Four Aircraft Head for Greece. Day One

On Saturday the 29th, Teams Alaska (Nick and Lita), Barnstormers (Keith and Colin), SoCal Travel Air (Pedro and Emily), Frog and Kiwi (Cedric and Alexandra), and a support flight piloted by Manfredo and Francois with a Piper Warrior departed Charleroi with the intention of making it to Avignon, France.  We all looked forward to the first day of flying to the rally's starting line in Crete.  The weather in and around Charleroi was beautiful and weather enroute looked pretty good.

In a spacious briefing room at the back of a large hangar, we all gathered around to sync our Sky Demon and Air Nav Pro programs on our devices to the routing Cedric had devised for us after we all had had time to evaluate weather forecasts, com (communication) frequencies, and clear up any questions.  iPads and GPS devices aside, it felt a bit like being in a mission briefing before scrambling to our biplanes to head out in pursuit of the Red Baron.  Snoopy would be jealous.

With Cedric and Alexandra in the lead with their Stampe, we took off with a clearance for Vintage Air Rally aircraft 1 through 4.  We got off an hour later than we had hoped as some media people arrived to take pictures, ask questions, and do a little filming.  We were delighted they came as for all of us, this is a big undertaking and we appreciated the attention.

Taxiing out for take-off from Charleroi.

 Cedric and Alexandra's Stampe leading "the Pack".  The rally organizers made up flag decals for each aircraft which went on the vertical stablizer and rudder.




 Looking over my shoulder and seeing the other aircraft lifting off the runway behind us and climbing to our pattern altitude made me realize we were really on our way and soon we would be linked up with the rest of the rally participants in Greece.  It was such an exhilarating feeling to see all of us climbing in unison. 

Teams Barnstormers and SoCal Travel Air doing their runups in Charleroi.




 Alexandra handled a lot of the radio work and weather updating which she passed on to all of us on the 123.45 frequency.  The coordination was great, as were the great views of French farming country.  As in so many remote places in the world that have come to recognize the necessity of cleaner energy, giant wind generators whirred efficiently on various plateaus along our route.  Seeing these ones made me think of the ones erected on the ridge above Unalakleet that I always admired every time I had a flight there with PenAir.

The landscape also showed thick, autumn bronze tinted forests corralling luscious green fields dotted with sheep, goats, and cows peacefully sharing space.

We approached our first refueling stop in Dijon.  With coordinated formation we landed one after the other.  Space in the Travel Air is a little cramped. We are quite limited in what we can carry on board with us (hence the support aircraft).  My back pack is under Nick's seat, our life vests -- when we're not wearing them over water -- are under my seat, an army bag the size of a large purse is also under my seat, a first aid kit is in Nick's cockpit, the raft (approximately 14"x14"x3") is on my seat to my right being a large armrest, and Nick's bag is on my seat to my left.  On the panel in front of me is mounted my iPad which gets programmed every morning with the flight routing for the day.  Nick has a smaller iPad mounted on his panel with the same program.  Sky Demon seems to work best for us.  Colin has his iPad programmed with it too, and Keith uses his GPS.  So, getting out of the Travel Air after two and a half hours of flight involves a bit of twisting, turning, and high stepping all at once.  On the ground, it felt so good to stretch and stamp our feet.

We oversaw the  refueling of our aircraft and then made beelines for the small terminal and the restrooms. A slight misunderstanding with a couple of pilots in crew uniforms in what we all thought was an FBO since it was marked as such caused a little stir when Keith innocently availed himself of some coffee from a beverage service table with stacked ceramic cups and saucers, and cream and sugar containers. Cedric and Alexandra had already passed through this area into an adjacent building where the restrooms were and where passengers board their regional small aircraft for outlying villages.  Poor Keith had barely taken a sip when one of the pilots approached him and in rapid fire French made it clear that a serious breech had been made.  Apparently, this "FBO" was for flight crews of high-end executive jet aircraft and not crews of vintage aircraft wearing coveralls and sporting 'helmet hair' and 'goggle noses'.  Keith offered to pay for the coffee but the damage to the prestige of this office with all the trappings of a modest crew lounge was too severe.  I wanted to inform the men that if they cared to know our resume, we had dined in the best restaurant in Namur, Belgium dressed just as we were, but thought better of it....of course.  No time for an international incident over a cup of coffee.  Also, we became aware that these "pilots" may have been employed in some security capacity as well when one of them brought a pair of handcuffs.  Needless to say, we retreated into the other building where a coffee kiosk dispenser was and where a customs official had a desk.  We gathered once again as a group to get briefed on the next leg to Avignon.  We rose to exit and head to our aircraft when one of the FBO pilots went to the customs official and spoke to him in low tones while looking over at us.

