Bi-annual check flight with a small twist

Date	April 17, 2017	Type	C172R
Origin	Uetersen	Origin ICAO	EDHE
Destination	Uetersen	Destination ICAO	EDHE
Approx. distance	66 nm	Flying time	01:05h

As it has become a habit, I tried to put some fun into the bi-annual check flight and suggested a route to our club FI Rüdiger that would take us through the Hamburg CTR via the Whiskey and Sierra routes. Originally I had intended to continue along the Elbe river to Lauenburg, turn around and re-enter via reporting point Delta east of Hamburg. But he suggested a shorter routing, so we could also put in some airwork into the hour we had available.

So we did follow Whiskey and Sierra routes but then routed southwest and then northwest around the Hamburg CTR. I had challenged myself to leave the moving map GPS at home for this flight and therefore ended up dodging heavy showers navigating by map and dead reckoning, close to a busy CTR! As the southwest of Hamburg is not the most feature-rich area I did have some moments of anxiety as to if we remained clear of the CTR and our precise position, but all went well and soon the prominent and unmistakeable Elbe river came into sight and we routed home with ease, after putting in some easy airwork obligatory for the bi-annual, such as stalls and steep circling.

Map provided with friendly approval of SkyDemon. Click to zoom. Not to be used for navigation.