Dave the Airstream

United breaks guitars

2009-07-09T13:01:00.001+02:00

just for the case you plan your holiday trip by plane... leave your guitar at home... Enjoy!

NEWS, NEWS, NEWS

2009-06-02T22:28:00.003+02:00

ok, very very long time nothing happend on our Airstream Project... nearly one year nothing - absolutly nothing happend... But now it does!! First I installed a Sideboard on the streetside and even the new kitchen is now painted white and ready to be installed... The plan is to have Dave on the campground mid of june! Not ready to live in, but outside and in the sun... As some of you know, I was still in need of two windows on the curbside. Daniel from Airstream4u in Hamburg helped me out with the small window right of the door and the large window at the kitchen. Windows are a really hard and not very cheap find on this side of the big pond, but sometimes you just gotta know the right people! Thanks Daniel. always a great help and even greater source for help and parts... I was at Daniels workshop in the near of hamburg last week and came just in time for the delivery of a very nice 60's Trailer. I guess it is a Tradewind or Overlander but I am not sure and forgot to take a look at the Tag... Damn... But take a look your self...

2008-04-01T21:14:00.005+02:00

Welcome on april 1st 2008

This is so cool, it was published today on The Telegraph Homepage... Enjoy!!

No News...

2008-01-10T22:19:00.000+01:00

Sorry, I promised to keep this blog updated, but I didn't...

So, to keep it short - there are no news! I was too busy at work and had no time to work on the Airstream. At the moment it is also just way too cold in the hangar, so I am waiting probably until March before I start working on the Interior and the shell again. We'll see...

New Flooring!!

2007-08-26T15:30:00.000+02:00

The past three weekends were really great!! The first weekend I painted the whole interior walls in bright shiny white and the last two weekends I installed the new laminat flooring. It is such a good feeling to see some progress. Unfortunately I took the ceiling panel out again and damaged it... Well, that's the chance for a new ceiling design! We decided to put polished stainless steel in, which will have some 12V spots for a basic illumination. Hope you enjoy the pics...

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Dave looks like an Airstream again...

2007-04-09T13:42:00.000+02:00

We are making some progress... Last weekend most of the interior walls came back in and it starts looking like an Airstream again.
We are on a tight scedule now, as we plan to have Dave on the Airfields Campground in June. Probably without the front dinette and maybe without kitchen, but we'll have at least the bathroom, a bed and the fridge for cold beer inside. The rest will be installed while on the camping, but otherwise Dave would probably spend another summer in the hangar... Until June we only have a few weekends and maybe a whole week in may for all the work, but it should be possible. Hopefully I'll have a week off of work in may during the dutch nationals in gliderflying that will be held at the Stendal Airfield from the 18th to the 27th of may. The arrival of the 55 teams will be from the 12th of may and there will be 2 days of training before the competition starts on the 18th. We hope to have Daves roll-out on the 27th of May. As always - we will see...

WHERE’S THE TWINK?

2007-03-09T20:24:00.000+01:00

Ok folks,

this is Message that Rachel posted yesterday on Airstreamforums.com... Please keep your eyes open and help finding "The Twink"!!

Thanks,

Bjoern

WHERE’S THE TWINK?
Sometime in February 2007, my beloved 1975 Airstream Argosy camper disappeared. It was earned the name of “Twink” because of its keen resemblance to a Twinkie, hence this priceless photo I took while on my road trip. The Twink has taken me many places, from mountains to desserts to beaches to cities and every wacky redneck town in between.

So imagine the horror when I drove by to check on the TWINK in the parking lot where I had parked it all year and… it wasn’t there!!! “No sweat,” I thought, “it must have been towed.” But when the police had no records of any towing or abandoned vehicle reports, the terrible truth hit me. My Twink had been stolen.

I am DEVASTATED. The TWINK means so much to me, has taken me so many places and I had pictured traveling with it for years to come. I had dreamed of making the TWINK into a career somehow - pitching some book ideas, maybe trying to get a show, a sponsorship perhaps… And now it’s gone. Someone has to know something. Please help me find the TWINK!

