“Out of the whole amazing trip the one thing that will stick in my mind forever will be the gohstly green image of the Arora shimering in a background of a million stars!”

Arctic Trip 2011

Having looked around at different companies to help sort this out I eventually settled on Weekend Alacarte as they offered all of the components I wanted and having spoken to them on the phone they were really friendly and very helpful.

Day 1

Early Start

Goodness early wake up this morning. 3.30 am!!! I hate that time of the day! It’s dark and it’s my favourite sleep time. Cab turned up at 4.30am and then we had the long but uneventful sleep deprived slog from South East London to Heathrow Airport.

Terminal 3 E - Arrived at last! Whiz through check in and sit down with a desperately needed coffee.

WRONG! Grrrrrrr.

Best made plans and all that.

I am stood here wondering why the queue is huge at 5.30 am when the rest of the airport is empty? There is a large bunch of people snaking it’s way around from the SAS check in desks and a bunch of SAS staff happily chatting away at the desks – nothing is moving? What’s wrong with this picture SAS senior people?

10 mins…..

15 mins…..?

Hmmmmm?

20 mins – just overheard a SAS staff member say that the computers were down and being fixed now. I asked why they did not announce that over the speaker system? Seems like that does not work until 6 am until “the special unintelligible voice” turns up for work. NICE planning ahead there.

There are some guys in the queue with some serious winter jackets on – they are going to cook on the plane!

OK were off and moving. To try and speed things up just used the online check in machines. Why can’t they make them simple to use? ….and why when they spit out the luggage tags don’t they come with idiot proof instructions on which bits to stick where? I am now stood here along with several other bemused people carrying tickets, passports  and 6 feet of luggage tags.

Rest of the check-in went ok. “Cold Land” (my kids term) here I come!

Uneventful flight other than the delay but a knock on at the other end.

Had a connecting flight from Stockholm up to Karuna in the Arctic Circle. Should have had an hour after landing before the next flight. No such luck.

We were due to fly out from Terminal 5 in Stockholm for the next part of the trip. Where was it? Right on the other side of the airport.  So there was a mad dash with several groups all running through the airport to try to get to the gate where the plane was already boarding!

After tearing cloths off to go through the security check I then had to race down the corridor half dressed while listening to my name announced over the speaker system telling me I was the last passenger and the gate was closing. (ohhh the humiliation) Tell me something I didn’t know – if your plane had not been late I would not be making your other plane late!

I love that look from your fellow passengers that you get when you stagger on to the plane and they close the door behind you. All up from here.

Flight was great although challenging knee space.

Watched everything below slowly go white. Amazing views.

Getting off the plane it was obvious this wasn’t “Kansas any more”. Goodness it was cold. I had my ski gear on that I use in the Alps and it was still chilly.

Karuna is a nice little airport. Lots of snow there but not a lot of things near it.

We were picked up in the airport by Petri (our guide – sorted out by Weekend Alacarte) for the transfer to the ice hotel.

While traveling he told us that we had been very lucky with the weather and that 2 weeks earlier they had had some of the worst weather in decades. The area we were staying had been down as low as -43 degrees centigrade. (Industrial freezers don’t go that low!). (An interesting bit of trivia is that -40 Centigrade is exactly the same as -40 Fahrenheit. Both measurement systems meet at that point)

They then had a 4 day storm where so much snow had fallen that it had caused 3 separate avalanches in the mountains further north, completely blocking the railway track for over a week, as a result no one had been in or out of some of the towns further up north for  while.

Thank you sunny weather and a nice pleasant -8c.

On the way we tried to cross over one of the ice roads that went over one of the rivers.

At this point Petri told us to unfasten our seat belts just as a precaution in case we went through the ice. (Through the ice!) He said that the chances were almost zero as the ice was well over a meter thick and would easily carry 10 cars but if anything did happen getting out of the truck fast would be really important.

I only needed to be told that once!

The view was amazing and I was looking forward to this little adventure, I had never driven over a river before – on the river itself. Unfortunately there was so much snow on it that even the four wheeled drive van with studded snow tyres could not get through it and so Petri decided that rather us risking getting stuck it was probably better to go the  long way round via the standard roads instead.

Sami Lunch

After dropping our bags at the ice hotel we were whisked away to a Sami “old school” cafe. Which was a tepee with a fire in the middle where we warmed up and had coffee and some great vegetable stew. Being a vegetarian I was expecting the whole eating experience to be difficult but being vegi turns out to be pretty simple out in Karuna simply because (I was told) they get so many of “us” going there to “hug trees and get close to nature”. Nice.

After a hearty warm meal it was back to the ice hotel to have a look around.

Ice Hotel

Checking in was a little long winded as the lady on reception first of all could not find the reservation and then tried to book us into the wrong rooms on the wrong nights. You book warm and cold rooms and its important you book the right ones in the right order given the activities you do. (Tip – book the cold room towards the end of the holiday. If you don’t sleep very well you don’t want to be tired doing any other activity. If it’s the last night then you can always sleep on the plane home).

Words can not explain how beautiful the Ice Hotel is and my photographs below certainly don’t do it justice.

The hotel it’s self is built new every year. This year it had over 60 rooms. The year before it had 90 but due to the recent global economic down turn they had gone for fewer rooms.

Every year they cut huge blocks of ice from the river and then store them in a custom built warehouse next to the hotel.

This is then used to build the hotel the next year. The way they build the hotel is amazingly simple.  They have large metal frames that they use to form the corridors and basic rooms. They set the frames in place and pile snow on top. This is then compacted down to form a solid shape around the outside of the frame.

Once the snow is stable the frames are then lowered by about 40 cm and then just wheeled out leaving an ice corridor.

And then the magic happens. Solid blocks of river ice are then brought in to support, or be carved into different shapes to decorate the different rooms.

There are different types of rooms that you can stay in. Snow rooms which are very basic with just a bed. Ice suites which are a little bigger with some basic decoration with a bed table and chairs (all carved from ice of course).

Then you have the art suites and the main corridor each of which have been designed and carved individually by different artists. These are absolutely beautiful mini melt-able works of art.

Finally there is a Royal Deluxe Suite which not only is hand carved but also has it’s own private electric key operated sliding door! Very James Bond.

