Sammler und Hobbywelten Alten-Buseck

Former Interflug Z-37 DM-SVQ, being painted to its former glory.

Mil Mi-8 in "UT-air" Colours, but don't be fooled: This is a former german Interflug/BSF helicopter.

Max Holste "Broussard"

Whata strange place: In Alten-Buseck a new museum of all kinds of stuff is located in a former furniture store. Among the exhibits are cameras, old furniture, toys, cars, trains and even aircraft. On the former parking lot this museum houses a colourful collection of planes. Some of them are quite rare: A Max Holste Broussard, Westland WS-55 Helicopter etc. I personally did not like, that some of them seem to be restored in a hurry with bright and flashy colours - sometimes hiding the real identity of them. Anyway - I think its better to preserve a plane in false markings than not at all. There are some more pics as usual on my flickr page. Enjoy!

Torben Time again!

It was Torbens last week before my little man started school, so I decided to treat us with some beach-time on the beautiful Oregon coast. Seaside was the place to go! We spend hours digging in the sand and of course some aviation adventures: We went to the great Tillamook Air Museum, which changed a bit since my last visit about two and a half year ago. We were even able to climb aboard the Erickson Guppy, which Torben enjoyed a lot.
Back in Seattle Torben showed me "his" house-beach" in Ballard, riding his bike proudly in front of me and leading the way. I miss you, Torben!

Brooklands

My recent business-trip to London resulted in some time to spare and visit the Brooklands Air Museum. This great Musum is on the grounds of a former car racetrack and the Vickers Aircraft factory. Almost all Vickers commercial aircraft and other british postwar airliners are displayed outdoors in great shape. This museum is also for the car enthusiast and features a great variety of historic high-class race cars and aiport related vehicles.
Three busy and appointment-packed days, lots of Guinness and a little bit of aviation - on those days I really like my job!

Männer-Tag!

With Torben - seen here at the controls of an Antonov AN-2 (or whats left of it) - my Dad and my brother Guido we drove to Wunstorf about 40km to the west of Hannover. In the "JU-52 Halle" Museum the star is an original Junkers JU-52 which was raised from a lake in northern Norway about 20 years ago and restored to pristine contition. The plane landed on the "Hartvikvann"-lake in the early fourties and as most of the others sunk in the following summer when the ice melted.

Over the years a nice little museum developed around this centerpiece with various planes and helicopters and this cockpit section which Torben is about to inspect in detail.  

Tillamook, Oregon

Strange bird! After the Guppy-days are over in Europe, these birds have become a rare sight. This one lives in Tillamook, Oregon at the air museum - I think the former operator is not so hard to guess. This one is actually a Mini Guppy and still has its original Piston engines.