Although I had hoped to visit somewhere a little further afield, time dictated that I could only take a short break, so I decided to make a long awaited trip to the Channel Islands. As well as seeing the Islands themselves, this was in order to fly the Trislander aircraft, as well as several other small prop aircraft.

PLH-JER ... Air Southwest ... Dash 8-311 (G-WOWC)
JER-GCI ... Blue Islands ... BAe Jetstream 32 (G-ISLD)
GCI-ACI ... Blue Islands ... BN Trislander (G-BEDP)
ACI-GCI ... Aurigny Airways ... BN Trislander (G-RLON)
GCI-JER ... Blue Islands ... BAe Jetstream 32 (G-ISLC)
JER-GLO ... Manx 2 (FLM Aviation) ... D228-200K (D-CMNX)

Along with the introduction of flights from Newquay to Cardiff, Isles of Scilly Skybus also announced that they would be commencing flights to St Brieuc in Brittany, France. Flights would operate four times weekly using the DHC6 Twin Otter aircraft.

Fares were available from GBP 70 each way, so I decided to make a two day trip, spending one night in France, before returning overnight on the Ferry straight into Plymouth. Bad weather at NQY caused the flight to be cancelled though, with passengers rebooked onto the Ferry, whilst a few passengers - including myself - opted to be re-booked for the following day, which turned out to be glorious weather for flying.

NQY-SBK ... Isles of Scilly Skybus ... Dash 6-310 (G-CEWM)

Some pictures of the annual Plymouth City Airport fly-in and classic car rally. Aside of excellent access for shooting the visiting aircraft, there were some excellent and otherwise 'off limits' angles to shoot Air Southwest's Dash 8 aircraft from.

Once I'd arrived in Azerbaijan I spent a few days exploring the capital city, Baku, during which time I located the AZAL Ticket Office, and booked a return flight to Nakhchivan and also a flight to Ganja. Initially I had planned to take the train/minibusses from Ganja to Georgia, but I changed my mind and booked a return flight from Ganja to Baku (making it a day-trip) and then a berth on the overnight Baku-Tbilisi sleeper train. I now regret not spending more time in Georgia, for obvious reasons, as just over a week after I left, the war with Russia began. I've already decided to return in late 2009 though.

GYD-NAJ ... ImAir ... Tu154M (4K-AZ17)
NAJ-GYD ... Azerbaijan Airlines ... Tu154M (4K-85734)
GYD-KVD ... Azerbaijan Airlines ... ATR 42-500 (4K-AZ52)
KVD-GYD ... Azerbaijan Airlines ... ATR 42-500 (4K-AZ52)
TBS-GYD ... Azerbaijan Airlines ... ATR 72-500 (4K-AZ65)
GYD-RIX ... Air Baltic ... B737-300(W) (YL-BBK)

As I'd have some time in Latvia, I took a return flight to Leipaja, as Air Baltic was offering return flight for about GBP 12 all in - unbeatable value really. The next day I flew onwards to Bristol via Frankfurt, then finally back to Plymouth, drawing to a close a month of non stop travelling.

RIX-LPX ... Danu Oro Transportas ... ATR 42-300 (LY-ARI)
LPX-RIX ... Air Baltic ... F50 (YL-BAU)
RIX-FRA ... Lufthansa ... B737-300 (D-ABXO)
FRA-BRS ... Eurowings ... BAe 146-300 (D-AQUA)
BRS-PLH ... Air Southwest ... Dash-8-311 (G-WOWC)

Originally I had planned to take a ferry accross the Black Sea from Odessa in the Ukraine to Batumi in Georgia. However at the time of booking Georgia was looking very unstable, so, as I already had my flight from Azerbaijan to Riga booked, I didn't want to run the risk of not being able to get through Georgia and hence having to book an expensive last minute flight.

A quick search of flights brought up a mouth-watering option; an Il-86 to Moscow and then a Tu154 to Baku... from just €170 one way! The Il-86 is a very rare aircraft, so I grabbed this option without hesitation but, as it included a 17 hour layover in Moscow Sheramento airport, I booked in Business Class (for just €100 more) as it gave me lounge access and thus a more comfortable setting to pass the time.

SIP-SVO ... Aeroflot Don ... Il-86 (RA-86141)
SVO-GYD ... Aeroflot ... Tu154M (RA-85611)

The site of the world's worst nuclear accident may seem like a less than obvious destination for a visit, but the event and more specifically the reminants of it fascinate me.

The accompanying workers' town of Pripyat is one of the few places on the planet where time appears to have stood still - one day almost every single person living there left, and most never came back, although around a quarter of residents did return briefly to reclaim some personal possessions.

