Swiss Shakedown
Blue skies, last-minute preparations and an early glimpse of what’s to come.
The day before departure on sector 2. We’re a team of 8 including flight team and camera crew. All now arrived in Dole, France. Lots of preparations and sorting over the last couple of days as things get ready to go.
Nice day this morning for the Shakedown trip from Dole to Geneva. It’s a real change from the bad winter weather they’ve been experiencing.
Smooth flight to Geneva. No problems. We met the Sparfell team who have been assisting us with the flight planning, fuel and logistics. A chance to thank them for their pro bono support and get some more engine cycles on Spirit after sitting for so long in Dole. Flight around lake Geneva for Sparfell President (who was very emotional as he hadn’t been in a DC3 since his father flew them back in 1960s) and his team. Wonderfully received.
Collected pilot Jenny who flew us back to Dole.
Wind blowing hard and cool when we arrived back. Refuelling was quite the exercise. Took on some 2200 litres between main tanks and aux tanks.
Final preparations for the team well into the night.
In short, Spirit performed beautifully and charmed everyone. Interest was massive and 100% positive.
One interaction I had today summed it up. A police officer came aboard after we landed at GVA. He told me he had watched the first episode of the Spirit web-series last night and loved it. He jokingly offered to swap his police officer jacket for a Spirit jacket. I said his jacket had more power. He said yes, but Spirit's flight jacket brought more joy. Summed the day up really.
To use an often used expression in our team: “Spirit of Douglas is bringing the joy”. She even made media coverage today in Geneva before we officially started the next stage of the journey. Here’s the article:
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