A.C. Frieden's Cockpit World: A Rainy Day Over Stockholm

Today I rented a plane from Airways Flightseeing at Bromma Airport (ESSB) in Stockholm, Sweden. Although the weather was not ideal -- rain with ceilings as low as 700 MSL -- it was still an enjoyable flight in a beautiful, state of the art aircraft. It was my first time at the controls of a Diamond 40 (reg. SE-LTD), and with its large Garmin 1000 avionics displays, modern instrument console and stick controls, it was a dramatic improvement over the Cessna 172s that I fly regularly.

Above: The modern Diamond 40.

Above: My flight path in the Stockholm area. I took off from Runway 30 with an east departure.

Above: The modern cockpit of the Diamond 40.

Above: At the controls accompanied by local pilot Kirster Lundberg.

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Above: (top left) Student housing area commonly called Lappis, located in Djurgården park; (foreground) Stockholm University and the Frescatihallen sports hall (white curved roof), and the university library (bottom right).

Above: (center, back) The main ferry terminals, including the docks for the Tallink, Silja and Seawind ferry lines; (left) The Lidingö Bridges, one for cars the other for pedestrians, which crosses the strait of Lilla Värtan between the mainland Norra Djurgården the eastern part of Stockholm and the island of Lidingö.

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Above: (right/center) The Ostermalm district, which comprises the eastern part of downtown Stockholm, includes a wide range of official buildings, as well as foreign embassies and the state television and radio centers; (left) The Skansberget area with its park and the Technology Institute and the Naval Museum (far left).

Above: The British Embassy (far top left), the U.S. Embassy (top left), the Swedish State Television (left), and the Swedish State Radio center (top center, T-shaped building).

Above: (center) Karlaplan is a circular zone founded in the late 19th century and inspired by street patterns of Paris. The plaza is named in honor of all the Swedish kings named Karl; (lower center, white roofs) The Fältöversten apartment complex and shopping center; (lower right) The Swedish Patent Office.

Above: (center) The elegant neo-Venetian style Stockholm City Hall is located on the island of Kungsholmen, and includes a 106 meter high tower, topped with three gold plated crowns. The building is also used as the venue for the annual Nobel Prize Banquet; (lower left) new construction of office buildings adjacent to the Stockholm Central Station; (top, riverfront) The former Munich Brewery is not a concert hall and convention center.

Above: Gamla Stan is the “Old Town” of Stockholm. Located on its own island it hosts many of the city’s most historical buildings, including the Royal Palace (far left center), the Storkyrkan Church, the Nobel Museum, the Riddarholm church (where royals are buried), the Swedish Supreme Court, and the German Church (Tyska kyrkan, center of island). The Slussen Locks are also visible (center right) and includes a bridge and Metro station.

Above: Eleven Swedish naval vessels moored at the Skeppsbron quay in Gamla Stan harbor, including (from r. to l.) two Göteborg class corvettes (HMS Gälve K22 and HMS Sundsvall K24), the a Gotland Class Type A19 diesel-powered attack submarine HMS Uppland docked next to the command ship HMS Visborg A265, as well as two Landsort class minehunters (HMS Kullen M74, dockside, and HMS Arholma M72), two Styrsö class minehunters (HMS Spårö M12, dockside, and HMS Skaftö M13), and three retired vessels: HMS Spica T121 (dockside), the M20 (middle vessel), and a motortorpedbåten T56 (brown/green vessel).

Above: (foreground) The Blasie-Holmen area of downtown Stockholm, which includes the hotel where I stayed (the Radisson SAS Strand), the Grand Hotel, the Swedish National Museum (bottom left) and Wallenberg Square (lower right). The picture also shows the long quare and park called Kungstradgarden (center) and the Royal Palace (left center).