RTW Leg 128
Graz - Innsbruck (Austria)
LOWG - LOWI 317 nm, 1:45 hours
Departure:
early morning
Graz, Zeltweg, Klagenfurt, Salzburg, Rattenberg, Innsbruck
After taking off from Graz we turn to Zeltweg, a nice holiday resort which is also known for its Formula One Grand Prix racing circuit and for its airshows. Then turning to the southwest we we reach Klagenfurt.
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Klagenfurt-Wörtersee |
The beautiful lake Worthersee is a popular summer resort region. The picture is taken from the Schlosshotel Worthersee, an old converted castle situated on the side of a hill. The lake is 10.5 miles long, about 1 mile wide, and 279 feet at its deepest point.
From Klagenfurt we fly northwest to Werfen
where we can visit the nearby Ice Caves (Eisriesenwelt
Caves).
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Eisriesenwelt |
At the end of the nineteenth century the caves were only known to hunters and poachers. Not until 1879 did Anton Posselt, a natural scientist from Salzburg, push 200 metres into the darkness of the caves and officially "discoverd" the Eisriesenwelt. One year later he published a detailed report of his discovery in a mountaineering magazine, but the caves then slipped back into obscurity for years.
After visiting the caves we fly north to Salzburg
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Hohensalzburg Castle |
If you're on a musical pilgrimage, you can visit Mozart's birthplace, his home, the grave of his father and widow, and the house of a person who once knew someone who knew someone whose great-great grandfather once played second bassoon in a Mozart opera.
The Summer International Festival held in Salzburg in July-August naturally gives his tunes a good workout. If you're looking for kitsch, try The Sound of Music tour: ten bucks to the best rendition of Julie Andrews singing 'The Hills are Alive with the Sound of Music'. Four km south of Salzburg's old town is the Baroque Hellbrunn Palace, built in the 17th-century by bishop Marcus Sitticus. The grounds contain ingenious trick fountains and water-powered figures thanks to the bishop's strange fascination with soaking unsuspecting visitors. Expect the tour guides to continue the bishop's perverse tradition.
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Salzburg's Residenz |
The prince archbishops continued to add on to their palace for centuries. The building sustained substantial structural changes under Prince Archbishop Wolf Dietrich von Raitenau (1587 - 1612).
The Residenz, used to entertain the important guests of the prince archbishops for many centuries, continues to serve in that function. In recent decades it has seen crowned heads, political leaders and prominent figureheads. In 1867 Emperor Franz Josef I and his wife Elisabeth welcomed the French Emperor Napoleon III and his wife Eugénie for an official visit over a period of several days at the former archiepiscopal court.
Today the Residenz is the venue for official receptions, meetings and international conventions. The Residenz is entered from Residenz Square through a large marble portal bearing the coat of arms of the prince archbishops Wolf Dietrich, Paris Lodron and Franz Anton Harrachs. The wide main staircase leads up to the Carabinierisaal. This hall was built around 1600 under Wolf Dietrich and is named after the prince archbishop's bodyguards. The hall was not only used by the bodyguards but also as a theater and banquet hall.
The adjoining state rooms, used by the former prince bishops for court ceremonies, were redecorated under Johann Lukas von Hildebrandt at the beginning of the 18th century. The ceiling frescoes are the work of Michael Rottmayr and Martino Altomonte.
The prince bishops often invited guests to a concert performance in the Rittersaal. Young Mozart also played regularly at the Salzburg Residenz. At that time his father was in the archbishop's service as the director of the cathedral orchestra. Today concerts (Salzburg Palace Concerts) are still performed in this hall because of its excellent acoustics. On May 1,1816 Emperor Franz I administered the oath of allegiance to the Salzburg trades in this room. That was the beginning of Salzburg's affiliation to Austria. His fourth wife, Caroline Auguste, came to Salzburg during the summer for almost thirty years and stayed at the Residenz. She was also one of the greatest promoters of Salzburg's Carolino Augusteum Museum which was named after her.
