The “Flygleiter” told me that there is an airshow in beginning of July, 1st and 2nd. Perhaps that is a good time to visit?
https://www.aeroclub-coburg.de/airshow
Looks great for a weekend break and only two hours from where I’ll be based, nice find!
It’s been too since my last visit to Coburg, so time for an update.
The airport has had it’s runway resurfaced this past autumn (even though I don’t remember it being any bad). Right now, in winter, the opening hours are still a bit reduced, but come April, it will be better. Just keep in mind that officially, the airfield is not always open on Sundays (PPR).
Since runway 12 was in use today, the final approach would be past the castle (“Veste”), so I took a short video:
And the parking position again offered a scenic view.
Here is the view from the AFIS building.
And the view across the apron and runway.
The „Fliegerklause restaurant is still the same, open Wednesday to Sundays.
They have basic German food, at amazingly low prices.
I went for the “Knacker” 
Again, from the airfield, it’s a 10-15 minute walk to the Veste. From there, it’s another 15 minutes walk down into town, but I didn’t walk all the way this time.
So, this is still one of the top airfields in Germany. The IFR approach (RNP) is still available and requires no PPR. Just file and go!
And immigration is also still available (as opposed to several other German airfields that lost immigration over the last few years, like the nearby Hassfurt airfield, for example), so this place is even reachable directly from the UK.
boscomantico wrote:
And the view across the apron and runway.
An actual signal square!
Let’s see… Right-hand circuit, gliding ops in progress. But what about the dumbbell? Surface not useable outside of runway and taxiways?
Added to the list. Thanks !
Thanks Bosco, on the list.
Nice video! Hope to get there in spring. Runway 12 is downslope right? It doesn’t seem very excessive in the video. Do you ever get a runway with minimal tailwind to take advantage of the slope (12 dep / 30 arr) or is that never done?
Yes, runway 12 is downhill. Noticeably, but not excessively. 33 feet feet of difference on the two runway ends.
It is ultimately the pilot to decide which runway to use. You weigh runway slope vs. wind against each other. And whilst there is certainly some unusable formula out there, I do it by feel and experience. Generally speaking, I prefer to have a slight tailwind over a downhill landing. In this case however, I was very light, so there was no need to optimize things. So I just used 12, as it minimized my trackmiles and gave me that wonderful approach past the Veste.
The diagram also shows how, due to the safety strips at both ends, the actual physical „runway“ is about 900 metres long, even if the „official“ runway is only 632 metres long.