It took us 20 minutes to fill out forms, have our passports checked, have pilot license numbers entered in a database, and in general be given a thorough once over.  The delay made it clear that after our late start in Charleroi, we would not make Avignon well enough before dark.  So, on to Macon instead.

 Posing before leaving Dijon

Cedric and Alexandra going over flight plan.

 

 Approaching Macon where we RONed

Charleroi, Belgium

Cedric and Alexandra actually live in Brussels, 35 minutes from Charleroi Airport where - on the general aviation side of this busy airport -- they run a flight school.  They are a very busy couple who decided they couldn't pass up the Crete2Cape adventure and so made the commitment to join the rally.  Like us, they searched for and bought their biplane aircraft to help celebrate the era of early flying in Africa.  They chose a Belgium-made Stampe --one of 65 used as trainers in the early 1950s as the earlier ones before the war were all destroyed at war's end.

We stayed in Charleroi 4 nights as Cedric and Alex prepared their school for their leave of absence.  We enjoyed meeting some of their pilot friends -  many of whom Cedric had instructed.  We also learned some interesting things about the routing we would take to Crete. Cedric and  Alex have flown around Europe and parts of Africa extensively and so the sharing of their knowledge base is very welcomed by us.

We visited the town of Namur for a late dinner at a Chateau restaurant which one of the pilots at the school recommended to us. It is perched on a hill overlooking the town.  When we got to the restaurant we became aware that it looked too fancy for 6 scruffy looking aviators who were not prepared to pack fancy dinner attire for this leg of our trip.  (... our nonessential items for the trip to Crete went on ahead  on the Cessna Grand Caravan.)  The dining room was exquisite with white linen table cloths, hanging crystal chandeliers, beautifully arranged potted plants and tall French doors adorned with sheer drapes accessorized with velvet cinches.  We fully expected to be turned away by the portly, straight-backed maitre d'. Dinner guests in elegant attire talked in low tones as they sipped fine wines and properly adjusted the linen napkins on their non-fidgeting laps.   Like a well choreographed bit of staging they all seemed to stop and look up at us at the same time with curious and guarded stares.  Interestingly, the head waiter didn't care that we were dressed for a tour of a livestock facility. We were led to a table in the middle of the room careful to tread lightly with our boots so as not to shatter the ambience of candle lit tables and whispered intrigues by diners nearby.  Once seated, I thought it wonderful that in this day and age the standards of 'fine dining' had relaxed and we went on to be treated by the efficient and impeccably dressed staff with such respect and artful grace.

It was then we learned that the staff were all culinary students from the culinary academy next door and were practicing their craft while possibly being graded by instructors dressed up as high end clientele.  Our table's server was a young man of about 19 or 20  - so tall and skinny, wearing a black suit with bow tie and glistening black shoes.  He moved and darted so quickly I was afraid he would slip on the polished floor. With straight back, he bent slightly at the waist every time he presented a platter of food to each of us.  Think Downton Abbey dining.