WHERE’S THE TWINK BEEN?
Last year I kind of lost my marbles from working too hard. I had a successful marketing company in Philly, but I really needed to get away. While some people choose a nice vacation, I decided to blow all of my money on a vintage 1975 Airstream Argosy camper, trade in my Jetta for a Ford F150 and hit the road for a few months. Here’s the story: (Philadelphia Weekly Cover Story)
Here’s a Holiday Photo Shoot We Did in It: (Rachel’s Guide Holiday Photo Shoot)

TWINK Description:

VIN 24D5V1022
Plate # XCB9560
Title # 63036278001FU
•24’ 1975 Airstream Argosy Camper Trailer
• Beige Exterior with Orange Trim & Brown Bumper
• Large ARGOSY Logo Over Back Window
• Pimp 70’s Interior with Olive Green Countertops & “Airplane” Overhead Compartments
• Kitchen & Diner Booth that Converts into a Bed, Bedroom with Dresser, Bathroom with Shower
• Cushions are light green with pastel yellow & green stripes on some sides.
• Some Camping & Kitchen Supplies in the Cabinets
• 70’s Vintage Playboy Magazines in the Magazine Rack (essential for any road trip!)
Identifying Features:
- chipped paint over the Argosy logo on the front, top rounded part of the vehicle. The silver shows through, almost like freckles.
•Rusty step for the front door, one side of the step sometimes broken
• Broken shelf in the bathroom closet
• Couch off of the tracks when you try to convert it into a bed
• The pantry closet in the kitchen won’t stay closed
• Wax in the kitchen sink from melted candles

CONTACT INFORMATION:
If seen or found, please contact your local police department and then me. You are welcome to remain anonymous.
Rachel: 215.888.8885 | rachel@rachelinc.com

SAVE YOUR DATA

2007-03-08T22:26:00.000+01:00

Hi Folks,

we are back online again... A few weeks ago our HDD of our Laptop crashed and all our data was lost. Approx. 900mb of Airstream Pictures and collected informations are lost! Why?? Because we thought that doing a safty copy "tomorrow" will be enough. Well, it wasn´t... The day I wanted to buy an external HDD, Steffi called me and told me that the HDD was making funny noises and XP wasn´t starting. But now we have a nice new and clean HDD aand are a little wiser. So, safe your data early enough!

Bjoern

New Video

2007-01-29T20:04:00.000+01:00

Nice little Video from John aka as Tinhut... Thanks John!!

Music is the "theVap Rap" made by Safari Tim and "Living in Aluminum"from Antsy McClain and the Trailer Park Troubadours!

Chatnight on AirstreamForums.com

2006-11-28T19:39:00.000+01:00

Hi all outthere,

just want to inform you that we´ll have a chatnight on AirstreamForums.com! It is every Tuesday at 9 p.m. eastern US-Time and will start early for us Euopean Members at 10 p.m. european mainland time or at 9 p.m. Greenwich Time! Hope to see you there!

Coloured Version of new floorplan

2006-10-18T19:51:00.000+02:00

Ok,

so here is a coloured version of our new floorplan. As you can see we'll have 2 Dinettes, which convert into beds. Our plan is that the Airstream will sleep 4, but we'll might upgrade it to sleep 5 or six by installing some sort of clip-in Bunks over the rear dinette. The Floorplan will probably change a little, as we plan to install the two "old" wardrobes in the rear, but we have to look if that will still fit into our plans... Well, lets wait and see...
The propane tanks will be in the sideboard in the rear of the trailer, right behind the axles. we have to put them inside to get some weight from the hitch. The heating will be installed under the rear dinette, with a good insualtion so that it won´t brun your a** while sittig on the bench and there is still enough room for a floormount A/C and a waterboiler. What do you think of our plans?? Still time to change things...

Winter is coming!!

2006-10-17T17:48:00.000+02:00

Besides Airstreams and my wife, my other big and probably oldest passion is skiing! I love skiing!! I am dreaming the whole summer of a perfect winter, so while surfing the Internet I came across this nice little Videoo taken from Steamboat Powdercats.

Enjoy and see you on the slopes!

Update!

2006-10-15T17:41:00.000+02:00

Nearly 4 weeks of work on the Airstream and the first interior walls are back in. The Front Cap is riveted in place and the new insulation is nearly complete. We are having some progress in this project, but it still is a long way to go... Here are some pics. Enjoy!

Art-Stream Project

2006-09-26T18:05:00.000+02:00

Sorry, that I can´t report any visible progress on our Airstream, but I am still wiring the whole thing and that takes way longer than I thought… But meanwhile I would like to show you what I ran across on the Internet. These two Airstreams are two out of six that where redesigned by some Artstudents and Design Corporations in Dresden for the introduction of the new Opel Corsa here in Germany. It was a Design Contest by the General Motors Marketing Compartment of GM Europe. The new design is not painted or sprayed on the Skin, it is a foil that can be removed afterwards. Maybe that is a nice idea if you to change the look of your Airstream from time-to-time?!

Day 3 and there will be light

2006-09-20T23:39:00.000+02:00

Ok, so day 3 is over and I did install all new lights on the exterior. We need some more marker lights here to get an approval by the european dmv´s... I also did some wiring on th einside, but didn´t take any pics today. I'll do that on friday, when I return to Stendal. I am off for tomorrow, so next news on friday evening!

