Trip Reports
In September 2012, I had the chance to join a group of aviation enthusiasts for a week-long tour through North Korea. While the hermit kingdom with its many special sights was a positive surprise on its own, the aviation part of the tour was the true highlight: We got to travel on board all the old Soviet airplanes of national carrier Air Koryo!
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Yellowknife is home to the unique family-run airline named Buffalo Airways, which is also portrait in the TV show "Ice Pilots NWT". Its main business is moving freight and fuel to outlying communities using old airplanes. However, Buffalo also operates a single daily scheduled flight over Great Slave Lake to Hay River, and I got the chance to accompany the company's charismatic boss, Joe McBryan, on one of those runs in his 70-year old DC-3.
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Almost daily, Air North's trusty old Hawker-Siddeley HS748 starts from its Whitehorse base on its "North Sked", the journey via the gold rush town of Dawson City and the remote eskimo village of Old Crow to the city of Inuvik beyond the Arctic Citcle. From there, I change onto Canadian North's beautiful Boeing 737-200, to take me on to Norman Wells and Yellowknife.
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 In Ketchikan, southeast Alaska, I accompany a floatplane pilot of Pacific Airways on one of his fjord runs in his 60-year old DeHavilland DHC-2 Beaver. It takes me over endless woods and stunning bays to the small communities of Thorne Bay and Hollis, and back to Ketchikan.
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In one of the westernmost communities of Alaska, Dutch Harbor on the Aleutian Islands, I undertake a flight in an old, trusty flying boat: The Grumman Goose, which takes me from Dutch Harbor to neighbouring Akutan and back - including two water landings and some heart-pumping cliff-hugging!
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 From Anchorage I embark on a daytrip up to Alaska's northernmost tip: First it takes three beautiful flights over the icy Tundra in an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 to reach the city of Barrow. From there, I hop onto one of the local bush flights and join a Cessna Caravan on its run to the surrounding Eskimo village.
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 The British Isles are full of surprises. What was meant to be a weekend trip to London first, finally included riding the Sikorsky S-61 Sea King, the Twin Otter and the BN-2 Islander to the amazingly beautiful Isles of Scilly off England's western coast.
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 During a stay on St. Maarten I simply had to explore the neighbouring islands, too - both are hotspots of aviation. I experienced the dreaded downhill approach into St. Barths on a Grand Caravan, and touched down on Saba's 400 meter runway in a Twin Otter!
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 Russian aircraft are still happily buzzing around Cuban skies. So, on a recent trip to Havana, I just had to include a round-trip on Cubana's Yak-42 to Santiago de Cuba. Follow along on this Yak ride!
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 Follow along on a typical Alaska Airlines flight serving many remote communities, departing from Seattle in a 737 and heading up the coast all the way to Anchorage, landing in narrow fjords and overflying majestic glaciers!
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 Darwin Airlines is a small Swiss regional airline using Saab 2000 between Zurich and Lugano in southern Switzerland. Seeing great weather forecasted, I couldn't resist but go for a ride over the beautiful snow-capped Alps!
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 A true adventure in one of the most dangerous places to fly: Follow along as I join a Tara Air flight to unique Lukla Airstrip high up in the mountains, and see pictures from a Mt. Everest sightseeing flight on the Beechcraft 1900D of Buddha Air.
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There's one must-do for every aviation enthusiast visiting New Zealand: Flying in Air Chathams' 1953-built Convair 580 to the remote Chatham Islands, 700km out in the Pacific Ocean, past the date line.
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After having visited New Zealand's stunning Milford Sound in 2007 flying in a piston Cessna 206, I returned three years later - in a turboprop Grand Caravan this time! Once again, weather and scenery were absolutely amazing!
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First I jump on Olympic's ATR-42 from Crete to Rhodos (with intermediate stops, of course), on the way home I try out small carrier SkyExpress and their Jetstream 32.
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 I had the chance to join a good friend during his flight training. Flying in a Cessna 172, we set out from Berne, had a quick look around the Valais and Bernese Oberland regions and took a break at lovely Saanen airfield.
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The first focus of this trip is the Isle of Man, where I fly Manx2's Let-410 and Dornier 228. Then the adventure continues on the Channel Islands, home of the Britten-Norman Trislander.
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Get a front row seat for a typical Olympic ATR crew's day in the Ionian Sea: Corfu-Preveza-Kefalonia-Zakynthos and back in one go!
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AirSea Lines was a company providing services from Gouvia, Corfu, in Twin Otter on floats. A must-do for me! So join me for a sightseeing flight around the island, and a short trip to neighbouring Paxos Island.
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I join the unique Loganair flight from Glasgow, Scotland, to the island of Barra, where the Twin Otter lands on the beach. The return trip uses the Jetstream-31 of Highland Airways.
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On a trip to Copenhagen, I included a little detour and flew on LGW's trusty Dornier-228 from Berlin to the island of Sylt. From there, a complicated train odyssey through provincial Denmark to Copenhagen ensues...
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During my stay in New Zealand, I fell in love with the world of regional aviation in all those Turboprops. Includes a Trislander ride, and a sightseeing flight to stunning Milford Sound, too!
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Taking the good old C-172 for a spin, we set out to check out Auckland, New Zealand's largest city, from the air, and catch a glimpse of its lovely beaches and islands.
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Select reports by aircraft
If you're interested in a particular aircraft type, select it here to narrow down the selection of reports to those featuring that aircraft.
