Kiwi Connection

 

The Battle of Overloon began on September 26th, 1944 and lasted three weeks. A newly equipped German tank division was pitted against the U.S. Army’s 7th Armored Division. The Allies vastly underestimated the enemy’s size and strength, and the British wound up sending in two divisions to finish things. Nearly 2,500 soldiers and hundreds of civilians died in the battle. By the time the fighting migrated to the south and east, there wasn’t much left of the Dutch village of Overloon. Only one house survived intact. Today, the town of Overloon is home to the Dutch National War and Resistance Museum and the Marshall Museum which boasts one of the largest collections of military vehicles, vessels and aircraft in Europe. 

While in Holland the Bazflyers stayed with friends who live near Venlo, a town with an unusual WWII connection with New Zealand. It involves Bill Hickson who in 1943 was a New Zealand Air Force pilot on 35 Squadron based out of Graveley in England. Bill was shot down while on a night mission over Europe. He came down near Venlo but lost one of his flying boots in the process. Eventually captured by the Gestapo, Bill spent the remainder of the war in captivity. As for his boot, it was found and looked after by local Dutch people for the next 66 years before it was reunited with Bill on his 87th birthday.  Bill's infamous boot now resides in the RNZAF Museum at Wigram.

 

 

 

 

 

Dreams are Free

Dreaming necessarily precedes ambition and both of these are known to be vital ingredients for most of life's achievements. When it comes to aviation, there is nothing better than an air show to foster dreams and the Bazflyers attendance at Aero 2012 held in Friedrichshafen was definately a dreamtime experience. It's been many years since I last attended an international aviation trade show and that was with an interest in helicopters. 'Aero' is a trade show mainly about small aircraft and I "thought it would be an ideal place to get an overview of what's new in the fast growing LSA sector. LSA means Light Sport Aircraft or microlight aircraft for us Kiwi's. Why Aero? Well, the production of LSA aircraft is dominated by an increasing number of small European manufacturers and 'Aero' is their mecca.

LSA aircraft conform to design and manufacturing criteria not subject to the same onerous civil aviation regulations applicable to general aircraft manufacturers. In principle, LSA aircraft are limited to a maximum gross weight not exceeding 550 kg and no more than two seats. It was probably not envisaged at the outset that LSA would inspire so many talented aeronautical designers. Using carbon fibre materials, light weight components and a range of reliable engines the LSA sector has become a hot-bed of innovation and Aero is their showroom.

Statistics published for Aero 2012 suggest there are more than 100 manufacturer's of LSA aircraft, with most of them situated within Europe. More than likely the world-wide market is not big enough for all of these players, but if the aura of optimism at Aero 2012 was any indicator such incidentals do not seem to be inhibiting innovation or enthusiasm.

LSA no longer means a diminutive skin-and-bones airplane. Many aircraft in the category are suburb aviation machines in their own right. Examples have even completed round-the-world flights. One very sharp Italian design caught the Bazflyer's attention. It was a military looking 2-seater, beautifully rendered in carbon fibre with a top speed of 180 knots. Oh how fortunate dreaming is free…!

Some things are amazing

The Reichstag (parliament) building is a significant historical landmark in Berlin. The original building was opened in 1894 and used for the German parliament until it was severely damaged by a fire in 1933. Further damage occurred through bombing in WWII. Although the ruined building was partially restored in the 1960's, it wasn't until after German reunification that it underwent a reconstruction led by internationally renowned architect Norman Foster. Completed in 1999, this impressive building has now once again assumed its role as the meeting place of the German parliament.

A feature of the reconstructed Reichstag is the large glass dome at the very top of the building. The dome covers the main hall of the parliament and via a system of adjustable mirrors, beams natural light down to the parliament floor. To mitigate any adverse effects from strong sunlight there is a large sun shield that tracks the movement of the sun electronically. The dome also affords a 360-degree view of the surrounding Berlin cityscape.