In the twenty years which have passed there has been nobody to tend to the trees, cut the grass, or pull the weeds out of the concrete, so it is therefore the ultimate example of succession - of how nature reclaims whatever we put in it's way.

This trip began as a long weekend in Kiev in order to visit Chernobyl, however, it just kept getting longer and longer until I wound up planning to fly on just about everything in the entire Ukraine!

My trip began with a flight to Warsaw, where I met my friend Soren and then travelled together on a coach to Lvov in the Ukraine, from where we just - by the skin of our teeth - made a flight to Kiev! After the Chernobyl visit - see the separate collection above for those pictures, myself, Soren, Jurgen and Judith flew back to Lvov, hired a car, and then drove almost 1000km through the Ukraine and Moldova to Chisinau, then onwards to Odessa in the very South of the Ukraine, before returning the car and flying back to Kiev.

LTN-WAW ... WizzAir ... A320-200 (HA-LPA)
LWO-KBP ... DonbassAero ... Yak 42D (UR-42372)
KBP-LWO ... DonbassAero ... Yak 42D (UR-42372)
ODS-KBP ... South Airlines ... Yak 42D (UR-CFH)

With the others heading home, Jurgen accompanied me on the ultra rare An-140 flight with Ilych Avia, before he too headed home, leaving me to fly around the Ukraine after several rare types.

IEV-MPW ... Illych Avia ... An-140-100 (UR-14008)
DOK-KBP ... AeroSvit ... B737-400 (UR-VVM)
KBP-HRK ... DonbassAero ... Yak 42D (UR-42366)
HRK-KBP ... DonbassAero ... Yak 42D (UR-42366)
IEV-CWC ... Wind Rose Aviation ... An-24PB (UR-WRA)
CWC-KBP ... Wind Rose Aviation ... An-24PB (UR-WRA)
KBP-OZH ... Motor Sich Airlines ... An-140-100 (UR-14005)
DNK-KBP ... Dnieproavia ... B737-400 (UR-KIV)

My last flights in the Ukraine were all back and forth between Kiev and Simferopol in the Crimea, in order to fly a couple more rare aircraft and the remaining airlines I had yet to fly on. Most notably I flew on WizzAir Ukraine's first (and fourth) ever flight. Following this I then spent a few days in Yalta, before flying on to Azerbaijan via Moscow.

KBP-SIP ... DonbassAero ... Yak42D (UR-42383)
SIP-KBP ... AeroSvit ... B737-200 (UR-BVY)
KBP-SIP ... WizzAir Ukraine ... A320-200 (First EVER flight) (UR-WUA)
SIP-KBP ... WizzAir Ukraine ... A320-200 (UR-WUA)
KBP-SIP ... Ukraine International Airlines ... B737-400 (UR-GAV)

After years of thinking 'one day I'll fly in a DC-3' the time had finally come to make that 'one day' today. Sadly, new EU regulations on aircraft will mean that the DC-3 needs costly and impractical (not to mention pointless) alterations, so as of July this year they will be removed from passenger service in the UK.

The flight left from Coventry and routed south towards Gaydon, then circling over Warwick, before returning to Coventry. This was especially poignent, as my Grandfather trained to fly these old beasts in Canada during WWII, amazing to think how even this aircraft changed flying forever in it's day.

CVT-CVT ... Air Atlantique Classic Flight ... Douglas DC-3 (G-AMPY)

After some time of operating from Newquay to Dublin and Cork, Air Southwest announced the rerouting of these flights to include Plymouth. For a short break back home, I took Aer Lingus from Birmingham to Cork and then flew on the first Cork-Plymouth flight, taking the first Plymouth-Dublin flight back out again the next day.

From Dublin I could have flown straight back to Birmingham, but instead I chose to take Aer Arann to Cardiff, so that I could fly on the subsidised Welsh Airlink up to RAF Valley on Anglesea, before travelling home by train.

BHX-ORK ... AerLingus ... A320-200 (EI-CVG)
ORK-PLH ... Air Southwest ... DHC-8-311 (G-WOWD)
PLH-NQY-DUB ... Air Southwest ... DHC-8-311 (G-WOWD)
DUB-CWL ... Aer Arran ... ATR 42-300 (EI-BYO)
CWL-HLY ... Highland Airways ... Jetstream 31 (G-CCPW)

Rather surprisingly XL Airways started flights from London Gatwick to Knock Ireland West and, with fares starting at £20 all in, it was a cheap opportunity to add another airline to my logbook. Return travel was with Ryanair into East Midlands Airport.

LGW-NOC ... XL Airways ... B737-800 (G-XLAD)
NOC-EMA ... Ryanair ... B737-800(W) (EI-DLY)

This trip was originally planned to take me only as far as Barcelona for a University trip, but considering I had seen most of the features on the itinerary during the last trip in 2006 and that hotels were incredibly expensive, I opted to continute on to Menorca instead to visit family.