All of the other rooms have basic cloth curtains that close to make them private.

The way the ice hotel works is that the rooms are all public from 10am until 6pm. Allowing tourists and guests to wander around and marvel at the rooms. After 6pm the rooms are then considered private like a normal hotel. The main doors are then locked to the public and guests have access through a private reception and entrance. After this time guests are only allowed in their own rooms and all of your clothes and personal items are stored in a private walk in locker within the main reception area.

Having walked around thee ice hotel for an hour in my normal ski gear it became very clear it was a bit colder than I was used to. My feet were freezing in my boots and thermal socks so we called in to the hotel “dressing area” and picked up some of the provided arctic weather clothing. This was a big set of bright blue thermal overalls and a pair of HUGE arctic boots.

These were a cross between something a goth and Frankenstein would wear and dwarfed my own walking boots. They were amazing! The rest of the trip my feet were toasty and I advise any one to wear these if you go.

Along side the ice hotel is also what are classed as warm rooms. These are a series of small chalets that guests can book into just like any other hotel allowing you to use this as a base for any other trips planned.

I had booked in for two warm nights and one cold thinking that if I was going to have a bad nights sleep freezing my ass off it would be better at the end of the holiday rather than anywhere else. At least that way I would be alert for the other things I had planned. Turned out that was a good call and I would recommend this to anyone planning a trip.

My expectations on food had also been pretty low being a vegetarian. Vegetables are expensive to get that far north as everything has to be shipped in and it’s pretty much a fish and reindeer centre of excellence in the culinary scales.

We had been told when we checked in that there were two restaurants we could go to. One was a 15 min walk away further up the road and the other was just next to the hotel. We decided that the first night we would treck to the furthest one and try that first.

Food

So donning the new arctic gear we headed off up the road. By the time we set off the sun had gone down and it was snowing like crazy and freezing cold - the temperature plummeted below -12c. By the time we got there I was pretty cold and ready for something to eat. It was built from an old wooden school that had been converted into a restaurant but inside it could have been a trendy Restaurant in the middle of London!

The food was great! Had a nice goats cheese starter followed by lasagna and a great bottle of wine. The quality was totally unexpected and the staff were really friendly.

Could not have been better. Headed home full of warm carbs and ready for a good nights sleep.

Day 2

Huskies

Up early. Headed up to the nearby Ice Hotel Restaurant for breakfast. Again I was really pleasantly surprised. It was very modern and the food available ranged from standard cereals, pastries and juice through to hot bacon and eggs.

After a  great breakfast it was down to reception to wait for Beo (our new guide for the day) who picked us up in traditional, prompt Swedish style and whisked us away to the kennels to meet his dogs.

Other than a bit stinky they were not quite what I had expected. My TV vision of huskies are round faced fluffy dogs with curly bushy tails and blue eyes.

These I found out later were Siberian huskies. The ones we were going to be working with today were Alaskan Huskies. They looked a little like a “Heinz 57″ but with the biggest paws I have ever seen on a small dog.

Beo said that there were two types of dogs; ones bred to have pretty faces and ones bred to be able to run and pull. His dogs he was proud to say had been bred specifically as working dogs.

After harnessing up a six dog team and being given the fundamental pep talk on what to and not to do we were away. Goodness me those dogs are strong!

The sled set off with a jerk that nearly had me off from the start! By the time we headed off it had started snowing and the wind had picked up. Not that any of this bothered the dogs and according to my GPS they were pretty much running at a steady 12mph. The team followed Beo’s sled like it was attached with a rope, even when I lost him in parts of the forest the dogs new exactly where to go and stayed on his tracks. The views were amazing. Open wilderness, deep powder snow on both sides of the track and hardly any noise.  (Other than the freezing cold wind that is).

I was amazed at how thin the tracks were that we were on. At times only just wide enough for the dogs and the sled as it bounced along. At one point we ran head long into another group of sleds coming the other way. That was interesting!

There were about 40 dogs all barking, pointing in different directions and desperate to keep running. To stop the dogs getting tangled and so we could get around them Beo had me drive the dogs off the regular path and into the deep snow.

Immediately it was clear that this was too tough for the dogs alone to pull my “chunky self” through the snow so I jumped off the sled skis to help push. Bad idea. I sank up to my hips in snow. It was pretty deep! I now had to waid through the snow and push the sled to get the dogs moving in the right direction. After 15 mins I had managed to maneuver past the other teams and get back on the main track. I was gasping like a fish out of water. Hard work being a husky and having to move a sled!

We set off back on the track, trees flying past at a pace. At one point we cut out across one of the frozen lakes, wind still howling, visibility was really bad and the snow was blowing horizontal. As we went we could see a small herd of rain deer huddled together by the lakes edge.

After a few more miles we pulled up at one of Beo’s small cabins in the woods and stopped for lunch.

It’s at this point I became a little “sad” and in the middle of this beautiful landscape my technology craving kicked in and I took the opportunity to gain a few more Foursquare points by checking into his cabin. Not unsurprisingly I was the first person to check in there unfortunately I did not get any sort of great adventurer badge.

While I was fiddling with Technology Beo was getting down to sorting out lunch.  He quickly had a fire lit within a steal blackened hearth and we crammed into the small wooden cabin and sat down. The heat from the fire was great and just what was needed following the last 5 miles of cold wind and snow.

Vegetable soup and coffee were on the menu again and Beo laughed and told us that they bunched all of the vegetarians together on trips like this (there were 4 of us) as it just made it easier. Nice! A punnet of vegies. He said that keeping us together meant that they only had to worry about one type of meal, easier for everyone.

By the time we had finished eating the snow storm had blown past so Beo asked if we would like to take the opportunity to go snow shoeing in the woods. Always being up to try something new this sounded like a great idea and so we all put on the snow shoes and headed off into the woods. As we trekked Beo showed us different footprints and how to identify which animals had made them and how to work out how recently they had been there. Snow shoeing is actually good fun (something I never thought I would hear myself saying) although when we all tried to walk in fresh powder we discovered its actually pretty hard work. If you are too heavy as you take a step and you don’t balance your weight the shoes can sink down so there is a real technique to walking in them.

After we had finished our little treck and Beo had fed the dogs it was time to head back to the kennels.

