Bear with me...

...there is more to come here. I just started out the revamp of this blog recently and am still thinking about changes to the "concept". But eventually my plan is to keep this updated with new flying adventures, while gradually adding stories from my "flying past".

Stories I have in store and intend to write about (I will use the "publishing" date to order them as they occured):

• Initial glider training in Oerlinghausen on ASK 13 and ASK 21 (1991)
• Gliding in Bückeburg, with excursions to Eutingen, Vinon sur Verdon, La Cerdanya and Rechlin; on types such as Ka 6, Ka 7, Ka 8, ASK 21, Astir CS, ASW 19, Club Libelle, LS 4 and SG 38 (1991-1996)
• Gliding in Telgte, with excursions to Berlinchen and Ottengrüner Heide; on types such as ASK 21, DG 500, Cirrus (1996-2001)
• Motorgliding from Telgte, with flights across northern and southern Germany in SF25C and Grob G109 (1995-2001)
• Powered flying in Uetersen on C150 and C172, with excursions to pretty much all of the German North Sea and Baltic coasts, to Denmark etc. (2001-today)
• Gliding from Uetersen on ASK 21, DG 300, Discus and DG 1000, with an excursion to Berliner Heide (2001-today)
• Gliding in Omarama, New Zealand, on Twin Astir and LS 4 (2003)
• First flights in the US on C172 in Bloomington/Normal (2004)
• Flying a rented PA 28 through the Bahamas (2005)
• A round trip with a C172SP from Las Vegas via Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon, Mammoth Yoseimite, San Francisco, Monterey, Santa Barbara and Death Valley (2006)
• Flying a SF25C from Oerlinghausen to Duxford/UK and return, to see the Flying Legends airshow (2006)
• Flying a C172 in South Africa, based out of Johannesburg Grand Central and up to Botswana and Zambia (2007)
• A round trip on a C172SP from Hayward/CA to Shelter Cove, Ukiah, the Trinity Alps, Mariposa Yosemite and return (2008)
• An amazing trip from Uetersen on a C172 all the way up to the Lofoten islands in Norway (2009)
• Another round trip in the US, on a C172SP G1000, this time from Napa/CA to Shelter Cove, Klamath Falls, Elko, Sun River, Seattle Boeing Field and return (2010)
• A flight to Bornholm in a SF25C (2011)
• A flight from Uetersen to Freiburg and return on a SF25C (2013)
• Flying a C172 through Queensland in Australia (2013)
• Flying a C172 from Auckland/New Zealand down to Franz Josef Glacier and return (2013)
• A weekend trip to Höganäs in Sweden with ca C172 (2015)
• A week's flying trip with a C172 from Uetersen through the Alps all the way to Dubrovnik in Croatia and back (2016)
• A week-long trip from Uetersen to Toulouse, via Freiburg and back (2017)
• A weekend trip from Uetersen to the Dutch island of Texel (2017)
• A week-long trip from Uetersen to Sibiu in Romania and back, via the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Hungary (2018)
• Two days of flying out of Hayward, California (2018)
• Two day trips to the North Sea island of Heligoland (2014+2018)
• A 6-day tour of Southern Sweden in 2020

Stay on this frequency!

Bi-annual check flight with a small twist

Date	April 17, 2017	Type	C172R
Origin	Uetersen	Origin ICAO	EDHE
Destination	Uetersen	Destination ICAO	EDHE
Approx. distance	66 nm	Flying time	01:05h

As it has become a habit, I tried to put some fun into the bi-annual check flight and suggested a route to our club FI Rüdiger that would take us through the Hamburg CTR via the Whiskey and Sierra routes. Originally I had intended to continue along the Elbe river to Lauenburg, turn around and re-enter via reporting point Delta east of Hamburg. But he suggested a shorter routing, so we could also put in some airwork into the hour we had available.

So we did follow Whiskey and Sierra routes but then routed southwest and then northwest around the Hamburg CTR. I had challenged myself to leave the moving map GPS at home for this flight and therefore ended up dodging heavy showers navigating by map and dead reckoning, close to a busy CTR! As the southwest of Hamburg is not the most feature-rich area I did have some moments of anxiety as to if we remained clear of the CTR and our precise position, but all went well and soon the prominent and unmistakeable Elbe river came into sight and we routed home with ease, after putting in some easy airwork obligatory for the bi-annual, such as stalls and steep circling.

