The landscape of mountain massifs, lowlands, mirrors of water areas, the green of woods alternating with picturesque villages and towns complete with old castles and chateaux is best viewed from a bird’s-eye perspective.
Nearly 100 small and sports airports throughout the country operate observation flights, the routes of which you can often choose yourself.
If you hold a pilot’s license and are able to fly a small motor airplane or an ultra-light aircraft, you can combine your hobby with discovering the most beautiful places of this part of Central Europe. The airports in the Czech Republic will provide you – on the basis of previous standard arrangements – with a good background, whether you choose to arrive by your own plane or hire a plane on the spot. The Czech Republic belongs among the countries with a long tradition of aviation sports.
Ultra-light planes
The Amateur Aviation Association of the Czech Republic groups several thousand pilots and owners of ultra-light planes. In the framework of its activity, professional ultra-light plane rental facilities and aviation schools will offer you their services. You can find them, for example, at the airports in Benešov and Hradec Králové, and many other locations.
Professional centers run top-quality technical facilities that can offer you space for your private airplane and arrange accommodation and other services.
In the Czech Republic, popular meetings of ultra-light airplanes often take place, often combined with sports disciplines and always with friendly gatherings in a pleasant aviation environment.
Gliders and motor flying
One of the leading organizers of sports flying in Europe, the Aeroclub of the Czech Republic, associates several thousand pilots of gliders and motorized gliders and has its own flying schools. Aeroclub cooperates with several professional companies that can rent you a plane and offer you the basic flying course as well as courses of acrobatic and engine-free flying.
The majority of sports airports organize observation flights and can offer good a background and space for private airplanes. Among the significant centers of motorized and non-motorized flying are the airport in Moravská Třebová, where the Center of Aviation Sports of the Aeroclub of the Czech Republic operates, and the airports in Vrchlabí, Benešov and Brno, among other places.
Hot-air balloons
Many aviation clubs and private operators offer the unforgettable experience of a hot-air balloon observation flight. Their most frequent routes lead above Prague or famous castles, such as Karlštejn, Křivoklát or Konopiště Chateau. Clients can be offered flights above other places with colorful sceneries and historical sights.
Paragliding and hang gliding
The pilots of gliders and hang gliders, organized in the Aviation Amateur Association of the Czech Republic, have their centers in Czech mountains, e.g. in the Krkonoše Mountains or in Beskydy, on the hills of Raná near Louny or the Kozákov Hill. Those places have a long tradition of gliding.
Experienced instructors at the schools of paragliding and selected take-off points, who will be pleased to teach you paragliding or take you for a flight on a tandem glider. Although paragliding and hang gliding are adrenaline sports, Czech centers guarantee safe operating.
Skydiving
Parachuting is one of the sports organized by the Aerokcub of the Czech Republic. Similar to aircraft pilots, parachutists have their own schools and centers across the Czech Republic with professional backgrounds. The top-class instructors, who include world champions in skydiving, offer licensed visitors the possibility of descents and inexperienced visitors the possibility of tandem descents, including free-fall flights.
There are parachuting centers at the airports in Prague–Točná, Mladá Boleslav, Příbram and Kunovice near Uherské Hradiště.