groundtoairofficial-blog

[groundtoairofficial-blog]

What's better than watching planes and the sun setting down together? -Liv

https://www.facebook.com/GroundToAirOfficial

[groundtoairofficial-blog]

Evening all. So now that Olivia has introduced herself, thought I'd do my introduction! My name is Keiran and I'm the other admin. You can find me on Instagram West Midlands Aviation.

Q: How old are you?:

A: 21

Q: Are you male or female?

A: Male

Q: Where are you from?

A: Birmingham, UK

Q: Do you have pets?

A: Yes! My cat is named Jensen (after the sports car company!)

Q: Which sports do you like?

A: Classic Car racing gets my heart buzzing!

Q: Do you have tattoos?

A: No

Q: What kind of music do you listen to?

A: 1960's to 1990's. The Beatles are a favourite.

Q: Do you travel a lot?

A: I try to get around as much as I can. Flying and driving!

Q: Do you have a favorite City?

A: New York. Travelled there this year and missing it already!

Q: Do you have favorite movies?

A: The Italian Job (1969) and Sully.

Q: Do you work? If so, as what?

A: I work as a classic car parts sales advisor.

Now onto the questions about cars!

Q: What car(s) do you own?

A: I own a 2006 Toyota Corolla and a 1971 MGB GT (pictured!)

Q: What is your dream car?

A: Now that I own the MG, it's the Jaguar E-Type Series 1

Q: Where is your passion from?

A: My Dad works for a company manufacturing knock off hubs and spinners for classic cars. I've grown up around classic cars, attending as many shows and Autojumbles as I can. So growing up around classic cars and seeing the amazing manufacturing that goes on to keep them on the road is where my passion came from. The MGB has always been my favourite and dream car, so when I finally bought one it was a dream come true. Fellow petrol heads will agree when I say a car is more than just a car.

I'm committee for the MG Car Club Young Members Branch. We are an official branch of the MG Car Club are are open to any young owner of an MG. It can be classic or modern, we don't mind! It's up to us younger generation to keep the classic car industry going, or it will unfortunately be a dying trade.

Lets head to the plane themed Q&A....

Q: Where is your passion from?

A: My Auntie was cabin crew for British Airways some years ago and managed to allow us access onto G-BOAC, the British Airways Concorde at Manchester Airport. My parents took me to RAF Cosford Airshow and spotting at my local airport, Birmingham Airport, a lot. I then joined up to the RAF's Air Training Corps where I worked my way up to the rank of Flight Sergeant. I flew two types of aircraft with them, the Grob G109B and Grob G115E. Overall I spent 9 years in the Air Training Corps, and sometimes occasionally help out as an aviation instructor.

Q: Do you have a favorite plane and Airline?

A: It's such a hard decision between the Boeing 747-400 and Lockheed L-1011 TriStar for me! My favourite airline used to be Monarch, but now they've sadly ceased trading it has to be British Airways.

If you're interested, this is my Flightdiary account: https://my.flightradar24.com/keiranreid98

Q: Talk about your travel memories.

A: When I was very young, we took a few trips to the Spanish Island Tenerife. I have memories of the two hotels we stopped in. We then had a Static Holiday Caravan in North Devon where we would spend a few weeks in the gorgeous Devon Countryside; that was also right next to the coast so had some lovely beaches too! My next holiday was to the Greek Island of Crete. Landing at Heraklion Airport was such an experience as the runway is right next to the Ocean! We loved Crete that much that a few years later, we spent a week on the much smaller Greek Island of Kos.

I then took a trip over to Stockholm Arlanda Airport in Sweden, where I spent the night in the famous 'Jumbostay' hotel. This is a retired Boeing 747-200 that has had hotel rooms put in the interior. I stayed in the cockpit! The cockpit has been left as it was when the aircraft was in service, but has a bed and bathroom in there! Even all 4 engines and the landing gear housings are also rooms! (Highly recommend this to any fellow aviation enthusiast!) Flying with SAS was also such a great experience?

I also flew to Amsterdam Schiphol Airport for a day spotting trip. It's such a huge airport with amazing spotting locations. This was my first time flying with FlyBe and their Dash 8 Q400. I've never been pushed back in my seat as much as I have been in the Dash 8! Those turboprops are very powerful!

