About Me

Updated October 2025.

Hi, I am Thomas from Denmark. I have created this blog to share my passion for flying, for climbing, for diving, for photography, and for traveling in general.

Background

I am 56 years old. I got my master in Computer Science from the University of Copenhagen some 30 years ago. For 25 years I worked as a software engineer, manager, and co-owner of a Danish software company doing software for pension funds and life and non-life insurance companies. After 25 years, I sold my share of the company and a new chapter of my life started. A chapter full of smaller and bigger adventures.

Flying

My flying career started with hot air ballooning. I got my hot air balloon license in 2006, I have owned three hot air balloons and logged more than 250 hours. So far I have flown hot air balloons in Denmark, Sweden, Svalbard, Poland, Italy, Austria, United Kingdom, United States and Japan. I have flown long distance from Tølløse in Denmark to just north of Berlin in Germany (see here). I have flown multiple flights to above FL100 (10.000 feet), the highest one to FL270 (27.000 feet) (see here). I flew twice very low level over Kastrup Intl. Airport during the Corona Pandemic (see here). I have participated as a navigator at the 22nd FAI World Hot Air Balloon Championship (see here). And I have flown over the Alps many times, including a flight directly over the top of Grossglockner, the highest mountain in Austria.

In 2013 I got my private pilot license, and later I got my instrument and multi-engine rating. I also hold a foreign based FAA license with an instrument rating which allows me to fly airplanes on the US registry (N-registry airplanes). I am the lucky owner of four airplanes, a 1949 Piper Cub, a Super Cub on bush wheels, a 1978 Cessna 185 with cargo pod and big wheels and finally a 2023 Diamond 42 with modern avionics. I have so far logged some 2,300 hours as pilot in command and landed at more than 500 different airports (excluding numerous off-field locations) in Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Iceland, Greenland, Faeroe Islands, Shetland Islands, Germany, Holland, Poland, Austria, Switzerland, France, Portugal, Spain, The Azores, Czech Republic, Serbia, United Kingdom, Greece, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Oman, India, United States, Canada, Mexico and The Bahamas.

My 1949 Piper Cub, named Bessie, is based at Roskilde Airport in Denmark. The airplane was restored to as-new condition in 1991 (by Peter Zier) and is still in beautiful condition. I bought the airplane from Dieter Betz (a Danish aviator and adventurer) in 2015. The acquisition of Bessie from Dieter started a long-lasting friendship where we have traveled to Iceland, Alaska and New Zealand to fly, and where Dieter taught me flying where controlled airspaces are replaced by mountains and freedom. Together we have flown Super Cub on skies in Alaska in winter time (see here) and gliders over Mt. Cook in New Zealand (see here). Bessie is perfect for local flights in Denmark and nearby countries. It flies slow and low and because the door can be completely opened during flight, Bessie is also a fantastic platform for photography (see here).

My Super Cub on 35-inch bush wheels and rebuilt to as-new condition in 2015 is based in Alaska. I bought it many years ago on a trip together with Dieter Betz (from whom I bought my piper cub Bessie). Since then I have been many times to Alaska flying to a lot of remote places, including Cold Bay, Unalakleet, Nome, Kotzebue, Battles, McGrath, Kodiak, Homer, Valdez, McCarthy, Eagle, Circle, Fairbanks, Juneau and Ketchikan. I have also visited remote national parks like Aniakchak National Monument, Katmai National Park, Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes, Kobuk Valley National Park, Kenai Fjords National Park, Glacier Bay National Park and of cause Denali National Park where I have flown up and down most of the stunning glaciers coming down the mountain.

My 1978 Cessna 185 is also based in United States. When I originally bought it in 2018, my plan was to take it to Denmark, but I quickly realized that it should stay in US. I have taken it to Alaska twice, to the southern tip of Baja California in Mexico, to the Bahamas, across Mexico once, and across the US three times. I have flown over the Grand Canyon, through Death Valley and Monument Valley, over Mt. St. Helens, around Crater Lake, through Rocky Mountains, low pass over Space Shuttle Landing Facility and all the way to Key West. I have flown right over Los Angeles Intl. and Miami Intl. and landed on Boeing Field, Las Vegas North, Key West and Leadville (highest airport in the US at almost 10.000 feet). When I bought the airplane it was 40 years old, it only had 698 hours of flight time (which is very low) and it had had the same owner for 40 years. Initially, I got the engine overhauled, I got it repainted with my own color scheme, I got the interior upgraded, I installed new avionics, I got VG’s installed, I got new and bigger tires and I got a cargo pod where I keep everything needed for camping for two persons. In 2024 I got the avionics upgraded with a glass cockpit, GPS navigation and a modern auto pilot.

My 2023 Diamond 42 is my newest airplane. It’s a modern twin (two engines) running on Jet A1. It goes up to FL180 (18.000 feet) with a speed of 185 knots, and still only burns a total of 10 and 12 gallons pr. hour. It is equipped with longe range tanks, anti ice, weather radar, and storm scope, and hence is the perfect airplane for longer flights. I have only had this airplane for a year but still made it to Lofoten (see here), Shetland Islands (see here), Tallinn (see here), Alsace, Salzburg, Wroclaw, Brno, The Faroe Islands, Reykjavik in Iceland, Greenland and The Azores. In Greenland we (Frode Uhre was my travel buddy on this trip) crossed the icecap from Kulusuk to Illulisat, never exceeding a few hundred meters above the ice!

Climbing volcanoes

I love to climb mountains, especially volcanoes where forces of nature are evident. I have so far summited 30 major volcanoes, including four volcanoes from the Volcanic Seven Summits list (Damavand, Pico de Orizaba, Kilimanjaro, Ojos del Salado) and including the highest volcano in the world at 6,893 meters (Ojos del Salado). I also climb non-volcanic mountains whenever I have the chance, e.g. the three highest peaks of Rocky Mountains (see here). I have also been down to Colorado River in Grand Canyon three times (see here).

Active volcanoes are always an awesome sight. I have seen hot lava multiple times, from the rim of Mt. Nyiragongo in Democratic Republic of the Congo (see here), from a somewhat safe distance on Fuego in Guatamala (see here), from around Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland when this volcano closed down most air traffic in Europe in May 2010 (see here) and from the recent eruptions on Reykjanes Peninsula (see here, here and here).

Solar Eclipses

A total solar eclipse is one of the most stunning phenomena one can experience. And if you are like me, once you have seen one, you start to plan for future eclipses. I have so far experienced five total solar eclipses, three of them without blocking clouds. I will be on or very near the center line for future eclipses as well, especially near Reykjavik on August 12th, 2026 and near Malaga on August 2nd, 2027.

Photography

All pictures on this blog are my own. For many years I was a Nikon guy, using D850 as my primary camera. When mirrorless cameras became the new standard I switched to Canon and have been using the Canon R6 with my three L-Linses (15-35F2.8, 70-200F2.8 and 100-500) since it came out in 2020. I now have the brand new Canon R5 mark II on order. I use Luminar Neo for editing, both on my computer and from my iPad. I have taken numerous pictures from my Piper Cub of iconic places in Copenhagen (see here) and played with photo stacking (see here).