When Dreams Collide

NealRomeoGolf

NealRomeoGolf

Final Approach
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I don't know what bit me to want to fly. It was actually right after 9/11, which I find an odd event to trigger wanting to fly. But whatever. I started flight training when I graduated from college in 2003. KADS was right down the street from work so I started taking flying lessons. A few things got in the way quickly. We lost our first pregnancy and then my father in law passed. The latter event then caused us to have to buy a house in order to keep my mother in law from becoming homeless. She then found out she had lung cancer. I also needed to start studying for my CPA exams. Then the FBO went bankrupt. Add that all together and flying got put on hold. For 12 years.

Last year I found myself in a job that demanded less of my time. I was used to 60 hour weeks and this was asking 45. The local flight instructor had an opening and I told my wife this was my chance. Got myself through flight training in 7 months and even endured the flight instructor closing shop. Found a part time instructor to finish me up. Last October I shook a DPE's hand and was congratulated on passing my checkride. Dream accomplished. In the meantime I had also bought my own plane. Another dream accomplished.

I take my career pretty seriously. I've been doing well with my progression and my company is an international Fortune 50/100 whatever that has foreign subsidiaries. My wife had grown up a little in Germany and I had put feelers in my professional pipeline about an international assignment, which I always thought would be an amazing way to broaden my perspective and see the world. Back in January my boss sits me down with an opportunity to go to Germany for a few years. Awesome!

Oh crap, I can't take my plane.

Wife and I discuss the opportunity, the experience it will be for ourselves and our children. The building block it will be for my career. How much does it cost to fly in Germany? Arm and a leg. Plane will be available for me during our annual home leave. Got someone to take care of it while I'm gone. All good. I've got lots of runway left in life. Plus the international assignment comes with financial perks that will enable me to afford a better plane in the future.

So, the dreams have collided. The dream of flying vs the dream of living abroad. Looking forward to this grand adventure, even if it means putting flying back down for a bit. I head over in July. In the meantime, I'm looking forward to my big flying trip to Boston in a few weeks. Perhaps my last hurrah for a while. I will also miss flying dogs for PnP. Been a great way to contribute and fly at the same time.

So off to Deutschland. I'll send you a postcard.
 
NealRomeoGolf said:
I don't know what bit me to want to fly. It was actually right after 9/11, which I find an odd event to trigger wanting to fly. But whatever. I started flight training when I graduated from college in 2003. KADS was right down the street from work so I started taking flying lessons. A few things got in the way quickly. We lost our first pregnancy and then my father in law passed. The latter event then caused us to have to buy a house in order to keep my mother in law from becoming homeless. She then found out she had lung cancer. I also needed to start studying for my CPA exams. Then the FBO went bankrupt. Add that all together and flying got put on hold. For 12 years.

Last year I found myself in a job that demanded less of my time. I was used to 60 hour weeks and this was asking 45. The local flight instructor had an opening and I told my wife this was my chance. Got myself through flight training in 7 months and even endured the flight instructor closing shop. Found a part time instructor to finish me up. Last October I shook a DPE's hand and was congratulated on passing my checkride. Dream accomplished. In the meantime I had also bought my own plane. Another dream accomplished.

I take my career pretty seriously. I've been doing well with my progression and my company is an international Fortune 50/100 whatever that has foreign subsidiaries. My wife had grown up a little in Germany and I had put feelers in my professional pipeline about an international assignment, which I always thought would be an amazing way to broaden my perspective and see the world. Back in January my boss sits me down with an opportunity to go to Germany for a few years. Awesome!

Oh crap, I can't take my plane.

Wife and I discuss the opportunity, the experience it will be for ourselves and our children. The building block it will be for my career. How much does it cost to fly in Germany? Arm and a leg. Plane will be available for me during our annual home leave. Got someone to take care of it while I'm gone. All good. I've got lots of runway left in life. Plus the international assignment comes with financial perks that will enable me to afford a better plane in the future.

So, the dreams have collided. The dream of flying vs the dream of living abroad. Looking forward to this grand adventure, even if it means putting flying back down for a bit. I head over in July. In the meantime, I'm looking forward to my big flying trip to Boston in a few weeks. Perhaps my last hurrah for a while. I will also miss flying dogs for PnP. Been a great way to contribute and fly at the same time.

So off to Deutschland. I'll send you a postcard.
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Auf wiedersehen!
 
I'd say it's roughly twice as much to fly in Germany vs here. LSA and sailplanes dominate the scene. 100LL isn't abundant like it is here. When I was checking into it, you had to pass a basic German language test also.

Beautiful place to fly, especially in southern (Bayern) Germany. Weather changes there more than any other place I've been.
 
Congratulations and condolences. I definitely understand the conflict you face. Some years back we had considered trying to move to Newfoundland and get residency there. Many people who we care about were there and my wife was flying helicopters up there already, but having to give up the GA aspect (which you effectively have to up there) was a hard pill to swallow.

You might also look into gliders (paging @vontresc who also speaks American real good for being Germany), as I understand those are a lot more popular over there and also a lot of fun.
 
Congratulations! Sounds like an exciting move! Too bad you and I don't live closer, because I'd be happy to put some hours on your birdie while you're gone!

:)
 
Neat. You might look into seeing before you go if there's much sailplane activity near where you're planning to live, and getting that glider add-on before you go... :)
 
So, you decided to fly after 9/11, and you are going to a foreign country to do it.
I think that makes you a terrorist.

Everything costs more in Europe. Contact some flying clubs before you go over and run the numbers.
Good luck, and take pictures. :)
 
That's great, you'll love it. My parents lived there 1945 - 1948 in a little town called Nuremberg. I used to have an office in Frankfurt that I got to about once per quarter. It was a blast!
 