My next trip was on a 2 week cruise around the Caribbean. This also was my first ever time on a long haul wide body aircraft. We flew TUI's Boeing 787-8 there and back, and boy what a beauty!! Our first island stop off was St Marteen, where I got to visit somewhere I've been dreaming of.. Maho Beach! I'm 6ft 4in so when the Air France A330 came over the beach I thought I'd have to duck!

My most recent travel was to the amazing city of New York. We flew with British Airways on their amazing Boeing 747-400 (G-CIVF) to JFK. I was so glad to finally fly on my dream aircraft before they retire them all. On the way back, I flew aboard a very rare Boeing 777-200 (Non ER model, G-ZZZB) from EWR. New York is seriously the most incredible city I've ever been to. The locals are so friendly and they love us British!

I also did a lot of travelling during my time in the Air Cadets. We visited and toured many RAF and USAF bases. I also travelled to Nijmegen in Holland, where I completed the 100 Mile Nijmegen Military Marches as part of the British Military Contingent. I later flew to RAF Troodos in Cyprus, where we also visited the famous RAF Akrotiri a lot. This also happened to be my last ever time flying with Monarch Airlines before they unfortunately ceased trading..

The last question: Are you a pilot? If so, what do you fly?

A: I'm currently a Student Pilot flying a Cessna 152. It's such a great little aircraft to fly and handles very well to the pilots controls! I'm also hoping to gain more hours on the Piper PA-28 Warrior that my flight school also operates.

If you've reached the end, then thanks for taking time to read about my experiences. Hoping to grow this page with Olivia into a platform that enables like minded individuals the opportunity to share their passion with just about anything with wheels!

~ Keiran

[groundtoairofficial-blog]

Why dont we start with one of our fun hobbies?

....Planespotting!

I'm mostly spotting at Berlin-Tegel (TXL/EDDT) since its near me. I often flew to Brussels or Dusseldorf to go spotting there. I really enjoy to fly away for a day just to go planespotting. People call me crazy but for me its fun and its a great passion for sure!

I Started spotting when I was 7 years old. I actually have pictures of the mini-me at DUS watching the planes. I grew up around the Dusseldorf airport but moved to Berlin when I was 12 years old. Berlin was disappointing because its so small and we've rarely seen heavies there at the beginning but now I'm used to it and I appreciate every plane that arrives or departs the airport.

Lets talk about this picture. Its been taken at Berlin-Schönefeld (SXF/EDDB) from the visitor plattform. A very beautiful B738 (my favorite <3 ) that belongs to Norwegian, a cool airline imo!

[groundtoairofficial-blog]

Because someone needs to start it, here we are: I'll introduce myself!

My name is Liv Mruck and I'm one of the two admins of this page.

Keiran, the other admin, will post his introduction aswell.

Both of us share the great passion of cars, planes and flying. So we thought: Why dont we create a page and share our passion, memories and experiences? 15Min later, this page was created. I also created a page for Instagram and Tumblr. If everything goes right, we may create a website.

Point is, you should get to know us a bit. Everyone hates reading so we did a little Q&A.

If you're not into smalltalk Q&As scroll down, I'll talk about my memories, experiences etc.

Q: How old are you?:

A: I'm 20, soon 21 and fully grown up. ;)

Q: Are you male or female?

A: I'm a female.

Q: Where are you from?

A: I live in Berlin, Germany but plan to move to the UK in the next 3 years.

Q: Do you have pets?

A: Yes! I have two amazing cats. Both are female and love cuddles.

Q:Which sports do you like?

A: I'm into soccer and iceskating.

Q: Do you have tattoos?

A: No, I never liked them on me but I want to get a little tattoo of a Cirrus SR22 on my wrist. Ops!

Q: What kind of music do you listen to?

A: Depends on my mood.

Q: Do you travel a lot?

A: Yes. And no. I didnt travel for a half year now. After my passport is done I'm looking forward to fly around Europe.

Q: Do you have a favorite City?

A: Thats hard to say, but I'd say Miami it is!

Q: Do you have favorite movies?

A: of course! Need for Speed and Sully are my favorites!

Q: Do you work? If so, as what?