Stendal Day 2 and the work begins...

2006-09-19T18:09:00.000+02:00

Day 2… please, let me go home…

Ok, honestly, who was the Previous Owner of our 1971 Ambassador who applied Silicon Sealer to the rear window??? Oh, you creepy little chicken hide somewhere out there… If I’ll ever find you you’ll eat the 2 hands full of sealer that I removed in 7 hours work today!!! Normally Silicon Sealer is a NO-NO on Aluminium Trailers, as it won´t seal and is really nasty stuff to remove… That it is not sealing on Aluminimum the PO discovered sometime ago as he resealed his 5mm near-to-perfect seal with a 3.5 cm (!) 5mm thick I’ll-put-as-much-Silicon-on-it-as-possible Seal.

Removing that stuff is no fun at all, but we want to have nice looking seals on the trailer, so I had to remove it before applying Sikaflex Sealer.

I hope I’ll do that tomorrow and that I can install the new clearance lights which I removed today as well. In the morning I started to remove the old bridle gasket from the windows.

That is hard, time consuming work too, but after tearing the old gasket off it is quite helpful to apply some POR-Strip. That Stuff is plain great and removes the old gasket-glue in a second… Ok! Minute or two, maybe three…

I think that is perfect work for my wife next weekend… (Hi Honey, just joking, you can sit in the sun and I’ll do it J !)

More news tomorrow evening…

PS: I know that the last Owner is a retired sheriff – You won’t have to eat the sealer, Sir! And I would never call you a creepy little chicken!! But I am pretty sure that this was not your work… I hope…

Stendal Day 1

2006-09-18T18:39:00.000+02:00

Hello out there,

I hope that I can give you and this blog a daily update for the next 10 to 14 days. I am at the Stendal Airport now and try to get some work done on our Airstream. The plan is to do all the new wiring, all new insulation and to get the interior skin and the front and endcab back in place. Also to replace all the windows and the main door gaskets, as well as the window positioners… That is a tough schedule and I am not shure if everything will work out, but I’ll try my very best!

I arrived in the early afternoon and wanted to start work right away, which didn´t work out as I had to watch the two Bundesluftwaffe C-160 Transall practicing take-offs and landing on the grassrunway… It’s always cool to see them take off and land on really short distances…

So after this short pre-work brake I took all the windows out to get them cleaned and prepared for the gasket replacement and replaced the doorlock with the new lock from Out-of-Doorsmart. That worked pretty easy and I could kick my self into my *ss for breaking the old lock when I tried to take it out… It is so plain simple! It’s sort of plug-and-play, so take a closer look to you keycylinder before you try what I tried and ruined the cylinder…

There is a small problem with the window gaskets that fit between the glass and the alu-frame. They are old, brittle and too short due to their age.
I have no clue what to do to solve that problem, but I hope that the people on AirtsreamForums.com know an answer...

AirstreamForums.com Newsletter September 2006 Issue No. 8

2006-09-16T12:11:00.000+02:00

September 2006 Issue No. 8 (click here for formatted PDF version with pictures!)

Table of Contents

Weekend in Camp Driveway
Air Numbers
Lug Nuts
Camping Airstream Style
A View from Shore
Road Trip - California State Fair
Zesty Pasta Dish

Quick Tip - Overlander63

After removing a wheel, remember to stop and check the lug nuts after several miles, in case they worked loose.

A Weekend in Camp Driveway
By Chaplain Kent

This was the shortest distance we had ever traveled to a campsite. I placed the blocks under the levelers and raised the front end of Chummy about 8" to achieve level and shut off the ignition. We were spending the week camping in our driveway while having the wood floors in our house sanded and refinished.

We love to camp. Anywhere, anytime of the year, anyplace, we love to camp. Fran and I camp in the dead of Winter and in the heat of Summer. We enjoy driving rain storms, forcing us to be inside Chummy for a day; crisp Winter days that snap back at you; hot sunny days to lounge on the Lafuma; and even normal days. We love to camp.

When we thought about spending the week in Chummy, it never occurred to us that this might be different. Day one: We live in an older house and sometime last year the wiring from the house to the garage turned to dust. I replaced it with an extension cord hung from the back of the house to the garage. My wife starts work at 5:00A.M., gets up at 3:30A.M. She is very concerned about having an alarm clock, which works. I cannot sleep with a wind up clock ticking anywhere within fifty miles of my bed.

