Over the past few years I have seen quite a bit of the island of Rügen, all of it though by car. One of the places that I had not until recently been to was the famous Königsstuhl chalk cliffs, which are only accessible by foot or by sea. Going there requires, at the very least, a decision on where to leave the car.
So when Sven Nikolaus from Rügen-Helikopter offered me the chance to fly over the cliffs at sunset, I jumped at the chance not only to fly in a helicopter for the first time, but to see the island from and get some great photos as well.
The helicopter on the ground
The flight started from a field next to the Jasmar Resort hotel, and soon we were flying over fields of poppies and chalk formations before heading out to sea with our pilot Michael Grosch, who not only flew the machine but also pointed out things to see on the way.
We flew past the Kaiserstuhl twice, banking steeply as we turned to go back in the other direction. Those on the left of the helicopter were literally tilted on their side, looking down into the Baltic Sea!
Back over the land, the Jasmunder Bodden were clearly visible in the distance and so it was possible to just make out the back of the stage for the Störtebeker Festspiele.
All too fast the flight came to an end and we were heading downwards to land back in the field.
As for the photos: it may not have quite been open-sided Treasure Hunt style (even if it was a BellJet Ranger we were in!), but I was assigned a position in the helicopter with an open window, through which I was able to point the camera to avoid reflexions and problems focussing.
The Königsstuhl from the air
Rügen-Helikopter offer a number of different flights over the island and operate from the heliport near Saassnitz as well as flying for the hotel guests on a regular basis. Flights are not cheap, with a 10 minute sunset flight to the Kaiserstuhl normally costing €69 for adults and €50 for children. But then running the helicopter is probably not that cheap either.
Click here to see more and larger photos of the flight on Facebook
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