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Guest blog entrance on Georgian Caucasus mountain flying (Svaneti region)

My fellow travellers Mike Kornev and Artem Kirillow enjoyed the first flight with Vanilla Sky of our exploration tour. They arrived one day earlier than Jean Birgen and myself They’ve prepared their report hereunder.

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We were getting ready for some mountain flying. I decided long ago to visit the Mestia airport. I didn’t paid my attention to temperature just asked our instructor about the minimum safe altitude which turned out like 9000′. So it turned out to be my highest altitude flight.

When passing over first ridge we were like 1500′ AGL. There was CB/TS over Bezengi Wall mountains which separate Georgia from Russia:


Passing over the last ridge I’ve noticed some microwave dishes. Those were closing real fast! We were flying very close to the mountains.

A gorgeous view of Ushba peak (15,450′)




On approach I was wondering how we are going to take off and depart – due to field elevation factor and close proximity of the mountains. Our instructor assured me that everything going to be OK.

Mestia 1



The Svaneti area is famous for its towers erected 10 centuries ago. Unfortunately we didn’t had enough time to explore the area. Will do it later!



The terminal building design looks awesome but it’s kinda old.

Mestia tower



Our team:

Misha Kornev and Artem Kirillov 


The field – Mestia Queen Tamar Airport – was at elevation 4593′. It was like 30 degrees Celsius outside so density altitude was over 7000′. The runway 02/22 was fine (paved 1150m – do not believe google maps, the satellite images are quite old), we got a 230hp Cessna, half tanks full and just one passenger. However the climb out was tricky. Shortly after departure to southwest we were required to turn left and climb over the valley to 6000′, then climb to 9500′ to pass over the first ridge. Our 1966 Cessna 182 wanted to climb like 100fpm on 90kts; the limiting factor was the engine oil temperature. I wasn’t been able to set mani pressure to full power since the oil temp was almost at the redline. We popped the flaps a little bit and catched a thermal updraft to get 500fpm. 

So this was my main lesson learned: when flying in the mountains at high altitude & temp, energy management is the key. That should be natural for those familiar with the area and/or glider pilots however it was something new for a person (such as me) who doesn’t feel good about flying unpowered things.

Besides that flying old C182 not equipped with any kind of autopilot in mountains means that you need to constantly fly this airplane because of thermals up drafts etc.

We gradually descended to 6000ft and continued our 1.5 hrs leg. Turbulence and thermals over the mountains and fields were not that bad, I expected worse. We avoided Gori Military base and made a straight-in approach to our base. Mission accomplished! 

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On our way to Tblisi, Georgia, Europe

Using KLM and Georgian airways to fly from Luxembourg to Georgia
It all started with an article last year in the AOPA magazin about the Vanilla Sky operations north of Tblisi (Natakhtari airfield)  in Georgia. ( not US Georgia, but European Georgia landlocked in between the Kaspian and Black seas together with Armenia and Azerbeijan.)

According to this article, the.Vanilla Sky team over there has some private single engine planes available which they rent out. This little country at European/Asian border has been triggering me for a long time and so time has come to go and discover flying options in Georgia.


Historically seen, I remember that they were once part of the Roman Empire almost 2000 years ago and that the early Christianity influenced this region quite a lot. They seem to have a very rich cultural heritage. It is also a country which has been in the midst between power full neighbours and who too often unfortunately turned into a war zone. The kitchen of Georgia must be one of the best of the world from what I read, it is time to plan some tasting. Similar for the wines, which are quite renowned in the former Sovjet Union states, but you can’t find them in Luxembourg!

We established contacts with the Vanilla Sky team and they learned me they have two small planes available for rent, being a Cessna 172 and a Cessna 182. That sounded good, but I learned that you can’t just rent one of their planes, there seems to be strangely enough a legal obligation that every plane always needs to be flown by a pilot having a Georgian flight license.

Nevertheless this minor point, I’d like to give it a try. I addressed my interest for flying in Georgia to fellow pilots at the UPL-AOPA,  there was immediately some interest.

Further, I have been contacting their government and aviation authorities to address the point of the flight licenses and they agreed to meet to discuss the matter. 

In order to study the feasibility of setting up a pan European  “1st Long Range tourist Rally” to Georgia in 2016, we have been putting together a small exploration team. All of this resulted that we are on our way now to Georgia these first days of August together with Jean Birgen ( experienced organiser of long range rallies for pilots and FAI technical officer)  and Misha (Mike) Kornev and Artem Kirillov, who are both young Russian entrepreneurs living in European and passionated private pilots as well.

After some preparations, we decide to fly from Luxembourg via Amsterdam ( with regular filght) to Tblisi, Georgia’s capital city. It proved to be the only option to arrive in the afternoon, Turkish airlines and Lufthansa only have flights to this country arriving in the mid of the night. 

Tblisi, here we come !!!