[In Transit]

[at sea]

[In Transit]

[at sea]

Jebel Ali (UAE)

In the "Sandbox"...

Jebel Ali (UAE)

In the "Sandbox"...

Jebel Ali (UAE)

In the "Sandbox"...

Jebel Ali (UAE)

In the "Sandbox"...

Jebel Ali (UAE)

In the "Sandbox"...

Suez Canal (Egypt)

Suez transit ended...

Suez Canal (Egypt)

Suez transit began...

[In Transit]

[at sea]

[In Transit]

[at sea]

[In Transit]

[at sea]

[In Transit]

[at sea]

[In Transit]

[at sea]

[In Transit]

[at sea]

[In Transit]

[at sea]

[In Transit]

[at sea]

[In Transit]

[at sea]

[In Transit]

[at sea]

[In Transit]

[at sea]

[In Transit]

[at sea]

[In Transit]

[at sea]

Sigonella, Sicily (Italy)

Woke up to unbelievable clear skies! Crisp and cool, wish we could stay... Manned up just after sunrise and airborne around 0700. Great flight over to the Ship - saw Crete on the way. They were near Egypt and we found some of our mates waiting for us with calls of "Guten Tag." It seems like forever since I was "home" (not that I missed it). This definitely qualifies as a once-in-a-lifetime trip...

Sigonella, Sicily (Italy)

Planned departure for around 0900, but had lots of trouble with flight plan. In addition, the field went IFR, along with freezing rain. Luckily, it didn't require de-icing, but you can imagine that I was getting worried we wouldn't be able to leave. Finally got off the ground by 1500 (...) and made it through Dijon's airspace (they didn't even say anything). Everything going great - weather improved and radios working - until we hit the Italian border. After we checked in with the controllers there, we never heard from anyone again all day. We made calls everywhere we could, but it never worked... Flew right by Roma and Napoli with no comms - started to see Mount Etna pretty far out (there is LAVA flowing down the side of it!). Picked up some controllers near Sicily and they passed us over to people in Catania. That was a relief, actually. Etna was something - it looked like the lava came more than half way down the mountain and people acted like that was normal. My first time at Sigonnella - and we had very little trouble getting a place to stay. Ship had left a message for us to get there by noon tomorrow, so we minimized crew rest to make sure we make it. Room isn't very nice - ceiling is peeling...

Ramstein (Germany)

Woke up around 1000 and manned up aircraft. Kurt and I completed all functional checkflight procedures and practiced some approaches until 1400. Got some more cash and then drove over to a nearby town on the Belgian border (should have crossed it...). Weather was awesome and we didn't leave until 1800, when the maintainers where expected to arrive. Spent several hours at Ramstein trying to fix it. It didn't look good, but I suddenly noticed that one of the antennas was the same as the IFF antenna - it was one we really didn't need in Europe, so I suggested we swap it. Sure enough, that worked! Funny, we tried boxes, wires and other troubleshooting for days and an antenna fixed it... Finished work around 2330, so we planned for a mid-morning takeoff tomorrow. It will take some time in the morning to get all the diplomatic clearance issues worked out...

Ramstein (Germany)

Tried to leave again this morning - had the same problems with IFF and French. Went back to Ramstein again and worked on plane (0930). About an hour after we landed from the attempt, the boss told us he was driving over to Frankfurt to leave. He told us he would try to send parts and maintainers for us. The Ship, of course, was mad again. But, they got two maintenence guys on an aircraft - should be here tomorrow night. The Ship also requested that we fly a functional check flight on the aircraft tomorrow. Got a new rental car. [Visited Trier ?] Had dinner at Burger King. Out late with our friends in Kaiserlautern.

Ramstein (Germany)

Woke up and checked out of hotel pretty early (0600). Had plane ready for the boss on time and took off with great weather. As we left German airspace and tried to talk to the French, though, they started talking about the IFF again. We tried to fix the problem, but our friends on the ground in Dijon decided that our "diplomatic clearance" was cancelled and that we should return to Ramstein. We did some tests on the ground for about an hour and then tried to take off again. As we were climbing out, the German controller started talking about how fun it was in Kaiserslautern on Friday nights. He even mentioned a few places that he recommended we check out. We laughed and told him we would love to stay - but we had to go back to work. He switched to Dijon again - and we understood his comments. They refused to let us continue and told us not to try again today (until our transponder was repaired). When we switched back to Rhein, he said "I told you!" On the ground again (1600), had to call the Ship (not pleasant, either). They didn't believe we were broken, but at least I have the boss to verify it. Worked with some of the techs at Ramstein for a few hours and thought we had the problem repaired. Met boss for dinner at Vesuvios again (2130). We'll try again tomorrow...

Sembach (Germany)

Our last day - we explored around Kaiserslautern and planned for our departure tomorrow morning. Lunch at Burger King over at Ramstein (1030)...

Heidelberg (Germany)

Learned about a great castle over in Heidelberg last night - decided to check it out! We drove a short distance to see it - the castle is on a hill overlooking a river (pretty). Visited Heidelberg Schloss for several hours (weather was great). We saw a huge wine cask and some other interesting things. Explored the countryside nearby until returning to Sembach. It started to rain, making our trip a little harder - but the hand-held GPS came in handy again!

Sembach (Germany)

Slept late - but we had to move over to Sembach (about 15 KM away) for our new rooms. It turned out to be really nice there - and they have places to eat. We had dinner at a place between Ramstein and Sembach, though, that served Veiner Schnitzel (it was really good) and great beer. Can't go wrong with that!

Neuschwanstein (Germany)

Unbelievable day! First visited Dachau Concentration Camp (a moving experience). It was really something to walk around there - somber and sureal. Later, we drove over towards the famous Neuschwanstein Castle. Gas at Hoherain West (Berg) around 1100. Ended up getting a little lost (our map is not good at all) and ended up in Austria (!) - and we only realized this when we saw the flags on the buildings. Things sure are different from when I last visited Deutchland (see Summer 1986) - no border checkpoints! Made it to Neuschwanstein around 1400 - just enough time to go inside. It was amazing - everything I thought it would be. Being in the Alps in the winter was a jazz too. Toured another nearby castle (Hohenschwangau), too (1700). On the road back to Ramstein around 1900. It started to get dark, but the moon was pretty bright. Luckily (and I should underline that), Kurt had marked our starting position yesterday, since we had no idea where to go without the hand-held GPS. Made it to our hotel around 2200...