Islands of the Baltic sea

 

The flight over the Baltic islands represented the third part of the expedition "European Islands from the Skies" flown in mid August 2014. It took eight days, about 35 flight hours and some 7000 km. This trip opened up for me an almost unknown world of hundreds and thousands of islands located in the Baltic Sea and its various corners – the Bothnian Sea, Gulf of Finland etc. The weather was fantastic,  so the videos and photos offer beautiful views. During the trip I also managed to shoot some rare videos of the capitals of Northern Europe - Stockholm, Helsinki, Tallinn, Riga, Vilnius and historical Visby.

The departure was delayed by one hour due to rainy weather and low visibility until noon. However, I found a hole between the clouds and took off. After about 20 minutes I flew into much better weather and  had no further weather problems on the journey. I flew in the airspace of the following countries: Czech Republic, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland

 


 

 

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10.8.2014 Photos from departure for the trip Radio interview the morning before departure

11 August 2014

The third part of the expedition "European Islands from the Skies” started on August 11, 2014 with my departure for the island of Usedom in Germany. The weather was quite bad the first day but got progressively better as the journey unfolded. Before departure I had an interview with the national broadcaster, Czech Radio. more

11.8.2014 Photos - Day 1 The beaches of Usedom island

August 11, 2014

The first day took me to the Island of Usedom in Germany and then over the island of Bornholm to the beautiful city of Visby in Sweden. Bornholm in particular and the surrounding islets as well as the historic city of Visby are well worth your while. For WWII enthusiasts - Usedom island was the home of Peenemunde laboratories where the infamous V1 and V2 missiles were developed. I flew over and recorded these facilities too. more

12.8.2014 Photos - Day 2 A flag of Visby with its coat of arms

12 August 2014

The second day of the journey took me from Visby over Stockholm to Mariehamn, the capital of the Aland Islands - an autonomous part of Finland. After a bit of rest I continued to Vaasa. The ATC controller at Stockholm Bromma Airport let me fly and film the centre of Stockholm so you can enjoy some of the beautiful sights of Stockholm here. Then there is the small island of Market which is divided between Sweden and Finland. Of interest is also Faro island where the famous movie director Ingmar Bergman lived, filmed and is buried. more

13.8.2014 Photos - Day 3 Rainy departure from Vaasa

13 August 2014

From Vaasa I flew over the magic Kvarken Islands and Bothnic Bay to the northernmost point of my journey - the city of Oulu. From here I continued across the Finnish inland to Tampere. The Kvarken Islands are rising from the sea at a speed of about 8-10 mm per year, so the changes in the size and shape of the islands are visible even when comparing photos just 20 years old with the present ones. more

14.8.2014 Photos - Day 4 OK LEX at Tampere airport

August 14, 2014

From Tampere I flew to the southern coast of Finland, to  the small, almost unused airport of Hanko built in 1939 by the Russians who annexed part of Finland. From there I continued to Helsinki´s GA airport of Malmi and then across the Gulf of Finland along the Estonian coast to Kardla airport. I managed to film the centre of Helsinki as well as Tallinn in addition to the islands in the Gulf of Finland. more

15.8.2014 Photos - Day 5 The airport of Kardla - two flights per day arrive here from the capital Tallinn

August 15, 2014

From Kardla I flew over the largest Estonian islands to Kuressaare airport and then onto Ruhnu Island. South of Ruhnu, over the Gulf of Riga I crossed the border to Latvia and landed at Spilve airport in Riga. The airport was just celebrating the 60th anniversary of the construction of its clearly Soviet era terminal. more

16.8.2014 Photos - Day 6 One exhibit at the celebrations of the 60th anniversary of the Spilve terminal

August 16, 2014

From Riga I departed to the western coast of Latvia and landed at Klapejda. Then I continued to the beautiful historical city of Kaunas and from there over to Vilnius. The ATC controller at Vilnius airport helped me to stay for some time over the centre of the city to film. I then crossed the border to Poland and landed at Suwalki airport. more

17.8.2014 Photos - Day 7 Suwalki airport

August 17, 2014

From Suwalki I flew over the beautiful Masurian lake district to the airport of Wloclawek where I had to land because of the bad weather. After about two hours of waiting I continued on to Příbram where I landed in the early afternoon. more

19.11.2014 All Photos

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Jiří Pruša > Photos > Islands of the Baltic sea