With advance arrangement it is possible for visitors to enter the glass dome and walk inside it to the top. Bazflyer friends from the UK, Kate and Bill, had fortunately attended to this critical detail. At the duly appointed time the four of us were processed through German security and then let loose within this absolutely amazing construction. The view from the top of the dome, out across Berlin, was something else again.....

Another Brick in the Wall

First erected in 1961, the Berlin Wall was more than 140 kilometers in length. It snaked across the city dividing it into West and East sectors. At first, the Wall was a wire fence that was progressively enhanced to become a 3.6 metre high solid concrete barrier. Parallel to the Wall on the East side was a heavily patrolled barren strip of land 100 metres wide. This strip became known as the Death Strip. During the Wall's 28-years of operation around 5,000 people managed to successfully defect from East to West Berlin, but there were many who were either captured or killed in the process. 

The Wall dominated Berlin life every day through to its historic fall in November 1989. The significance of this event did not just liberate the people of East Berlin, it also liberated all of the former Soviet dominated German territories. German unification quickly followed and Berlin once again resumed its role as the political capital of the German Republic. 

Nowadays, the Wall exists only as a line of bricks set into the ground. Bricks silently marking the Wall's former position. Then of course there is a variety of memorabilia sold by street vendors. Less than a year after the Berlin Wall fell pop artists from around the world performed a memorable concert in Berlin at Potsdamer Platz. The significance of this concert lives on today with the Roger Waters rendition of Pink Floyd's album "The Wall". Just like Berlin's line of bricks in the ground this great piece of music also lives-on as Wall memorabilia.....!

Checkpoint Charlie

Checkpoint Charlie was the name given by Western Allies to the best known Berlin Wall crossing point between East Berlin and West Berlin during the Cold War. Erected by the Soviet Union in 1961, the wall divided Berlin with its main purpose to prevent Eastern Bloc emigration to the West. During its 28-year active life the wall was a constant reminder of East-West tensions and has featured in many spy movies and books.

The Soviet Union cut off land access to Berlin after the end of WWII hence beginning one of the first major international crises of the Cold War. What followed was the massive Berlin Airlift. Over 200,000 flights a year provided Berliner's with their daily necessities such as food and fuel. Not well known was that Royal New Zealand Air Force aircrew were involved flying alongside their American, British and Australian counterparts. The airlift ended in 1949 after negotiations provided a permanent access corridor to Berlin across East Germany. 

While in Berlin the Bazflyers are staying in a delightful small hotel which is just around the corner from Checkpoint Charlie. In its former life the 'Wall' went smack through the middle of the hotel. I suppose you could say we are using Checkpoint Charlie every day…..

Airline Baggage

Our thirteen hour night-time flight westwards from Korea, across the Soviet Union and into European airspace, was uneventful and bland…so typical of modern transcontinental air travel. Every day, hour on hour, thousands of aircraft criss-cross the globe relentlessly moving people and cargo from one country to another. The reliability, efficiency and safety of all this activity never ceases to keep the Bazflyer's in awe.  Its akin to magic that one's luggage can disappear down a conveyer belt at the check-in desk and then reappear with 99.9% reliability after disembarking in another country thousands of kilometers away!

Thanks to the airline industry's unending quest for safety and internationally accepted regulation, modern air travel has become the safest form of mass transportation operating today. Aviation safety records and industry statistics stand as testimony to this fact. So how is it that even a casual aviation incident so frequently becomes a media headline?  News flash…"airliner with 180 passengers lands safely at Auckland Airport after reporting a hydraulic systems failure shortly after takeoff".  No mention the aircraft by its design had fully redundant hydraulic systems. No mention the crew were simply conforming to their 'safety-first' airline operations policy. 

The Bazflyers often wonder what motivates our media when it comes to headlines and aviation serves as a graphic example. A private light aircraft crash becomes an instant headline even although the sole occupant pilot was uninjured. On the same day there may have been several vehicle crashes on our roads were the occupants were injured and none of these warranted even a passing mention by the media. Why this distinction…?

