Gratuitous shot of MIGs in a MIG bunker

Lithuania flying photos from Kaunas to Vilnius

Our desire to camp on the airfield caused some consternation in Kaunas.  It's not that it's never done, it just isn't done often.  Luckily this meant a flurry of communication between that the tower and the aeroclub ending with us comfortably ensconced in the aeroclub's bunkroom, too kind.

Kaunas is a nice airfield and a comfortable bike ride into a pretty little town, well worth a stop.  The next day the weather was a bit damp and we were feeling a bit deflated after a somewhat stressful and noisy month in budget hotels across the Baltic and had been contemplating packing up and going West where things are simple. Luckily at that point Justinus, a TV producer arrived to fly back to Vilnius and said that it was impossible for us to visit his country without seeing Vilnius. He most kindly lent us his car and house as he was off on holidays to Egypt.

Justinus' very nice Dynamic a fast going places carbon fibre plane

The picturesque Trakai castle fortuitously lay directly en route

From this bigger scale pic you can see how Trakai's in the middle of a lake system

Justinus with his plane, I like this photo as it gives a slight impression of how active Justinus is: he's constantly performing a multitude of tasks each of which takes his full attention.

Stauning: where planes retire

Stauning is Denmark's big air museum and absolutely fascinating if you're into planes.  I quite liked it, especially all the historical planes and the amazing old gliders, where you basically sat on a little plywood seat in the middle of the sky and had one ski on the bottom to land on.  Wacky.  Here are some pictures.

Awesome old training plane, note that there are no flaps / ailerons, the wing itself flexes to control the lift...

see the ski and the little ply seat open to the elements!

We stayed several days, as the weather was less ideal.  One day was well spent at the museum, then Lars and Mercedes came to visit, so we never made it to the local town.

Mercedes finding something magical under the heather

Stauning itself is a nice long tarmac runway.  Landing fee approx. 85 DKK, the first night for a bunk in the pilot's cabin is 150 DKK (20€) per person, which is higher than average & contrary to what is indicated on their website, subsequent nights are cheaper.  2 plate electric hob, coffee machine, fridge & television all available, but you need to fiddle a bit to make the TV work.  If you stay at the cabin you can also use their bicycles for free.