Map provided with friendly approval of SkyDemon. Click to zoom. Not to be used for navigation.

Local flight from Berliner Heide with low approach at Hannover

Date	July 25, 2016	Type	SF 25 C
Origin	Berliner Heide (Germany)	Origin ICAO	n/a
Destination	Berliner Heide (Germany)	Destination ICAO	n/a
Approx. distance	64 nm	Flying time	00:55h

A leisurely evening flight, with my gliding club mate Alex. We entered Hannover CTR via the ECHO route and strangely got a direct clearance for a low approach on the northern runway 27R, which meant we had to cross the approach path of 27L. After the low approach we vacated the CTR via the NOVEMBER route and flew back to Berliner Heide via Celle.

Map provided with friendly approval of SkyDemon. Click to zoom. Not to be used for navigation.

Diversion to the Baggersee

Leg 1

Date	July 27, 2013	Type	Cessna F172N
Origin	Uetersen	Origin ICAO	EDHE
Destination	Bremerhaven Luneort	Destination ICAO	EDWB
Approx. distance	41 nm	Flying time	00:53h

On this occasion, we took off in Uetersen with the intention of flying to the North Sea island of Wangerooge. As you can see from our track we pursued this course until shortly before reaching our destination. When I left Bremen FIS frequency and switched to Wooge Info, I was greeted with the information that there was a visibility of 150 m and less in sea fog. Not much thinking was needed to figure out that we were not going to land at Wangerooge, so we altered course towards Bremerhaven.

Bremerhaven is a nice little airport, unfortunately apparently threatened by closure due to plans to erect an offshore terminal for the wind energy industry. Once more it seems opportunistic politicians are giving in to aggressive eco lobbying...
(Update: the field sadly was indeed closed in 2016 - more about that sad story here (in German))

Our hope that a few cups of coffee at Bremerhaven would pass enough time for the fog at Wangerooge to disappear proved a false one. So, after consultation by phone with Wooge tower, we followed their recommendation and set course towards Wiefelstede-Conneforde in order to enjoy their Baggersee (~ quarry pond).

Leg 2

Date	July 27, 2013	Type	Cessna F172N
Origin	Bremerhaven Luneort	Origin ICAO	EDWB
Destination	Wiefelstede Conneforde	Destination ICAO	EDWP
Approx. distance	21 nm	Flying time	00:17h

The flight to Wiefelstede was quick and uneventful - my mind was mostly filled with the mathematics of later getting us out of their 600m grass strip on a 29° Celsius day. The approach and landing were very scenic, as we came in on their runway 12 which took us right over the two lakes and the wooded area adjacent to the field.

The Baggersee, romantically called "Bernsteinsee", was really refreshing and after we had quenched our thirst and sampled some french fries, we made our way back to the airfield (not to forget mentioning the "Carnival" going on at the Bernsteinsee - a really strange sight in July!). Our timing proved good, as we could already hear the rumble of a front of thunderstorms from the west that I had already been promised around noon by the weatherman.

Leg 3

Date	July 27, 2013	Type	Cessna F172N
Origin	Wiefelstede Conneforde	Origin ICAO	EDWP
Destination	Uetersen	Destination ICAO	EDHE
Approx. distance	62 nm	Flying time	00:41h

My earlier worries regarding takeoff proved unfounded - it went quite smoothly and our trusty 160 hp Cessna used probably only about 400m on runway 12, only benefiting from a slight headwind. We cleared the road to the southeast with the required 100ft and continued for an easy leg back home to Uetersen.

The thunderstorms eventually caught up with us approximately 50 minutes after landing in Uetersen. A rough calculation yields that their speed was probably in excess of 80 km/h or 43 kts...

Sea fog

Approaching Bremerhaven

Approaching Bremerhaven

D-EOOW parked at Bremerhaven

Thanks to Frauke for the great photos!

Map provided with friendly approval of SkyDemon. Click to zoom. Not to be used for navigation.