A great day out and really good fun. Being on the sled with the dogs and silently zipping through the trees feels like you are not intruding on nature but are more a part of it and you get to see much more wildlife. An excellent day!

Northern Lights

Tonight we are heading off to the Abisko to see the northern lights – fingers crossed that the weather we had for the dog sledding does not turn up tonight.

One of the best places to be able to see the northern lights is a at the Abisko sky station.

It’s about 100km North of Karuna in the mountains and so is high up away from all of the light pollution so you get a much better view.

We set off just as the sun was going down and the views of the sunset were incredible.

As we headed off Petri the driver told us that the main industry in Karuna was the iron ore mine. Its the biggest and most sophisticated in the world and is the main employer in the area. As they have excavated the iron ore, a mountain of dirt has grown and huge hole in front of the main headquarters has now appeared as a result of the subsidence. We were told that the locals sarcastically call it Mordor from Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings – and I can see why.

As we got further into the mountains I was amazed by how many lakes we passed. I had not quite realised that there were so many of them. They are everywhere!

The drive was long but comfortable and after a stop of for a nice warm dinner we headed off to the bottom of the Abisko station.

Goodness me it was cold. -21c! The wind was blowing a gale and on top of all that it was snowing. Northern lights were not looking like they were going to be easy to spot tonight.

We all put our gear on and headed off to the station. I had on thermal underwear, ski salopettes, 3 ice breaker tops an arcteryx hoody, a North Face puffa jacket all finished off with arctic overalls and snow boots. (I looked like Bibendum from the Michelin adverts).

We got to the station chair lift. Originally I had thought for some bizarre reason that this would be like a ski  gondola. No. This was an “old school” 2 man chair lift. So to get everyone on they had to walk you into position and then stop the chair to get each pair sat down before they moved it on to the next. As we set off they then attached a strobe light to the chair which I was told was to make sure no none was left out there. The strobe light goes on at the bottom and is taken off when you get off at the top. That way all people on the chair can be accounted for.

And I can see why they needed the system. It was a 2 km trip up the mountain and because of people getting on and off it took us about 35 minutes. That was 35 mins sat in pitch blackness dangling on a chair lift 4 stories up at -21c with snow and wind….it was a long and pretty cold 35 mins! By the time we got to the top I was freezing cold even with all my layers.

When we eventually arrived at the top we were quickly helped off the chair lift and hurried into the viewing station.

Bliss! – It had a wood burning stove going and was exactly what the doctor ordered with hot chocolate on tap to help warm you up.

Once warm it was then back outside to see what we could see. By this time the clouds had cleared and you could see the stars – but no aurora borealis , which surprised me. I had thought that the aurora was always there but the reality is that it actually comes in waves mysteriously fading in and out.

It is stunningly beautiful and amazing to watch. The sky slowly changes from black to a ghostly green glow which fades in changes shape and then fades away.

Luckily the staff up there were constantly watching the skies and when a new Aurora started to appear they let every one inside know so that you could stay out of the cold as much as possible.

We stayed up there for a couple of hours just watching in awe as the sky danced. It was all over too quickly and by about 10.30pm it was time to head back down.

The trip back down on the chair was just as cold but fortunately this time the wind was on our backs so a little more bearable. Once back at the minibus we all quickly loaded up and headed back to the Ice Hotel in Karuna. A very special night and one that I will remember for a long time.

Day 3

Snow Mobile Safari

After a very good nights sleep in our warm chalet room we were up early breakfasted and ready to go.

Our guide for the day was a Swedish Sami and a descendant from the indigenous people who roamed across all of Scandinavia herding reindeer and a keen snowmobile enthusiast.

He told us that the every reindeer in Scandinavia was owned by someone and that there were no wild reindeer. They were all owned by the Sami people who herded them around the different regions and they then slaughtered and sold the meat and skins to make a living. Every year they would be rounded up into a single areas (4 to 5 thousand reindeer) and they would be sorted and branded. Each Sami owner had their own brand and this would be cut into the fur of the reindeer to identify them.

After a safety briefing on the snow mobiles we headed off into the hills.

Riding a snow mobile is great fun and a little like riding a motor cycle but more stable and comes with heated hand grips as standard.

When you are on well worn paths its pretty easy to handle but in deep snow you have to go pretty fast and effectively aquaplane over the snow otherwise the weight just sinks into the snow and that’s it you are stuck and going nowhere. I guess its a little like a jet ski that does not float.

As we went our guide pointed out a whole bunch of different wildlife and at one point we stopped turned off the engines and he pointed over to a tree that was about 50 meters away and told us that there was a Ptarmigan there. To me it looked just like a tree. Even when I got my camera out and zoomed right in it was only when it moved that I saw it a snow white bird the size of a big chicken. I decided that the guy must have telescopic vision!

The landscape was just stunning, huge open vistas with a scattering of trees and mountains in the back ground. Sweden is a beautiful and amazing place. Almost twice the size of the UK with a total population of around 9 million. That’s almost the same number of people who live in London!

As we rode on a little further our guide told us that Richard Branson had put plans in place to build one of the Virgin Galactic space ports in Karuna.

This was a deal that had been done in conjunction with the Ice Hotel so that potential customers would have an experience of a life time. As part of the trip customers would stay in the Ice Hotel and then transfer to the Virgin Galactic space port to be flown up into space where they would also have the chance to see the aurora. How cool is that!

After a few more miles we eventually rounded a corner and stopped outside a small tent and unpacked ready for lunch. The tent was kitted out with all the “mod cons”. A few wooden benches with reindeer skins on and a hearth to cook on. Perfect.

Our guide expertly had a fire going within a couple of minutes and within 20 mins we were tucking into an impromptu vegi stir fry and a hot coffee.

There was something very calming about sitting there in front of a warm fire, full of food looking out onto the  still scenery. No noise, no rush, just peaceful serenity.

Ice Hotel Ice Bar

After a great day out on the snow mobiles it was time to hit the Ice Bar back at the hotel.

The whole bar was made of solid ice all meticulously and beautifully shaped and carved.

The dance floor, the chandelier, tables, chairs, bar and even the shot glasses were all made of ice!

A couple of drinks later I had that happy glow that only comes with alcohol and cold and tonight was the night we were due to stay in our cold suite.

