Guard ramp were many CL water bombers numbered 24, 23, 07, 11, 12, 01, 39, 42, 38, 48 and 34 along with two -8’s F-ZMBC/73 and F-ZBMD/74 and C-GNCE coded B.

After many miles of motorway travel we arrived at our next destination Lyon. This was another regional airport, but with many surprises for me. There is a viewing place near to the end of the runway and is elevated. If you travel through the long stay car park heading away from the terminal you come to a roundabout. Turn right and follow the road for about half a mile, you will see the rise as you go round a corner. The track for this will appear on your right and going back on yourself along the track you will arrive at the place that the locals use.

Down to the aircraft bit. There were three biz jets on the ramp, D-CUPI C680, VT-SMI G5, and D-ARTE CL601. Airliner movements were mainly French Regional CRJ’s, Em145’s and Fokkers but Nouvelair bought in TS-IQA A321 and Austral F-OMAY B777.

I have been informed that the best time to visit this place is between 1730 and 1900 as the commuter traffic is very busy. Unfortunately we had to get to Paris before dark, so, other than drying the tent out we had to make tracks. We arrived at 8pm and found a hotel to crash out unfortunately the only thing on the television was the Eurovision Song Contest hosted by two French guys. I never thought that I would say it but I missed Terry Wogan!!

The next day our last day in France was really spent around the three airports of Paris. We started off with a couple of hours or so at Orly. Of the four AF B777’s, I managed to make three. The ones present were F-GSQN, GSQO, GSQS AND GSQT, which wasn’t too bad really. OM-NGO B737 Sky, EI-DUU CRJ MyAir, TS-IEJ B737 Kathargo, F-OOUA A319 Air Ivoire were the other “goodies” for me.

Le Bourget was the next stop for us, again many changes have taken place since I was there last with cladding put up at the end of quite a few cul-de-sacs and the gate near the Round House has moved nearer to the entrance. We still managed to read off quite a few biz even though the authorities have done all they can to make our hobby harder. Some of the biz noted were N90LC Fa10, N64UC CL604, VP-CAZ Premier, D-ICOL C525, LX-AFD Fa900DX, XA-MAR Fa7X, LX-AAM Fa2000EX, N371BC BBJ, LX-PMA BD100, 920375 C20H USAF, TR-LGZ Fa20, TR-LFB BAe125, VP-BRH B777, HZ-XY7 Airbus, VP-CNJ Legacy, F-HAST Premier, N620JH G4, N91KH CL601, 166378 G550 US Navy, N600CK G4, ZS-JGC G3, N99KW CL604 and TR-AFJ Fa900.

Our final port of call in Paris was obviously CDG and we found ourselves on the bank near the Ibis Hotel. We spent at least four hours there but other than the obvious AF movements there were LZ-BOY B737 Balkan, D-AXLC B737 XL, VN-A141 B777 VN, RA86466 IL62, YR-ASC A318 Tarom, C-GTDP A320 XL, EI-DRG A320 MyAir, SU-BPZ B737 AMC,OE-LIE DHC8 Intersky and EC-HDS B757 Privilege.

By half past four we decided to make tracks to Calais to catch our boat back home. Before we headed that way we decided to drop into Lille as we had heard reports of three Alitalia Em. 145’s stored there. So to finish off the trip, and also get off the French Toll Roads, which really gobble up the money, we decided to give a go. Of the three 145’s only two were visible, they were I-EXMA and I-EXMO where the other one was we don’t know, unless it was in the Regional hangar.

After spending a week away from my wife and family we crossed the channel landing at 10pm. By the time we finished our driving, we had managed to clock up 2,600 miles in one week, visited five countries, 312 new biz jets, 229 Airliners and over twenty airfields as you might guess we were both pretty shattered. The only down side was that as we approached the M3 turnoff, there was an accident so we were diverted towards Bracknell. Going around the roundabout at Bracknell some idiot decided not to stop and nearly rammed us. Think all that travelling without incident and nearly written off near to home.