I plug Chummy into shore power which is really an extension cord plugged into an extension cord which is hung from one building to another building. It works, but sometime during the day goes out. I get it to work again. My wife goes to bed with the thought of never waking up in time. Just to be safe neither of us slept.

Day Two: EAA. We live by a small private airport 50 miles south of the EAA air show. During EAA, the planes use our airport as a holding area while waiting to get into EAA. During the night WWII, bombers were flying rooftop level with Chummy. Just to be safe neither of us slept.

Day Three: We packed no food since we could get into our kitchen. But today they stained the floors leaving the house filled with a horrible odor. Fran and I went out and had a wonderful Mexican dinner. However, we ate much later than we usually do and were unable to use the basement bathroom in the house due to the odor. Just to be safe, neither of us slept.

Day Four: We are not happy campers. Three sleepless nights and today Fran is off from work. The temperature is rising everywhere. For the first time ever, we can think of nothing to do. We eventually decide to see Robin Williams in ‘RV’ and love the movie. We come home to discover there is a problem with the finish coat on the floors. They might have to start over. Neither of us slept.

Day Five: We move back home, one laundry basket of dirty clothes and a stack of newspapers. The floors need to be redone but we can walk on them. The contractor said he could fix them without us having to move out again. We slept well that night.

Day Ten: The floors are finished and look spectacular. We are well rested and have several camping trips planned. All of our future trips will be far from our driveway.

For a list of campsites, please visit our campsite review section here...

Airstream Forums Tutorial

They’re New - They’re Blue ... AIR Numbers

Did you know that each forum member is assigned a user ID number upon registering? This number is generated by the Forums software and never changes.

Recently, some Forums members figured this out and thought it would a cool way to identify forum members on the road. For many years the Wally Byam Caravan Club (WBCCI) has done something similar with red numbers. Unlike WBCCI membership numbers, your forum number will never expire; it is yours indefinitely.

You can find a link on each forums page on the left side of the screen to view the Forums number for all members. To find out what your number is open your User Profile (on the blue tool bar near the top of your screen - click user CP).

Look for more standardized number placement and size as our community evolves.

Got AIR?

Janet, AIR 3181

Camping Airstream Style - Rebel Beck

I’m not a writer and don’t claim to be, but one of the other members asked me to share our family vacation I hope you enjoy and I’m sure some of you have had similar experiences.

Vacation 2006 with the Lacy family and our 1975 31ft Airstream (The Peppy), we bought our vintage Airstream from the forums classified section in November 2005 and have worked on it almost non-stop in preparation for our summer vacation. New floor, leaks found and fixed and new brakes, lots more to do but enough to get some camping in this season.

The weather has decided to surge the week we are to leave as also the gas prices. What the heck, it’s vacation time. This was the Big One. Sure a few camping trips to our local State Parks, but this was the big five days. Reservations were made five months ago. To us it was as if we were going to the Grand Canyon, but in reality, it was only three hours away.

Okay, now let’s hear a chuckle from all you far travelers. The morning of, I have tossed and turned all night thinking the alarm would never go off and when it does I can’t get out of the bed quick enough running around yelling get up get up, it’s time hit the showers, load the cooler, let’s go let’s go!!!

As we pull out of the driveway I yell STOP, we have to do the pre-flight check we all know about that left blinker, right blinker, brake, brake again and kick the tires. And then five miles down the road I wonder what I forgot? My husband calls me neurotic about road noise every time we start to stop I have to turn down the radio and listen for road noise (you know brakes squeaking, wheel falling off, or something worse).

Yes, I’m afraid to say so I am always the one who asks ‘WHAT WAS THAT’ every five minutes too, almost as bad as my son asking ‘are we there yet?’.

So by the time we do get there my husband is ready for an adult beverage. I always have to look in the mirror or just turn around and look back at the Airstream and smile as he is looking back at me with his cool sunglasses on. My husband told me once, it is still there.

We arrive at our destination J.P. Coleman State Park and find our spot, I just cannot believe it is right on the water about twenty feet from the trailer door. How lucky can you get? Huge shade trees to boot, gotta love those trees when you have an Airstream and it’s 105 heat index outside.

Now’s the fun time setting up camp the usual plug up, pull out the awning, turn the a/c on, set the flamingos loose, fill the Tiki torches and find a place to put them, go in and get the cd player, find the Jimmy Buffet cd, turn it on and sit down, oops get up and find the cooler with the adult beverages, get one and sit back down and enjoy the view, a water front property in Mississippi.

As nightfall sets in and the torches are lit, a small campfire is built, the real bliss of owning an Airstream sets in. The shimmer of the light from the Tikis and the shadow from the campfire shining off the aluminum made me wonder, where all have you been my Peppy with your 31 years of glory, what all have you seen and experienced, how many rally’s have you been to?