We were told that at 6pm they were going to do a talk on how to survive the night. (not sure that is a good title for the talk).  So we and a bunch of others gathered outside of the Ice Bar entrance waiting to hear the warm words of wisdom.

One of the Hotel staff then turned up and ran us through everything we needed to know. We were advised that the sleeping bags were very warm and that all we would need to wear is a thin single thermal base layer. Anything else and we would run the risk of sweating and that this would then freeze. Hmmmm my levels of confidence in my ability to get a good nights sleep were dropping with every word.

It was going to be an interesting night.

Ice Hotel – The Art Deco Room

We had chosen to stay in the Art Deco room, it was beautiful – It was a large spacious room with an icy table and chairs at one end and a bed at the other.

This room had been designed and created by Tomasz Czajkowski and Eryk Marks two creatives from Poland. They designed it as a statement to the fact that during the the two world wars and following the Russian occupation the Art Deco movement had never had the opportunity to flourish in Poland as it had done across the rest of Europe. This was their homage to a lost part of Polish history.

None of the rooms have lockable doors so its not possible to leave anything in the rooms themselves and we had been told that if we did it would freeze anyway so anything that went in the room, apart from our shoes would have to go into the sleeping bags with us.

Along with the Ice Room also came a large walk in storage locker in the main part of the Ice Hotel. This was a small lockable area where you could store all of your suit cases and clothes.

After dropping off all our gear and stripping down to thermal underwear and boots we grabbed our sleeping bags and legged it. When you only have your under wear on you certainly don’t want to stroll casually through those icy -8c corridors I can tell you. By the time we got to the room you could feel the cold starting to bite so the sleeping bags were quickly laid out, boots off  and I was in! The bag itself was huge and once I had been in it for five mins it was pretty warm. The problem was what to do with my face. I laid there in the dark for what must have been 20 mins with a toasty body and a positively freezing cold face. There was no way I was going to be able to sleep like this and then I had an idea. The bag had a draw string around the top part and so I climbed lower down inside and pulled it so tight that there was just a small hole for my nose to stick through. After that within ten mins I was sound asleep.

Day 4

Morning after the night before

We were woken up by one of the staff with a cup of warm lingonberry juice. It had been a steady -8c all night in our Ice Suite and I had slept like a baby surprisingly a good 8 hours sleep. We had asked for a 6am wake up but the reception had missed it and it was now 7am so we had to get ready a bit quicker than expected but it was not a problem.

After the warm drink in bed we quickly jumped out of the sleeping bags, put boots on and headed back out to the reception area to shower and get dressed.

The shower block was great, just like the showers in an exclusive spa. All tastefully kitted out but more importantly gallons of hot water. After a good breakfast we had enough time for one more look around the Ice Hotel at the amazing rooms.

And that unfortunately was that.

We headed up to reception checked out and waited for our final guide to pick us up to head out to see if we could see a moose, our last big adventure before we flew home.

We drove for miles and saw some amazing scenery but no moose. Then as we rounded a corner we saw not moose but a small group of reindeer in the trees by the edge of the road. Its the closest we had been to reindeer the whole time we had been there. Very pretty animals with huge feet. They looked at us in a very uninterested way and just wondered further into the woods. After a short stop to watch them we drove on. Several more miles passed until eventually someone spotted a moose.

It was really hard to see as it was laid down in the snow and initially just looked like a large rock in the shadows. Its only when its head moved that you could really spot it. As we looked on we started to see more and more of them. All in all there were about 5 of them some stood further away and others laid down.

After a few more miles of driving and moose spotting we called in at a small Sami village where we grabbed coffee and lunch before heading back to the airport.

The drive back was direct with stunning views of lakes and snow swept roads and in the background the sounds of haunting Sami music that the driver had put on.

A great final memory to leave this unique landscape with before we flew home.

From the sophisticated and artistic craftsmanship we saw in the Ice Hotel, through to the amazing landscapes the whole trip was very special and I think uniquely beautiful.

A great trip I would absolutely recommend!

Flying in the stratosphere right at the edge of space at twice the speed of sound was one of the most incredible and humbleing things I have ever done.

This is the blog  I wrote of the whole fantastic experience.

To Infinity & Beyond!

Having tried lots of different adrenaline sports I have decided, for my 40th birthday, to treat myself to what has to be one of the ultimate thrills! Flying to the edge of space at over twice the speed of sound in a Russian Mig. Over the next few weeks I will be blogging about it and will drop my photos and any video here, so you can all see if I go green and reach for the obligatory inflight paper bag, or just scream.

The Video

So, after what feels like forever (only 9 days) the video footage from Sokol has arrived. The DVD’s had a whole heap of stills on them (some good, some not so good) which I have already added to this blog in the relevant sections.

I also got a DVD with footage of the flight which I have re-edited so it’s shorter and  I’ve taken out the cringe worthy transitions.

I have broken out the aerobatics sections and the flight into the stratosphere so that they are shorter and easier to watch but in reality the aerobatics bit is all part of the same flight, which is why, when you see the landing I look like I have been in a tumble drier. (I have!)

20m Low Level Pass

This was very cool. As the plane gets lower to the ground (we were at about 20m) you start to realise how fast you are actually going and get an amazing sense of how powerful the aircraft is. This came towards the end of the flight after all of the other aerobatics. Much more and breakfast would have been on the inside of the cockpit I’m sorry to say.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjH9QM0g4fg

Flight to The Edge of Space

There is not a lot I can say about this, other than it was just breath taking and the view was stunning! This is what I went to Russia to do. The high speed and aerobatics were great fun but nothing in comparison to seeing the curvature of the earth. The whole experience is something I will treasure for a long time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUAm9F_vZHc

The Hammer – 6G Blackout

In the hammer the pilot takes the plane vertical and then slows to a stop. A cool but freaky feeling to be in a plane thousands of feet up but going nowhere. I think you can actually hear me swear when the plane stops! I pulled 6.5G at the bottom of this and blacked out

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhyh1B8Ewu8

High Speed Loop

Pretty straight forward although the G-force as we start the climb was pretty uncomfortable (I am pretty sure watching it this is where we pulled 6 g and I blacked out at the start) You can see my breathing pattern change as I get the “stuffing” squashed out of me as we go into the climb.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOpWkh7wWG4

Inverted Flyby

This was more freaky than the Hammer!

