The week before we went Elmar called
and asked me if I would join him for a small trip in the south of
Germany and suggested several bases we could visit during that week.During the weekend the decision was made that we would go and start
our trip on monday with our first stop at Ramstein and also this would
be our first nightstop. We started driving towards Ramstein at around 1
in the afternoon and after a 5 and a half hour drive from Friesland we
arrived at Ramstein and started of reading the serials from the
Bismarck-Turm which can be found driving into the village of Landstuhl
from which you have an exellent view over the platforms.
The next morning we visited the Kindsbach-hill from where you also have an exellent view over the platforms. To reach the hill follow the roadsign for the steigstraße and you will see for yourself. Afterwards we went to find a spot for taking landingshot but not much was happening and only 3 aircraft passed in front of my lens but a lot of aircraft were leaving so there was some activity. Around noon it was decided that waiting any longer for aircraft to arrive wasn't to be any good and we left for our next destination the surroundings of Neuburg. On our way towards Neuburg we first passed by Coleman Barracks but nothing was seen here but the gateguarding Huey.
The next morning we visited the Kindsbach-hill from where you also have an exellent view over the platforms. To reach the hill follow the roadsign for the steigstraße and you will see for yourself. Afterwards we went to find a spot for taking landingshot but not much was happening and only 3 aircraft passed in front of my lens but a lot of aircraft were leaving so there was some activity. Around noon it was decided that waiting any longer for aircraft to arrive wasn't to be any good and we left for our next destination the surroundings of Neuburg. On our way towards Neuburg we first passed by Coleman Barracks but nothing was seen here but the gateguarding Huey.
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Next stop was the factory of Eurocopter at Donauwörth to see if any of the helicopters would be
outside. Luckely for us they were flying late and still a lot of
activity was going on around 5 in the afternoon. At the time we arrived
a Tiger-helicopter was preparing for take off and a NH90 was preflight
checked and another was retuning from its flight. After just a few
minutes a the fence the security from the company itself paid us a visit
but there was nothing to worry about and they left as quick as they had
arrived. Afterwards we drove towards Neuburg to see if any of the
aircraft would be parked outside but sadly enough only the BDR F4E was
at the platform. Manching (home to WTD 61 which tests all new flying equipment) is just a short drive away from Neuburg so we paid it with a visit aswell and did a quick view at all the platforms that are visible from the outside. The next morning we started out at Manching again and hoping for some flyingactivity but nothing happened and only a CT49 from Geilenkirchen dropped in for picking up an AWACS which are being serviced at Manching. We decided to go back to Neuburg and hope to catch some EF2000's but only 1 was flying during the entire day and also the F4's did not appear in great numbers but we had 2 Mir F1CR's from Reims visiting to spice up our lives. |
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At 4 o'clock flying stopped and we
decided to drive towards our next stop which would be Lechfeld. On our
way we passed again the Eurocopterfactory so we had another look but
discovered that not much had changed since our last visit. When we
arrived at Lechfeld we drove past the maingate and saw a nicely
preserved Tornado just behind it(43+68). We stopped and asked at if it
would be possible to make a picture of it but we were not allowed to do
so, bad luck! Also in the vicinity of Lechfeld is Landberg which is home
to LTG61 who fly with UH-1D and C160D and the airfield is very open so
serials can easily been read off. After a nearly perfect score at Landsberg we headed back for our hotel to get some well deserved rest. The next day was spent waiting for Tornado which didn't come. We waite a total of 6 hours before we went off again. On our way to go back up north we took the way towards Stuttgart and were hoping for some nice visitors at the platforms. Once there we saw no less then 4 aircraft at the platform of which I personally liked the navy C40 the most. Next stop was Ramstein again and we also did some late evening shots of departing aircraft. We stayed here overnight and the next morning after a quick view we left to head for Spangdahlem. |
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Arriving at Spangdahlem we hoped for the return of the F16's who had been deployed State-side(22FS 18x F16C/D) and the ones stationed temporarely at nearby Büchel but our hopes faded away during the day and only 6 A10's did fly. Around 2 we were informed that a Malaysian A319 would visit Luik/Bierset around 4 so we decided to pack up and leave and hope we could catch it. Unfortunately we didn't see but it was seriously delayed but on the platform was a Saoudi Hercules to make it a trip worth while. At 6 we decided it was time to head back home and I arrived at homebase around 10 in the evening after driving 2700 km. |  |
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Jan Eenling© 2006-2010