Celebration Around 50 air-parkers and local flying club members chose to spend their Saturday evening on the 23rd of July celebrating the 10th anniversary of the asphalt runway – a mile stone, indeed. 5:30 the threshold of RWY 32 was crammed with people cheering with Champaign and congratulating each other to this day. Carl Rönn presented briefly the story behind the asphalt runway and the shovel manufactured by Toffe and used for cutting the first turf was on display. Rune showered the guests with Champaign from the LS4 and René in his RVG congratulated the runway with breathtaking...

One of nature’s very vulnerable creatures – a baby fawn, only a few days old. What you may meet in nature during the early summer days and what you may know how to protect. Nature – a vulnerable and yet robust “thing” when treated the right way. In Sweden the access to nature is very generous, called Allemansrätten, may be translated to something like “right of public access”, a right that can only exist and continue if we all respect the few rules of this right to enjoy and use nature and wildlife. It can be summed up with the phrase: Don’t disturb – don’t destroy. Read more...

Time flies, and it has been so long since last time SAPnews was in the air that even pilots are flying. The gliders are engaged in heavy activity at the flying club, and airparkers are flying to and fro to Siljansnäs. The birch trees have green leaves, the cherry blossoms have spread their snow and the skies are high, blue and with wonderful cumulus. Just ask the gliders. Now Dalarne is at its peak beauty although a bit chilly - rumour has it that temperatures have dropped remarkably in the airpark. Well, they do and they come up again. The good thing about that is that all the flowers and blossoms...

  They are here now! The most sure sign that winter is over: the cranes! This couple was caught on film/disk by Ingmar Lind on March 29th. It is so comforting to see that they are “back in place”. They are also foreboding the coming season with hopefully a lot of flying, da capo of Siljansnäs Glide-in on July 2nd which has got a high  number of “likes” on its facebook profile, midsummer, celebration of the 10th birthday of the asphalt runway on July 23rd, Kräftis second Saturday in August, and all the other spontaneous get-togethers and improvised socializing that take place...

Siljan AirPark in winter dress. One day in January from an altitude that allows all three elements of Siljan AirPark to fit in on this shot. After days of rain and thaw where all the good spirits took a serious dive this is what the airpark looks like again! One of these mornings where you wouldn’t want to be anywhere else but in Siljan AirPark ! Although it is freezing cold – 19 C the beauty of nature in winter outfit pales the chill. The webcam on Granberget really catches the atmosphere. Another 10 cm of snow and the conditions for making a skitrack will be perfect. But until then the surroundings...

2015 is almost gone. The Christmas rush is over and the few remaining days tend to be a time of reflection. How were the 12 months now behind us? What were the joys, the victories and defeats, the challenges, the necessary and the unnecessary? But it is also a time for being visionary, looking ahead curious of the 12 months in front of us. How do we picture and imagine these days ahead? Siljan Airpark consists of a number of elements: the village, the museum and the flying club, and in this issue you can read about how the three “presidents” contemplate and predict on their respective...

Winter. Time and season for contemplation. Time to ponder the season gone, what were the high lights and deserve to be emphasized and strengthened to keep our airpark developing in the good and prosperous direction we started out with: a place where pilots and aviation enthusiasts and there families thrive and grow in respectful co-existence with each other and the environment. But even to consider and discuss what we want to avoid in times to come. This takes guts - to point out what we like and what we do not accept. But it is necessary to do it if our airpark is still to prosper. Autumn...

Mushroom season. Be careful. These beauties grow all over the place in Siljan Airpark. Not healthy. The legend has it that the Vikings ate them and went beserk – hence the nickname the beserks – but it is a myth, never documented. But it is not to be recommended to test whether it could have been. You get awfully sick if you eat them, really awfully, awfully. So don’t. Stick to the yellow chantarelles – if you can find them!! Don’t expect the locals to reveal where to go. They get this weird blank bottomless expression in their eyes if you ask: “well, you just take the gravel road,...

 Our new members Rodervägen 4 (Jocke's old house) Russell Myles and Brenda Storey live in Blairgowrie in Scotland. Brenda is a freelance writer. Russell is a commercial helicopter pilot flying the Bölkow105 and EC135 for both the Police and Ambulance. He previously flew Boeing 757, 767 and Fokker F27 for the airlines after leaving the Royal Air Force. For fun he currently flies a single seat Fokker Eindecker E111 Replica (like the one in the Siljan "Flying Theatre"), and used to own a 50% scale replica P47 Thunderbolt. Now they are looking for a long distance touring aircraft to get from...

Something has changed in the airpark, something is different, something is missing. It took a couple of days to realize what we missed. The sound of trumpeting cranes at 2am!! One lonely crane occasionally walks the strip and the safety zones, but never more than one. In optimistic moments the guess is that one parents is taking care of the young one, cranes being very shy and their young ones vulnerable never leave them unguarded. A less optimistic view implies that the cranes have left our premises and prefer Olsnäs Bay. Well, you can’t win them all but if this is the case it is a great...