Dangling upside down by a couple of seat straps and looking straight down to Terra Firma through a clear canopy makes your heart pump. I was much happier once we had spun back around and my ass was back in the seat and not dangling in the wind. I did have a cocktail stick bouncing around though, which gave me something to focus on and raises the question “why did I not get an in-flight meal”? Obviously someone else did and did not clean up after themselves!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvv2hXNuY4M

Barrel Roll

This is pretty tame, it’s over very quickly and the G-force on you is minimal but after a few of them you do start to feel a little queasy! Be warned!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iyWit-UE8uQ

Diary 

Below is my day to day diary of events as a I planned and eventually got to Russia to fly in the Mig.

The Plan

My trip is planned for early September and I have to say I am pretty excited by the whole thing. Ever since I was a kid I have wanted to have a go in a fast jet. The idea of travelling faster than sound over 20 miles up in the stratosphere, looking down on the earth and out into space has to be an incredibly humbling experience and one hell of a rush!

I have a packed agenda, when, over 6 days I will fly with some of the best Russian pilots in 2 different aircraft, travel over 800 miles by train and take a tour of some of the most well known and stunning places in Moscow.

Day 1 – Arrive in Moscow

Day 2 – Tour of Moscow and then travel 400 miles by train to Nizhny Novgorod

Day 3 – Briefing, training and then the “big” flight in either a Mig 31 or a Mig 29  followed by some aerobatics then back on the train and another 400 miles back to Moscow

Day 4 – Tour of the Kremlin and a well deserved rest to get my stomach back in place!

Day 6 – Back on a plane to London – Hopefully with my lunch intact and some incredible memories.

I am pretty sure that my travel insurance does not cover a Mig should anything go pear shaped!

Visa – I Have It!

I now have my Visa for Russia, so everything is now pretty much all sorted. The whole visa thing was pretty bizarre. For those of you who don’t know, to enter Russia you need to have an invitation from a company or organisation before they will give you a visa and getting that is not as easy as you would think. You then have to take this invitation with your form and passport to the Russian Embassy  at Kensington Palace Gardens for them to check and approve it. If, after all of the checks have been done you get a thumbs up, you get a lovely new sticker in your passport.

(The one below is obviously not the new shiny one I have in my passport but one I found compliments of Google)

The Company

My thanks to all of you who have wished me well and to those who have proposed epitaphs – (obviously a lot of confidence there)

Not wanting to tempt fate too much, I will drop some of those on this blog when I get back in one piece!

(Catherine (my other half) has just asked how she can get onto the blog “just in case” – confidence all the way round it seems!!)

For those of you who have asked for more details on which crazy company would take me up in a very expensive plane to do this, then that would be a Russian company called Country of Tourism (catchy I know but very good at sorting it all out). They manage all of the logistics.

The pilots taking me up will be from JSC NAZ Sokol – the company who make the aircraft in Nizhny at Sokol

(That says Sokol by the way)

For the more geeky of you then you can get more info on the Mig 29 here http://www.sokolplant.ru/en/p_mig29.shtml

and the Mig 31 here http://www.sokolplant.ru/en/p_mig31.shtml

(This plane needs 1.2 killometers just to take off!)

T5 British Airways

So, this is my first posting on the go, testing the mobile software I have. Any spelling mistakes please forgive – I will fix these when I log on via my laptop.

I set off at 6 am this morning and had a surprisingly good trip. The sun was shining and my cab driver had a Russian wife who’s father used to work as an engineer, building Migs. What were the chances of that!

This is my first trip out of T5 and my first impressions are a little disappointing. It’s basically a huge shopping mall with pretty poor signs. At check in, every fast bag drop queue was bigger than standard drop off and check in – not that fast. I opted to use the first check in and that had 5 people on it and still it took an age.

I am, at this moment, stood in a very long queue waiting to board the plane, having already waited for an age at the gate. The flight is already late – so much for the latest set of advertising about being on time…..

Ohoo! we’re moving, more when I land.

BA The Flight

We were due to fly at 8.55am. Having eventually boarded the plane at around 9.20am we then sat on the runway for another 30 mins before taking off, almost an hour later than scheduled!

The staff on the plane were, however, fantastic as normal. No matter how much you can criticise the logistics I have never yet had a bad experience with the cabin staff. BA have great crew!

After an uneventfull flight we landed about 20 mins late.

Getting through customs was an adventure, so many people, a cross between JFK on a bad day and a rugby scrum (but friendlier border people than JFK by about 200% – they actually smiled and said hello!).

Day 1

Introductions

I met up with Alexandra (my guide and interpreter) at the airport and Serge (the CEO of the company who organised the trip – Country of Tourism) at the Crown Plaza hotel.

We then went out for dinner at a 17th century period restaurant. The meal was good but it was a little strange trying to make small talk through an interpreter, although Serge was a very good host and it turned out that he had been a Russian Diplomat in the past.

It seems just as in NY (a different adventure altogether) I have an innate ability to attract the police and this was no exception. As we drove back into the hotel entrance we were stopped by an officer of the Militia who was a large stern faced looking man. Serge had to produce his driving documentation and after a lot of talking received what looked like a “special” on the spot fine.

I am so glad that I was not driving and Serge was there to deal with it. I’m sure that situation is not covered in my iPhone Russian “get me the hell out of here” translation software. Maybe it’s in V2.0…?

After dinner it was back to the hotel and a stunning view of the city from my room!

 Day 2 – The Tour

Today was my tour of Moscow city with Alexandra.

I saw the home of the Bolshoi – it was closed. We then went to a famous museum whose name I cannot say let alone spell – it too was closed. Red Square…..closed (for a celebration at the weekend!) Having said that, I did get to see many other incredible things and see Red Square from different angles so I felt like the day was well spent.

(Some of the architecture in Russia is incredible and lots of colour, which is something I never expected).

Moscow is an amazing place. The people are all helpful and friendly. The buildings and architecture are vast and range from incredibly ornate to almost Bauer house utilitarian. What stood out most was how clean all of the buildings were, how big the space was and unfortunately, the size and number of new advertising hoardings. Some of them longer than a football pitch!