Man oh man this is the life and I think to myself this is Camping, this is camping Airstream Style. And then the silence is broken by “Mom can you come turn the TV off, I’m tired.”, and I just laugh and told my husband ‘another Great day of camping’. And that’s what it’s all about. (Priceless)

The View from Shore - Dijer

It’s evening; the pink orange hints in the clouds tell me so. It’s high tide and I stand on our deck looking out at our resident turtle lolling about 12 ft out from the shore. He’s lingering in the shallow water, seemingly oblivious to the erosion cutting away this stretch of the beach. It’s a steady process; not cruel but indifferent.

Strident waves undercut our land, then large unsupported slabs fall below. Grand aged trees tip over into the sea, their root skirts exposed to the sky. The process is turbulent, relentless. Our local newspaper reports on it, people converse about it, and I live with it.

As I open the door to my Airstream to step out, I look across a patch of scrubby beach grass to the warm ocean beyond. The water is clear turquoise and when the light hits it just right, it looks as if the sunlight has shattered into a thousand shards of broken mirror across the surface. The beauty and lazy peacefulness of the shallow water lead to the agitated waves at the reef, which protects us from the true ferocity of the Pacific Ocean. This reef provides us a false sense of security, as we are really at the mercy of the sea.

Daily we can see the effects of waves on our shoreline. We live with the constant roar from the force of powerful waves crashing against coral. It's been politely suggested that we are crazy to live so close to the water and to have my Bambi parked so close as well. We are close enough that as I sleep with my feet towards the reef, more than once I have awakened from a dream of incoming ocean, a sensation of waves on my toes. But, we are determined to try this Hawaiian beach lifestyle and all that it entails: erosion, salt spray, endless window washing, endless Bambi waxing, endless Pina Coladas and Mai Tais.

We are in a tug of war with the sea to keep hold of our land. And so long as I can step out of the Bambi, walk a few feet to the sand, step into the clear, clean water while looking to a distant horizon, these efforts just add to the reward.

Click on this link for more information on this topic.

Road Trip - By Codybear

A pleasant time was spent at the California State Fair in Sacramento. The Fair runs until September 4.

Exhibits run the gamut: Superheroes ready to pose and chat with you: Superman, Batman and Robin, Cat Woman, Bat Girl, Wonder Woman, and the Green Lantern. I was even able to get an autographed photo signed by none other than Noel Neill, the original ‘Lois Lane’ in the Adventures of Superman with George Reeves.

The Animal Exhibit featured miniature Herefords and Horses as well as newborn Calves and Piglets, a 4-horned Goat, an Alpaca and Llama, newborn Quails and Chicks. An interesting Old Medical Equipment Exhibit displayed Bedpans through the Century as well as an Emerson Respirator, and Dental Equipment.

In the Discovery Exhibit, one could find a Yellow Jacket Nest, as well as a variety of Insects and Amphibians. And of course last but not least, there was the Food, the Carnival Games, the Rodeo, and the Midway.

Great Recipe - By Codybear

Sweet Basil and Tomato Pasta

Sauce Ingredients:

2 Cloves Garlic, peeled and minced (optional: cut into slivers if you don’t like to eat bits of garlic)
3 TBSP Cup Fresh Basil, rinsed, paper towel dried, and then leaves stripped off stems and chopped
1/3 Cup Extra Virgin Oil
1/2 Tsp Salt
1/4/ Tsp Pepper
2-3 Medium sized Fresh ripe Tomatoes, rinsed, cored and diced
1/3 Cup Sugar
1/3 Cup Dry Romano Cheese, grated
12 Oz. pkg.: Mostaccioli, (featured in this recipe) Angel Hair, Capellini, Fideo, Fusilli, Linguini, Spaghetti, Vermicelli, Fettuccini, Penne, Rigatoni, or Large Shell Pasta (any of these work great)

Directions:

In Small saucepan heat garlic, oil, basil, salt and pepper on medium heat, stirring until basil just turns deep green in color, and garlic is tender about 2-4 minutes.

Remove from heat and pour into a medium sized bowl filled with the tomatoes, sugar, and cheese.

Let sit on counter about 15-20 minutes.

Bring a large pot of water to boil, add pasta, and cook for 8-10 minutes or al dente. Transfer hot cooked pasta to large serving bowl.

Toss pasta gently with the mixture. Serve with a tossed green salad with vinaigrette, and a fine red or white wine.

