For my first flight with a private plane, I found myself on Easter Sunday at a deserted Mönchengladbach airport meeting a pilot called Tek. MGL airport used to have scheduled flights (there are photos of planes in Crossair and Augsburg Airways livery in the empty main terminal) but now it is used mainly for private aviation and there is an important flight school based there, RWL. I was brought into a large meeting room and Tek talked me through the various flight preparations, which included all the weight calculations for the right amount of fuel, as well as the flight plan and the weather. Tek did everything the traditional way, using paper maps and charts, with no electronic devices such as iPads in sight.


Traditional preflight preparations


Our Piper aircraft, waiting for preflight inspection


Tek loads the paperwork into the plane


Inspecting the engine


Checking that there is no dirt or water in the aviation gasoline

After a coffee and picking up a water bottle from a dispenser machine, we headed out to the aircraft on foot, a Piper 28C sitting on the apron near the main building. Tek was fastidious in his detailed examination of the plane, checking the fuel levels and the oil, studying the engine in great detail and looking over the body of the aircraft for damage, running his hands over everything. Following that we headed back to the pilots briefing room to print out the NOTAMs and the flight plan before going back to the aircraft to start the journey.


Preflight checklist once in the aircraft


Taxiing out to the head of the runway at Mönchengladbach airport


Up in the air, after leaving Mönchengladbach


We flew over Krefeld and Moers, keeping Duisburg to the right (East)


Crossing the mighty Rhine river

The Piper was a different beast to the Robin DR400 I tried back in January and felt more solid and less flimsy. All the same, space in the small cockpit was tight, with only 4 seats including the pilot and copilot (myself!). Tek went through the extensive preflight checks in detail, finally starting the motor and propellor. We eventually headed out onto the taxiway, quickly reaching the top of the single runway 13 and took off immediately once there. The plane quickly climbed, being buffeted by the wind somewhat, while I enjoyed the views over Krefeld, Linn and Hülser Berg, picking out the various hikes I had completed in the past. Visibility was good due to the low altitude (about 3,000 feet). We then passed Kempen on the left and Moers on the right, keeping Duisburg to the far right. The meanders of the river Rhine were visible all the way down to Cologne (Köln) in the south because it was such a clear day. We crossed the Rhine at Walsum, just north of the huge Thyssenkrupp steelworks, then flew over the forested landscape of Kirchheller Heide. After a sharp bank to the left while losing altitude we finally looped to the right and landed at the small aerodrome of Dinslaken Schwarze Heide, having come in from the southwest. A bunch of plane spotters were there to welcome us! Tek and I had communicated using headphones, due to the noise from the propellor, but once again I had difficulty deciphering the commands from ATC.


The small airfield of Schwarze Heide comes into view


A look at the controls as we made a steep turn to line up with the runway


Short final at Dinslaken Schwarze Heide

Aircraft PA1

EDLN (MGL) Mönchengladbach D (UTC+1)
EDLD (ZCV) Dinslaken Schwarze Heide D (UTC+1)