Last weekend the weather wasn’t very good. On Saturday it was raining, but on Sunday it cleared up a bit. Simone and I wanted to go flying together, and we just hoped to be airborne for a local flight. I came to my flying club Albatros earlier, checked the weather one more time – and it was good to go to Sweden!
We were so happy our intention of flying together could materialise! We decided to fly to Höganäs – it has been a long time since both Simone and I visited it. We flew by Grønholt aerodrome, a place where Simone’s Piper Colt from 1961, she flew in to Afghanistan in 2002, is parked in one of the hangars:
The 3-month trip to Afghanistan had a purpose: Simone had read a newspaper article about a teenager girl in Afghanistan whose dream was to become a pilot, and wanted to give that girl an experience of flight, and to help her to break down the boundaries in going beyond a dream. Simone made a documentary about that mission, a film called “Smiling in a war zone” that won the “Full Frame Women in Leadership Award” in 2006. You can get a DVD with this film in a any library in Denmark, and watch it at home. I’ve seen it several times, it is very inspirational.
We continued to Höganäs, but wanted to fly over the Kullaberg peninsula first – both Simone and I are very fond of this wild and beautiful nature reserve, with its ravishing rocks, steep cliffs, and breathtaking views.
When I told my Swedish friend Peter, with whom I went on a couple of flying trips together, about my passion for Kullaberg, he recommended to watch a film Kullamannen, a TV-series from 1967. I found it on youtube, and what a joy it was to watch that crime movie – besides the intriguing content, I saw all those places I’ve visited many times, from air, by water, and on foot – and they looked exactly the same!
Simone and I flew around the Kullaberg several times, had a look at the Nimis and Arx, and the town of Mölle:
We landed in Höganäs, took our bags and went to the club house.
First – filing of a flight plan and weather checks:
Look at the selection of ice-cream:
Simone opted for the one with liquorice, and I had my favourite – dark chocolate with dark chocolate:
Well, the days are quite short at this time of the year, and we soon had to hurry up back home. There was another aircraft departing before us:
A nice and light cloud formation right after leaving Höganäs:
Simone and I waved goodbye to hospitable Sweden before heading for Denmark:
Meanwhile, the sun was setting down somewhere behind the clouds, and the colours on our way were incredibly beautiful, like this baby blue:
We admired the stunning views, and constantly expressed our gratitude for being able to admire the nature.
Simone is not only a pilot, she is a well-known artist. One of my favourite work of hers is Sisters in The Sky, consisting of 45 paintings of female pilots flying military aircraft during the WWII. I took the photo below in November 2018 when Sisters in The Sky was exhibited at Louisiana, and one of the evenings Simone herself did the introduction:
I remember that day very well, because I had an urgent delivery at work that had to be presented on the following early morning. But I didn’t want to miss this chance of meeting Simone by her art, so I made an agreement at work that I’d go to Louisiana, and work after that at night – and I did, till early morning. The deadlines were met, and I had a wonderful evening in Louisiana, listening to Simone and experiencing the Sisters in The Sky through her eyes.
This year, Simone did an extension to this work in China, with 18 portraits of Chinese female pilots. I hope very much this extension will come to Denmark one day.
We were getting closer to my home airfield in Måløv, and it was nice to see the lights on the ground becoming brighter during the twilight time:
After landing, Simone helped with cleaning the aeroplane:
And I did the paper work:
We agreed to go flying together again soon.
