Europe Trip 2011 #10: Off to the Deutsches Technikmuseum - 3

Ok, more aircraft from the Deutsches Technikmuseum. This time we one civil aircraft, a couple with both military and civil roles and some aircraft that really only have a military application :-)

Arado Ar 79, D-EMVT
Douglas DC3, "European Air Transport Service'/ USAF
Junker Ju 52/3m in Lufthansa livery
Messerschmitt Bf 109
Mikoyan-Gurewitch MiG-15bis
North American (FIAT) F-86K Sabre

Europe Trip 2011 #9: Off to the Deutsches Technikmuseum - 2

Here's my second series of photos from the Deutsches Technikmuseum in Berlin. I forgot to mention in my first posts that some of these images are quiet dark - apologies for that, but camera flashes are not permitted and probably wouldn't help much anyway :-(

On to the photos.

Lockheed L-1049G "Super Constellation" cockpit
Junkers Ju 88 [note the detached nose]
Fieseler Fi 156 "Storch"
Bücker Bü 181 "Bestmann"
Junkers Ju 87 [looking rather worse for wear :-)]
Klemm Kl 35, D-EDOD

Europe Trip 2011 #8: Off to the Deutsches Technikmuseum - 1

Today was my planned trip to visit the Deutsches Technikmuseum [German Museum of Technology]. It was an easy 25-30 minute walk from my hotel, so rather than pay for a taxi, I made the journey on foot. It's a better way to see the city anyway.

The main reason I wanted to go was to see the aviation section, although I was pleasantly surprised with the wide range of other displays and information. the staff were very helpful [one of them approached me and went out of her way to get some information for me], and at EUR6, you can't go wrong.
Needless to say there were a few aircraft I had seen before and many that I hadn't. The aircraft display area is not huge [there is far more room devoted to the trains], but it was still worth the walk! Apart from that, take a look at the first picture - any time you see a building with a Douglas DC3 suspended on the roof, it has got to be a good day! :-)

Anyway, to the pictures:

Douglas DC3 on the roof!
Otto Lilienthal's most advanced glider design
Jeannin Stahltaube design [title roughly translates as Jeannin Stahltaube a dove as a scout in the war]
Focke Achgelis Fa 330 "Bachstelze" gyrocopter [designed to be collapsible and operate from u-boats [submarines] as to expand the area the u-boat could observe]
Arado Ar 96 B-1 [the title text on this translated as Standard trainer of the fighter pilot]

[BTW - many thanks to Google Translate [!] for the rough translations and interpretations as above!!]

Europe Trip 2011 #7: Balloon ride in the middle of Berlin

I was out and about tonight and saw something a bit different - a tethered balloon ride! This balloon is designed to take tourists for a great view of the city, although I heard yesterday that is was EUR90, so way outside of what I would want to be paying!

Anyway, the interesting thing is that this appears to be on the German aircraft register, as it has a registration of D-OCUL! I guess it would be operating in controlled airspace [with 2 airports in close proximity], although it is tethered full time and I doubt it would be capable of [safe] untethered flight. Who knows!

The wording on the side says it all - der Welt translates as "the world", and yes, the world map on the side does include New Zealand :-)

Anyway, here it is!

Europe Trip #6: Tempelhof airport - RIP

While visiting the Fernsehturm or TV Tower in Berlin today, I took a photo of what used to be Tempelhof airport [ICAO code EDDI]. Unfortunately the combination of light, haze, rubbish glass and angle made for a stink picture, but it's the best one I got. Templehof was closed in 2008.

You will need to click on the image for a larger view. Tempelhof was the green patch in the middle of the image.

Europe Trip 2011 #5: BMI from London Heathrow

After a week in London [making a pretense at] babysitting the world's best looking and behaved infant [apologies to the rest of you who think your little darlings are best! Maybe I'm a little biased? :-)], I left London for a week in Berlin. 

The flight was on BMI [British Midland International], a subsidiary of Lufthansa, and was on an Airbus A319. The schedule called for a 14:40 departure, but with a delay in the catering [would you believe they told us that the catering truck broke down as it entered the airfield!!] and a massive airways delay, we got going about an hour later.

Unbelievably, even though my ticket amounted to only GBP14.50 plus about GBP34 in taxes, I got served a "meal", which consisted of some sort of wrap [actually quite nice] and a drink [they only had one type of beer, just as well it was Corona and not some dodgy British brew...]. All this with around 1 hr 20 mins in the air. Ok, so they didn't make any money on me, but they must have made some money out of some of the other passengers [the people sitting next to me paid around GBP24 plus taxes - still very cheap!]!

Anyway, a couple of photos. Nothing of the aircraft I was on, but a BMI Airbus A321-231, G-MEDM and a Lufthansa Airbus A320-211, D-AIQH at London Heathrow [ICAO: EGLL]. Nothing from Tegel airport [EDDT] unfortunately.

