Near Arnborg aerodrome, a beautiful glider (Duo Discus?) sculpture is erected on a roundabout:
I don’t recall other places in Denmark where a model of an aircraft would be used as a decoration on the road. Flemming and I were going to spend a weekend in Arnborg gliding site. We were supposed to fly to Arnborg in my Aeroprakt, but it was raining heavily on Friday, and therefore we drove there. Over the Great Belt Bridge:
In Arnborg, Klaus Degner invited for a dinner in his hut:
It was very nice to know that someone was waiting for you, and cooking a nice meal. Bjarne and Allan were also there – we had a very good company of pilots.
Though it was raining, we could seat on the Klaus’ heated terrace, enjoy the delicious dinner he served for us, and talk flying. We had a very cosy and relaxed evening.
On Saturday, the ceiling was low, and nobody was going to fly.
Flemming and I began our morning from a champagne breakfast, and Flemming baked waffles for us:
Strawberry in Jutland was way better than in Zealand where we live. It was directly from the fields, without being refrigerated in a storage first. The difference in taste was huge, and we had lots of them during that weekend.
After breakfast, we went for sightseeing in the area. Rind creek with its lush bushes of blooming trees:
Tar ovens in Hesselvig Plantation:
The ovens were in use since 1910 till the end of 1940’s, where charcoal and tar were produced. In 1994 the site was restored, and today anyone can visit it and learn about history of this industrial plant.
Klaus recommended us to visit Skarrild church, and see the memorial to British RAF airmen that were shot down in their Lancaster over the village in 1944. House in the background on the photo below is from 1844; it is the oldest house in Skarrild (after the church). Today, there is a museum (which was closed due to COVID-19):
The church is one of the oldest in Denmark, it was built around 1140. One of the pews is from 1624 (!):
Three flags are placed in one of the corners: Canadian and two of the British and Australian Air Force. The three flags were given to the church in gratitude for the way the village’s residents took care of seven dead airmen from Britain, Canada, and Australia:
British Lancaster ME 650 was on a mission to Köningsberg in 1944, together with other 173 bombers. One of them was shot by a Nazi fighter, and the aircraft caught fire. Over Skarrild the bomber broke off in the air, and felt down. None of the airmen survived. The Nazi would have buried them just there, but local people made sure the airmen were buried in the Skarrild cemetery. Many locals followed the airmen to the grave with flowers:
A charming old house on our way, with a modern garage:
It was raining in the evening; Flemming and I spent the time in our hut, having ice-cream with strawberries, and drinking champagne:
Sunday morning the weather front was over, and we hoped very much to go flying vintage gliders. Unfortunately for us, the national gliding team was also in Arnborg. On the morning briefing all were informed, the national team was given the first priority for take-off. That meant we could first go flying in the afternoon, around 2-3 p.m. which would be too late for us.
We went to the DaSK vintage gliders hangar:
Flemming with one of those beautiful birds:
In Arnborg, the area with huts is quite big, and the streets are named after the famous glider pilots. The monument below is dedicated to Svend Aage Sørensen “Janer” (1934 – 1970):
We said goodbye to or hut in Arnborg:
And headed home. The Great Belt Bridge:
Though we didn’t manage to fly vintage gliders that weekend, we had many other interesting activities, and had a chance to go sightseeing which we normally wouldn’t have the time for. And we had a wonderful weekend.