Corkscrew overhead Hallig Hooge

Date	July 25, 2013	Type	SF25C
Origin	Uetersen	Origin ICAO	EDHE
Destination	Westerland	Destination ICAO	EDXW
Approx. distance	ca. 180 nm return	Flying time	02:37h

As my fellow glider pilot Robert wanted to surprise his wife, who was vacationing on the island of Sylt, the two of us grabbed the motor glider and set course for Germany's most popular island. This same popularity normally deters me from visiting Sylt, but its lively airport does make it a fun destination, as I found out on a few previous occasions.

Both the inbound and the outbound flight were quite interesting, mostly due to the weather. In the morning we ran into a 500 ft ceiling straight after takeoff and decided to play it safe by aborting and returning to the field. When we left the field in earnest on our second attempt, we found better viz, yet probably not much in excess of 8 km. However, after leaving the umbrella of EDDH C airspace, we managed to climb to 6300 ft, which afforded us with excellent views "on top".

The next challenge of course was "getting down" again. While we had seen large gaps in the cloud cover and had the ground in sight most of the time, by the time we got close to Sylt those gaps had shrunken significantly. We did manage to work our way down overhead Hallig Hooge in a nice corkscrew, making sure to keep land in sight rather than sea - so as not to get disorientied due to the lack of an AI. From there on we worked our way towards Sylt fairly low and entered the CTR via the Sierra routing for an uneventful landing on runway 32, following a Lufthansa CRJ.

After enjoying a nice lunch at Gosch and spending a relaxing afternoon at the beach, we headed back. The return flight was quite a bit easier, departing from runway 6 and via the Echo routing. We encountered great viz and a high ceiling overhead the mainland all the way up to the Kiel Canal, whereafter we were back in reduced viz with ca. 15 km. The landing at EDHE was unspectacular.

Westerland on the island of Sylt is an interesting airfield with increasing traffic also from the airlines. It has a long history and curiously is also used by gliders. Overall, in terms of hospitality, I would rate it below other airfields on German North Sea coast islands. E.g., there is no provision for renting bikes at the field, while other fields offer bikes for free! This fits with the general character of Sylt, which is quite "commercial" and in my view too crowded...

Before takeoff at apron 2 in Westerland

Map provided with friendly approval of SkyDemon. Click to zoom. Not to be used for navigation.

USA 2006: Bryce Canyon to Mammoth Yosemite

Leg 1

Date	April 18, 2006	Type	Cessna C172S
Origin	Bryce Canyon	Origin ICAO/ location identifier	KBCE
Destination	Cedar City	Destination ICAO/ location identifier	KCDC
Approx. distance	45 nm	Flying time	00:48h

With our last takeoffs having been somewhat "interesting" mostly due to the high altitude, we decided to get up early in order to use the cool morning temperatures to help make our takeoff run shorter.

And cool the temperatures were. In fact, we found some snow had fallen over night and we needed to first clear our aircraft from that. A friendly soul equipped us with a brush and off we went to clean the aircraft - freezing fingers included (us Europeans going to the "desert" in spring had not quite anticipated this wintery climate - I had duly prepared for many things, but not for that).

Having readied the aircraft, we soon checked the weather on the ASOS system, announced our intentions on the UNICOM frequency and taxied to runway 21 for takeoff. The actual takeoff ended up being quite underwhelming, with the dense, cold air and the long runway making it a lot easier than the last ones.

The flight to Cedar City was brief, but with great vistas on Panguitch lake (still largely frozen over) and the surrounding mountains, some of them higher than 11,000ft!

Descending into Cedar City we came back into the desert climate, landing at Cedar City Regional airport at a perfect spring day.

Hungry as we were (having skipped breakfast for the benefit of the early takeoff) we were disappointed to learn that there was no food at the airfield. But the friendly guys at the FBO suggested we take a ride into town... and if we wanted to use their courtesy car! When I started searching for my driver's license in order to present it, the reaction was "nah, not needed, you know how to fly a plane, so you must know how to drive...". And with that, the keys for a (slightly aged, but still very cool!) 7-series BMW was dropped into my hands and off we went for breakfast in town.

Bryce Canyon's wonderful "Blockhouse Hangar"

Bryce Canyon

Bryce Canyon

Bryce Canyon

Panguitch Lake

Brian Head

Map provided with friendly approval of SkyDemon. Click to zoom. Not to be used for navigation.