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Residenz: Interior |
Today, several characteristic sections of the archiepiscopal palace are part of Salzburg' s Paris Lodron University. The so-called Toscana Wing to the north is the seat of the University of Salzburg's Faculty for Jurisprudence. During the renovation of the Toscana Wing important structures were unearthed and significant archeological findings discovered, providing scientists with valuable information about Medieval Salzburg.
Mozart's Salzburg
The sounds of music
have been the key to Salzburg's success. But long before the Von Trapp family
were shaking their booties on Salzburg's picturesque hilltops, one of the
world's most influential composers was making music about some of his favourite
things. Salzburg, the city that gave Wolfgang Mozart scant encouragement when he
was alive, now can't get enough of him or the yearly influx of well-heeled music
lovers his music brings.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born in Salzburg to a musician father in 1756. Six years later, little Wolfgang was playing his first royal concert in Vienna for the Austrian royal family. By the time he was eight, he'd toured London, Paris, Rome, Geneva, Frankfurt and the Hague. He only lived to be 35, but in that time he composed 626 pieces including 24 operas, 41 symphonies and over 40 concertos. Praise for his music came from many quarters - Haydn believed him to be the 'greatest composer' and Schubert effused that the 'magic of Mozart's music lights the darkness of our lives'. In other words, Mozart was, y'know, good.
Skip forward two centuries and modern day Salzburg is a veritable museum to Mozart's achievements. A musical pilgrimage to Salzburg includes a visit to Mozart's birthplace, his home, the grave of his father and widow, and the house of a person who once knew someone who knew someone whose great-great grandfather once played second bassoon in a Mozart opera. You can buy Mozart Balls (small spheres made of chocolate wrapped in swisho paper and with a pic of Wolfie on them) at every corner, and it seems every second street is named after him (there are 16 streets in relatively small Salzburg with the name Mozart or Wolfgang in them).
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Mozart Square and Monument |
The Mozart Square is dominated by the statue of Mozart by Ludwig Schwanthaler, ceremoniously unveiled on September 5, 1842 in the presence of Mozart's sons. Mozart's widow, Constanze von Nissen, did not live to see the unveiling. She died on March 6th of the same year in the house at Mozartplatz 8. A plaque was placed on the house in her memory. . Originally, the monument was to have been unveiled in 1841 but a valuable Roman mosaic tile floor was discovered during excavation work:
"hic habitat [felicitas], nihil intret mali"which postponed the unveiling until September 1842.
(Here dwells happiness, may no evil enter.)
We leave Salzburg and fly south towards Zell am See were we will pickup the Grossglockner Road, which we will follow to Heiligenblut.
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Grossglockner Road |
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Scan of the map I used in 1983 (CLICK ON MAP TO ENLARGE) |
My wife and I have driven that road during a 4 week holiday in Austria in the late summer of 1983. At that height, you almost wishes to have a mixture control in your car to lean the mixture! But I did have an altimeter (a hand-held one). We also visited Innsbruck, but not the airport. At that time I didn't have a flight simulator and was not yet very much interested in aviation.
- Notam: In the flight plan there are several waypoints set (GROS1-4) which follow the road approximately. But if the visibility is good, try to follow the road itself. It is in FS2000 default scenery, but without most of the hairpins.
Before reaching Heiligenblut, we turn west to the Grossglockner (waypoit GLOCK).
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Toll ticket "230 Shilling bitte.." |
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Grossglockner peak |
The glacier is in retreat and loses about 5 metres in height and 20 metres in length per year. A 9000 year old Arolla Pine tree stump melted out in 1990 due to the ice retreat. The tree stump shows that 10000 years ago, the area (where the glacier is now) was forested and warmer than it is today.
Ski races were held on the glacier for many years. The glacier was however recognized as a great source of water and water reserves. It is therefore a special protection area within the Hohe Tauern National Park today.