Where are you headed in Germany? As Ted mentioned there are a ton of Soaring clubs over there. Power flying is pretty damn pricey, but is doable.
 
NealRomeoGolf said:
Will be in the Mannheim area.
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lol! Oh there's a crapload of sailplanes in the Mannheim/ Heidelberg area. At least there used to be. Flew past there once on the way to France. Must have been a special event or something because there were dozens of sailplanes down below us. They fly all along the Rhine River Valley.
 
There may have been a contest at the time. Not so sure about the soaring down there, but judging by the number of clubs it can't be that bad.

Here is a list of clubs in Germany. You should be able to find a local aeroclub pretty easily. Most of their club fleets are pretty high end compared to US gliderclubs. Also winch launching is a hoot.
https://www.segelflug.de/karte/d_karte.html

Also check the State Luftfahrtverband for local clubs
http://www.bwlv.de/ Baden Wuerttemberg
http://www.lsvrp.de/ Rheinland Pfalz

Have fun and post pictures...
 
So @vontresc if you do an auto tow or a winch launch, basically it's like getting launched at a really low altitudes and then you just have to find lift immediately or land? Was curious how that worked. I've seen videos where you get launched off a cliff, which I would imagine helps. Here in the flatlands, how well does that work?
 
We had a winch launch at the gliderport north of Ansbach. Literally a winch on a truck maybe a thousand feet down that slings the aircraft into the air. Just prior to apex, they cut away...hopefully.:D
Then they either do a quick pattern and land, or if lift is good, continue on up.

I only did air tows when I was training, so no real experience in winch. Looked like a blast though.
 
Ted, you can basically get half your winch run in launch altitude with proper procedure. So with 3000' of cable payed out you can make it to about 1500' real easy. More cable, or more headwind, and you can increase the altitude. So figure 1500-2000' on a decent winch launch. Granted, you don't always get away, but a winch launch is between $5-15 with an aerotow to 2000' ranging from $30-$50. Also winch launches are quicker in turnaround time.

So it may take a couple of tries to get away, but it is still cheaper than an aerotow.
 
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You may want to check into the opportunity to rent a N-registered plane in the Mannheim area. There should be some available at least in Speyer or Mainz. Have fun in Germany - you will love to travel all those European countries. :)
 
NealRomeoGolf said:
Thanks. I'll most likely be forced by company policy onto United and no 787 out of Chicago for them. Maybe I can figure out how to do ORD YYZ FRA on Air Canada. Hmmmm.
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Or book an ORD to EWR connection on a different flight. Hehehe.
 
Anthony said:
That's great, you'll love it. My parents lived there 1945 - 1948 in a little town called Nuremberg. I used to have an office in Frankfurt that I got to about once per quarter. It was a blast!
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That was a helluva time to be in Nuremberg!
 
denverpilot said:
Or book an ORD to EWR connection on a different flight. Hehehe.
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Well this is interesting. Air Canada is within policy and a trip through Montreal with a 787 taking us to Frankfurt is the same cost as United/Lufthansa. Now to get the wife to agree to hang out in the Montreal airport for 3 1/2 hours instead of flying direct....
 
NealRomeoGolf said:
Well this is interesting. Air Canada is within policy and a trip through Montreal with a 787 taking us to Frankfurt is the same cost as United/Lufthansa. Now to get the wife to agree to hang out in the Montreal airport for 3 1/2 hours instead of flying direct....
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Poutine! :D
 
Headed back to Frankfurt tomorrow and got myself a 787 trip. ORD-YUL-FRA I'm on my own for this one so don't have to torture the wife with the 4 hour layover in Montreal. We pack up the house in 4 weeks. Time is short. Haven't flown in almost 2 months and I'm probably done for a while.

@Shepherd said to take pictures, so here's some scenery that will be 15 minutes from the house...

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Welcome !

We'll be crossing paths at FRA. Just packing up the rental car in Stuttgart to head to the airport for the flight back to the US. This one for a change is on a 747 (LH FRA--IAD).

Your best bet of continuing your powered flight adventure is going to be an informal rental of a N register plane. The CAA went on a warpath maybe a year ago to eliminate this 'loophole' for pilots based in Europe so I don't know whether there are still as many N-register planes available as there used to be. Depending on how long your assignment is going to be, it may be worthwhile to join an aeroclub and fly using a temporary German license based on your FAA cert. There used to be a number of USAF flying clubs as well as more informal clubs run by service members. But that was back when folks went on 3 year tours, lived in the community and had their kids in local schools. That infrastructure probably folded up years ago. You'll be close enough to Frankfurt to have that whole market available.
 
Good call! The airplane will be here when you get back. Enjoy the experience of living abroad. It certainly opened my eyes to a lot of things and made me appreciate what we have here in the US. It's not perfect, but it beats most other places. Get out and explore while you can!
 
Anthony said:
That's great, you'll love it. My parents lived there 1945 - 1948 in a little town called Nuremberg. I used to have an office in Frankfurt that I got to about once per quarter. It was a blast!
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I've been to Nuremberg. Love it.
 
If you're ever in the Köln area, give me a shout. We live out there now.
 
Airplanes! The retired kind...

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This is at a museum in Speyer. Got to climb through the Antonov and the 747. They have a few others as well. It is right next to an airport and got to watch a few landings. Fun place.
 
Just off A6 is the ‘Auto und Technik Museum Sinsheim’. They have or had the two Concords on display which could be seen from A6.

We used to fly out of the Speyer Airport. Very nice, but expensive airport. The museum in Speyer is directly next to the airport and you have a fantastic view at the displays on take off on runway 34 or landing (runway 16).

Thanks for sharing the pictures!
 
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