Caravelle team on a picnic

Suomeksi

In the past weeks the volunteer team in Pansio has been working so efficiently sanding, painting and polishing the Caravelle that it was time to take a breath and spend some free time together. On Tuesday April 25th a group of Pansio volunteers and members from the Caravelle technical team went on a Picnic cruise on Viking Line ferry from Turku to Maarianhamina (on Åland islands) and back. There were 11 participants on the cruise: Elias, Hannu, Ismo, Jari, Kari, Markku, Mikko, Risto H, Risto P, Ykä and Erja.

M/S Viking Glory left Turku in the morning (heading to Stockholm) and in Maarianhamina we changed to M/S Viking Grace (coming from Stockholm) which arrived in Turku in the evening. Unfortunately, the weather was very foggy and there was not much to see of the beautiful archipelago between the mainland and Åland islands, just a glimpse of the Ruissalo area outside Turku in the morning.

On the way to Maarianhamina we had a conference room reserved for us and we spent the morning talking about the Caravelle restoration and assembly work which is ahead. The weeks between the First of May (a spring carnival in Finland) and the Turku Airshow (on June 17th and 18th) will be very busy when the aircraft is being painted, polished, and assembled. Ismo Matinlauri and Markku Ahokoski had made a daily schedule of what is happening in Pansio and at the airport after the first parts of the aircraft are transported there on May 23rd and this was discussed thoroughly with the group. We also looked at the photos which were taken in Arlanda when the aircraft was dismantled for transport. This was very useful when discussing the details of the assembly work.

On the way back to Turku we enjoyed a lunch from the ferry buffet and concentrated on informal conversation. This group will not easily run out of aviation stories! Or fishing, car, travel, and other stories either…

Photos via Ismo Matinlauri.