Up Ship (1)

Today was an early start so that we could watch the ground crew and pilot get the ship ready for flight. The weather was very calm and the ship came out of the hangar devoid of adverts - the Mainau artwork had been taken off the night before. We watched Paul, the pilot, go through all the system checks and get the ship started, and then the first passengers came out and boarded. Then they were airborne.

Another set of passengers had arrived and were enjoying an early morning coffee, then it was their turn for briefing and to be driven out to the field to wait the incoming ship. The changeover took 4 minutes and 12 seconds, a polished performance by a friendly ground and passenger transfer crew, and then finally the engines swiveled into the vertical position and up she went, making a turn through 200 degrees and heading off for another tour of the lake. Wow.