Right after the wall came down during the early ninties several aviation friends of mine and myself went on countless drives through the unknown GDR, exploring airfields. Regular stops included Harbke, near the former border, where an IL-18 was put up as a restaurant, Oschersleben, where at that time an old Tupolev TU-134 was displayed in the middle of the city (also as a restaurant) and Magdeburg - a major base for agricultural aircraft.
This weekend I decided to go an a similar drive along with my new aviation buddy - Torben. Our first stop was again Harbke. The old IL-18 restaurant is closed today and the aircraft is slowly rotting away (although it is still in one piece), our next port of call was the hospital in Olvenstedt (a suburb of Magdeburg). About 18 years ago this was the base for an Mil Mi-2 rescue helicopter. Today a much more modern Eurocopter EC-135 serves these duties.
Just a few more kilometers away is the very quiet Magdeburg "Business Airport". Not much traffic here, all the agricultural aircraft gone (since many years). But at least there is a nice attraction here: the Tu-134 which was before on display in Oschersleben. I already uploaded some pics on my flickr.com site (click Mehr Fotos / mehr Pictures).
It has been a while, but last week I had the pleasure to return to one of my favorite cities for a three day businss trip. Allthough I have been to London quite a few times over the last 20 years, this has been the first time I flew into London City Airport in the docklands. Quite convenient as the DLR (dockland Light Railway) stops directly next to the terminal - so no need for a taxi at all.
Handling a charterflight with an orchestra to/from Spain led me and my girlfriend to a nice weekend in Spain, involving lots of driving though from the very south up to the foot of the Pyrenees in the far north. We had one entire day to ourselfes in a tiny little cottage (www.masianovales.com). Far away from the next village Katrin found David and Maria's location through extensive internet reserch. Their little guesthouse in the Aragon area is a restored farmhouse which is nicely restored. All rooms have their own style and due to the lack of nearby restaurants, the couple cooks for its guests in the evening. Bikes were complimentary so we rode many kilometers along old railway tracks. The top pic shows our hotel. What a nice and relaxing place.
