Tuesday was our non-flying day set aside to do sightseeing around Goteborg. As this is a flying diary, I won’t say too much about it other than that it is a really nice and scenic city, probably especially presentable in the hot, sunny weather we enjoyed during our stay.
My contact in Goteborg, Peter Andersson was keen to take us on an evening sightseeing flight over the city and the archipelago after he finished work that day, and to take advantage of the long hours of daylight at these high latitudes (about the same latitude north as the very northernmost tip of mainland Scotland or Juneau in Alaska).
Peter picked us up at our hotel / hostel and drove us back to Goteborg Save airport. Peter is the Chairman of Aeroklubben I Goteborg, a large and successful flying club based at the airport. It is one of the oldest flying clubs in Europe, founded in 1918. The evening flight was a bit touch and go for a while there as the club had recently ‘lost’ two of it’s six aircraft to prop strikes in the last couple of weeks, but he managed to book a late slot in a PA28 from a pilot who was due to land at 20:00 local.
We had a look around the aeroclub. Reasonable sized clubroom, but with all the necessary facilities and a fun-looking booking system that displays bookings on a screen that make it look like commercial departures. We also had a look around their hangar, which was beautifully organised. It was arranged ‘end on’ with hangar doors on both sides, so that planes are parked ‘head to tail’ in their own specific spots each with their own ‘care station’ (bucket, sponge, desk, locker etc.).
While we were waiting for the PA28 to turn up, we showed Peter around our RV6, which he tried on for size. The PA28 we were hoping to use pulled in to the pumps at about 20:00 and Peter took possession. Peter gave the plane a check while I was filled with nostalgia as I trained on PA28’s and flew an Arrow for a couple of years, it was all coming back to me. We loaded into the PA28 in the required sequence through the single door on the right of the plane, so rear passenger first, pilot second and front seat passenger (i.e. me) last. The evening was warm with clear skies and very calm with little if any wind. The colour of the light from the sun which was lazily wending it’s way obliquely to the horizon was wonderful, I love that evening light!
Peter Andersson and the club PA28
Peter was ‘cheating’ and giving all the calls in Swedish, but hey, why not, it’s his country! We were soon airborne and climbing towards the city centre and the normal cleared altitude for the ‘city tour’ of 2000’ – enough to glide clear in the event of engine failure (which would involve a swim in the river / estuary!). The views were great, especially in the evening sun and hovering there in the still of the evening.
Goteborg city centre from 2000'
Then Peter set course for the archipelago of islands that shelter Goteborg and the mainland Swedish coast from the Kattegat, generally heading west and north. We descended to 1500’ as requested by the Tower (Goteborg Save control up to 1500’ in their zone, above that it is Goteborg Landvetter).
The numerous islands near Goteborg
Peter points out the islands that are only accessible by boat and those that ban all cars etc. The islands and the coast are obviously THE place to be for trendy and wealthy citizens of Goteborg. Some of the islands were sparsely populated while one we saw had houses on virtually every habitable square foot – strange.
Our tour came to an end and Peter rejoined for Goteborg Save. He flew a slightly strange base leg (seeming to fly diagonally away from the airport) but assured us that this was the local noise abatement procedure (ooops – I guess we blew it then on our approach!). We landed probably about 20:50 local with plenty of sun left yet. It was a lovely flight and well worth doing – thank you Peter!