Newsletter Staff:

Editor: Paula Wong (codybear)
Senior Writer: Chaplain Kent
Contributing Writers:

Janet Humphrey - Forums Moderator
Overlander63 - Moderator
Rebel Beck
Dijer

Rally Calendar Manager : Uberlanders
Photo & Design/Layout Editor: Paula Wong
Community Founder: Andy R

All Members are welcome to submit articles for consideration for use in upcoming issues when submitted by the 15^th of each month.
All Articles are subject to editing. Any relevant photos should be sent in .jpeg format, no larger than 800x600 pix. Please send your articles and photos by private message to Codybear.
Suggested article topics, but not limited to: Quick Tip, Great Recipe, Road Trip, Don't Do What I Did, Travel with Pets, Upcoming Event, Poem, Human Interest.

The AirstreamForums.com Newsletter is published for Members of the AstreamForums.com. Articles appearing in this issue reflect the opinions of the writers, and may not be used without written permission. All rights reserved 2006.

Airstream and Argosy Owners in Europe

2006-08-31T14:18:00.000+02:00

Here comes a new and updated List of European Airstream Owners who are members of AirstreamForums.com, the FrenchAirstreamForum on Fred´s Page or are listeners of theVap.com.
Listed are only People who have or seem to have an Airstream/Argosy TT or MH. If your are on this list and something is wrong or you know someone who is not on the list, please send us a short message so that we can correct it...
Listed are the MemberNo. on AirstreamForums and the Members Name, Country and which TT or MH... Just for your interest, there are 136 People from Europe subscribed to AirstreamForums.com. The missing countries are Italy, Luxembourg, Portugal, Russia, Sweden and Switzerland

1479 Hans Austria Sovereign 25'
14959 Lenus James Austria 1987 30' Airstream 300
13064 boones Belgium 1991 35' Airstream 350
13771 Route64 Belgium 1976 25' Tradewind
1181 Brunoffrance France 1971 Overlander
4316 frederic.c01 France 1973 23' Safari
12490 jean-luc France Excella 1972
14043 lamiche38 France 1972 25' Tradewind
10975 Loulou France 1968 28' Ambassador
1247 Perry France several TT
FF Pierre France 1954 Flying Cloud 22Ft
8098 Rustic_Kilo France 1969 Sovereign 31'
5492 Klaus_Keitel Germany 250 CL 25 foot
10569 PeterPerlich Germany 2003 22' Int.CCD & 2006 36' MH LandYacht XC
5535 Pschoerrn Germany 1971 29' Ambassador
995 thomas_glaser Germany 1970 TT
16038 yomansel Germany 1963 19' Globetrotter
14428 Filmonger Ireland 1967 26' Overlander
15114 howardg Ireland 1960 24' Tradewind
15532 Kevin Murphy Ireland 1989 32.5' Airstream 325
6225 a/s-rent Netherlands unknown TT or MH
13095 airbenelux Netherlands 2006 16' Int.CCD
14898 ceeseurope Netherlands 1976 31' Sovereign
14342 FlyingDutch Netherlands 1976 28' Argosy 280 MH
15494 hennes Netherlands 2005 31' Classic
6785 Holland Netherlands 1994 Safari
15383 imperial Netherlands 1974 27' Overlander
7492 kneepie Netherlands 1976 25' Tradewind
12304 Pieter Netherlands 1971 27'overlander
3293 remcolent Netherlands Overlander (sold) 1969 Sovereign
12758 ronnieboy Netherlands 1988 32' Excella
10280 Thunderbird Netherlands 1968 26' Overlander
13240 vlees Netherlands 1975 31' Excella 500
13557 Willem Netherlands 1978 23'Safari
6280 wilson russe Scotland 53 flying cloud
4270 1984air310 UK 1984 310 Limited MH
12013 Adam M UK 1982 28' Airstream 280
10021 airstremuk UK 2006 34' Classic
9011 Chuckles UK 1983 310 MH
6977 Fraser45 UK 1962 Safari
11308 Garyuk UK 1960 22' Safari
The Vap Ian Jamieson UK 1979 Tradewind
12552 jamieg UK 1976 23' Safari
9684 marypie UK 1963 16' Bambi
14697 mayobren UK 2005 25' Intl. CCD
12574 mparsons UK 1975 27' Overlander
1524 qqq UK 1971 23' Safari
11247 redbubbaboy UK 1993 21' Sovereign
13632 redtinman UK 1977 31'Sovereign
9662 Silverconnie UK 19ft 1962 Ohio Globetrotter
4235 speedytincan UK MH 310 &1969 18' Caravel
12646 StewUK UK 1967 17' Caravel
13940 Taylo_Ke UK 1967 20' Globetrotter
9780 telsmachine Uk 1983 30' Airstream 300
10304 Thripplewood UK 1998 25' Excella
15342 trevelyan UK 1982 31' Excella
8284 UK Safari UK 1972 23' Safari
9231 Uk-Airstream UK 1964 Globetrotter & 1979 Safari
The Vap Chris Haddon UK 1970´s Trailer
4233 Anton UK/Germany Sovereign
1469 nickcrowhurst UK/USA Excella 25

