Dear friends, some time ago I promised you to unveil my plans for my next adventure. Some troubles with Brutus delayed this announcement, but also the journey itself as I had in mind to start already this year. Brutus is still at the garage and repair still has to be started, however eventually the issues will be solved, and I am excited to share my plans with you. Also today three years ago I started my African adventure so for me a bit of a special day and a good moment to look ahead to new adventures.
Today we made it back home
Due to the clouds in Czech Republic we could not take off in time to get back home yesterday. In the end we got some great support from one of the folks at Mnichovo Hradiště Airport. He knew a way out, flying below the clouds and taking a route trough the valleys between the mountains. Especially one mountain pass would be tricky, if the clouds were to low we could not pass, but as he was living in that area he would drive there and give us a call to update us on the local situation. About an hour later he arrived at the mountain pass and the call was made, no clouds in the mountain pass. We quickly got in the plane and into the air. Flying just below the cloud we followed the route that was advised and indeed, at the mentioned pass the clouds started to clear up and we were able to gain height and get above the clouds. We escaped Czech Republic!
Troubles while getting home
Last morning at the airport of Szombathely things went a bit different. When going trough the airplane start up procedure we faced a problem with the self test of the primary and secondary ECU, both warning lights kept burning while they were supposed to go off after the self test. After consulting the maintenance guys of Wings over Holland we decided to fly to the manufacturer of the plane, which happend to be located in Wiener Neustadt, just over the border of Switzerland. Continue reading “Troubles while getting home”
Crossing Italy to Central Europe
On Saturday we made it to Fano, another Italian town with a nice old center. We rented a magnificent apartment close to the old city wall and were quickly enjoying our first beer on the local square. Later we checked out the beach, harbour and old town.
Over the Alps, to Elba
After our stay in Troyes we continued our trip. We flew over the Massif Central towards the Alps where we had a late lunch break at Chambéry. Then we crossed the Alps, for which we had to gain height to 1200 feet.
First lap achieved
We finished our first day of our fly over Europe tour, at Troyes in the Champagne area of France.
We started the day at Lelystad Airport. The initial plans were to fly to Germany, but after checking the weather forecast we decided to fly to France.
We’re going to fly over Europe!
While Brutus is at the garage and they are investigating what needs to be done and how much time and money it will costs to bring him back on four wheels, I’m going to make a short side trip with my friends Michiel and Jan. Continue reading “We’re going to fly over Europe!”
Troubles with Brutus
About one and half hours ago Brutus front left suspension broke off while driving from the campsite back home 😡 Luckily I was able to keep him in control and park the car in the berm. Long story short, Brutus had to be towed away and I’m taking the train back home…
I’ve got a new rooftop tent, and I already used it
Last Thursday I went for a look at an almost brand new Gordigear rooftop tent, only one and half months old. The owner decided that a campervan was more his thing and put it on sale. I gave it an evening to consider my options and although I had a somewhat smaller budget in mind for a secondhand rooftop tent the fact that it was almost brand new and still had 22 months warranty made me decide to buy the tent, of course after some negotiation about the price.
Continue reading “I’ve got a new rooftop tent, and I already used it”
The continuation of operation winch repair
After removing the winch I first removed the rope and cleaned all the debris from the winch. Then I took the winch apart and tested the motor, which seemed to work out fine. After putting the winch back together again everything worked, most probably the cleaning and refitting the thing solved the problem.
Continue reading “The continuation of operation winch repair”