Our route from Seoul to Berlin necessarily took us first to Madrid where our Boeing 777 touched down in the calm stillness of a pre-dawn morning. Later, from the precinct of a somewhat tired airport lounge we watched the light of a new day color the sky…a scene that seemed appropriate for my imaginary Madrid. 

From here our Korean Air flight continued on to Amsterdam where there was more waiting before the final hop, this time courtesy of KLM, from Amsterdam to Berlin And in case you were concerned about our luggage? There it was, just like magic, riding along the conveyer belt for the Bazflyers to collect….

Ancient to Modern

I doubt there is anywhere in Seoul, overground or underground, that you can not connect to the Internet with high speed broadband. Seoul is the most data connected city in the world and the evidence of this is visible everywhere. The use of tablet computers in education is not a discussion, every student has one. Mobile and broadband TV is the norm, there are no TV antennas to be seen.

While the Bazflyers were on one of our wanderings in Seoul we came across a restored Bongsu. While examining the interesting stone structure a thought occurred to us that perhaps Korea's embodiment of broadband connectivity was simply history reoccurring in a different format. 

Baz Copilot

Somewhere around 1150, Korea established a beacon signaling system called Bongsu which means 'beacon and smoke'. These were used to deliver urgent military information from the boarder area to the capital. The system consisted of beacon towers built on high hills and mountain peaks at intervals of several to tens of kilometers. These towers used smoke during daytime and beacon fires by night to convey messages. Bongsu were an important part of the central nervous system of the nation and indispensable in maintaining an effective centralized rule.

Restored Bongsu

In today''s world Seoul's central nervous system is most definitely high-speed broadband and the economic benefits this enables are not hard to see. Consumer products from Sumsung, LG and other Korean technology companies dominate global markets. Our visit to Seoul's bustling electronic market place was electronics on another planet. Covering an area the size of a small New Zealand town were shops and high rise buildings ALL dedicated to some aspect of computer hardware, electronics and IT services of every description. Not easy to describe but begin with Dick Smith's on steroids and then multiply it by a big number. Unbelievable….! 

Electronics Market

Waiting for the Train

The de facto boundary between South and North Korea bisects the Korean Peninsular along the 38th parallel. Originally established at the end of WWII as a brief division between the United States and Soviet administration areas, it became a de facto political boarder when the Korean War ended in 1953.

The Korean War commenced on June 25, 1950 with a surprise full-front invasion into the south by Communist military forces from the north. This bitter war claimed more than three million lives, devastated much of South Korea and ended in 1953 after international intervention pushed the front back to the 38th parallel. A demilitarized zone (DMZ) was created as each side agreed to move their troops back 2,000 m from the front line, creating a buffer zone 4 km wide. Sixty years later Korea is still a divided nation separated by the most heavily militarized boarder in the world. 

Korean War Images

Tours to the DMZ operate out of Seoul and such an opportunity was a compelling "do' for the Bazflyers. From a strategic vantage point our view across the desolate fog draped DMZ landscape was chilling enough and the ever present armed soldiers cemented a strong feeling of being at the font-line. Every young South Korean male is required to complete 21 months of military service and many of them serve duty at observation posts along the 250 kilometer DMZ. 

South Korea views the north as a significant threat. This sentiment is especially heightened at present while North Korea continues its quest to test launch an intercontinental range missile and develop a nuclear weapon's program. 

However, despite such aggravation, South Korean's live in hope for eventual reunification. A modern symbol of this hope must be the Dorasan Railway Station. Located at the boarder crossing and built with South Korean donations, this complex sits silently waiting for the resumption of train services between North and South Korea.

Dorasan Railway Station

Everyday Style

Wander around Seoul and one can not help but admire the impeccable dress style of all the ladies. Now, to be clear this is not solely a male's point of view…the Bazflyers are a couple and the observation was a mutual one. Individualized fashion is everywhere. Department stores in central Seoul are filled with the usual array of international fashion brand suspects resplendent with their usual high end prices. So how do all the woman manage to dress so well and with style? They either have sufficient disposal income to shop in main street department stores, which somehow seemed incongruous, or there was an other piece to this puzzle. 

