Aero Expo Friedrichshafen 25 years

Aero Expo Friedrichshafen is the largest general aviation exhibition in Europe, representing aircraft from gliders to business jets. This year it celebrated its 25 years anniversary.

I was lucky to get an invitation from Niels and Christian to fly together with them. Around 7 a.m. we were ready:

Light rain to start with, but sunshine as soon as we climb to our flight level:

Time goes quickly in a good company:

Four hours in the air, and we were landing in Friedrichshafen:

A huge zeppelin airship with a portrait of Ferdinand von Zeppelin was floating around presenting unforgettable moments to those aboard:

There is Zeppelin museum in the city which we wanted but didn’t manage to visit. It has the worlds most extensive collection on the history of the airship travel. Figures of zeppelins can be seen many places in Friedrichshafen.

In front of the museum there is a zeppelin playground where even pilots can have fun.

The Aero Expo was overwhelming – around 700 exhibitors from 39 countries presented their products. It is difficult to point out something specific, so many interesting things we saw.

Gliders with jet engines:

Electric aircraft:

Rotax 915 iS that is going to be available from the second half of 2017:

All-metal aircraft, like this Skyper GT9:

Or this beautiful Eagle II:

We met other pilots from Denmark visiting the Aero Expo, and here we are on a coffee break:

Leaving Friedrichshafen was unfortunately necessary – we had to go back to work. A warm front and a headwind were on our way home, but nothing dramatic.

On the picture below is the tower of EDNY that did a great job during these extremely busy days. In general, everything was exceptionally organised. Arrival and departure services, information, catering, transportation, not to mention the hearty German hospitality.

Flying through the warm front was ok. In the end we were awarded by a beautiful sunset:

Night IFR was stunning. I was fascinated by the work of Christian and Niels – these two highly skilled pilots – and that was my greatest experience from the whole trip.