First long-distance flight with Hansa Brandenburg C1 in 100 years

After flight testing of the Hansa Brandenburg demonstrated its operational safety, a long-distance flight from its home airfield LOXN Wiener Neustadt West to the special landing site near Astätt was planned and carried out in September 2019 on behalf of the customer (Ferdinand Porsche Erlebniswelten fahr(T)raum). Careful planning of the flight route, identification of possible stopover locations and parking facilities, establishment of a special landing site with the appropriate permits, and ensuring technical support were all part of the preparations, which took more than five months. The Hansa Brandenburg CI does not have a radio, as the unshielded ignition system interferes too much with its function, so an escort aircraft is mandatory for cross-country flights.

The crew's tasks were divided up (Sebastian Knapp, pilot; Ulrike Chalupa, navigation). Training took place during several test flights. The interaction between the crews of the Hansa Brandenburg and the escort aircraft was also carefully planned and rehearsed. The Hansa Brandenburg's range would be more than sufficient to cover the 300 km flight distance in one go. For various reasons, we decided to split the flight into two legs of 200 and 100 km. The main factors were the low temperatures expected at this time of year, which would make longer flights difficult in a rather drafty cockpit, and we also had to take the current weather forecast into account. After several local flights had been planned from the special landing site, the entire technical and safety-related infrastructure had to be set up there, in addition to a tent hangar. A total flight time of 5.5 hours for the round trip and a few short local flights was completed without any problems.