In a quest to solve this fashion quandary the Bazflyers descended below street level and onto the superb and highly efficient Seoul Metro. We surfaced a few kilometers from the central city right in the middle of Seoul's fashion district and markets and the scene was nothing short of overwhelming. 

The fashion markets cover many city blocks in area. Around the periphery there are hundreds of small vendors selling every conceivable fabric and notion used in fashion. Think of it and there was a row of specialist vendor shops ready to supply. Buttons of every possible type and design. Zips, bling, threads, fabrics and more. Thread your way through a maze of alleyways, side streets and multiple floors and mirage-like you find yourself in the midst of a another market place where hundreds of vendors are selling fully made-up fashion. These are not cheap knock-offs of main street brands but outlets for Seoul's young fashion designers. Quality manufactured goods like jackets, tops, dresses, shoes, bags and accessories abound all at very affordable prices.

Seoul's fashion markets are filled with thousands of shoppers every night until it closes after 10 pm. Eureka…we discovered how all the Seoul ladies dress so stylishly.

Stream of Life

Seoul is built on the Han River which is remarkably broad for such a short river. Over the centuries of time this river has provided the city with a navigable connection to the Yellow Sea.  However, for the Bazflyers, a small tributary stream running through central Seoul won us over as both charming and a great example of environmental innovation. 

The Cheong Gye Cheon stream was formally the domain of shanty settlements and a place where housewives gathered to do laundry while their children played. Efforts to improve the poor aesthetic condition of the stream in 1958 saw it covered with concrete and in 1976 an elevated highway was built over top. Consequently, Cheong Gye Cheon, which was once regarded as a symbol of the nation's development and growth, had vanished.

Today, the stream serves as a wonderful example of people's vision and environmental restoration work. Culture and tradition have been restored in a way that few could have imagined. What a beautiful place…..

History behind the name

Seoul is the Korean word for 'Capital City' but it has not always been known by this name. When Imperial Japan annexed the Korean Empire in 1910 Seoul was the colonial capital and the city was named Gyeongseong. After Japan's defeat in World War II and Korea's liberation, the city took its present name of Seoul. 

In 1950, the Korean War broke out and Seoul changed hands between the North Korean forces and South Korean forces no less than four times, leaving the city largely destroyed at the end of the war. One estimate of the extensive damage states that at least 191,000 buildings, 55,000 houses, and 1,000 factories lay in ruins. The Korean War also had a dramatic influence on New Zealand’s economy. A wool boom brought great prosperity but also provided a backdrop to the bitter waterfront dispute of 1951. 

The involvement of New Zealand in the Korean War was significant. The Royal New Zealand Navy deployed six frigates. These vessels served under the command of a British flag officer performing shore raids and inland bombardment. New Zealand also provided an army volunteer force that was known as 'Kayforce'. The 1056 man force arrived at Pusan on New Year's Eve 1950 and was in action three weeks later. Thereafter it took part in the operations which led the UN forces back to and over the 38th Parallel, recapturing Seoul in the process. A total of 3,794 New Zealand soldiers served in Kayforce and 1,300 in the RNZN deployment. 33 were killed in action, 79 wounded and 1 soldier was taken prisoner. That prisoner was held in North Korea for eighteen months and repatriated after the armistices. 

It always seems right to me for history to be overtaken by progress and perhaps, after all, this, more than anything else, echoes the strength of Seoul. Walking the city's streets today I had difficulty locating any reminders of its occupation and war history. This part of its history has been well and truly subdued by modern towering monuments to Korea's global economic strength and the exercise of individual freedom. 

