Thursday, July 14, 2011
Stockholm and Skaa
We managed to time our arrival in Stockholm to catch the annual flying meet up at the airfield just east of the city, Skaa Edeby.
We cycled into town and caught up with Kina, who I met skiing in Chamonix 5 years ago, and partner Cedric with their new baby Leon. These two are both marathon runners and generally super fit and motivated which is always good to see. Cedric is a great guy who moved up to Stockholm from France while he was still a student and now runs his own IT consultancy and has a partnership in some Swedish running stores. We were both really pleased to have met with up them while we were in the area.
H washing bugs off the strut;
Jimmy took us for a tour around his town of Sigulda, north of Stockholm. The country was run from here several hundred years ago and the town is rich with history. Jimmy is a captain with Next Jet, flying twin turbo props with about 70 passengers up and down the country. This man knows about ice.
Mats and Tina, who we met last year, invited us to lunch and showed us some awesome hot spots in Stockholm. They know where all the good lunch spots, lookouts and little mid city islands with interesting timber buildings are. Mats had just run the Stockholm marathon. Inspirational. I've actually been running myself since then and all I can report is that I'm a loooong way from being able to go the marathon distance. Mats was in the military, a member of the super elite 'kysten jæger' (coast hunters, like SAS). All I can say is, if you see a sticker with a trident on the back of a car in Stockholm, don't get into a road rage incident with them.
H washing bugs off the strut;
Jimmy took us for a tour around his town of Sigulda, north of Stockholm. The country was run from here several hundred years ago and the town is rich with history. Jimmy is a captain with Next Jet, flying twin turbo props with about 70 passengers up and down the country. This man knows about ice.
Mats and Tina, who we met last year, invited us to lunch and showed us some awesome hot spots in Stockholm. They know where all the good lunch spots, lookouts and little mid city islands with interesting timber buildings are. Mats had just run the Stockholm marathon. Inspirational. I've actually been running myself since then and all I can report is that I'm a loooong way from being able to go the marathon distance. Mats was in the military, a member of the super elite 'kysten jæger' (coast hunters, like SAS). All I can say is, if you see a sticker with a trident on the back of a car in Stockholm, don't get into a road rage incident with them.
Michael working the new grill at the aero club at Skaa Edeby. It has a built in bottle opener! Sweet :)
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Vissingso - Lake Vattern and others on flying tour :)
Vissingso airstrip is next to a golf course on an island in the middle of the second largest lake in Sweden -Vattern (meaning water). You don't have to have done many laps around an IKEA to have heard of it. The town Grenaa, on the mainland across the lake is one of the oldest in the country and was buzzing with holidaying Swedes at this time of year.
Since it is very deep, the water is very cold. We swam anyway and it HURT.
Incidentally (but undeniably) this crop circle proves that we have nothing to fear from the Aliens.
Lenny and Terry bombed in briefly on their way back from the Eeslov fly in. Once we heard about all the large rocks in the lake, we gave up insisting that they should have landed on the water ;)
Johan and Vanya landed late in the day (maybe 10pm, still with good light). We were surprised to see them again having met them at the Siljansnaes airpark further north last year. We had a chance to eat brunch in the sun and catch up which was very pleasant.
Martin and Gabriella arrived the next day on route to the arctic circle (microlight pilots make all the best adventures)! He is an Engineer like me in Muenster.
The lake water is so cold that as you walk down to the island shore, the air temperature drops about 5 degrees. It is a little spooky. Here we are climbing out bound for Stockholm.
Friday, July 8, 2011
Eeslov EAA fly in 2011
Back to Sweden, for their home build annual event held this year in the Skaane town of Eeslov.
Over three days of stunning weather we watched displays and met many new people from Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Germany and the UK.
This is Dieter and Marie, who we camped next to. He used to be an airline captain but now they live on north of Jutland in Denmark where they sail and fly and photograph. Dieter lived with bears in Alaska for 8 years. His site rocks www.betz.dk
Carsten built his Savanna on Anholt (Denmark) where he runs the power and water for the island.
H wants a flying boat. The guys who brought this water micro to the fly in, Lenny and Terry distribute this design in Sweden. We saw them again a few days later when they landed on the island of Vissingso in the middle of lake Vattern a few minutes after us, on their way back to Stockholm from the fly in.
Daniel, the aerobatic pilot from Skaa Edeby near Stockholm, who we met last year while he was crating up his Yak to display in China, is now flying a Sukhoi. These are the best aerobatics aeroplane in the world. A small number were made in the 80s with no expense spared by the Soviet Union to ensure their supremacy in competition. They have a ridiculously stiff wing and titanium undercarriage. Since they reputedly take about 2 years of training for a world class aerobatics pilot to adapt to, I though Daniel was flying pretty cleanly after only a few month with the new plane.
DC10 :)
Over three days of stunning weather we watched displays and met many new people from Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Germany and the UK.