USA 2006: Page/ Arizona to Bryce Canyon

Date	April 17, 2006	Type	Cessna C172S
Origin	Page/ Arizona	Origin ICAO/ location identifier	KPGA
Destination	Bryce Canyon	Destination ICAO/ location identifier	KBCE
Approx. distance	58 nm	Flying time	00:52h

The next day greeted us with fairly strong winds out of easterly directions. Having landed into Page's runway 15 the previous day, I figured I could deal with the crosswind component and that it would give me a sufficient length for a safe takeoff at its altitude of more than 4,000ft (temperatures remained low, though, leaving at least the "hot" part out of the "hot & high" equation). But when I started the takeoff run I soon realized that I could hardly keep the aircraft straight on the runway, up to the point where I decided to abort the takeoff. Now, today, with the experience of 16 additional years of flying, I am not sure how much of that was due to a lack of experience in dealing with stronger crosswinds or if it was really that bad. In any case, I elected to switch to the significantly shorter runway 07. Now facing a solid headwind, the takeoff was without problems, with about 30% of the runway to spare.

The following short flight to Bryce Canyon was once more breathtaking in terms of scenery but otherwise fairly uneventful. I recall coming on to final from a fairly high base for runway 21 (local wind direction apparently being quite different to Page), but having no issues with the landing due to the generous runway of more than 2,000m. We parked close to the neat "Blockhouse Hangar", something I have not seen since.

Lake Powell

Manson Mesa with the city of Page and its airfield

Antelope Island

Lone Rock

Cottonwood Canyon

Bryce Canyon

Turning final at KBCE

Bryce Canyon (seen from the ground)

Bryce Canyon (seen from the ground)

Map provided with friendly approval of SkyDemon. Click to zoom. Not to be used for navigation.

USA 2006: Las Vegas to Page/ Arizona: Crossing the Grand Canyon

Leg 1

Date	April 16, 2006	Type	Cessna C172S
Origin	North Las Vegas	Origin ICAO/ location identifier	KVGT
Destination	Grand Canyon West	Destination ICAO/ location identifier	1G4
Approx. distance	80 nm	Flying time	00:59h

After two days at the strange 24h hangover party that is called Las Vegas, our "Grand Tour of the American West" finally took off. "Us" was two non-pilot colleagues-turned-friends and myself, our toothbrushes and spare underwear, a LOT of drinking water and really not much else - C172 "payload" is not all that generous, plus the first part of the tour was in potential "hot & high" conditions.

Checking TA at North Las Vegas airport, prior to our first leg
Having done my 2006 biennial & checkout the previous day out of North Las Vegas (KVGT), on the very aircraft we rented, I felt sufficiently prepared to launch us into one of the busiest airspaces in the U.S.: Las Vegas class Bravo. Admittedly my adrenaline still was on a high level, but I opted for the same transition route the CFI had shown me the day before to keep things simple. This meant we headed straight for the "Monument" VRP, which happens to be the Stratosphere Tower and hence can hardly be overlooked, climbing to 5,500ft MSL and requesting an "over the numbers" crossing at Las Vegas International (KLAS) and from there direct Henderson Exec (KHND). The fast-talking, but super professional and cooperative controllers made this easy, so my pulse steadied quickly. The sights on the crossing itself are spectacular: one gets a grandstand view of the entire Strip, plus KLAS airport, all framed by a panorama of snow capped mountains.

Las Vegas McCarran Airport and "The Strip"
But vistas were to get even better: now heading east towards Grand Canyon, we tracked along the southern shore of Lake Mead, directly crossing Hoover dam. This is truly monumental, with its huge dam wall and the Colorado river disappearing into the Black Canyon, all spanned by a plethora of power lines (well, the power for ca. 8 million people has to go somewhere...).

Hoover Dam
We now continued our easterly track, climbing to a careful 9,500ft MSL, as we approached the Colorado Plateau which rises to almost 7,000ft MSL here. During my preparation I had carefully studied the airspace structure around Grand Canyon. While there is not much in terms of busy airports and associated airspaces (most are Class Delta or Echo), there is a "Grand Canyon National Flight Rules Area". Its main purpose is protecting the amazing natural environment and preserving as much of its natural quiet as possible. This means that aircraft have to stay high and/ or in clearly defined corridors at all times (with the exception of a few canyons kept open for helicopter tour operator thrill rides... and likely some military ops).