Mega City

Bazflyer's are small town folk at heart. We unashamedly acknowledge there is a comfortable and inevitable smug introspective that accompanies such a lifestyle. Small town is good. However, every now and then nothing serves quite like a mega-city experience to put our situation on this planet into proper perspective. On this occasion we have chosen to checkout Seoul in South Korea. This city has a population of more than 20 million and ranks after Toyko as the earth's second most populous city so there's no doubt here on it's mega-city status.

Our travel from Auckland north west around the globe to Seoul took 12 hours in a Korean Airline Boeing 777. There was no hardship in this journey cloistered in the comfort of business class which the Bazflyer's justified as research for BAZ's new crew seats…! When our flight touched down at Incheon International Airport the late afternoon sun displayed as a spectacular orange ball of light hovering above the distant horizon. What a perfect setting for an airport that has rated the bast airport in the world since 2005. Immigration, baggage claim and airport exit was a seamless process and less than 30 minutes after disembarkation were were on a coach traveling into the city centre.   

The Christchurch earthquakes have highlighted how precious some New Zealander's can become over a few 100 year old buildings and a city's rebuild. In this regard Seoul stands as a stark comparison. It has an amazing 2000 year history as a major settlement but that has not prevented it from having the most technologically advanced infrastructure in the world. Our hotel is located in the middle of downtown Seoul. I can't wait to explore…..!

 Early morning downtown Seoul

Aviation Milestones

Aviation has been and still is the corner-plank of my life interests and it's no joke the Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) came into being on the 1st of April 1937. A short few years later New Zealand's fledging Air Force was fully engaged in WWII, initially alongside Briton in the European theatre and then throughout the Pacific campaign. 

By the time I left high school and enlisted in the New Zealand Air Force in January 1963 it was well and truly a mature organization with a proud fighting history. That milestone was nearly 50 years ago, when aptly termed a 'Boy Entrant', I assembled with a disparate bunch of other 'kids' for the first time at RNZAF Base Woodbourne. Many of us plan to gather again at Woodbourne next year to commemorate the occasion. 

Commemorating historical milestones is an important aspect of our being…and so it was on the 31st March the Royal New Zealand Air Force commemorated it's 75th anniversary with an open day and air display at RNZAF Base Ohakea. This anniversary air show was a 'must-attend' occasion on the Bazflyer's calendar. Not only was it a significant historical milestone but in my youthful years, immediately prior to training as a pilot, I resided in barracks on Ohakea Base while working as an electrical fitter on 14 Squadron. Back in those days the squadron operated Canberra bombers. Later on when flying UH-1 Iroquois helicopters I often landed at Ohakea to refuel. 

We flew BAZ from Taupo to Ohakea and landed within the assigned 2-hour period along with some  other 130 light aircraft. Yes it was a very busy arrival but flying-in turned out to be more preferable to arriving by vehicle. When the flight displays commenced at 10 am vehicle traffic was still backed-up 30 kilometers in every direction. More than 70,000 people made it to the venue but many were thwarted by the traffic chaos and unfortunately missed a magnificent day. 

The sky was blue and the Air Force treated spectators to a 5-hour non-stop aerial show that featured nearly every aircraft type ever operated by the RNZAF. There wasn't a Canberra bomber but my old helicopter unit, No.3 Squadron, was well represented.  When I flew helicopters the squadron was based at Hobsonville but nowadays it's permanent home is Ohakea. In a manner similar to 'grandfather's axe'  the very same UH-1 Iroquois helicopters I flew in the early 70's are still doing sterling service but not for much longer. No.3 Squadron is presently re-equipping with brand new state of the art Augusta 109 LUH and NH90 helicopters. As expected my old squadron and today's youthful aircrew put on a masterful display featuring both the old Iroquois and their smart new fling-wing aircraft. 

As we taxied onto the runway for our flight back to Taupo, the controller in Ohakea tower cleared BAZ for take-off and as the Comanche gathered speed I wondered, just briefly, what he would have thought if he knew the pilot and his airplane respective both began their aviation careers 50 years ago……!