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General Aviation @hebels.nl · 11d

We had planned a short getaway to Bordeaux with the DA40NG, but the ARC wasn't ready in time. Instead, we decided to take a brief flight on Thursday to Hoogeveen and Stadtlohn with the C172. In Hoogeveen we saw the Piper Archer that we flew often back in the day.

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The Hoogeveen airfield is nestled within the industrial area of Hoogeveen

The Piper Archer, which we used to fly frequently, has a long history

The occasional rain showers that we passed by on the left and right

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General Aviation @hebels.nl · Sep 30

Last weekend, we took a flight trip to Celle. Celle is known for its well-preserved medieval town center, featuring over 400 half-timbered houses. The Celle Castle features a mix of Renaissance and Baroque architectural styles.

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Celle's old town centre with more than 400 timber-framed houses

Celle Castle was one of the residences of the House of Brunswick-Lüneburg

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General Aviation @hebels.nl · Sep 15

The second week we flew the DA40NG to Bautzen. We passed Torgau on the Elbe where in 1945 the US and Soviet Armies first met. Later that week we also visited Altenburg with the Castle of Altenburg, and we parked the plane in a large former Luftwaffe hangar.

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Torgau on the Elbe, with the Hartenfels Castle and St. Maries church

Parking the plane overnight in a former Luftwaffe hanger at Altenburg-Nobitz airport

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General Aviation @hebels.nl · Aug 31

Last week we flew to Zweibruecken in Germany, and then to nearby Pirmasens to look to a plane we flew often 20 years ago. Later in the pattern to Bad Duerkheim the flaps did not extend. We diverted to Speyer. Maintenance saw the flaps position sensor was broken.

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Having a look to the Piper Archer we flew 20 years ago, now based at Pirmasens airport

Passing the Speyer Cathedral while flying flapless to runway 16 Speyer airport

Helpfull Mechanic looking to the flaps malfunction at Speyer airport

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General Aviation @hebels.nl · Aug 20

Last week Tuesday late afternoon, the three of us spontaneously took a fun one-hour flight from Lelystad. Along the way, we saw, among other things, the fortified town of Elburg and the Wouda Steam Pumping Station Near Lemmer, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

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In the DA40NG preparing for departure from Lelystad

The fortified town of Elburg has an interesting shape. In contrast to most medieval towns, the map of Elburg is not circular, but rectangular.

The Unesco World Heritage Site listed Wouda Steam Pumping Station, the largest still operational steam-powered pumping station in the world.

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General Aviation @hebels.nl · Jul 30

On the way back from Nantes to Lelystad we visited Amiens. The Amiens Cathedral is the largest Cathedral by volume in France, more than double the volume of Notre Dame of Paris. In the evening we had a nice Sangria and a cheese plate along the Somme river.

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Old part of Amiens north of the Somme river

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General Aviation @hebels.nl · Jul 16

Last week we visited Nantes in France known for its rich history and cultural attractions, including the Château des Ducs de Bretagne and Les Machines de l'Île. It is also the birthplace of Jules Verne, and we did not miss the Jules Verne museum.

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About to land on Nantes Atlantique airport, runway 03

The Great Elephant mechanical elephant wanders the grounds, trumpeting and spraying water with its trunk.

The Jules Verne museum, seen here from the River Loire

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General Aviation @hebels.nl · Jun 24

‪When flying in Spain from Burgos to Zaragoza we couldn't resist making a slight detour to fly over this location once again, having also taken a sightseeing flight over here years before. It was beautifully restored since then, and we wanted to see that too.

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View of Burgos airport after departure runway 22

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General Aviation @hebels.nl · Jun 11

Whit Monday trip to Namur in Belgium for the proverbial $100 burger (of course, a few hundred dollars more nowadays). On the way back we passed the Lion's Mound on the battlefield of Waterloo south of Brussels.

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Cheeseburger, fries and cola zero at the Namur airfield restaurant

The Lion's Mound at the battlefield of Waterloo

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General Aviation @hebels.nl · Jun 1

This Ascension weekend we flew to Bonn on Friday. The intention was to fly until Sunday, but because of thunderstorms on Saturday afternoon in the region, and less nice weather on Sunday, we shortened the trip to Saturday, visiting Bad Neuenahr on the way back.

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Market square in Bonn on Friday afternoon

View of Bad Neuenahr airfield after our visit on Saturday morning

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General Aviation @hebels.nl · May 26

The German island Juist is located at Lower Saxony's Wadden Sea in the North Sea. Framed by the islands Borkum and Norderney, Juist is the longest of the East Frisian Islands. The inhabitants call their island "Töwerland", the Frisian word for wonderland.

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Juist is with 17 kilometers the longest of the East Frisian Islands.

As Juist is car-free, bikes or horse-drawn carriages are the only means of transport.

On the beach traditional Strandkörbe (basket chairs) are scattered at the foot of the dunes.

