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But now it was time to fly. I had gotten in contact with the German 99s of the International Women Pilots Association. Cecilia Rentmeister met my husband Henry and me in Trebin a small town south of Berlin easily reached by train. From there we drove to her home airport of Schoenhagen EDAZ. Until Germany’s Reunification, Schoenhagen had been the central airfield for military training in the GDR, (The Socialist German Democratic Republic). In Schoenhagen, young men from all over the GDR, were selected for flight training for the air force of the “people’s army”. Civil aviation was almost non existent because of the fear that private pilots would flee the GDR to the west by plane.
After German Reunification, many of the socialist air force pilots became civil flight instructors. Cecilia’s instructor had been a MIG pilot. Schoenhagen airport consisted of several low modern looking white rectangular buildings surrounded by forest. The renovated buildings had been barracks, administration buildings and hangars from the “Socialist Republic” days. We entered the flight school where the planes were dispatched. Once again I thought how much it reminded me of my home airport, Buttonville, with its dispatch counter, classrooms and briefing rooms. Cecilia got the keys and documents for the plane and off we drove to another low white building where the planes were hangared. To my surprise the combination of the gate to the ramp was the same as Buttonville’s. Today we would be using a seven year old French built Robin 200 D-EGJT. It reminded me of the Grumman with its glass sliding cockpit roof. Cecilia and I did the walk around….. me following behind.
Knowing what to expect, I could make out the ATIS in German. We took off from the uncontrolled airport squawking 2100 indicating a VFR flight. Heading north over the village where she lived, we spotted her house and yard. The distant cumulous clouds and the odd rain shower added an interesting mottled light to the landscape which was not unlike southern Ontario’s.
Our first destination was Potsdam south west of Berlin. It is the capital city of the state of Brandenburg. The Federal Republic of Germany consists of eleven states, which include big cities such as Berlin and Hamburg. Potsdam is the former seat of the Prussian kings. In 19th Century, the Prussian kings and “Kaisers” moved to the fast growing nearby Berlin. We circled over the old town and the tiered gardens of Sanssouci Castle, the residence of Frederic the Great in the 18th century. What a sight from the air. I wondered if my dragon boat team mates who were sightseeing there today would look up and see our small plane. From there our route was north east to Berlin itself.
The airspace over downtown Berlin was partially closed but Cecilia would see how close we could get. Most of the communication on the frequency was in English. There was no hint of German accents but Cecilia assured me they were probably German pilots speaking English. I thought of one of my instructors from Buttonville who now is flying for Berlin Air who might be one of the voices I heard. On the previous week end when Henry and I had been touring downtown Berlin there had been many small planes and an air balloon overhead. We thought civil aviation was certainly more active here that back home. We rarely see four or five planes at a time circling downtown Toronto. Cecilia explained it had been the last day that the airspace over the inner city was open and everyone was out there for a last flight. It was closed due to an intentional crash on the front lawn of the Reichstag, “The German Parliament”, a month earlier.
After clearance to enter the Controlled Airspace Delta we headed northeastwards towards the center Berlin. We flew very close to Tegel International Airport’s runways without going into its control zone. We would never get that close to Pearson. Even thought we did not get right over down town Berlin we could see most of it. I spotted the Park Inn Hotel in Alexander Platz where we were staying, the skyscrapers of Potsdamer Platz, the Tiergarten now a park, but centuries ago a private hunting ground for emperors, the communications tower with its revolving restaurant……and even the Reichstag with its glass dome. What a view. Even better than from the Berlin version of the CN Tower where Henry and I had a sunset dinner the previous evening.
Turning a 180 degree semicircle to avoid the new ED-R restricted airspace, we headed towards Tempelhof Airport where in 1909 Orville Wright demonstrated his Flyer to tens of thousands of enthusiastic Berliners. We could clearly see its semicircular terminal. It was the largest “connected” building-structure in the world until the Pentagon was erected. British architect Norman Foster called it” the mother of all airports”. In 1948/49 Tempelhof Airport was the scene of one of the most important events in the history of Berlin: the Berlin Airlift. After World War II, Berlin was divided into four sectors, each under the control of one of the Allies. In 1948 the Russians closed all the routes to and from West-Berlin by land and by water to get control over it. The Berliners were ready to resist, and with the biggest airlift ever, the Allied American and British Air forces provided the two million Berliners with everything, from coal to food, by air, for one year. Cecilia told me that she was born in September 1948 in West-Berlin after it had already been closed for 4 months. She said that after her birth, “she was kept alive the first 8 months of her life, by this immense action of brave pilots”. I wondered if that is what got her interested in flying.
Then off we went back south toward Schoenhagen, over lakes, fields, forest and small villages and Cecilia’s home. This time for my benefit, Cecilia got the ATIS in English. The option was to receive it either English or German. We landed on Runway 27. Henry was waiting for us. We drove to Berlin passing many of the sights seen from the air. Cecilia pointed out the call up points we passed. We met the other 99s Karola Schmorde and Priska Wollein who lived in the Berlin Area. It was like meeting old friends. I recognized them all from a story and front cover picture of the 99s Magazine. Dinner that evening was filled with flying stories, camaraderie, fun and laughter. To me, that is what the 99s and the flying community is all about.