All that culture and history blotted out by a 300 meter wide advert for BMW.

Something not quite right there!

The city is an odd mix of old Stalin style architecture with very modern buildings and mixed in between it is hoards of cars and massive bill boards. Russia (or at least Moscow) is changing very fast. To think it was only about 10 years ago when the communist regime collapsed then it’s incredible to see how fast this country is changing.

All the way through the city you see amazing juxtapositions of culture and I found it quite amusing to see huge capitalist advertising next to an old communist building.

I learnt a lot about Moscow and the people, then, after a great day, I jumped onto a train to travel first class to Nizhny Novgorod where I would fly in the Mig 29.

Day 2

The Train Journey

Culturally it’s SO different.

At the moment I am sat on a train going to Nizhny Novgorod. Now I have done a fair bit of traveling In my time but I have to say seeing a smart, silver haired business man take his Rolex watch off, turn his seat into a single bed (complete with sheet, pillow and duvet) and then see him strip down to his very smart boxers, did take me a little bit by surprise.

On that note I think it’s time to watch a film and settle down to my five hour journey and pretend that an “almost naked” man is not laid opposite me. The movie – Planes, Trains & Automobiles springs to mind!

The journey itself turned out to be very comfortable and the time flew. Looking out of the window – after I had seen an hour of trees go past, I realised that the view would be pretty much that for the rest of the journey ….and it was. Russia is HUGE!

When I arrived I was met by Serge (Country of Tourism), Oleg (Sokol Air Base) and Anna (another interpreter and guide who I had been speaking with while in London and who helped me to arrange the trip.

They checked I was ok and then took me to my new hotel the Alexandrovsky Garden  and helped me to check in. Unlike French, Spanish, Italian and German (and some American) you can guess what some of the words and conversations are about but I have realised that you have no chance in hell with Russian. You can’t read it, guess it, or anything in between and having a guide all along the way has been such a huge help.

So the big day is tomorrow – Oleg’s parting words of advice were “have a light breakfast….”

Hmmmmm ….I am now full of confidence and raring to go!!

Sleep time…..ZZZZzzzzzzzz

Day 3

Morning

Well, it’s 8.30am here at the moment and I am due to meet Anna and Serge in 30 mins to go to the base to prep for the flight. The weather…sucks, it was raining 10 mins ago but there are hints of blue starting to appear so fingers crossed it perks up.

Trip to the Base

A large black Mercedes with blacked out windows picked me up from the hotel this morning. The driver was a large stocky guy in a suit (who you would have to think twice about before upsetting) accompanied by a very well dressed young lady (Irina) who was to be my new interpreter and guide for the day. As well as knowing an encyclopedia’s worth of knowledge on the city, she new more about weapons and tanks than anyone I have ever met.

The journey to the base was a little like the car chase out of The French Connection. I found out that the brakes on the Mercedes are probably the best in the world and Russian drivers enjoy speed…..a lot!

When we got to the base I was met by the Managing Director and head of security for the site. After the relevant security and clearance checks we then entered the base through the first of many security gates and drove to meet the pilot and team who would prep me for the flight.

The base used to be a top secret facility and security is still very high. I was not allowed to take pictures or use my phone while there but I did have my very own mini film crew provided who filmed and took pics. All of these have to have security clearance before I get them but as soon as I have them I will be uploading more stuff.

Flight Prep

On arrival a very nice doctor gave me a medical and told me I was fit to take my life in my own hands and sign it away.

Following the relevant scribble on the documents I was then taken to meet the pilot who I would be flying with.

Andre Pechionkin had been a lieutenant colonel in the Russian Airforce and was now flying as a test pilot for Sokol. I think to say he was pretty good at what he did would be an understatement.

He talked me through what the flight programme was going to be, covering off the altitude, speeds and the aerobatics we would do during the flight.

This was then followed by training on the ejection seat position I had to be in and how to use it should things go “pear shaped”. At this point I started to ask myself if I had bitten off a tad more than I could chew!

Andre told me not to worry and that if one of us went then we both would (I’m not sure that did the trick). He also told me that I would have duel controls for everything and that I should not touch anything painted red as this would be very dangerous. (Little did he know I had no intention of touching a god damn thing! There was no way I could afford to break a Mig 29!)

After this it was time to suit up and two guys helped to squeeze me into my pressure suit. This is a cross between a fabric wet suit and a corset – very attractive.

If you have to eject at high altitude, or the plane depressurises, then just as in diving the air in your blood expands causing your blood to fizz and you get the bends. (This can kill you). The suit is tight to keep your body under pressure to stop this. At the end of a lot of pushing, squeezing and lacing I was in it and left feeling a little like a “green ham soprano”. (As soon as the pictures have been cleared through the security checks I will post them and you will see what I mean).

And here it is!

Over this then went my very own custom made flight suit, into which they stuffed a sick bag and asked me not to vomit on the controls. (Everybody it seems wants to be a comedian).

Then the boots, gloves and finally the helmet and oxygen mask, which I then trained how to fit and adjust without a mirror. In the movies it all looks so easy!

Several security gates and checks later we arrived at the runway with the Mig 29 fueled and ready to go.

I was later told that the flight technicians had been prepping the plane from 5.30am for this one flight! 127 people were involved from checking the electronics, avionics, engines, fueling etc through to the fire crews, air control, medical staff etc etc the list goes on.

Digital Hell

At the moment I am in digital hell!

Getting network connections is very hard so uploading my notes and pictures is very adhoc. Most of the time I am having to do it via my phone, which is going to (I’m sure) leave me with a big phone bill when I get home.

Having no connection to the Internet is a very strange and nasty feeling

Good god…….. Maybe I am addicted?!

The Flight

Andre showed me around the outside of the Mig 29 and ran the pre-flight checks and then we climbed in.

Once I had been hooked up to the air and pressures systems I was shown all of the controls, dials, knobs, switches and what I could touch and use (like the pure oxygen system) and the things I could not touch under any circumstances…. the red bits! I was also shown how much fuel we had – 3300 litres!, sounded at the time like a lot.

Then a check with the tower, the canopy came down and we were away.