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General Aviation @hebels.nl · Apr 22

We had booked the Diamond DA40NG for the Easter weekend for three days from Saturday until Monday. To the southeast the weather forecast looked quite good for Saturday and Sunday until the evening. We made a trip to Nuremberg in Germany, and returned on Sunday.

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General Aviation @hebels.nl · Apr 13

Friday we made a day trip to Lüneburg, south-east of Hamburg in Germany. Salt once brought Lüneburg great wealth. The gabled brick houses in the town centre still bear witness to this. Lüneburg survived World War II without major damage to its city center.

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View on the water tower, St Johannis church and St Nicolas church in Lüneburg

The DA40 we used for the trip to Lüneburg at Lüneburg airfield

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General Aviation @hebels.nl · Mar 31

It took a week, but the ECU B failure was fixed. Today just a little trip to Drachten, in the north of the Netherlands. Here passing the Rottige Meente, which translates loosely as 'rotten territory', wetland nature reserve southwest of the town of Wolvega.

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Rottige Meente, which translates loosely as 'rotten territory', is a strange name for a beautiful wetland nature reserve southwest of the town of Wolvega. This former peatland with its alternating strips of water and land provides habitat for many rare plants and animals.

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General Aviation @hebels.nl · Mar 24

Last week when we were doing the run-up checks in the DA40NG, the ECU test came back with an ECU B failure. We could not get it cleared, and had to abort the intended flight.

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ECU B persisted also after a complete shutdown and restart

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General Aviation @hebels.nl · Mar 2

Today we flew past Fort Erfprins to the island Texel in fine weather. We visited Museum KaapSkil. One of the top pieces in the collection is a 17th century silk satin dress, surfaced from the bottom of the Wadden Sea in 2014 from a ship wrecked around 1650.

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Fort Erfprins near Den Helder. Construction was ordered by Napoleon in the early 19th century.

A working grain mill, the Traanroeier, on the museum KaapSkil grounds. The state monument dates back to 1727, when it was constructed in Zaandam.

One of the top pieces in the collection at Museum KaapSkil is a seventeenth century dress of royal allure, surfaced from the bottom of the Wadden Sea. The impressive silk dress was found in a shipwreck that was given the name ‘Palmhoutwrak‘ (Palmwood wreck).

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General Aviation @hebels.nl · Feb 23

After landing at León's nearly deserted airport we spent a night in the city. The main attraction is the cathedral, one of the most beautiful in Spain. The Casa de los Botines is a Modernist building with neo-Gothic characteristics, designed by Antoni Gaudi.

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The Casa de los Botines, designed by Antoni Gaudi

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General Aviation @hebels.nl · Feb 22

We flew to Aachen-Merzbruck for a weekend trip with visits to the Aachener Dom, with Charlemagne’s palace chapel (completed in 800) and imperial throne in the upstairs gallery, and the Domschatzkammer with the silver-and-gold bust of Charlemagne and Lotharkreuz.

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Charlemagne’s palace chapel, the Pfalzkapelle

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General Aviation @hebels.nl · Feb 18

We flew to a cold Borkum, the largest of the East Frisian Islands. Borkum has a tough seafaring and whaling history. In December 1934 Wernher von Braun and his team successfully launched two A-2 rockets from Borkum. The island has an airfield.

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General Aviation @hebels.nl · Feb 17

Near Stadskanaal airfield is the core of the LOw Frequency ARray (LOFAR), the largest radio telescope operating at the lowest frequencies that can be observed from Earth. It looks back billions of years and surveys vast areas of the low-frequency radio sky.

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General Aviation @hebels.nl · Feb 16

Castle Hernen and Nijmegen. Nijmegen was bombed by the US Air Force in 1944, one of the largest bombardments of a Dutch city during World War II. A large part of the historic city center was destroyed during this intentional, but poorly executed bombardment.

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General Aviation @hebels.nl · Feb 11

We made a little trip to Bremen. The airport hosts a little aviation and space exploration museum, displaying the first Spacelab module and the Junkers W33 Bremen. It is the original plane that accomplished the first flight from Europe to North America in 1928.

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General Aviation @hebels.nl · Feb 10

When we flew from Madrid Cuatro Vientos airport to the with glider pilots popular Fuentemilanos airfield we also did some sightseeing. We past the creepy Valle de los Caidos, or Valley of the Fallen, that was ordered by dictator Franco in 1940.

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General Aviation @hebels.nl · Feb 10

These are sights nearby Hilversum airfield. Muiden Castle rebuilt in the 14th century, and Naarden, a star fort with fortified walls and a moat, grated city rights in 1300.

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General Aviation @hebels.nl · Feb 7

Flying to Bielefeld over the Brocken, once a highly secret Soviet/DDR listening station and a prohibited area when the border between East and West Germany ran through the Harz Mountains. The last Russian soldier left the Brocken in March 1994.

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