Each leg of the six flights was flown on a different airline, adding several carrier and the Boeing 717 to my logbook, not to mention spending a relaxing few days in the villa.

MAN-PMI ... Jet2 ... B737-300 (G-CELI)
PMI-BCN ... ClickAir ... A320-200 (EC-HTD)
BCN-MAH ... Air Europa ... B737-800 (EC-IXE)
MAH-BCN ... Spanair ... B717-200 (EC-KNE)
GRO-NQY ... Ryanair ... B737-800(W) (EI-DHZ)
NQY-BHX ... FlyBe ... DHC-8-Q400 (G-JEDJ)

During my previous visit in February I'd seen relatively little of Frankfurt itself, so whilt using the return portion of my LAN Chile flight I opted to spend a little time 'downtown' this time.

Travel to Frankfurt was with FlyBe, taking a flight on their now withdrawn EMB 145s, before once again taking the LAN Chile A340 to Madrid. After overnighting in the terminal I returned with BA Cityflyer to London City.

BHX-FRA ... FlyBe ... EMB 145 (G-EMBP)
FRA-MAD ... LAN Chile ... A340-313X (CC-CQC)
MAD-LCY ... BA Cityflyer ... RJ100 (G-BXAS)

Along with a new service to St Brieuc in France, which I flew later in the year, Isles of Scilly Skybus announced they would be serving Cardiff from Newquay. Previously this route was flown by Air Southwest before it was dropped due to low loads, but with a smaller aircraft Skybus felt they could make it work.

The DHC6 Twin Otter aircraft due to operate the route was not available, so instead the tiny BN Islander was sent, providing an interesting low leverl flight lasting around an hour. I had planned to stay in the South West for Easter, but chose instead to fly back to London on Ryanair to see the first commercial A380 flight arrive in the UK, then return to Birmingham in order to work.

CWL-NQY with Isles of Scilly Skybus on the BN Islander (G-BUBN)
NQY-STN with Ryanair on the B737-800 (EI-DLO)

I hadn't been home for a couple of months, due to studies and working in what spare time I had left, so I decided to fly back home for a long weekend and surprise my family... who typically had all gone out when I arrived!

As normal flights were with Air Southwest from Bristol, it cost a good bit more than the train this time, but at least I could walk home from the airport. The weather couldn't have been more different on each flight; hot and sunny going down, but cold and snowy coming back.

BRS-PLH ... Air Southwest ... Dash 8-311 (G-WOWD)
PLH-BRS ... Air Southwest ... Dash 8-311 (G-WOWC)

Instead of flying directly back home, I took a flight from Frankfurt to Berlin, in order to spend a couple of days in the city. I'd been quite intrigued to see the Berlin wall and various other bits of history and, whilst two days didn't let me see everything, it did give me a pretty good taste.

On my return I made a point of leaving via the now closed Tempelhof Airport, routing first to Brussels then onwards to Birmingham. During the Berlin Airlift supplies for the western segment of the city and the based allied forces were ferried through this airfield, on which the world's second largest building was constructed to accomodate the terminal and hanger/warehousing facilities. A unique feature of this giant structure was that large commercial aircraft could park under a canopy in front of the passenger terminal. Sadly it was decided to close this airport in late 2008.

FRA-TXL ... Lufthansa ... A300-600R (D-AIAU)
THF-BRU ... Brussels Airlines ... BAe RJ85 (OO-DJL)
BRU-BHX ... Brussels Airlines ... BAe RJ85 (OO-DJN)

Having flown up from Madrid the previous day for the Airliners.net meeting, I spent much of Sunday shooting movements at Frankfurt with the rest of the group. Considering it was only late February the weather was great, nudging towards 20 degrees, and producing a haze more common during the summer.

In conjunction with an Airliners.net aviation meeting in Frankfurt, a small group of us decided to fly via Madrid in order to take the LAN Chile A340-300X flight up to Frankfurt. In Madrid I met up with Alfonso and Bev, spending a short while shooting before meeting up with Eric in the city for dinner. Later in the evening Soren arrived, and the next day Alfonso kindly drove us to the Museo Del Aire.

BHX-MAD ... BMI Baby ... B737-500 (G-BVKD)
MAD-FRA ... LAN Chile ... A340-313X (CC-CQC)

Once again, many thanks to Alfonso for a great time!

Following a family wedding, I travelled back with my Aunt and Unlce who live in Mid Wales. It's a beautiful area and Mike was kind enough to drive me out over the mountains, lots of fresh air is definately the anti-dote to living in Birmingham.