As we taxied down the runway I had a big smile on my face. Then the jets kicked in and I have never felt acceleration like it! It got very serious very fast - Boy it was quick!!!!!

Up we went through the clouds at a few hundred miles an hour and leveled out as we headed towards the designated flight area. When I checked the instruments we were a hundred and forty kilometers away from the base!

It was very different to traveling in a commercial plane. First of all it was very fast but also very smooth with hardly any bumps or turbulence. It also felt like the difference between driving in a car and riding on a motorbike. In a car you are enclosed in the machine. In the Mig it was more like sitting on top of a whole lot of power, where you see everything passing you by on both sides and feel all of the curves through your body – just like on a fast bike! But this one goes almost twice the speed of sound!

Once we reached the flight area Andre told me that he was about to engage the after burners to take us supersonic, so that we could climb to the desired altitude. As they kicked in you could feel the increase in speed as we shot forward. Within a minute we had gone through Mac 1 and at Mac 1.84 (that’s about 1,400 mph) he pointed the plane up and we were climbing very fast, reaching over 65,000 feet, which is over twice as high as a commercial jumbo jet goes!

As we went up the sky went from stunning sapphire blue to almost black. You could not see the stars because the background light was too bright but you did know that you were in a very inhospitable place, with nothing else above us only darkness. Miles below you could see the clouds which had lost almost all of their texture and now looked like virgin snow with the earth curving away.

It was breathtakingly beautiful! Something that I will remember for a very long time.

All too quickly it was over and Andre pointed out that we only had a thousand liters of fuel left (2300 was used amazingly quick), so he pointed the plane (literally) down and we fell from the sky at an amazing rate of knots. That was a very odd sensation, to be nose down diving back towards the earth and I had a real sense of speed as the clouds raced back towards us. If you imagine the scene out of Star Wars with the X wings flying down the Death Star and you get an idea of how fast it felt.

Andre explained that we did not have enough fuel to do a full programme of aerobatics but he would run through what he could. Looking back, I’m so glad because I would probably have lost my breakfast if he had done much more.

So we started of with a corkscrew which is a vertical barrel role – which was not that bad. He then followed this with a Split S, an Immelman, dives, a loop a half loop, inverted flight (dangling upside down from your seat looking through a glass cockpit and thousands of meters of nothing keeps the heart racing believe me). All that followed with some high speed rolls.

Somewhere in amongst that cocktail of maneuvers we went into a turn so fast that we pulled 6 g!

For those of you that do not know what that is, then it’s like 6 people sitting on you. The blood is dragged from your brain down to your feet and the pressure suit squeezes your legs to try and stop it. It does not hurt but it is very uncomfortable. Just before we came out of the turn the pressure on my body was so much that I blacked out (which was an odd sensation). First your vision starts to narrow and goes from colour to grey, then you get tunnel vision then it fades to black and after that you drop into unconsciousness (G Loc – G Loss of Consciousness).  Just for the record I think that I have found my limit in a fighter jet! As we came out of the turn everything came back to normal and I was fine but it’s a very uncomfortable sensation not being able to move and slowly feeling yourself passing out.

One of the coolest maneuvers we did is called the “hammerhead”. The plane goes vertical and then slows to a complete stop and is held balancing at 0 speed just on the jets before it stalls and goes into a dive. It shows the incredible skill of the pilot and was a very odd sensation for me as a passenger to be mid air and not moving.

After a few more less energetic maneuvers I then got the chance to fly the plane and try some turns

As we got closer to the base Andre took back over and took us on a low pass of the runway 20 meters up. At this height the sense of speed is unbelievable as the ground screams past!

One more turn and we came back in to land and I had a huge smile on my face – it was an incredible ride!

At the end of the flight I was exhausted, something I never expected. The stress placed on you by high speed turns and g forces feels like working out for 3 or 4 hours with weights. I’m sat here a day later with pretty much every muscle in my body still aching.

I have a lot of respect for all fast jet pilots who are able to fly like this and also be able to fight as well. Amazing how they can do it.

Sokol has a museum on the history of the factory and the aircraft they develop. After the flight I was given a personal tour by the curator and the MD of the plant. The history is fascinating and there is obviously a lot of pride in the engineering history and the development of the fighter jets.

One of the stories I was told was about the Mig 25. Most planes are made of aluminium but the Mig 25 (Foxbat) is made from steel and titanium. This makes it incredibly strong and with 2 huge engines it’s capable of Mach 3!

The curator took great pleasure in telling me that this scared the “hell” out of the USA when it was first built.

You can almost stand up in the back of the jets on that thing – it’s huge!

Day 3 – Gorky…Nizhny Novgorod

The schedule was pretty full on and following the flight I was taken to Nizhny Novgorod for a tour of the city.

Nizhny, I was told, was a closed city during the soviet era and was called Gorky after the famous Russian writer. In the 90′s the city was opened again and given back its original name.

The Sokol base I had been on was one of a number of top secret facilities in Nizhny, including a tank and submarine base. No one was allowed in or out of the city without official clearance and written permission. Nizhny is Russia’s 3rd largest city after Moscow and St Petersburg and is much calmer than Moscow but just as much history and culture. It even has its own Kremlin, which I found out means fort and quite a few cities have them.

The tour was great and I saw a whole new side of Russia, less commercialised and a greater sense of the “real people” rather than the tourist one in Moscow.. After a quick bite to eat, Anna (my other translator) took me to the local airport for a flight back to Moscow on Siberian Airways. So much easier than the train.

Siberian Airways

Day 4

Culture Day

I was so glad to get a rest this morning. Yesterday was pretty full on and I’m still exhausted by the flight in the Mig. I was due to get a tour of the Kremlin but it seems I am destined not to see the “standard” tourist spots as, once again, this site is closed due to the celebration preparations.

I did, however, get to go to a little less visited museum by one of Russia’s top artists Zurab Tsereteli, and one of the staff there (Anastasia) kindly offered to give Alexandra and I a tour of the museum and the background on the work.

His work can be seen at The Dolgorukovs’ House which is at 119034, Moscow,  and I can honestly say it’s worth a visit. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

His work ranges from sculptures of many different types and styles through to fine art painting.

Some of his sculptures are huge, including a massive apple that you can walk inside and one of his fairly recent ones is a massive statue of Peter the Great, located in central Moscow.

