A cloud lasagna...
As we would be flying towards the good weather we opted to depart, as conditions were still VMC, but climbing out after departure and receiving our IFR clearance we still had some weather to navigate around to reach the good stuff. In the US - from what I see - ATC is very forthcomming with weather diversions, this is not the case in Europe, where you as the pilot need to inform yourself and request deviations accordingly, then ATC is more then happy to oblige.
A nice Cu undercast for most of the way!
After leaving Teuge and entering Germany the weather soon cleared up and we were cleared to our requested level FL160. We wanted to see how the DA40NG's austro engine would do at the service ceiling and she did just fine. Nice rate of climb and speed (400 fpm and 155 TAS @78% once up there). Aided by a nice tailwind (180 kts G/S) we needed just shy of three hours of flight time to reach our destination. Had to wait for fuel, only 80 litres were needed. We took an Uber to the old town, the driver was an Ukranian refugee, didn't speak any German or English, so we parted ways with a heartfelt 'Slava Ukraini' and took our time to explore the nice city that is Wroclaw 'the city of 1.000 bridges'.
Market square Wroclaw.
After a nice stay in Wroclaw we opted to fly along the Baltic coast back West, because of the convective activity over land. Along the Baltic coast we decided to make one stop in Stralsund, a very nice German Hanseatic city, not as vibrant as Wroclaw but still very interesting with a strong maritime heritage. Stralsund aerodrome is an old Eastern Bloc airport with no CAT but nicely situated in the middle of nowhere. They do have rental cars on site, not common in Europe! After two hours flying in between the congested Cu and a Cb here and there we arrived! The DA40 didn't miss a beat and didn't use one drop of oil.
Some of these fluffy clouds wanted to become all they could be... Cb's.
We walked the coblestone streets of Stralsund and enjoyed the typical architecture these cities (such as Lübeck or Bremen) are known for and enjoyed diner in the old harbour and a few cocktails in town.
Leaving Stralsund, Denmark on the horizon!
The next day it was an uneventful flight back home. What a nice and frugal package the DA40NG is! Looking forward to more trips like this, it's the reason I fly.