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 Airbus A330
The Airbus A330 is a widebody twin-engined middle to long range airliner, accommodating up to 335 passengers. Note: Only special trips on this plane are included as trip reports - they're just too common to be of interest otherwise :)
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 ATR-42
The ATR 42 is a twin-turboprop, short-haul regional airliner built in France and Italy, seating between 40 and 52 passengers. It was introduced in 1985.
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 BAe Jetstream
The British Aerospace Jetstream is a pressurised 19-seater regional turboprop airliner, built from 1980.
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 Britten-Norman Islander
The Britten-Norman BN-2 Islander is a 1960s British light utility aircraft seating up to 9 passengers. Although it had its first flight in 1965, over 750 are still in service with commercial operators around the world.
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 Britten-Norman Trislander
The Britten-Norman Trislander is an 18-seat three-engined piston-powered civilian utility aircraft produced in the 1970s and early 1980s by Britten-Norman of Britain. Developed from the Islander, it celebrated its first flight in 1970.
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 Beechcraft 1900D
The Beechcraft 1900D is a 19-passenger, pressurized twin-engine turboprop airplane manufactured by the Beechcraft Division of the Raytheon Company. It was designed, and is primarily used, as a regional airliner. Its first flight was in 1982.
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 Boeing 737
The Boeing 737 is a short- to medium-range, twin-engine narrow-body aircraft and the best-selling jet airliner ever.
Note: Only special trips on this plane are included as trip reports - they're just too common to be of interest otherwise :)
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 Cessna Grand Caravan
The Cessna 208 Caravan is a single turboprop engine, fixed-gear short-haul regional airliner and utility aircraft built in the United States, seating up to 14 passengers. Since its first flight in 1984, over 2'000 Caravans have been built.
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 Cessna Piston Aircraft
Cessna's piston-powered aircraft like the C172 or the larger C206 are hugely popular all over the world - be it for flight training, private aviation or for air-taxi and sightseeing flights.
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 Convair 240/440/580
The Convair CV-240 was an American regional airliner produced by Convair from 1947 to 1954, initially as a possible replacement of the ubiquitous Douglas DC-3. Many CV-240 have been upgraded to CV-580 by adding turboprop engines, a stretched fuselage and improved avionics. They can seat up to 50 passengers.
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 DeHavilland DHC-2 Beaver
The rugged little Beaver, which celebrated its maiden flight in 1947, is the epitome of the Bush Plane. Thanks to its simple high-wing design and good STOL characteristics, it is still in wide use today.
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 DeHavilland DHC-6 Twin Otter
The DeHavilland DHC-6 Twin Otter is a Canadian 19-passenger STOL (Short Takeoff and Landing) utility aircraft, that had its first flight in 1965. Thanks to its sturdy design and great flying characteristics it can still be found wherever difficult missions are waiting.
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 DeHavilland Dash-8
The Bombardier Dash 8 is a series of twin-engined, medium range, turboprop airliners, which first flew in 1983. While the smaller models -100 and -200 that seat up to 39 passengers are mostly used as utility aircraft serving thin routes or small airfields, the larger -300 and -400 series that seat up to 56 or 78 passengers respectively are a common sight within normal airline operations all over the world.
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 DG-500
The Glaser-Dirks DG-500 is a two-seat glider of glass-reinforced plastic and carbon fiber reinforced plastic construction, manufactured in Germany.
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 Dornier 228
The Dornier 228 is a German twin-turboprop STOL utility aircraft with a retractable gear, seating up to 19 passengers. Its first flight was in 1982 and it can still be seen anywhere from the British Isles to the Himalaya.
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 Douglas DC-3
The Douglas DC-3, whose first flight took place in 1935, has made history as one of the most significant transport airplanes ever built, owing to its big impact on World War II and all the revolutions it brought to the airline industry. Some of the rugged birds have survived until today, and a considerable number is still used for commercial operations.
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 Embraer EMB-110 Bandeirante
The Embraer EMB 110 Bandeirante is a general purpose 21 passenger twin-turboprop light transport aircraft built in Brazil, whose first flight was in 1968.
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 Grumman G-21 Goose
The Grumman Goose is a twin-engined amphibious aircraft, designed in 1937 as an eight-seat commuter aircraft for businessmen, but most widely used as a reliable and versatile bush plane.
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 Hawker-Siddeley HS-748
The British HS-748 is a medium-range turboprop airliner, designed in the late 1950s as a replacement of the DC-3. Thanks to its good STOL capabilities, the aircraft seating up to 58 passengers, was a considerable success in its niche and is still used today.
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 Let-410
The Let L-410 Turbolet is an unpressurized, twin-engined short-range transport aircraft, manufactured by the Czech aircraft manufacturer LET. The plane, whose first flight was in 1969, seats 15 passengers.
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 Sikorsky S-61 Sea King
The Sikorsky S-61 is the civil variant of the successful SH-3 Sea King helicopter. Built from 1959, it is one now of the most widely used airliner and oil rig support helicopters built seating up to 30 passengers.
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 Saab 2000
The Saab 2000 is a Swedish turboprop regional airliner, produced from 1994 to 1999, seating up to 58 passengers. It is still one of the fastest turboprop airliners worldwide.
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 Shorts 360
The Saab 2000 is a Swedish turboprop regional airliner, produced from 1994 to 1999, seating up to 58 passengers. It is still one of the fastest turboprop airliners worldwide.
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 Yakovlev Yak-42
The Yakovlev Yak-42 is a 100-seat three-engined mid-range passenger jet. Designed in 1975, it was the first airliner produced in the Soviet Union to be powered by modern high-bypass turbofan engines.
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