2021 was a strange year… Lots of unwelcome changes and broken expectations, but also many good things, hmmm… like what? I actually struggled a bit finding those exceptionally good things worth mentioning 🙂 But the very good thing for all of us was of course the lifting of the COVID-19 restrictions during summer time, and the fact that we could fly all year around, at least in Denmark.
The 2021 began from snow and frost in January – I enjoyed flying over the snowy landscapes so much!
In April my pal Jens and I went on a 3-week flying vacation in Denmark. In those COVID-19 times we couldn’t fly abroad, and our ambition to fly Denmark around had to be tailored to the weather. And the weather wasn’t very good.
We stayed in different places, would normally rent a car, drive around and experience everything we could. We often didn’t know where we were going to stay, and once our booking was cancelled in the very last moment. But we had our sleeping bags with us, always some food and hot tea – in case we ended up somewhere we didn’t intend to:
The strong winds of the west coast of Jutland took us by surprise. I actually didn’t know the wind could be that violent in Denmark – the gusts were up to 53 knots, and we had to make sure my Aeroprakt wouldn’t be blown away. On the island of Mors, pilots from the flying club even placed a heavy road roller in front of it, for extra protection from the wind:
On the 23rd April, my OY-9797 had its first birthday. I ordered a special cake, and invited some of my club mates – we could be max 10 persons together in those corona-times.
We celebrated in the hangar, but it was so freezing cold – we had to move to the club house.
In May, I asked my friend Henrik whether he wanted to join me on a what was supposed to be a one-week trip to the island of Bornholm. We were lucky that the prognosis by windy.com stayed true, because there was only a very small window for us to fly.
On Bornholm, the weather was excellent. But not on Zealand! We simply couldn’t fly back home after a week, and had to stay there one week longer. We didn’t complain at all! I had my work laptop with me (I always do), and worked that second week from the island. Bornholm is such a rich place to explore – nature, culture, history… Henrik and I did a little bit of everything.
A house just north of the Hammershus, by the Hammerhavn, was a great place to stay in:
In the evenings, we often went to the beach to appreciate a sunset, and they were marvellous:
In June, I purchased a Garmin G5 instrument, as I was preparing for a four-week flying vacation somewhere in the Nordic countries:
Lars used lots of time to help me installing it, together with the external antenna. Basically, it was easy, but required thorough preparations. The most challenging part was attaching the RG400 cable to the TNC-connector. Lars even bought a special instrument for cutting the cable; in the end it was simply perfect:
For personal reasons, I couldn’t leave Denmark in July, and had to cancel my four-week flying vacation. I couldn’t fly abroad during summer, when the pandemic situation greatly improved, and when it was finally possible to fly to our neighbouring countries and beyond. Instead, it was again our beautiful Denmark: mostly several-day trips to its different islands together with Flemming. Staying in a tent under the wing was so cool!
Exploring the islands more in detail was also fun – all those secluded places you would otherwise not have the time for on a weekend trip… I fulfilled my dream of walking around the island of Anholt – 26 km in sand! On one of its remote beaches, I found a fossil of a fish head:
It is on my desk at home now, reminding me of the salty air of Anholt.
Flemming and I stayed in a tent by a beach, and there was sand everywhere, including our sleeping bags. The weather was excellent, and we spent many hours on Anholt’s wonderful beaches – sunbathing, swimming, having a drink…
Danish Aviators, the oldest pilots association in the world, held a fly-in on Samsø island in August to celebrate the 104 years anniversary of the association:
We were lucky with the weather, and many came by. The event was so good, it was decided to make it a tradition from now on.
During autumn, I could finally get abroad for some short trips. A couple of times to Höganäs, and a flight over the Kullaberg, one of the most beautiful places on Earth:
And a couple of times to Germany. I spent a weekend in Lübeck, and had a great solitude time there:
Engine in my Aeroprakt rounded 200 hours, and Lars helped again with the maintenance work:
Besides sewing a canopy cover for my aeroplane in 2020, I also made side compartments – to utilize the empty room near wings inside cockpit. I used both canopy cover and side pockets for more than a 1.5 year myself, and they turned out to be so good, that this year I decided to offer them as products to other pilots:
I have created a very quick website nawico.com where you can read more, and also order.
I was asked to write an article about Amelia Earhart, a famous aviatrix that vanished in 1937 over the Pacific on her attempt to become the first woman to complete a flight around the world. This article is going to be included into a book about the great adventurers which is going to be published by the Danish National museum. It was a great honour, and I used my December evenings for writing. I finished the article just before Christmas, on my skiing vacation in Sweden:
The map of airfields I landed on in 2021 – not much this year, but I stayed longer, explored many beautiful corners and hidden gems, and it was fun:
People who were my great companions on different flights and trips:
Many thanks to all of you, and look forward to fly more in 2022! Happy New Year!