Europe Trip 2011 #4: Hong Kong aircraft - 3

In this final post from the brief stopover at Hong Kong we have the following:

Boeing 747-346, HS-UTN, registered to Orient Thai
Boeing 777-232LR, N702DN, registered to Delta Air Lines
Airbus A321-231, M-MAJ, registered to Air Macau
Boeing 767-346ER, JA603J, registered to Japan Airlines

Europe Trip 2011 #3: Hong Kong aircraft - 2

The next set of aircraft seen at Hong Kong were as follows:

Boeing 747-467, B-HUB, registered to Cathay Pacific
Bombardier BD-700-1A11, B-KMF, registered to "Fang Group" [anyone have any more details?]
Bombardier CL-600-2B16, N15VC, registered to "Bank of Utah Trustee"
Boeing 737-84P, B-KBU, registered to Hong Kong Airlines
Airbus A320-232, B-6585, registered to China Eastern Airlines 

Europe Trip 2011 #2: Hong Kong aircraft - 1

A stopover in Hong Kong [even if only a couple of hours] provides for a much greater variety of aircraft and airlines than we normally see in Wellington - and as far as the airlines are concerned, in New Zealand.

This next set of posts detail some of those aircraft. In this post, the aircraft are as follows:

Boeing 747-346, HS-UTW, registered to Orient Thai Airlines

Airbus A330-322, HS-TEJ, registered to Thai Airlines

Airbus A330-322, HS-TEL, registered to Thai Airlines

Airbus A330-223, B-LNG, registered to Hong Kong Airlines

Boeing 777-337/ER, VT-ALJ, registered to Air India

Boeing 747-412, B-HKF, registered to Cathay Pacific Airlines

Europe Trip 2011 #1: Wellington to London - the trip

Well, I've made it. all the way from Wellington to London in a little over 30 hours. Add in that I was awake for the preceding 10 hours, and that I only got 2-3 hours of broken sleep on the plane, it's a wonder that I feel human this morning!

The flights themselves were really good. The sectors were Wellington [ICAO code: NZWN] - Auckland [NZAA], Auckland - Hong Kong [VHHH] and Hong Kong to London Heathrow [EGLL]. I checked it out and no airline [that I could find] coukld get me from Wellington to London in a quicker time.

Air New Zealand gave me my requested standby upgrades [at effectively NZD$220 each] for both international sectors which was awesome, albeit with a window seat each time. Still, on the Hong Kong to London sector, the middle seat was free, so heaps of room to stretch out and relax and only one person to climb over :-) The service was great and it's a nice relaxing was to travel... now for a free upgrade to try business class? I don't think so somehow :-) All in all, well worth the extra dollars [Airports dollars anyway] for the upgrade!

Anyway, here are the first photos. Just three this time - the first light as we near Hong Kong, just after landing in Hong Kong and a picture of the Air NZ Boeing 777-219, ZK-OKA, that I traveled on all the way to London. You'll probably notice the engine... it is HUGE - an amazing piece of engineering.

The next post [when I get around to it] will have photos of many of the airlines I saw at Hong Kong.

Off on holiday!

Things might be a little quiet for a couple of weeks as I am off on a bit of a holiday in a few days. Do stay tuned however, as I hope to bring at least a few aviation related snaps from my quick trip "up north" [that is, the little continent they call "Europe"...]. Obviously, posting will be somewhat dependant on the availability of pictures and Wifi, although my hotels in Berlin and Prague advertise free Wifi, and London should be no problem, so I should be able to get some content up.

To follow the trip, you might also be interested in my other [non aviation] blog, the appropriately[?] named Rodney's World Travels and Other Grandiose Stuff :-).

Either way, there'll be a catch up when I get back.

Cheers,

Rodney

Today's Boeings

This final post for today consists of a number of the larger aircraft that frequent Wellington airport, mostly Boeings as it turns out... I did get some pictures of Airbus A320's, but not very good ones...

First up are a couple of Boeing 737-3U3's, ZK-SJC [airborne] and ZK-NGE [landing], both registered to Air New Zealand.

Second up is Boeing 737-838, ZK-ZQF, registered to Jetconnect [ie: Qantas] in their "Great Crusade"/ Rugby World Cup livery.

Lastly is a picture across to the international terminal with three aircraft from three airlines; Qantas/ Jetconnect Boeing 737-838, ZK-ZQE, Air New Zealand Airbus A320-232, ZK-OJA and Pacific Blue Boeing 737-8FE, ZK-PBL.

Today's helicopters

I saw two helicopters come in today. The first is the resident Westpac Rescue helicopter, a Kawasaki BK117 B-2, ZK-HLF, which is back in service after maintenance.

The second is the local Robinson R44, ZK-IDO, registered to Volare Aviation. This R44 is parked in the Club's hanger.

Today's light aircraft

It was another awesome weather day today, so the Club's fleet were outdoing their thing, which was good to see.

Of the other movements, at the lighter end of the scale were these three. The first is the Akrotech Giles G200, ZK-LGT [resident in the Club's hanger], the second was a Mooney M20C, ZK-CKF, of a Christchurch address, and lastly, Cessna 421C Golden Eagle, ZK-MFT, registered to Skyline Aviation in Napier.

Turbine and a Radial

Just two photos today from my visit to the Aero Club. The first is a Kawasaki BK117 B-2, ZK-IME, registered to Helicopters Otago Ltd. This helicopter has been filling in for the usual Westpac Rescue helicopter which was recently undergoing maintenance.

The second picture is of the radial engine in a Nanchang CJ6, ZK-MAO. Much nicer looking than a Lycoming :-).