Training weekend 2026

Friday

On Friday, 25 September, and Saturday, 26 September 2026, the MMIG 46 training weekend took place at Mönchengladbach Airport, in the RAS facilities, on the apron and in the MGFlyers simulator.

From late morning onwards, aircraft began arriving and were parked in the reserved areas A5 and A6 on the apron at Mönchengladbach Airport.

Max Buchholz from EDLN airport operations had arranged, by NOTAM, for this space to remain reserved exclusively for participants in the event on both days.

The airport also made a very generous gesture by waiving parking fees and halving landing fees.

A big thank you to RAS and Frank Prochaska:
RAS provided all the rooms and facilities we needed, as well as drinks and filled rolls.

Frank’s son Tom, currently a working student at RAS, transported those arriving from the apron to RAS and then, every hour, also to MgFlyers, where the new Alsim AL250 simulator was in constant use.

This meant that everyone could spend an hour in the simulator. Klaus Hohnen and Dennis Viehoff provided professional training for our members.

Quite a few participants, who were able to experience all sorts of extreme situations in the simulator without any risk, returned to the seminar room feeling a little dizzy after their session.

Thanks also to Julian Goldau and Max Gerecht, who handled the communications and public relations via the internet and messaging services in advance, made the name badges and produced the new MMIG 46 polo shirts.

Alongside my full-time work in the practice, I could never have managed all of this!

The polo shirts were well received.

If you are interested, we have more in stock at €40 plus shipping costs — just ask.

The individual demonstration of the airport fire service’s large fire engine by its chief, Mr Hensen, was eagerly awaited.

In glorious weather, the fire engine, which costs millions, was demonstrated on the apron in front of RAS.

Its capabilities are enormous:
It can project up to 5,000 litres of water per minute over a distance of more than 60 metres.

We learned a great deal about tactics in the event of an aircraft fire and were shown the wide range of extremely powerful tools used to open up crumpled metal panels in order to rescue people from dangerous situations caused by fire.

Frank Lumnitzer and Ralph Wendt had offered to conduct training flights as early as Friday afternoon. Interested pilots were quickly found, and planning began, followed by the flights themselves.

Meanwhile, Fabian Kienzle demonstrated Garmin’s latest range of equipment, Axis, to interested members.

From 17:00, Norbert Klippel gave us a very detailed and personal talk about seaplane flying in Germany.

Norbert’s career, his enthusiasm for flying and his lifetime achievements can only serve as an example to a younger generation.

We listened spellbound to his accounts and ultimately came away with the feeling that, even in Germany, anything is still possible, provided you want to achieve something and have the energy and discipline to see it through.

Thank you once again for this outstanding and inspiring talk.

Friday evening

In the evening, we enjoyed dinner together at the nearby Ramshof hotel and restaurant.

We had managed to secure the separate Oval Office for our event.

This gave us a space of our own — with several spouses joining us as well — and over delicious food and selected drinks, stories were told, experiences shared and discussions continued, in some cases late into the night.

Saturday

On Saturday morning, we met outside the seminar room from 08:30 for coffee and our first conversations of the day.

From 09:00, further hourly sessions took place in the flight simulator at MgFlyers.

After a brief introduction by Klaus Gerecht, Frank Lumnitzer began his highly engaging explanations of the principles behind IFR approach design and the extent of the protected areas in three-dimensional space.

Who among us has ever looked in detail at the temperature variables affecting LNAV approaches? Until then, hardly anyone seemed to have realised that cold temperatures can pose considerable risks to obstacle clearance.

So, better to use LPV or ILS when available.

Speaking on the subject of “New developments in Garmin avionics and PA46-specific retrofits”, Fabian Kienzle explained the new product range called Axis.

With 11.6- and 8-inch displays, it is possible to install fully integrated avionics in older aircraft. If you still love your avionics stack, there are versions that serve purely as displays.

Other advantages include lower weight, substantially less wiring and, on the software side, features such as widgets, programmable touch buttons along the edge that quickly bring up submenus on the PFD, a 3D view while taxiing, or a warning about an aircraft on the runway while you are on approach.

At the same time, Frank Lumnitzer and Ralph Wendt conducted many training flights with interested members.

In the afternoon, we heard several talks by Michael Offermann on the following topics:

1. “Murphy’s Law” is why simulator training makes sense for non-commercial pilots too
2. Never bring your “stress from outside the aviation environment” on board, even if I explain how to deal with it
3. The 30 most important medical issues that should always be discussed with an aviation medical examiner

Through his talks, Michael managed to draw us into the fascinating world of managing stress through training, often with humorous interludes.

Later in the afternoon, the first members flew back towards their home bases, while the popular simulator sessions continued until well after 18:00.

Two interesting days came to an end, and the feedback suggests that we all benefited in terms of our own flight safety.

New connections were made and many interesting conversations took place — not only during the cheerful social evening in the Ramshof’s Oval Office.

Looking ahead

For early summer 2027 (May/June), we are planning our next fly-out, this time to Cannes.

Chris Hannen knows the area extremely well and is helping us with the planning.

Anyone interested in joining the flights within Europe that we organise from time to time — sometimes at short notice — is welcome to contact me.

The same applies to possible larger undertakings, such as flying to Oshkosh together or, ultimately, once around the whole world.

Of course, those would not be planned at short notice …

Klaus GerechtPresident of MMIG46