Britt Hauervig and Steen Jørgensen from Svendborg have made their dream come true. They have built a brand new hangar for their newly renovated 1977 Cessna aircraft at HCA Airport. HCA Airport was chosen because of its excellent facilities and conditions, which among other things allow the couple to use the airport all year round.
Britt Hauervig and Steen Jørgensen have a special feeling when they open the big doors of their newly built hangar with a fantastic view over the runway and control tower of HCA Airport.
- It's a bit like opening the balcony doors of a penthouse on Rådhuspladsen in Copenhagen, says Steen Jørgensen.
Britt Hauervig and Steen Jørgensen call themselves recreational pilots, and last year they fulfilled a long-standing dream. They built their own hangar at HCA Airport for their newly refurbished aircraft, a 1977 Cessna 177 Cardinal. The couple started flying three years ago, when Steen Jørgensen got his pilot's license.
- It has always been a dream to fly in my spare time, but only now have we made it a reality. When we had children, there wasn't quite enough time, says Steen Jørgensen, who no longer works and therefore has plenty of opportunity to pursue his great passion for flying.
The flying senior life
That makes about 50 flight hours a year, where the trips are made to cities and islands around Denmark. Occasionally, the couple takes a small trip to Vejrø, for example, which is a flight of about 25-30 minutes. Here you can be picked up directly on the runway and transported to the island's restaurant, where you can enjoy an excellent lunch.
The next project is to fly to Stockholm and Dalarna in Sweden, which is a flight of about three hours. It will be an exercise in flying in and out of zones and on different types of runways, but the couple is looking forward to trying it.
It requires good planning in advance when the couple wants to go on a trip in their plane. But once the flight is organised, they can leave whenever they want. At the airport, they report to the control tower, which coordinates air traffic, and follow their commands. Once in the air, they communicate via a radio, where they are guided about other air traffic. And when they arrive at an airport, they report their arrival and again receive commands from the airport control tower to land. If it's a smaller airfield without a control tower, they radio out so other pilots in the area know their intentions to take off or land.
Get a lot for your money
There were many advantages that convinced the two Funen residents that it was right to build a hangar at HCA Airport.
- We live in Svendborg, where there is also a local airfield, but there are grass fields, so you can't use the airfield all year. The journey to Odense may be a bit longer, but it is a top professional airport with very good conditions. The long, paved runway allows us to use our aircraft all year round. There is also a refuelling station so that you can always refuel, as well as access to an aircraft mechanic. In this way, we get a lot for our money, says Steen Jørgensen.
- When you build a hangar, you only own the building and pay ground rent to the airport. It is therefore long-term planning when embarking on such a project, and in HCA Airport there is the possibility of a 30-year agreement. The two things go together, adds Steen Jørgensen.
- And it's a pleasure to meet the staff at the airport. There's a thumbs-up all round, says Britt Hauervig.
A good experience as a new builder
It's not every day that a new hangar is built. But the couple have received excellent help with this special building project - from the first contact with Nordfyns Kommune, to the cooperation with the management at the airport and the building process with the construction company Bundgaard Byg.
- It's just worked like clockwork and we haven't experienced any no-hat, on the contrary. Building at an airport is highly regulated, for example a workman cannot just walk in and out, but has to be accompanied by security. This has required meticulous coordination, which both the construction company and the airport have managed to the best of their abilities," says Britt Hauervig.
Now the couple is just looking forward to some better weather, so they can get some air under their wings again.