However, the part where the waiter artfully removes stem ware from place settings that won't be used revealed the yet to be studied chapter on Consistent Handling of Clean Stem Ware.  Our young man, moving like a ballet dancer around the table gathered up the unneeded wine glasses at the stem in bunches of two or three.  Such poise and agility of wrist. Then without dropping a beat he picked up one wine glass with fingers and thumb holding the bowl of the glass - fingers INSIDE the glass.  These glasses were then placed neatly back on the shelf of a gorgeous credenza where unused glasses were perched for future place settings.  As he spun around on the ball of one shiny shoe to dart quickly to another task, he used the back of his hand to wipe his nose. It was a Fellini moment and it was all I could do to contain my amusement.  Sorry to go on about this.  I suppose you'd have to be there to appreciate it.

The next day we went into Brussels.  Nick and I were quite impressed with the layout and the architecture of much of the city.  We entered the Grand Place and I thought I had entered a 17th/18th century story book.  It is a huge plaza with the most impressive buildings lining it on all sides.

A cloudy, rainy day but still an impressive visit to the Grand Place.  Pedro of Team SoCal Travel Air is enjoying the architecture too.

In the Grand Place. Nick being a gentleman and holding my heavy backpack.  Behind him is the beautiful Mansion de Roi museum which houses art work and history of the city of Brussels.  The size of this square is maybe a fifth the size of Central Park in NY. Don't put me on the stand to swear to this.  In any case, it's very large.

This facade impressed us in that the relief statues "standing guard" over the square have been doing so for centuries while the more modern clock to the side vainly reminds us of the passing time in  hours and minutes.   

Day 1 of Journey to Crete: Crossing the Channel

The day finally arrived when we three Travel Airs took to the sky and headed for Belgium to meet up with Team Frog and Kiwi (Cedric and his wife Alexandra) with whom we would fly down eastern France towards the Riviera on our way to the rally's starting point on Island of Crete.

Tuesday October 25th, we took off from Shoreham a little sad to see our wonderful communities of Alfriston and Shoreham Field receding from view as we headed towards our crossing point over the English Channel.  We naturally picked the narrowest expanse of water to cross.  We wore our life vests and I had on my lap our neatly packed four man life raft --- "just in case".

Moments before takeoff from Shoreham, it poured.  Rosalind had come to see us off and we could see her standing outside the terminal surely wondering if we were going to be all right.  When the rain stopped, visibility in our direction of flight improved a little and we took off.  More people than Rosalind were gathered to wave as we climbed in formation and headed east.  It was a touching and wonderful sight.  Our planes had become a novelty there for two weeks and I'm sure our friends on the ground were all wishing us a safe journey.

We followed the coast east until we got to Lydd then turned south for the crossing. Nick said to me over our intercom system, "Okay, we're going to be out over water for 30 minutes."  I turned and looked back at him, gave him a thumbs up sign, patted the raft on my lap,  and calmly looked out at the afternoon light reflecting off patches of the Channel which to a large extent became obscured by the shadowy  overcast.  Our landfall target was near Calais.  The lure of history brought before me images of Hitler's high command generals quibbling about the landing site of the coming allied invasion and the consensus among them that surely it had to be Calais.  To the extent that these generals registered dismay at their huge error in judgment, I'm sure the people of Calais were relieved to not be the backdrop of such a violent drama played out in the pursuit of liberating Europe, and from our point of view, the region we were now approaching and would be flying over for the next few days.

It was a welcoming sight to spot the French coast after flying through light mist at 1000' staying clear of the clouds.  Sunshine and clearer skies washed over the entire landscape and I could start thinking about the 'vin et fromage' we would soon be enjoying at our destination in Charleroi, Belguim  -- home to our rally mates, Cedric and Alexandra.

Enroute to checkpoint at Lydd. The Channel is in the distance.

Looking over at Team Barnstormers when over the Channel.

Flying Around Southern England

After our planes were re-assembled, we took time to see a bit of West Sussex from the air.  We met some wonderful aviation people who shared an interest in what we are up to, and they also encouraged us to get over to some nearby fields with aviation museums attached.  We took their advice and on one lovely afternoon, got in the planes and flew to Goodwood field to see some British Spitfires that still take to the skies giving people who can afford it a really fun 30 minutes of flying over the white cliffs of the southern coast and over the green rolling countryside of this part of England that saw its share of aerial drama during the Battle of Britain.

