Time flies so fast that I almost did not get the chance (or find a moment) to write a quick post about a flight with a friend of mine in Germany a couple of weeks ago.
We meet met at Bonn-Hangelar airport (EDKB), not far away from Bonn on a very warm August day.
Bonn-Hangelar airport
We flew the C172, it’s a great aircraft, and I always liked to fly it.
Definitely one of the highlights was the flight around Cologne and to see the Cathedral from above. 👇Exactly 2 years ago I’ve visited the city and stood just next to it. Now also the view from above…
Cologne Cathedralral
Another highlight was the low pass at Köln-Bonn airport (EDDK). After the initial request, we got vectors (even though that we were flying under VFR rules) to perform the low pass not bellow 1.000 feet on the RWY 14L.
Coming in foe the lowpass at EDDK RWY 14L
After the low pass we continued to Düsseldorf. Beautiful and green countryside, however it was a bit dry because of the heat.
Düsseldorf City
On our way back to Hangelar we saw also this nice castle (Schloss Drachenburg).
Schloss DrachenburgApproach into Bonn-Hangelar airportFinal RWY 11 into Bonn Hangelar
I´ll just share with you some images taken during my short flight around Tenerife last week… Tried to mount the gopro on a different place of the plane (horizontal stabilizer) and I simply love the images!!!
At the end you can find a short video of the flight with my friend Dirk as co-pilot as well! He did a great job and we had a great time up in the air!
Come and enjoy the views with me!
Preflight selfie
The Vulcano at Güimar valley
Somewhere over the mountains between Güimar and Arico
Flying along the coast
Chasing the shadow…
Playa de las Américas
Costa los Gigantes from the air
Punta Teno
Punta de Teno & Pico del Teide
Sunshine above the clouds…
Enjoying the views.
Flying along the north coast of Tenerife
Moments before the landing at Tenerife North (TFN)
We were flying with my friend around the island, he is a commercial pilot and instructor as well; and it seems that the flight was a bit “boring” for him without making any manouvers, stall recoveries, etc.
So he just asked me during the flight: “Can you make at least some stall or something to make it a bit more entertaining”?
My response was pulling back the throttle maintaining the altitude with the yoke and centering the plane with the pedals until the Cessna stalled, followed by the recovery. It is pretty amazing, how difficult it is to stall a Cessna, it stays simply hanging in the air… If I compare it to the P28A which I use to fly more often, the Piper would be a piece of a brick falling from the sky 😀😀😀 comparing to the Cessna. Somehowe after this couple of flights I am starting to like the Cessna as well.
I have recorded the stall recovery with the Gopro mounted in the cockpit; unfortunately forgot to delete the files from the Gopro hanging outside on the wing, so I was only able to take 2-3 pictures (grrr) with it. It was hanging outside for nothing (creating more drag). I will have to create my personal “gopro checklist” haha before going out for flying to avoid bad surprises like this one. However, I like those 2 pictures i’ve taken… Quality before quantity (a good excuse), haha.
Somewhere over La Victoria, North Tenerife
It seemed that stalling Cessna was not enough so we have said: “engine failure”! Why not? First set the best gliding speed (around 70 kts) and searched for a field to land. Pretty difficult on a hilly volcanic island like Tenerife…
Searching for a field to land
The first and probably best option to avoid ditching in the sea was a golf course. We were gliding from 4’500 feet for a while and were trying to calculate the approach taking in consideration the weather conditions, etc. (we had a tailwind, so after the final turn we could be short of the field and…. do not think about the worse…).
When on the final of the golf field (almost with the golf players in sight), we have performed a go around and continued with the island tour. It was a very good excersise; sometimes it is necessary to go back to the basics and train the emergency procedures.
The funny thing is that a couple of days later a friend of mine who was playing on the course that day asked me: “Were you flying on saturday?” I answered, yes, it was me 😀😀😀. “I was thinking to hit you with the ball”, he said… I thought probably he recognized my flying technique ;-).
It has been a while since my last flight, the meteorology was not the best one, so I had to wait long to get airborne… Then maintanence on the piper had to be done so I´ve decided to fly again the club´s Reims 172.
I have purchased a second Gopro, this one is the latest model Gopro Hero3 Black+ and the difference between the White and this one is huuuuuge! The quality of the picture is much much better than of the White model. They shouldn’t be selling this model (white), as it is realy bad.
Today there was a very nice visitor to the Tenerife North Airport; the Beechcraft B-200 Super Kingair, privately held, was resting on the ramp. The plane was there already for a couple of weeks.
Beechcraft B-200 King Air, reg. N537EM
My today´s flight was scheduled with the club´s Reims 172 (the european version of Cessna 172). The last time I flew Cessna was 13 months ago… So why not to try it out again, to enhance my flying experience?
Reims 172 Skyhawk II, reg. EC-JGP
I have polished the windshields and have installed my 2 Gopro´s; of course, that the cheaper version was installed outside on the vertical stabilizer ;-). Using a lot of duct tape to secure it on the plane. I have spoken to the maintenence guy and they are going to install there an adhesive, which will offer a better views and will be easier and quicker to install, as it won´t be necessary to clean and polish the surface, etc…
Gopro Hero3 White on the Rudder
The new Gopro Hero3+ was installed inside and connected to the Intercom to record the ATC communications, which worked perfectly.
GoPro Hero 3 Black+ installed in the cockpit of the Reims/Cessna
Here you can see the connection between the camera and the Intercom to record the ATC communications. To see, what do you need to connect it, you can read more in my previous post.
Gopro connected to the airplane´s intercom
Having 2 camera will force me to get a better editor and spend even more time editing the videos… 😉 The views are realy nice. This one was taken with the camera situated outside (Gopro Hero3 White):
Cleared for take off RWY 12
Over the clouds
Unfortunately the battery died, so it wasn’t possible to record the landing… Inside, the Black+ made these pictures. I have to admit, that I preffer the look from Cessna/Reims, as the windshield is in one piece and it is not divided in 2 like at the Piper:
Take off roll
Over the clouds
Besides this I took a lot of pictures above the clouds with my Iphone. The countryside gets so nice and green in the wintertime here in Tenerife:
San Andrés
Playa de las Teresitas
Santa Cruz de Tenerife & Pico del Teide
Santa Cruz de Tenerife
Anaga
Anaga
I have edited a 3 minutes long video of this short local flight with the 2 cameras on board. More staff will be comming 😉
Fly with Stan - Sharing (not only my) flying experiences... 