Change of Plans

Frankfurt am Main to Berlin is ambitious on a good day, but I knew I was in trouble when the plane came back from it's morning flight a bit later than expected. By the time I would have it pre-flighted, getting to and from Berlin before sunset, and airport closing time, would have been iffy at best. Berlin will have to wait for another weekend, and if I am smart I will make it a whole weekend and not a day-trip.

Time for Plan-B -- Coburg. I went via Wuerzburg to add both a little more scenery and challenge. Here's a shot as I wend my way along the Main River a bit west of Wuerzburg.

It was hazy startng out, and that meant that the flight would be more work than fun. Here's a shot looking eastbound at the crud I was flying in. The shot above of the Main gives you a better idea of what it looked like all around. In fact, that was some of the better visibility of the trip. That's pretty common around here, and in fact I need to remember the next time I simulate a flight here before actually flying it that I should probably make the visibility something on the order of 5 miles to make it more realistic.

Nevertheless, I found my way to Coburg, which has two airports practically on top of one another. The "larger" one with the asphalt runway is directly next to the Burg (fortress) that gives the town a part of its name. Don't let the camera angle alarm you ... I wasn't looking through the viewfinder, only pointing and clicking, so it only looks like a strange angle.

Coburg, if it sounds vaguely familiar to you, is part of the history of the house of Windsor ... yes, the Royal Family of England. Prince Albert, not of "In a Can" fame, rather the one who married Queen Victoria, hailed from these parts, bringing the Saxe-Coburg-Gotha line to the ongoing line of succession to the thrown of England. The family changed its name during the First World War to downplay their roots. Kind of surreal to see an airplane sitting next to a "castle," no?

I took the long way back via Fulda, but it got really hazy there, so no decent shots ... too busy flying the plane. As I said, this turned out to be a working flight; good for instrument proficiency, lousy for sightseeing. Maybe next week.