Two new friends, James and Sjorg ('George', so sorry, friend, as I know I have butchered the Dutch spelling of your name!).  They both fly for RyanAir in Europe and enjoy off time flying James's aerobatic plane.  They joined us on our trip over to Goodwood Field.

 Pedro (Team SoCal Travel Air) in our formation flight to Goodwood.

In front of one of the Spitfires at Goodwood Field.  I'm sorry to sound a bit melodramatic, but when I first laid eyes on this bird knowing its history at a time when Britain was fighting for its existence, I got goosebumpy (new word) and ALMOST cried.

Team Barnstormers (Keith and Colin) on our way back to Shoreham Field before dark.

Our Travel Air Arrives at Shoreham Field

On October 12th, Team Alaska's and Team Barnstormer's Travel Airs arrived by truck at Shoreham Field from Southampton  where they arrived at port from Florida a few days before.  What a relief to see our "babies" again safe and sound.  The next few days were taken up with reattaching their wings and tail "feathers".  With Keith's watchful and professional guidance and the cooperation from Colin and Nick, our planes started looking like planes again and not Soap Box Derby cars.  The rally organizer had made previous arrangements for us to use a large hangar in which to get that work done.

I managed to stay out of the way for most of this process by hanging out at the lovely Shoreham Field Terminal's Hummingbird Restaurant where I had a great view of not only planes landing and taking off, but also a Netflix production filming crew at work.  I hadn't realized it before arriving here that this art deco terminal building, that also houses a control tower, was built between 1934 and 1936.  It has classic lines and has been used as the backdrop in several films and TV shows.  In one of the Hercule Poirot features titled something like, "Death/Murder(?) In the Sky", the terminal is used to portray Le Bourget Airport in Paris of the late 1930s.  The recent movie, Woman in Gold starring Helen Mirren has a scene of the Vienna Airport during the annexation of Austria by the Nazis in 1938.  The Shoreham terminal filled in for that too.

The Netflix production is called The Crown about the royal career of Queen Elizabeth II from her marriage to Prince Phillip up to the present.  What I got to see were some scenes involving the arrival of the Queen at an airport aboard a BOAC commercial carrier.  About 80 extras dressed in early 1950s attire were milling around as they prepared for their scenes as Ladies in Waiting, journalists, ambassadors, ministers of Parliament etc.  The BOAC "airplane" was really a mock-up of just the main passenger entrance with green screens stretching out on either side of the entrance for use later in CGI editing.  An old BOAC stairs on wheels was

pushed up to the entrance.  1940s and 1950s cars also were important background fixtures.



The Smuggler getting her first glimpse of the United
Kingdom looking every bit like a race horse eager to get out of the horse trailer.

           Smuggler emerging from her
           cage.

On solid ground.  Wings resting in the back
ground.

Wings....going.............

                      on!!

(The Cessna Grand Caravan in the background above is one of the support aircraft accompanying us during the rally.)

Shoreham Field terminal building back in the day.  This is a photo mural on a wall in the restaurant dining room.

 BOAC mock-up getting ready for lights and sound system set-up.

Some film extras taking a tea break in the terminal.  I love the hats and woolen suits. The two ladies with backs to us are wearing hair nets to protect their dos before next scene.

Vintage Air Rally's First Crete2Cape Event

Nick, Colin and I arrived in the UK Monday October 10. We rented a car and drove south to the quaint Sussex village of Alfriston where we are staying in a private residence through Home Exchange until we depart for Crete on the 25th.  Being an Anglophile, I'm so happy to be back in colorful, historic England.  Our lovely home away from home, Martlets, belongs to hospitable and fun Rosalind who is an amazing gardener.

From here, London is only an hour and forty-five minutes away, and Shoreham By Sea where  re-assembling of aircraft is going on, is 35 minutes away.  Alfriston has numerous tea rooms and the best book store I have ever been in.  If you visit Alfriston and you're a bibliophile AND enjoy British history and literary culture, you must visit Much Ado Books.