A: I'm a butcher and a saleswoman.

That's the smalltalk Q&A. If you have questions, never be scared to ask me!

Now lets head to the interesting part about Cars!

Q: What car(s) do you own?

A: I own a 2006 VW Fox. Nothing special. But I'm planning to get a GT86 or Audi S3 Sedan.

Q: What is your dream car?

A: The Mclaren P1. Its my favorite car ever. I'm a Mclaren kind of girl!

Q: Where is your passion from?

A: I cant really remember. I loved cars since I'm born I believe. When I was 5 or even younger, I was able to name all the cars in my neighborhood. My dad loved working on his cars and I tried to help. Welp.. tried. I had around 200 toy cars and loved them all. I always cleaned them, named them and took care of them. Safe to say they were my babies.

Lets head to the plane themed Q&A....

Q: Where is your passion from?

A: As already stated, I loved cars from the beginning. I liked planes too and often visited the airport with my parents, but it really kicked in after my flight from Dusseldorf to Moscow with an Aeroflot A319 or A320. I was seven years old and everything was so amazing and beautiful. The uniforms of the crew, the sounds, all the tech-stuff, the view from above. Then it made CLICK in my head and I was into planes and flying. My parents took me often enough to DUS (Dusseldorf airport) and when I was like 10 or so, I went to the airport every weekend.

Q: Do you have a favorite plane and Airline?

A: Yes, of course. Although it isnt just ONE airline and plane, haha...

I really love the 737-800 or 737MAX8. GA wise, the Cirrus SR22 is my favorite. They are sooooooooooooooo cute... lol!

Favorite Airline is a tricky question. For hopping around europe I personally love Ryanair, For longer flights I prefer Swiss and for longhauls I prefer United Airlines.

(If you're interested, this is my Flightdiary account: https://my.flightradar24.com/LivMruck# )

Q: Talk about your travel memories.

A: Well, since I was 12 I dreamed about the USA. But my parents hated the US and flying in general. As a student i had a little job and flew around Europe. Like, Amsterdam and Vienna with Easyjet, Brussels with Ryanair etc. When I finished school with 16, my mom gifted me a daytrip to Istanbul for around 300€. She wasn't wealthy and I appreciate it still so much. I flew from Berlin Tegel to Munich and from Munich to Istanbul. Both on the same plane: Lufthansa A321 in the Star Alliance colors. (D-AIRW). And back from Istanbul to Zurich and from Zurich to Berlin TXL with Swiss, also the same plane: Swiss A321 HB-IOH)

After another ''tiny'' daytrips finally my dream came true! I booked some flights for under 150:

Berlin to Madrid with the Iberia Express A320, Madrid to Frankfurt with the gorgeous LATAM 787-9 and back from Frankfurt to Berlin with an Airberlin A320. The 787 always has been one of my favorite widebodies and it was pure joy to fly on one.

This was 2016. Remember my dream of flying to the US?

Yes... 2017, when I turned 18 in march, I was still an apprentice and really didn't earn much. I saved 200€ every month and booked my flights to the USA with a bonus I received. I saved a lot in the end and booked two domestic flights.

..October 2018: My dream came true. I packed my bags, my mom drove me to Berlin Tegel in the early morning. She hugged me and told me to take care of myself. After dropping off my bag and answering a few questions to the staff about my bag I already sat in the waiting area. My plane already arrived but only the nose was visible... a few moments later, I walked down the aisle and found my seat. Only one really nice girl in my age sat next to me and I had the best view ever of the wing of our United B763..ever?

Long story short, I arrived at EWR, waited some hours, took my plane to Miami. Spent 2 days there, took the train to Fort Lauderdale, took a Soutwest 737 to Orlando, spent some hours at the airport and flew back to Miami inside an American Airlines B763. When this journey ended, I took the Swiss 777-300ER back to Zurich and changed planes quickly to an A320 of Swiss which took me back to Berlin...

I'll post the whole story of this trip here for sure!

The last question: Are you a pilot? If so, what do you fly?

A: No, I'm not. But I really want to do my PPL. I look forward to it!

That's it. If you just read all of this: Thank you, really. Its just the start of our little page/blog and I really hope that we can deliver some good stuff for you!

-Liv