DK5BK Manfred Bittner
Locator: JO32xe - DOK: I27 - ITU Zone 28
My dream of flying.
My dream of flying is almost as old as I am.
Only when I was young I didn't have the money or the time. In 2007, when I was 68 years old but still working in my company, I spoke to my wife about flying.
She said, why don't you get your pilot's license now, now we can pay for it.
But, you have to promise me, never urge me to fly with you - honestly!
I immediately registered at the flight school and first did all theory including the exam. It was really fun and I did it well. Then came the practical part.
At first it didn't go well. But after the first solo flight it went steeply upwards. Shortly after my 69th birthday, I took the practical test and got my pilot's license.
Airmobil
Our training plane - a TL 96 Star - 80 hp - 180 km/h fast.
Soon I was flying long distances, always alone.
In June 2008 I flew to HAMRADIO for the first time and landed at the Flying Farmer in Wildberg, near Lindau on Lake Constance. Wildberg is a beautifully situated airfield without an ICAO call, diagonally on a hill with a cat's hump. Actually just a grass runway with a beer garden. Everything is good, but the transport connection to Friedrichshafen is bad. So later I always flew to Constance.
I flew to HAMRADIO five times, always alone, but airmobil 2m/70cm and APRS
Berlin-Tempelhof is the mother of all airports, so they say.
On October 30, 2008 it was closed. on September 5th, 2008 I quickly landed there again.
My air-mobil equipment.
I only have my right hand free, or at the moment I'm holding the camera.
The TM-D710 control panel is also attached with a rubber Velcro strap under the knee board. Above right the PTT. To the left of the voice recorder, my station log. The red button on the stick is the PTT for the aircraft radio. It should not be confused with the Afu-PTT.
On the left of the dashboard the altimeter shows 5800 ft. On the right is the EFIS-D100 (Electronic Flight Information System) Here only the rudder servos need to be connected, then I have an autopilot and the machine stays on course and altitude when writing etc.
After long experimentation with KENWOOD TH-D7E - YAESU VX-8 and ICOM IC-D92E, the KENWOOD TM-D710 now meets all AirMobil requirements in one UL.
Above the clouds I fly to the HAMRADIO.
Today the airfield in Constance is my destination.
Tannkosh is the German counterpart to Oskosh in Wisconsin.
In 2009 I was there for the first time. Alone, with a tent, air mattress and sleeping bag,
as befits a microlight pilot.
Nothing stays the same or "signs and wonders will still happen!"
Aviators, and especially their wives, had persuaded my wife long enough that she should fly with them - I fly well and safely.
So my wife Katharina took all courage, came to the airfield and got on. "We only fly one traffic pattern - you have to endure that - then we land." So I said to her.
We took off runway 27 and when I was just turning into the cross take-off, Katharina said: "Strange - the fear is gone - the fear is gone - that's nice." "Then we'll fly to the island," I said and signed off at the tower.
Having landed on the island of Langeoog, Katharina is happy.
Despite the thermals, she didn't mind. On the contrary - she liked it.
From now on there was an end to AirMobil on 2m and 70cm.
Year after year we flew to one island after the other and made trips to many cities.
Here are some pictures from the plane:
The years passed.
I was 81 and my wife was 80 years old, when we heard the following sayings from holidaymakers waiting for their plane at the island's airport: “They don't want to fly alone, do they?”. Or: "You can hardly walk, but you can still fly."
Everything in this world has its time and that's a good thing. The flight doctor could no longer issue a medical for me. At some point it had to be.
Now we are infinitely grateful for the wonderful years of flying.