This is Dieter and Marie, who we camped next to. He used to be an airline captain but now they live on north of Jutland in Denmark where they sail and fly and photograph. Dieter lived with bears in Alaska for 8 years. His site rocks www.betz.dk
Carsten built his Savanna on Anholt (Denmark) where he runs the power and water for the island.
H wants a flying boat. The guys who brought this water micro to the fly in, Lenny and Terry distribute this design in Sweden. We saw them again a few days later when they landed on the island of Vissingso in the middle of lake Vattern a few minutes after us, on their way back to Stockholm from the fly in.
Daniel, the aerobatic pilot from Skaa Edeby near Stockholm, who we met last year while he was crating up his Yak to display in China, is now flying a Sukhoi. These are the best aerobatics aeroplane in the world. A small number were made in the 80s with no expense spared by the Soviet Union to ensure their supremacy in competition. They have a ridiculously stiff wing and titanium undercarriage. Since they reputedly take about 2 years of training for a world class aerobatics pilot to adapt to, I though Daniel was flying pretty cleanly after only a few month with the new plane.
DC10 :)
Monday, July 4, 2011
Aero - Danish Island Villages and Summer Sailing
Aero is a southern Danish island with the statistically warmest weather of anywhere in the country. Presumably this is the reason for it being just across the water from the Royal's summer palace at Sondeborg. The villages haven't changed in several hundred years, they are wonderful thick stone walled dwellings on winding cobbled streets, huddled together against the weather from over the water.
Aeroskoebing (along with Marstal, one of the two main towns on Aero);
Marstal (below) is the center of wooden ship yards in Denmark and there are several restoration projects underway there. It had been an important trading port for many centuries.
We flew north to Tarsinge where we helped start a Rans micro that had been hangered all winter before cycling over the bridge to the much larger island of Fyn.
Svendeborg on Fyn, over the bridge;
Aeroskoebing (along with Marstal, one of the two main towns on Aero);
Marstal (below) is the center of wooden ship yards in Denmark and there are several restoration projects underway there. It had been an important trading port for many centuries.
We flew north to Tarsinge where we helped start a Rans micro that had been hangered all winter before cycling over the bridge to the much larger island of Fyn.
Svendeborg on Fyn, over the bridge;
Saturday, July 2, 2011
Samso - Pankosh and Casa Tua
To catch up with Eva and Rune we headed west from Sweden back to the Danish Island of Samso. Rune was in a flurry, organising his imminent departure to Sydney to fly float planes for a week so we were pleased to catch him before he left.
We hear about a pan cake fly in on Fun, east of Odense so took to the air for the 20 minute flight south.
As well as seeing Lars and Catrin again (and convincing Lars to come for a round of golf on the course on Samso), we met several of the micro pilots from that area. Excellent pancakes, enthusiastic people. Great combination :)
Erik and his wife host the local micro club and have installed a former boarder control guard box to act as a pancake eating and pow wow station. Excellent!
A troupe of German parachutists arrived overhead Samso one day, as part of their 3 day 15 airfield jump safari. We were impressed. What an operation.
This vast castle on the south edge of Samso turns out to have been built for the mistress of a Danish king. It now seems to be the part of a privately owned farming estate.
Valentina and Lorenzo have recently moved up to Samso from Venice. They invited us for dinner at their new house which they have refurbished into a store for the Italian wine and food that they sell. This summer they are starting Gelato production. Lorenzo has attended the Gelato university that we've been considering so it was interesting to hear about the course, which he recommends. He was the Italian dealer of a particular modern microlight design and is waiting for the chance to pull his plane out of his garage and fly it again.
If you are on Samso, I highly recommend dropping in for a chat, they are lovely and have some wonderful Italian food and wine products.
We hear about a pan cake fly in on Fun, east of Odense so took to the air for the 20 minute flight south.
As well as seeing Lars and Catrin again (and convincing Lars to come for a round of golf on the course on Samso), we met several of the micro pilots from that area. Excellent pancakes, enthusiastic people. Great combination :)
Erik and his wife host the local micro club and have installed a former boarder control guard box to act as a pancake eating and pow wow station. Excellent!
A troupe of German parachutists arrived overhead Samso one day, as part of their 3 day 15 airfield jump safari. We were impressed. What an operation.
This vast castle on the south edge of Samso turns out to have been built for the mistress of a Danish king. It now seems to be the part of a privately owned farming estate.
Valentina and Lorenzo have recently moved up to Samso from Venice. They invited us for dinner at their new house which they have refurbished into a store for the Italian wine and food that they sell. This summer they are starting Gelato production. Lorenzo has attended the Gelato university that we've been considering so it was interesting to hear about the course, which he recommends. He was the Italian dealer of a particular modern microlight design and is waiting for the chance to pull his plane out of his garage and fly it again.
If you are on Samso, I highly recommend dropping in for a chat, they are lovely and have some wonderful Italian food and wine products.
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