RAS Visit to Hamburg and Berlin

The beginning of the week began with a front stretching along the south coast of England, so a few low and slow members set off early on Monday 13th. Pedro & Sophie Fernandes (Stearman), Giles Goschen (Super Cub) and Richard Menage (Stieglitz) had planned to cross the Channel on Monday and meet at Calais. Low cloud and tricky winds meant that Giles Goschen and his guest Mark Dunkerley had to divert and leave his Super Cub at Goodwood. Meanwhile, with no fuel available at Calais on Mondays, the Stearman and Stieglitz flew on to Midden Zeeland to refuel. With customary Dutch hospitality, the two biplanes were hangared and accommodation swiftly arranged by airfield helper and local pilot Collin van Well, who also drove us to and from the hotel in the historic fishing village of Veere.

Winning the Long Distance prize, Filippo Colnaghi had already positioned his Milano Bresso-based Stampe the week before, crossing the Alps and flying to Uetersen/Heist.

Most of our intrepid aviators arrived on Tuesday 14th at Hamburg Stade (EDHS) or Uetersen/Heist (EDHE). Stade occupies part of the former WWII base for Luftwaffe night fighter-wing Nachtjagdgeschwader 1 and the rest has been developed to include Airbus’ composite components factories. Stade Aero Club held a barbeque for those overnighting at Stade Parkhotel and others stayed at the Rilano Hotel, next to the main Airbus plant at Finkenwerder. Giles Goschen and his guest Mark eventually arrived, sans Super Cub.

The Airbus facility covers the entire of Hamburg Finkenwerder airport. Eight parking places, originally allocated to us for larger aircraft, were withdrawn at the last minute which meant having to use Uetersen/Heist, since Stade was too short.

On the Wednesday morning, after clearing security at the main gate at Airbus Finkenwerder, we enjoyed a lovely lunch in the Airbus VIP restaurant overlooking the Elbe, busy with passing ships and barges. After a welcome in the Auditorium by Carlos Alcantara, VP Manufacturing Services, we split into two groups with retired employee-guides touring the vast assembly lines, hopping from one to another in the coach.

This included a stop at the outdoor ‘museum’ which included the original Guppy, a modified Boeing Stratofortress. Overseeing the arrangements was Katie Last who had come from Airbus London HQ for the day and she was particularly proud to have been presented with a RAS cap. We returned to the Rilano Hotel with a break long enough for some to take a ferry ride to Hamburg centre and back in time for supper.
Thursday morning was sunny and blustery with strong headwinds forecast for Eastbound leg to Rostock Laage. An unexpected departure and routing briefing had been prepared for those at Stade. It was well-intentioned and two routes crossing the CTR had been pre-arranged with Hamburg, one following the river through the city centre and the other, for the ‘old-timers’, a fly-past of Hamburg’s main airport. We politely sat through this and it meant that our departure was delayed. As the three biplanes, Stearman, Stieglitz and Stampe flew in close formation towards Hamburg Airport, Pedro called “What altitude would you like us to transit?” “As low as you like” came the reply. We flew eye-level past the tower but the climb-out and onward transit was uncomfortable, flying low level over very congested built-up areas.

Waiting for us at Rostock Lagge was Major Mark Härtel and a contingent of invited guests from Bienenfarm; our later-than-planned arrival meant that we had to skip lunch. Rostock Laage is a shared civilian and military airfield and home to the Luftwaffe’s 73rd Tactical Air Wing, a quick reaction force with Eurofighter Typhoons. A coach took us to the airbase where Major Härtel had prepared a presentation followed by a visit to a viewing platform on the roof of an aircraft shelter, close to the runway to view the Typhoons landing and taking off. After inspecting a Typhoon and its armoury close-up we returned to our aircraft to fly on to Bienenfarm.

Bienenfarm is a private airfield 40km NW of Berlin and home to many members of the Quax Flieger group with its collection of vintage and modern aircraft. A number of Quax members were invited as RAS guests for a convivial German-cuisine supper (white asparagus was in season), accompanied by German wines and local beers. There followed a few sunset flights in a Dornier Do27, a Fw44 Stieglitz and Messerschmitt Me108 before piling into the coach to the Courtyard by Marriott hotel, central Berlin. Andrew Holman West stayed behind for an early flight home in his Yak 3.

Friday’s main activity was a visit to Potsdam. Two private guides accompanied us in the coach and gave an introduction to the Potsdam’s royal parks, palaces, gardens and lakes. We began with the famous Glienicker Bridge (Bridge of Spies), flowed by lunch in the Dutch Quarter and visits to the Sanssouci Palace and the Cecilienhof Palace where the Potsdam Conference took place in 1945.

The sunny weather continued, the winds abated and it was a welcome relief to return to the hotel for a free evening. Popular for many was supper at the Lutter & Wegner restaurant and others enjoyed a concert at the Berlin Philarmonic.

After a leisurely breakfast on Saturday, we joined our guides Harald Zawuski and Christine for a three-hour Cold War walking tour which also took in some WWII sites. The route took us past sections of the remaining wall, Checkpoint Charlie, Hitler’s bunker, the RLM, the holocaust memorial and remnants of the Gestapo HQ basements.

The walk finished at the Reichstag where lunch had been arranged at the rooftop Terrace restaurant. Passport details had been provided in advance and we passed through airport-style security measures to enter the parliament building. After a good lunch, the Gosling and Holloway contingent slipped away to fly home.

Lunch was followed by cocktails at the Kempinski Hotel and after returning to the hotel, we witnessed a large and peaceful pro-Palestine protest escorted closely by Police on foot and in vans. Berlin was unusually quite that weekend owing to Whit Sunday. This meant that many of our invited guests were unable to attend the Squadron Dinner due to prior family arrangements.

Thunderstorms approaching from the South was forecast for Sunday and the faster (modern) aeroplanes managed to outpace the worsening weather. The Stieglitz and the Stearman kept to the North, flying along the coast of Germany, dodging CBs before calling into Midden Zeeland again to refuel. Owing to no transponders, passage though controlled airspace round Koksijde was denied which meant a long over-water Channel crossing before arriving at Earls Colne in the early evening.