European Airstream Meeting in the South of France

2006-06-26T18:44:00.000+02:00

The european Airstream Meeting (4, 5 & 6 of August 2006) is coming closer and closer, so those of you who are interested in joining the european Airstream Community, this is THE event!!
The meetig is hosted by Perry from th efirst an only european Airstream Campground.
This is the Programm and a short introduction of what will happen at Belrepayre

Come and meet other European Airstreamers and exchange precious informations
on importation, looking after the silver tube, bits .... for the vintage fans
and infos on the latest 2006 European Airstream models specialy created by Airstream for Europe,
the model 523 will be on site, as well a model 2005 wide body imported from Canada, a motorhome and other models, FR3 (french TV) will be there on the Saturday morning ....

We will be showing films and slides about Airstreams and Wally Byam
and the saturday night we’ll have a barbecue with local product, good wine, music and fun !

Belrepayre Airstream & retro camping*** is situated in the foothills of the french Pyrenees
with outstanding views of the mountains,
60km south of Toulouse, near Mirpeoix between Carcassonne and Foix, on the way to Spain and Andorra.
Lots of interesting local interest, medieval cathare castle and the bastide of Mirepoix to visit,
the international marionette festival will be happening in Mirepoix during our meeting and of course nature with all its activiies, local fairs ...

You don't need to be an Airstream owner to come to the meeting,
You can come and join with your vintage caravan or motorhome (retro camping, don’t forget) or your tent
or you can have a reel Airstream experience by hiring an Airstream caravan in the campsite (6 models accomodating 1 to 4 people).

Price for visiting Airstream owners and for hiring an airstream during meeting : -10%
Saturday night 20€ /person for 1 barbecue meal with wine + live entertainment at the “Apollo Lounge” magic, humor and 70’s music

Winter is over...

2006-05-15T15:43:00.000+02:00

Ok folks, winter is over lets get back to work on Dave!! We de-winterized Dave this weekend, well actually we just sttarted to work on him again after this long and cold winter... On Friday I painted the frame with a silver rust paint, so that 3/4 of the frame are painted now. On Saturday Steffi helped me to fix our Rear End Seperation problem, which was easier fix than thought, but still work for nearly a whole day. On Sunday I wanted to screw the new flooring to the frame and then discoverd that the shell had moved about 1/2 an inch on one side, so that the old screw holes didn´t fit to the holes in the outriggers... SO I had to remove the floor again and bring the shell back in place. The main problem is that the new flooring is about 1mm too think and the floor won´t slip into the C-Channel very easily. I removed 1.5mm on each side and now it slips into the C-Channel like a hot knife through butter! The Camera wasn´t charged to I couldn´t take any pics, but I´ll do that next weekend.
The new Floor and the Interiorskin have to be back in the Trailer by July 15th for the big fly-in at the Stendal Airport, so that we can use it for selling Coffee, Tea and Pies like we did last year.

2006-04-14T22:54:00.000+02:00

Sadly there are no news from our Airstream, as we are redoing our new flat at the moment and so there is not enough time to go to Stendal...

But there is good news out there!!! Daniel from Airstream4u from Hamburg has just bought the 2004 28'CCD Custom from Mountain Oxygen that was located on Aspen Mountain last season. The trailer has already arrived in Germany and will now get a new Chassis System to meet german and european regulations...
Here are some pics of it

and here is the describtion from Daniels Webside:

We are importing a 2004 Factory Custom 28' Airstream CCD Edition. This Airstream was designed and built by the Airstream factory in Jackson Center, OH for Mountain Oxygen of Aspen, Colorado. This unit served as a commercial oxygen bar on top of Aspen Mountain for two winter seasons (8 total months). This is perhaps one of the most rugged and technically advanced Airstreams on the road as no expense was spared in it's design and construction.

The most noticeable unique feature is that it has bay windows on both sides. In addition it has aluminum interior skin with recessed halogen lighting. The unit also has anti-slip floors with two drains making the inside water tolerable. The unit also has increased electrical capacity to accommodate the 5 floor heaters needed to keep a reasonable temperature when it sat at over 11,000 feet. Further electrical capacity was needed to accommodate the oxygen concentrators that were used by Mountain Oxygen. I believe the total available amapeg is approx 30 amps. On the roof there are two extraction fans approximately 6" in diameter. Currently wired for CAT-5 broadband Ethernet and telephone lines. There is also a 20" flat screen on a swivel mount attached to a DVD/CD premium sound system with four two ways speakers and a sub woofer.

