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The Grumpy Gang

The Grumman Aircraft Pilots Association European Branch

We landed at Guttin (more blasted customs) and then flew a short hop into Peenemunde, which old-timers and history buffs will remember was where the V2 rockets and jet aircraft were designed and tested during W.W.II, and where Werner von Braun, one of the pioneers of the U.S. rocket technology, worked. The whole site is being developed into a tourist attraction with video shows, displays of all the old rocketry and more modern eastern bloc aircraft, a Russian submarine, and other interesting items.

As Peenemunde was shutting down for the day we all flew to a tiny grass airfield called Waren. It was an extremely bumpy airfield, but our Grummans coped well.

Unbeknown to this innocent scribe, a plot was afoot, and it was sprung as we prepared to depart for home.
The group had secretly arranged for me to experience a winch launch in a glider, an action often watched but never experienced by this ancient mariner.
It was exhilarating. Even my rubber chicken was over-whelmed! Thanks, guys, it was very kind of you.
I will not recount the problems encountered extricating my slim frame from the narrow glider cockpit, and I insist that all photographs must be confiscated!

The evening was spent erecting our tents for the last time, going into town for a slap-up meal and chatting late into the night with the visiting glider pilots.
The next morning dawned clear and hot.

From Waren we departed for home, calling in at Nordhorn for fuel and German customs and Kortrijk, home for André, Johannes, and Robert, and fuel Belgian customs for me.
It was a truly memorable trip, made all the more enjoyable by the companion-ship and joie de vivre of all the Grumpies, by the friendliness of all those people we met, by the stunning scenery we had the opportunity to witness, and by the marvellous little aeroplanes we are privileged to fly.
Thank you, all.

Whoa there! Not quite finished. I had a dream last night. Does Corsica do anything for your wanderlust? Hmm... 2001? Now then, let me have a look in my diary.