A plane flew over the house yesterday, looking for all the world as if it had just taken off from the local airfield. But how could that be? It’s early January, and Hvar’s only airport is seasonal – the grass runway doesn’t support flights in winter. Or does it? We were heading into Stari Grad for lunch anyway, so we chose to drive along the back road that runs through the fields of the Stari Grad Plain, right past the airport. As we approached the end of the runway, we were startled to see a parachutist drift down across our path and land squarely on the runway!

Incoming parachutist

We stopped the car and got out to watch as more parachutes came in for landing. It was a beautiful day for it, with patches of blue sky and sunshine, not much wind.

Aeroklub Faros

The views as they floated down must have been lovely.

Towards the terminal building

And after the parachutists came the plane, making a perfect landing and answering our question about the condition of the runway. With a set of big chunky tyres, one small plane can use the airport in winter, even after a day of rain. Turns out it was a Cessna 206 with a turbine engine, perfect for hauling skydivers to altitude in a hurry.

Plane arrives

The group had come from Sinj, to the north of Split, and as the plane taxied round, they were busy repacking their chutes for another go.

For more information abour Stari Grad/Hvar airstrip check the LDSH Skyvector link.