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| ICELAND 2003: History | ||||||||||
On May
30th 2003 we will be flying to Akureyri/Iceland from Dusseldorf/Germany
departing at 21:45 CEST with an Austrian Airlines Airbus A320 in order
to observe the extraordinary annular solar eclipse on May 31st 2003!
Actually, at this time the sun is right above the pacific. Due to the inclination of the earth-axis of 23.5° to the ecliptic and because of the moon’s position near to its node, the moon shadow will fall on the north polar region, the arctic latitudes of the earth´s night side, especially on Greenland and Iceland, passing exceptionally from east to west about three weeks prior the summer solstice. This is a unique opportunity to observe this natural phenomenon either from the legendary island or from high above the clouds, certainly for those who have never seen an annular eclipse before. Especially to save our international guests, many of whom joined us in Zambia, from flying in the “wrong“ direction to Vienna, also to keep the costs as low as possible, we will use the aircraft which is normally parked in Dusseldorf over night for this eclipse flight. The very tightly calculated price for the flight Dusseldorf-Akureyri-Dusseldorf will therefore only be Euro 495,00 per person.
For passengers from Austria, southern Germany and area: connecting, round trip flights from Graz, Linz, Salzburg and Vienna to Dusseldorf will be offered by the Austrian Airlines Group to an extremely cheep rate of Euro 185,00. We should also mention the good rail connections to Dusseldorf. We chose the airport of Akureyri because the sun will be approximately 4° above the horizon at the time of the eclipse, as opposed to a mere 1° near the other two airports of Reykjavik and Keflavik. This gives us the most favourable observation-conditions possible. Local time in Iceland is UTC, thus CEST minus 2 hours. After take-off in Dusseldorf, shortly before night-closure we shall land flight AUA 9701 in Akureyri after a three-hours flight at 22:45 UTC. Since the sun is so low the in-flight-sky-observation from the aircraft would be an ideal option. We are therefore offering 25 window-seats to passengers who would like to observe the annular eclipse from an altitude of about 11.600 m - 38.000 ft. Another 25 seats - so to speak in the second row - at the right hand side of the aircraft will also be available. Through the numerous and relatively large windows of the A320, a good view is certain. Anyone who wishes may occupy one of the other seats for a cheap fare. We will be overflying the north polar sea between Iceland and Greenland with the sun just above the horizon. From the window-seats of the left hand side there will be a beautiful view of the partial phases of this eclipse on the way back to Akureyri. This, approximately one-hour round trip flight, Akureyri-Akureyri will cost extra Euro 195,00 for window-seats on the right hand side, for the seat next to it Euro 145,00. Anyone who wishes to take any other seat Euro 95,00, this includes the 26 window-seats on the left hand side as well. The duration of the eclipse will be lengthened to about 4min 30sec since we will be flying at a speed of Mach 0.80, exactly along the central path of the eclipse. We will also be high above the clouds, giving us highest viewing possibility! The moon shadow will fall at right angles through the windows on the right hand side of the aircraft. I, Captain Walter Max Schwendenwein, will be flying the aircraft and will program exact 4-dimensional navigation in space and time, similar to the total solar eclipse flight over Finland on July 22nd 1990. In 2001 I flew to Lusaka/Zambia from Vienna with 264 eclipse-enthusiasts to observe the first total solar eclipse of the third millenium, under the drum of the local people. Take-off to this round-trip will be at 03:40 UTC with AUA 9601. At 04:08 UTC we shall pass a point around 66° North and 24° 40’ West, the point of maximum eclipse. Landing in Akureyri will take place at 04:40 UTC. At 05:15 UTC we depart again from Akureyri with AUA 9702. After a flight of 2h 45min , touchdown in Dusseldorf is planned on Saturday May 31st 2003 at 10:00 CEST. Vienna-passengers for instance will be back to Austria with AUA 152 at 12:35 CEST! Prepare yourself for an extraordinary trip to the annular solar eclipse!
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