We gathered in London the afternoon of the 11th at the Horse Guard Parade Grounds to watch the changing of  HRM's Horse Guards which coincided with the first public exhibition event of Vintage Air Rally/Crete2Cape.  As none of the real Vintage  aircraft could land or be transported there, a mock-up of a 1920's biplane was in place with an informational poster about the rally.  Participants who happened to be in London were present - most in 1920s flying garb.  Some journalists and many airplane/travel enthusiasts showed up too.



We had the pleasure of meeting Martin Barraclough who wrote The Race for the Cape -- a history of an early race to Capetown via the route we will be taking.  The photographs are amazing.

 Martin Barrraclough

We had a great time at the parade grounds and had many curious people come up to us and ask what this rally adventure is all about. It was nice to field questions from so many interested and interesting people.

Setting up display aircraft.

HRM's Horse Guards.

This changing of the Guard, like all Guard movements in London, is extremely well choreographed.  However, on this day, the white horse made it very clear that he was not amused by the trumpet behind him that announced the next step in this process.  The other horses turned and looked at him as if to say, "Get a grip, Mate! You won't get your pension if you keep that up."

Nick with scarf and goggles really enjoyed sharing flying stories with enthusiasts who had plenty of amazing flying stories of their own from bygone decades.

After the parade grounds, Team Alaska, Team Barnstormers (Keith - in hat - and Colin), Team Lotmead Tiger (John -- with beard---and Janice Baxter), and Team SoCal Travel Air (Pedro -- in black next to Janice) enjoyed a pint at one of Whitehall's neighborhood pubs.

That evening, we changed from flying attire to vintage evening attire for an amazing reception and dinner at London's Draper's Hall with a hundred rally participants, event sponsors, journalists, and guests.  The Draper's Guild goes back to the 14th Century when manufacturing guilds were gaining prominence. The guild bought this building from Henry VIII who 'took it over' from his Chief Minister Thomas Cromwell who got on the king's bad side and was subsequently executed. The building burned in the great London fire of 1666 and was quickly rebuilt.

Team Alaska with Team Frog and Kiwi (Cedric and Alexandra from Belgium)

In the dining room of Draper's Hall

The walls here are lined with seven foot tall portraits of monarchs from William and Mary to Queen Victoria.  My friends who know that I sometimes suffer from insomnia and eventually fall asleep NOT counting sheep but naming off the monarchs from Richard III to Q.E II will appreciate my enjoyment of looking up from our table at these giants of British royal history and being grateful for the roles they played in helping me fall asleep.

We had wonderful dinner guests at our table who had lots of experiences to share with us.  I always knew that one of the benefits of being part of the Vintage Air Rally would be meeting interesting people.

Containerizing Planes for Shipment to the U.K.

Here's our bird, N6263, in a hangar at Albert Whitted Airport in St. Petersburg, FL getting ready to be 'dismembered' for shipment to the UK.  It was a time-consuming process to make sure all parts being removed were properly labeled, sorted, and bound up for travel.

 Keith Kossuth, the pilot for Team Barnstormers --which includes our son Colin-- and owner of the second of three Travel Airs from North America going on this adventure, is a certified aircraft mechanic and inspector and took charge of the process of getting his aircraft "Magic" (red and yellow) and our "Smuggler" (blue and silver) ready for a trip at sea.

Wings and tail feathers had to come off with the help of a forklift and lots of padding.  Getting the fuselage into the container was a very slow process requiring patient baby steps to insure our plane got properly settled into her "cradle" for the drive to Savannah, Georgia and then the trip across the Atlantic.

It was a tight squeeze into the container, and there were plenty of  people to all talk at once on just how to do it!

 

 Each aircraft was loaded like this into its own container.  The containers were delivered to Savannah, Georgia where they were put on a cargo ship bound for Southampton, England. It was a little unsettling to watch these "birds" of ours disappear in containers and on to the Interstate for a long journey to a distant continent.  So the adventure truly began.