The journey began in Belgium with a great weekend of banter and beer at the EFLEVA (European Federation of Light, Experimental and Vintage Aircraft) fly-in where I was asked to give a talk on my Oshkosh adventure from last year.
It was good to catch up with Johan and we took an early morning Twister formation flight together the next day.
Then it was off to Germany to visit Paderborn Haxterburg and the home of the Twisters. Another memorable formation flight followed with Matthias and Ingo in Twisters 2 and 3.
The next day I flew to the north eastern part of Germany, to Anklam. To visit the Otto Lilienthal museum and the following day take the short flight up to Peenemunde to visit the V1 and V2 museums.
The next day I headed east to Kaunas in Lithuania, via Gdansk in Poland and skirting the Russian border of Kaliningrad to the north.
I then spent a few days in each of the Baltic countries - which I fell in love with. Each one has it's own unique flavour, plenty of history, culture, interesting foods and they are all very affordable to visit. Highly recommended!
While in Riga I visited the Tarragon factory and took a test flight in the prototype Tarragon - a very impressive machine.
I flew into Tallinn International in Estonia - as there are no small airfields within reasonable distance of the capital.
After that it was north through Finland, overnighting in Kemi. Then up to Lakselv in the north of Norway, flying via Europe's northernmost point, Nordkapp, which I did not actually get to see as it was covered in coastal fog.
As it is so far north, morning civil twilight in Lakselv begins on 26 April and evening civil twilight begins on 16 August. In between these dates it being light all the time.
By flying around Nordkapp I was at 71 degrees North Latitude, much further north than my trip from last year which was just 67 degrees north in Kangerlussuaq, Greenland. I think this is the most northerly point a Twister has ever been?
After that there was only one way to go, South. I headed to Bodo for two nights. One afternoon spent looking around the excellent National Air Museum of Norway, which is located at the Northern end of the runway in Bodo. The next day was a highlight as I took a short flight over to the Lofoten Islands which are quite spectacular. I stopped in Leknes airfield and took the bus to the Viking Museum.
The next day I flew two long legs, the first south to Trondheim for a fuel stop then east across to Stockholm where I stayed with my friend Chris for 5 days and a well earned rest.
Heading back west to Oslo after that and then across to Bergen after 2 days in Oslo.
My partner Tracy flew over to Bergen and we did a road trip around the fjords for the next 4 days.
A short flight south to Stavanger via the spectacular Lysefjord and then it was across the north sea to Eshott for fuel and then south back home to Old Warden.
What a great trip and I was so lucky with the weather.
44.2 hours flown in total. Fuel burn average 14.8 litres per hour with a total burn of 654 litres.
The only problem being a flat tyre in Bodo after landing. Not sure why it went flat but I think maybe the pressures were a bit low.
Pics and a few vids on this link: https://www.flickr.com/photos/andymac53/albums/72157694156800820/page1
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| Route map |
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