Winter flying

I just got back from a brief visit to my home country Belgium where the winter arrived early this year! With temperatures below -10C and quite a bit of snowfall, it was about as far away from Dubai I could get...

No short break to Belgium is complete without a flight in a general aviation aircraft! We flew a single engine Robin DR400 over the white fields of Flanders. The semi-bubble canopy is not ideal for photography, but the low level winter flying combined with some interesting shots, made my day!

Navigating over snowy landscapes is very different due to a large change in contrast. Snow cleared roads stick out very clearly while some items like railways and high tension lines are barely visible.

Even though we didn't land there, the Ostend airport at the Belgian coastline was open and ready for traffic. Airports with a single runway like Ostend, are often temporarily closed due to snow removal.

Before heading back to the home airport ( Kortrijk-Wevelgem), we landed at Ursel air base, a dis-used but standby military base in the middle of a forest, used by two civilian aero-clubs. Always a great place for an afternoon cup of coffee!

Aerial photography is great for industrial buildings like these brand new fuel tanks along the Roeselare-Leie channel. Each large tank can hold 30 million liters and takes up to 2 months to fill up. 

Just before landing at Kortrijk-Wevelgem airport, we overflew one of Belgium's oldest Renaissance castles, Rumbeke castle. The place gives me a lot of childhood memories and about 18 months ago I shot a series of HDR (High Dynamic Range) images at the site. All of them can be found here.

Those of you interested in my Aerial photography, make sure you check out my book, Focus on the World Below.

Combining my two great passions, aviation and photography, always gives me this warm fussy feeling... Nice when its -10C outside!

Take that lens cap off,

BJORN

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