Hooked on old airplanes!
Text and images: Martin Nilsen
AIRCRAFT WITH WOMEN'S COVER: Morten Andreassen pulls ladies with Harvarden, here it's Gro Wickmann (left) who has had her second Harvard trip of the year as she watches the plane being prepared for a trip with Merete Degerstrøm (in the foreground). Photo: MARTIN NILSEN
Gro Wickmann (52) from Larvik is a lady out of the ordinary. Fortunately, she is.
She is now completely hooked on flying old machines, and in the last two seasons has made six trips in the Dakota and four in the Harvard. We met an excited Gro after she had flown with Morten Andreassen in the Harvard on Wednesday, July 24, and in formation with the Dakota.
"I was really afraid of heights, but I did a tandem jump as a gift, and it completely cured my fear of heights," says Gro. Last year she made a few trips in the Dakota, but she quickly realized that she wanted more excitement in the air than what can be offered on board the big machine.
CLOSE CONTACT: Gro would like to sit close and feel the sound of Harvarden up close while the machine is started up for a new trip. Photo: MARTIN NILSEN
Harvard was the answer, and after two trips with Thore Virik last year, she has followed up with two trips with Morten Andreassen in the same plane this year.
"And I'll be back," she confirms, and thinks she gets much better value for money by flying this way than getting on a charter plane to the South and lying in the sun.
"It's incredibly fun to fly low in an airplane," says Gro, and by low she means the 330 meters the Dakota and Harvard are usually flown at.
And, she adds, "you have to have a bit of an engine in this world.
