ASWAN TO DUBAI

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Hardened aircraft shelters at Aswan airport.

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Over Luxor and the Nile river.

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Leaving Egypt heading to Saudi Arabia.

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Ship heading to the Suez canal.

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West coast of Saudi Arabia.

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One hundred miles to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

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Flying over Doha Qatar.

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Over the Persian Gulf

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Santorini to Cairo to Aswan

 

L1000548Flying over Crete to PAXIS, our entry point into Egyptian airspace.

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Departed Mersa Matrum International airport and flew to 6th October airport just south of Cairo, where the airplane was to be hangared while we visited the Pyramids.  Fortunately, we made it just in time as a sandstorm approaching from the West the visibility dropped to almost zero.

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Eddie Gould our handler from General Aviation Support Egypt and Charley Brown,  the friendliest camel on the planet.

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Departing 6th October Airport you have to climb (circle) to 8500 feet over the airport before  they will allow you to speak with Cairo departure.

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Nile river.

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Germany to Greece

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Susan Parson, FAA — this one’s for you and all the fine folks within the FAA organization that make the FAA Safety Briefing a reality.  Christos Gr, Papazafiriou,  age 86, is the oldest active pilot in Greece.

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Bavarian Alps near the Eagles Nest in Germany

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Mountain top near Bosnia

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Can you find the tourist in this picture?

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Dinner in Thessaloniki, Greece – Tom Haines (Senior Vice President, Media and Outreach, AOPA), Anton Koutsoudakis (President, AOPA Greece), Adrian Eichhorn, Bill Costa (President, Aero Club Thessaloniki).

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Just a few miles from home!!

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A passerby carrying the Olympic Torch.

 

 

AERO 2016 in Friedrichshafen Germany

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I’m preparing to depart Germany as bad weather is quickly approaching from the North.  In fact, it’s supposed to snow here this weekend.  The visit here was a memorable one and perhaps the best part of any Expo proved to be true once again – the fellowship of Airmen!  AERO is Europe’s most important and largest trade show for General Aviation (over 600 exhibitors from 34 nations and it was an honor to be part of it.

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Comparing name tags with Toni Eichhorn (center) and Walter Eichhorn (right).  Toni is an A320 Captain with Lufthansa and his father Walter is a retired Lufthansa B747 Captain.  In their free time, they travel as a father and son aerobatics team to airshows in Germany and neighboring countries.  My father, a decorated Army pilot, and I never performed together but we did share many memorable flights in the Bonanza.  Guess you could say flying is in our blood on both sides of the pond!

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An Extra 330LE with an electric motor!

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Blue airplanes seem to be catching on!

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A reduced scale all carbon fiber L39.

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What every aviation event needs – a good dog or two!

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Walter (right) and Friedrich (left) in front of the VOLOCOPTER, the world’s first certified Multicopter.  Talk about cool this thing is amazing.   Walter and Friedrich own a Bonanza here in Germany and Walter and  I first met a few years ago at a Bonanzas to Oshkosh (B2OSH) party in, Wisconsin.  Small world.

So now the journey resumes.   Tomorrow Tom and I will fly to Greece.  Stay tuned for more exciting pictures and updates.

 

Bonjour from Normandy

On Saturday, 4/16, Tom Haines (AOPA) and I visited the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial and walked along Omaha Beach where D-day, the  battle of Normandy took place.  For anyone who has ever thought about visiting Normandy, make it happen.  Here are a few pictures from our adventure.

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Engineers lead the way! Fifth Engineer Special Brigade monument at Omaha Beach.

This is the Fifth Engineer Special Brigade monument at Omaha Beach.  As a retired Army Officer and former Combat Engineer, this monument has special meaning.  Engineers lead the way!

Church at the American Cemetery at Colleville Sur Mer, overlooking Omaha Beach.
Church at the American Cemetery at Colleville Sur Mer, overlooking Omaha Beach.

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The 172-acre cemetery contains the graves of nearly 10,000 United States military dead, most of whom lost their lives in the D-day landings and ensuing operations.

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“THEN IT ALL CAME DOWN TO THIS BRIEF DAY OF BATTLE ON THE COAST OF NORMANDY, AND FOR SO MANY OF THEM IT ENDED.  FOR THE REST OF US, WHAT HAS BEEN SINCE HAS NOT BEEN THE SAME.” By CAPT Charles Cawthon, US Army, 29th Infantry Division.  L1000086

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Santa Maria to Normandy

 

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At times I almost felt like I was flying across Lake Michigan.

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Can you find 33G?  She’s pictured here North East  of  Santa Maria  and a few hundred miles off the coast of Portugal.  Click on image to enlarge.