Crossing over the edge of the Colorado Plateau, we soon were able to start our descent to Grand Canyon West (1G4). This great little airfield sits right on the southern rim of the canyon, which makes for vistas during approach that can really distract! After an uneventful landing, we were marshalled into our parking spot, surrounded by a number of tour operator aircraft, mainly helicopters, Cessna Caravans, Twin Otters etc. Soon we were off to the lookout platform at Eagle Point, which in 2006 did not yet sport the "glass bottom walkway" it apparently features today.

Grand Canyon West airport

Map provided with friendly approval of SkyDemon. Click to zoom. Not to be used for navigation.
Leg 2

Date	April 16, 2006	Type	Cessna C172S
Origin	Grand Canyon West	Origin ICAO/ location identifier	1G4
Destination	Grand Canyon National Park	Destination ICAO/ location identifier	KGCN
Approx. distance	81 nm	Flying time	00:36h

Taking off for our next leg, we watched in amazement the sporty flying of the tour operators, with a Bell Jet Ranger helicopter flying low across the desert. After climbing to the altitude required by the Special Rules area, we set course towards Grand Canyon National Park airport. Aeronautically the flight was straightforward, but the sights were absolutely breathtaking. Standing on the Grand Canyon's rim one feels small, but it seems this effect is even exacerbated when crossing it in a small aircraft: even though you are moving at 100kts/ 180km/h or so, you seem to be standing still in relation to these huge canyons and rock formations. Here are some impressions:

Map provided with friendly approval of SkyDemon. Click to zoom. Not to be used for navigation.

Excerpt from FAA Grand Canyon VFR map. Click to zoom. Not to be used for navigation.

Leg 3

Date	April 16, 2006	Type	Cessna C172S
Origin	Grand Canyon National Park	Origin ICAO/ location identifier	KGCN
Destination	Page Municipal	Destination ICAO/ location identifier	KPGA
Approx. distance	75 nm	Flying time	00:52h

The third and last leg of the day started with the most excitement for me as the pilot - although not in a way I had hoped for.

I had planned the stop at Grand Canyon National Park (KGCN) in order to pick up fuel - and so we duly did. Normally, after the roughly two hours we had flown at this stage and with the hour we still had to run to Page/AZ (KPGA), it would not have been needed - but wanting to play it safe, I thought it would be a good idea.

At this stage in my flying, I did have quite some mountain flying experience from gliding, collected in the European Alps, the Pyrenees and the New Zealand Alps. But I was lacking experience in powered flying in the mountains, particularily when it comes to "hot & high". While in April, temperatures were not too high yet, what I did not factor in was that KGCN sits at an altitude of more than 6,600ft... so the "high" part was definitely a given. Add to this that we had fully fueled the aircraft and were at maximum takeoff weight. Lastly, I had not been taught to lean on the ground yet (only learned this about a year later in South Africa).

These three factors in combination made for quite an "interesting" takeoff run which basically seemed...endless. We did stagger into the air eventually, helped by a runway of ca. 9,000ft length and a downward gradient of about 1%. The climb that followed at best is to be described as modest.. but we did manage to get to the altitude needed for the Dragon corridor crossing. At least here previous experience kicked in and my well developed feel for the aircraft helped avoid stalling.

In order to cross over certain areas of Grand Canyon, small aircraft need to use one of four corridors (from West to East called: Tuckup, Fossil, Dragon and Zuni Point). We used Dragon corridor, the entry to which is marked by VPGCF visual reporting point less than 7 nm from KGCN, from which we flew northbound at 11,500 ft across to VPGCG reporting point, about 20 nm north-northeast. From here we set our course straight to Page/AZ, more or less following the amazing Marble Canyon, which neatly cuts its way through the surrounding flat plateau - an amazing sight.

Our approach and landing on runway 15 at Page was quite uneventful - little did I know how the next day's takeoff would go...

Marble Canyon

Short final for KPGA's runway 15

Map provided with friendly approval of SkyDemon. Click to zoom. Not to be used for navigation.

Excerpt from FAA Grand Canyon VFR map. Click to zoom. Not to be used for navigation.