The next station on our todays tour is Sankt Johann in Tirol, the Hiking & Family Paradise....
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Airfield Sankt Johann (LOIJ) |
A wide range of activity programs and recreational highlights await you as well. St.Johann is a true paradise for families and children: Panorama swimming world, indoor pool, 4 outdoor pools, 2 giant water slides, children’s facilities, sauna, steam bath, children’s playground, beach volleyball site and a lot more ...
Further highlights include ballooning, rafting, uphill facilities, summer toboggan track, 13 golf courses within easy reach, guided hiking tours, adventure programs for children, outings! Or you can visit the small airfield of Sankt Johann (LOIJ) for some gliding in the mountains. Get away from it all and enjoy rest and recreation in the heart of nature. Perfect holidays for families and sport fans guaranteed.
Turning westward we fly to Rattenberg which is in fact our IAP (Initial Approach Point) for Innsbruck.
Rattenberg has a museum of Tyrolean art, which is housed in a 14th-century monastery , with a nice collection of art from the region. Amongst them Gothic and Baroque religious artifacts.
Mainly through the valley of the river Inn, and sometimes close to the mountains, we descend to Innsbruck.
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Ambras Castle |
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Goldenes Dachl (Golden Roof) |
the Ambras Castle
This beautifully preserved
romantic Renaissance-style Castle includes Europe’s oldest collection of arts
and armories, the Spanish Hall, and the Portrait Gallery, featuring some 250
works from the 14th and 15th century.
Archduke Ferdinand II (1529-1595) had
the medieval Ambras castle converted into the present Renaissance castle to
display his collections of world-wide fame.
Goldenes Dachl
Located at the north end of
Herzog-Friedrich Strasse across from the Hebling House, the Goldenes Dachl
(Golden Roof) stands with its richly decorated Gothic loggia, built over an
oriel window and protected by a crocketed roof composed of fire-gilt copper
tiles. The building was constructed between 1494-1496 as part of the Neuer Hof -
a palace previously built by Duke Friedrich of Tirol. The two central panels
depict Maximilian I with his two wives, Mary of Burgundy (sister of England's
Henry VIII) and Bianca Maria Sforza. The frescos were done by Jörg Kölderer in
1500.
Now that we have successfully finished our todays tour, I suggest we meet each other in one of those cosey Innsbrucker Stuben for a few Obstlers. And for those who don't know: Obstler is a drink found in most German-speaking countries, and is made by distilling various fruits. It is usually very strong, and widely drunk as it is cheap and well flavoured.
Notam:
For those who don't have a chart, I'll try to describe the approach.
Before reaching RTT, you should have tuned your Nav1 radio to 111.1 which is
the frequency of the Innsbruck ILS (OEV) for runway 25. In fact it is not an
ILS, but a LLZ/DME, but you won't notice the difference.
At RTT you
should have an altitude of 9,500 ft. As soon as you reach RTT turn to a
heading of 211º but keep your altitude. Tune your ADF radio now to ABSAM NDB
(AB 313.0) which is at 6 nm from OEV.
Keep an eye on both your Nav1 or HSI and DME1. At about 22nm from OEV the needle will center. Change heading to 255º or use the autopilot's APPR function. Keep the needle centered as close as possible, because you only have small margins of error. At 17.2nm from OEV you are on the glidescope. Start descending or let the autopilot it do for you.
Some reference points about your altitude during descend (check these!):
As soon as you have a clear view on the runway and have cleared the last
obstacles, you should disengage the autopilot and fly the last few miles
manually for two reasons: the glidescope is bringing you in too high and the
runway has an offset of 5º to the right.
| Please note that these RTW Narratives are produced using materials from various sites, in print and on the web. They are intended for the private use of the RTW Buzz pilots only and are not meant for public dissemination. |
Flightplan & Narrative:
Jozef Kusters (RTW Pilot #038)
