BAZflyer: Homewards

As days go it was a particularly ordinary one. Partly cloudy with a stiff bracing breeze. One might say, with tongue in cheek, that from a weather perspective it was another ordinary British day. However, putting climatic conditions to one side, it was also a day longingly anticipated by the Bazflyers. Today the homewards part of Round the World 2019 got underway...but not without a testing glitch...or three.

Out there waiting for the Bazflyers were more new adventures, maybe challenges, all wrapped in the addictive pursuit of flying a small airplane round the world. Not any small airplane, for the Bazflyers it is their much loved and trusty Piper Comanche ZK-BAZ.

But akin to the laws of physics, moving onwards also involves leaving something behind. For the Bazflyers it was leaving behind best friends. Whether they be old best friends or new best friends, saying “good bye” is a bit like leaving a part of oneself behind. It hurts. Many people walk in and out of a life, but only true friends leave footprints in the heart.

And so it was, with the Lycoming engine delivering full power and a propellor clawing at the air, ZK-BAZ parted company with the grass surface of Breighton Airfield on a short flight to Humberside Airport...just ten minutes away...a stop ostensibly scheduled for outwards boarder processing.

After landing and several telephone calls with Boarder Force officers, it progressively became apparent that a process once involving passports, forms and official stamps died on 1st July, even for New Zealanders! In short, there was no need to have landed at Humberside. But wait, it didn’t end there. Whilst boarder formalities were being sorted, Eurocontrol rejected the Bazflyers already accepted IFR flight plan due to activation of military training areas over the North Sea.

Finally, the trusty Comanche was unleashed again, this time with a new flight plan programmed in the GPS, a route skirting the Dutch and German coastlines on the way to the Danish island of Bornholm. The sky felt good. The crew relaxed. Minds meandered and in between essential flight duties, cockpit talk captured the essence of Round the World 2019...a world of wonderful friendly people with whom an interactive experience is nourishment for the soul. Memories last forever, never do they die. Friends stay together, never say goodbye.

Flight plan route from Humberside to Ronne. The flight was flown at FL100. PS...In case you noticed, due to an unmentioned glitch, the ‘tracker’ was not operating.

Somewhere along the way. Flight conditions were mostly good except for a cold front that required penetration with some icing.

Yorkshire countryside

Bornholm, Denmark countryside

Landing at Ronne off the ILS approach to Runway 29

Refuelling at Ronne with explosively expensive AVGAS

Discovered this rare treasure in a hangar on Ronne / Bornholm Airport (EKRN). It is a Danish designed and built aircraft from around 1946....a SKI KZ VIII.