Hi! All interested parties.
After careful consideration Ivor Phillips and I have decided to publish
our intended Baltic Sates tour and invite other interested parties to
join the tour.
Basically the tour is to encompass the Barkaby (Stockholm) Rally, the
Danish Rally (Stauning) with the German Rally (Stade) on the way back
with the week between used for a circular number of stops and
"stop-overs" North to South down the Eastern Baltic States.
To put a little more flesh on the bones .June 2nd... Fly out via
Lellystad with a stop-over at Kristianstad or Malmo (Cheap fuel in
Sweden!) to Barkaby Rally pm. Friday 3rd June (Subject to favourable
weather predictions this could be shortened to a Friday Fly Out getting
to Barkaby in the day, but everything will need to go like clockwork
with a very early departure and advance payments and own top up fuel and
pre-submitted flight plans from say Southend which is open operationally
early but no admin. for collecting paymnents on the day.)
Stopping over Friday night and Saturday nights in Stockholm.
Sunday 5th June could be used for a trip to Visby(Air museum Gotland
Island.) Probably a "stop-over"... Visby is an interesting walled city
of considerable historical Estonian influence on Sweden. OR a trip into
Stockholm City with various Ferry trips out to the inner reaches of the
archipelago and even the possibility of a visit to the Wasa (Man of War
Ship) Museum or even the Maritime Museum. (Stockholm isn't cheap and
it's not in the Euro! It has a great Irish Pub!)
And/OR Sunday /Monday across the Swedish and Finnish Archepelegos for
lunch in Mariehamn (Finland) and onwards to Tallinn (Estonia to sample
the night scene"! If it's that good Tuesday as well !)
continuing ... .. via Riga (Latvia) and Vilnus (Lithuania) I'm wanting
input for "things to visit here" other than to have just "called in" for
fuel and documentation.
continuing to....Krakow (Poland visit to Austwitch) and...onwards to
Colditz for a Castle tour on Thursday 9th June (BTW we won't get to
see the "Glider Room" because of safety problems although there's a
1/3rd scale model which was donated to the castle after a 1993
documentary. However from the terrace, the route taken by the glider
down to the below meadow can be seen.)
and then ...
back up Denmark to Stauning for their Rally Friday 10th June. They
usually have a Friday night "bash".
We hope to have a group departure built into their Display schedule
for pm on Saturday 11th to get to the Stade Rally (Germany) over-night
with them and... back to the UK on Sunday 12th (all weather permitting
of course)
We have no intention of making advance accommodation bookings (half
decent taxi drivers should be able to fix suitable venues!) otherwise
particularly at the Rally's, as ever, its my intention to camp!
At all times it remains the Pilot in Command responsibility on decisions
to fly concerning weather, aircraft condition and suitability. At times
it may well be possible to file multiple loose formation flight plans
but again the PIC of each aircraft will be responsible for his own
routing and observance of communications and Insurances including his
passengers.
We will be pleased to receive tentative statements of intent with full
contact details and obviously with some firm commitment soon to follow.
As particulars of the tour and the group develop...
I have had good communications with the Colditz people
(http://www.schlosscolditz.com <http://www.schlosscolditz.com/> or
search COLDITZ on Google) and there is a wealth of information on
Auschwitz Birkenau (http://www.escape2Poland.co.uk
<http://www.escape2poland.co.uk/> )
These parts of the trip for me will provide an ultimate reminder, as did
my trip to the Hiroshima Peace Museum, lest we should forget those who
paid the ultimate sacrifice in the 60th anniversary year of the end of
WWII since there are some in Europe who seem to deny who and what took
place.
I will circulate additional relevant information as it becomes
available.
We currently have 5 aircraft enrolled.
Regards
BOB Harrison G-PTAG
Robt.C.Harrison
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