Siegerland Flughafen (SGE) exuded a similar charm and calm atmosphere as Mönchengladbach airport (MGL), but Siegerland was far more busy with continual flight movements. There were a number of people with children at the designated area for plane spotters. The busy restaurant, Toscana Stübchen, offered an odd mixture of Italian and German cooking that was really good. I had a pepper schnitzel with french fries, preceded by a salad, as did Florian. There was some aviation memorabilia in the little reception hall of the airport building, including a poster of aviation legend Walter Eichhorn who duly made an appearance in person, much to the delight of Tek (Walter must live and breathe this airport and even sleep in it!)
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If you're into plane spotting there's lots of interesting aircraft at Siegerland


A look at the motor or our Piper 28 aircraft


Takeoff in the same direction as landing at Siegerland airport

There wasn't a great deal of time after lunch, due to the need to get back to MGL before nightfall and possible incoming weather. But we checked out the plane spotters terrace and the reception hall of the airport, where aviation legend Walter Eichhorn made his impromptu appearance! Heading back out onto the apron we had to walk over to the Feuerwache to pay the landing fees then back over to the plane. Tek did preflight checks, making certain that we still had enough fuel and had a good look at the motor. Take-off to the south west was smooth and we turned due west across the Sauerland. One thing that bothered me was the state of the forests with large swathes of the woods apparently being decimated. Perhaps it was due to the extremely dry summer but I am sure that acid rainfall still causes a lot of damage.


A view of the countryside around Siegerland airport immediately after take-off; you can just see the airport in the background


As we approach Bonn, the Rhine river and Siebengebirge are clearly visible


Heading north down the Rhine towards the city of Cologne


Here we are flying directly over Cologne cathedral (Kölner Dom) so I couldn't get a clear pic of it, but the main railway bridge is clearly visible below

It was a smooth trip until we reached the Rhine river near Bonn and the Siebengebirge came into view. From this point onwards there was quite a lot of light aircraft traffic. Florian and I were asked to keep a sharp eye out for other planes, given that there is no radar on the Piper! At one point we had to complete a circle over the Rhine while waiting for other planes to get out of the way. Flying north, down the Rhine, we flew over the center of Cologne, although as the famous cathedral was directly underneath us it was impossible to see it. Once over Dusseldorf, Tek did a number of lurching turns and dips so we could see the city center and get some pics, but I nearly lost the schnitzel I had earlier (and I consider myself quite resilient in this respect!). Tek was even able to tip the plane at a 45° angle so we could get pics of the cityscape below us, but I was anxious to get to Mönchengladbach and land without further incident! This we did, having flown beyond MGL up to the northwest before banking to land again on runway 13, a really soft touchdown compared to what we experienced at Siegerland earlier in the day!


Looking down on the city of Düsseldorf


Coming in to land on runway 13 at Mönchengladbach airport


Final checklist after landing at Mönchengladbach airport

Seat 1F
Aircraft PA28
Registration D-EARN

EDLN - MGL Mönchengladbach D (UTC+1)
EDGS - SGE Siegerland Flughafen D (UTC+1)