Bo Rønnow is the only Dane who has crossed Atlantic four times in an ultralight aircraft. The tours were to Iceland. First time it was in 2013, and last time – this year, when Bo left in June, and returned back in September. On his way, among other places, he visited Shetland and Faroe islands. I closely followed Bo’s reports from this dramatic tour on Facebook. When he landed back home on the 9th September, there were family and friends in the airport, TV and reporters, all warmly welcoming Bo. I wanted to hear about this tour directly from Bo, and we agreed to meet.
On a cold morning in December my friend Vagn and I headed for Revninge, a small private aerodrome in the north-east of Funen island, where Bo Rønnow hosts monthly Pancakes Fly-ins called Pannkosh. All profit from these fly-ins goes to the “SOS children’s villages” organisation that helps children in need.
On left base for landing on runway 18 in Revninge that I indicated with a yellow stippled line:
Bo welcomed us to Revninge, and drove us to Kerteminde, a small town by the see, for a sight-seeing tour. We parked by the church, and went for a walk, looking for a nice place to have lunch in.
Kerteminde is known from the Middle Ages, but the town existed as a fishing village long time before that. Today, it has around 6,000 inhabitants, and a number of well-preserved old buildings, the heritage of Denmark. One of them, the Andresen’s Merchant House from the end of 1500s:
With Bo, in one of the gates of the backyards of the Andresen’s Merchant House – that one was very low, probably for the servants:
On the corner, with the Kerteminde Fjord on one side, and the Kerteminde Bay on the other, was a good-looking cafe Lulu which we entered:
We sat by the window, enjoying good food and drinks, and listening to the Bo’s captivating stories from the flights over Atlantic, about the interesting people he met and the exciting things he experienced.
Bo is going to write a book about his trip, and I look forward to its release. I read Bo’s book about his similar trip in 2013 that can be ordered on Bo’s website, but nothing can be compared to talking face-to-face with the one who undertook such a trip on his own.
After lunch, we walked through the beautiful streets of Kerteminde, and adored its old buildings:
A cosy Christmas shop in the centre:
Bo showed us his favourite ice-cream shop, and Vagn wanted to memorise it:
One of the older buildings in Kerteminde, probably a former merchant house, with an advertisement on the wall of a poisoned soup for rats and mice that kills instantly!
I’ve seen rats on the streets of Copenhagen where I live several times, and always thought that those poor animals needed to survive as much as anyone else… The problem is they bring diseases to humans, among other – plague…
By the sculpture of Johannes Larsen and Fritz Syberg, famous painters from the Kerteminde area, created by Bjørn Nordahl in 2006:
Bo drove us around, and we saw many beautiful things throughout Kerteminde:
A house built in an old windmill, what a nice creation!
Bright orange pumpkin fields:
Bo also showed us the cute villages nearby, and drove to the highest top from where we had a beautiful view to the Romsø island. Before leaving, we had a cup of tea with chocolate in the “club house” of Revninge aerodrome:
It was such a wonderful day together with Bo! Vagn and I were grateful for the time Bo dedicated to our visit. Bo is going to do lectures about his last trip, in different corners of Denmark. I hope very much he is also going to do it in my home flying club so that my club mates would also get a chance to hear about Bo’s great adventures, and to get inspired.
On take-off, about 50 feet over the runway:
Dramatic colours lighting up the dawn skies, very suitable to the stories we heard that day:
Many thanks to Bo for taking the time to spend the day together!