Early night and tomorrow it’s the L-39!

Day 5

Flight In The L-30

Today was my second planned flight, this time in an L-39 with the specific intention to do some aerobatics.

We set off early from Moscow because it was a two and a half hour drive to the base, along a huge long straight road with no bends in it. There just seemed to be trees on either side for miles, punctuated with the odd petrol station, monument, shop and truck stop.

Unlike Sokol, when we arrived this base had many L-39′s and helicopters and is used to train pilots every day.

I had the obligatory medical with yet another very nice doctor and then had to once again sign my life away and accept that what I was about to do was dangerous.

Next came the briefing on all of the systems in the aircraft and details of what I could and could not touch. All of this was done in Russian and I hoped that Alexandra (my translator) was explaining all of the details I needed to know. The last thing I wanted was to drop the landing gear instead of turning on the oxygen – that would be bad!

Finally, I was taught how to use the ejection seat in a simulator.

This was great fun to have a go with and to see exactly how it worked. The first couple of attempts nothing happened. It turned out that the lady doing the training had forgotten to plug it in (which was a little worrying).

Third time it worked fine and I kept my fingers crossed that the one in the jet would work FIRST TIME if I needed it. (In the unlucky event you have to eject for real then the seat pushes you out so fast that you can pull 17.5 g and be a tad shorter as a result of your spine compressing).

Next I was introduced to the pilot whose name was Savluk, he would be taking me on the flight .

He was a very experienced pilot and a member of one of Russia’s aerobatic teams called (can you believe it) RUSS.

(RUSS were the early East Slavic people from which Russians, Ukrainians and Belorussians are descended).

Savluk ran me through what the flight plan was and explained all of the aerobatics that we were going to do, then we geared up ready to go.

The L-39 is very different to the Mig 29 as it’s primarily used as a trainer plane and is not as big, or as fast but what it does have is a huge cockpit where you get a great view of what’s going on.

After take off we headed quickly over to our flight area and Savluk ran through some of the aerobatic programme, doing loops, dives and roles all of which were fantastic fun. One minute we were level, the next diving or spinning, just like an untethered roller coaster. Watching the sky flip around and the earth whizz by upside down is great fun, if not a little disorientating.

After a few minutes he then asked if I would like to try… at first I wondered what he meant by “have a go” but it quickly became very clear he meant I would have the chance to try some of the aerobatics myself! I remember thinking, “who the hell is going to believe I flew this thing and did tricks?!”.

He explained what I needed to do and said that he would correct any errors I made and not to worry.

The first maneuver I did was a role, nice and simple in both directions – this was such a buzz, actually flying the plane!

I then moved into dives, loops and then finally I got to do more complex maneuvers like a Split S and an Immelmann. Both of these maneuvers involve a loop and then rolling the aircraft at the top or bottom of the loop.

The Immelman felt fine, I accelerated into the climb to the top of the loop and then rolled the plane over – all relatively straight forward with Savluk correcting the drifting as we went (like having your own on-board “don’t screw it up system”).  I got a real sense of how much these guys have to do when performing. You have to watch so much stuff and execute the maneuver accurately, it’s mind blowing that they can do it and make it look so easy.

When it came the the Split S for me it was a little different…

Rolling at the top was just like I had done before and not an issue. As you go into an inverted dive the plane gets faster so at the bottom you are subject to quite a lot of G-force. As we hit the bottom of the loop and I began to pull back on the stick to come out of the dive, I started to loose my vision, until eventually everything was black and I could not see my hand, let alone the controls! Even though the plane was slower than the Mig 29, because i did not have a pressure suit on, then I was more susceptible to blacking out. Even though we were only pulling about 4 g, my vision, just like in the Mig, started to disappear as my body got more and more stressed with the force of the turn.

Luckily on the control column was an intercom button so I was able to tell Savluk that he needed to take back control as I couldn’t see - which, thank goodness, he did.

As he pulled out of the loop my vision again came back very quickly. It did make me realise how easy it would be to make a huge error with fatal consequences if you were not paying attention when flying on your own.

This was the end of the time so we then headed back to the base to do a final low level, high speed pass of the runway and then Savluk brought the plane down for a perfect landing.

The whole experience was fantastic and if you get the opportunity, have a go, you will love it!! I can’t rave about it enough!!!!

This is a video I found on You Tube of the same guys I flew with performing aerobatics – all of them incredible pilots (and a little crazy). This gives you an idea of some of the aerobatics that we did during the flight and is exactly the sort of view from the cockpit.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cOPlJ4ryT1A

Day 6 – My Last Day

So, this is my last day in Moscow.

Serge and Oleg took me on a late night car tour of the city, which at night is lit up like Manhattan and takes on a totally different feel. Just like in NY and some European cities, there were lots of people out having dinner and drinks and getting ready to party.

The last adventure of the trip was the Demedodovo Airport! The airport, unlike Nizhny Novgorod, is very modern. However, when I got in the queue just to get through the door, it must have had over 300 people in it.

As I practiced the British tradition of queuing, it turned out that the delay was being caused by Security checks.

Every single person had to have all of their bags x-rayed and then pass through a metal detector. High security indeed you would think. Unfortunately, even though the metal detector consistently beeped as people strolled through, I didn’t see a single person stopped.

Probably because the guard was too busy chatting to the woman scanning the bags. The upside was that the queue moved fast.

Once through this security check I was amazed that my passport and documents were then checked a further 7 times as I moved through to the gate.

One of the checks was in a very cool “sniffing device”. You walked into it, held your arms up and it blew air over you and sniffed for anything unusual. First time I have seen anything like that and I think a little better than the ones in Heathrow that scan through your clothes – at least you keep your dignity intact. I have seen the pictures taken of me before and they are not pretty and not something you would want to end up on You Tube or the web (This is an example of the type of image that you see from one of the new scanners)!

The airport (unlike JFK) had lots of great shops so there was plenty to look at and do while there and the return flight was fine – not quite the rush of a Mig.

The whole thing was an incredible experience and has left me with some lasting impressions of how small the world actually is and how incredibly fast we can move, in the engineering sense and in the cultural one, if we put our minds to it.

Russia is an incredible place!