Currently the interior seats 10 people comfortably in a u-shaped design. There is also a desk area at the front of the Airstream. there is a lot of storage and outlets at every seat, more than 8 outlets total.
There is an electrical jack for easy mounting on a trailer hitch.

Save Wally Byam!!

2006-03-22T21:43:00.000+01:00

I am not shure if you know the WBCCI. The WBCCI is the Wally Byam Caravaning Club International. For further details on what the club does go to their Webpage where you can find links to the different Regions, Units and Intraclubs. Wally Byam was the founder of Airstream and the man behind great and long Caravans such as Cape Town to Cairo and others. Some People say that he was the inventor of Caravaning as we know it today. Now the WBCCI wants to change their name to become the AOAI (Airstream Owners Association Inc.) Which many people don´t want, as this new 'Club' will be more or less part of Thor Inc. the owner of Airstream Inc. The main reasons for that are now published on the Web at SaveWally.org. We are no members of the WBCCI yet. We would like to, but are waiting for the vote results and we won´t become members of the AOAI, as they give up the rich history that was made by Wally Byam...

Pink Flamingo on Aspen Highlands

2006-03-22T16:28:00.000+01:00

I took a look at the Lifecams of Aspen/Snowmass today and guess what I saw on the pics of Aspen Highlands... Yes, it was a pink flamingo!! NO, I didn´t take any drugs and no I am not drunk at all!!! To prove that I am honest I have posted the pic below...

Ok, it is not a live Pic, as the date says March the first, but is is from Aspen Highlands and it is a pink flamingo! The Flamingo must be freeeezzzzing...

New rear lights ready...

2006-03-21T22:13:00.000+01:00

I finished the new rear lights this weekend! They are now all LEDs and there are 3 lights in each housing! Dave came with 2 lights (breaks/turnlight and rearlight) and one reflector, but in Germany we need 4 different lights: backup light, foglight, brake/rearlight and turnlight. The fog- and the backuplight are needed only once per trailer...

Here is a pic of it.

Here is another link to share...

2006-02-27T21:39:00.000+01:00

Ok folks,

I found the ultimate link to the ultimate Diner... If you ever have to go thru Nebraska, do your self a favour and stop by at Ole´s in Paxton, Nebraska!! It´s the place to go for a really great Buffalo Burger.

I have been there 3 years ago on my way back from a skiing trip to Aspen. Julian from the Aspen Ski Co. told us to stop there and I still thank him everytime I remember this expirience.

So next time you are in Nebraska - stop by at Ole's Big Game Steakhouse and Lounge!!

Airstream 75th Video

2006-02-27T20:28:00.000+01:00

As nothing really has been done on our Trailer last weekend, I want to share another Video, which I have found on a fellow Airstreamers Homepage...

Dailymotion blogged video

Thanks to Frederic from France for sharing!!

8 min. Airstream Streaming Video

2006-02-19T22:01:00.000+01:00

Today I want to share a very nice small Movie about Airstreams and the History of Airstreams. It is called : An Architectural History of a Land Yacht.

Just click the link and a Videostream will open in your Media Player.

Enjoy!!

New floorplan for Dave

2006-02-17T13:51:00.000+01:00

So here is the new floorplan! Please excuse the missing colour, but our interior designer (Bjoerns Mom) didn´t finish the floorplan yet and we wanted to show it on the blog as soon as possible.

We wanted to have two dinettes, so that one can stay as a bed most of the time as long as we are without children... The front dinette will convert into another bed or a deep couch, so that we can have a "chilling position" with feet up on the couch. The plan is still missing the new toilet, but we are not shure what to install. One option is a cassette toilet for easier cleaning. The second one is a floormounted toilet that flushes directly into the blackwater tank, this one is easier to install and cheaper to buy, but most campgrounds in europe don´t have a on-site full huck-up.

Update to Airstream Inc. goes Europe

2006-02-01T22:35:00.000+01:00

I received two more pictures and some information of the new european Airstream model.
So here is the whole set once again:

Airstream plans to offer two models for the european market:

532 – Single axle, 5.3m internal length, 2 berth, full width rear bath, front convertible seating, side kitchen and storage centre.
684 – Twin axle, 6.8m internal length, 4 berth, 1.5m wide rear Island bed, mid bath with separate shower, side kitchen with separate freezer compartment to fridge, front L shaped sofas.

They shall be available as International CCD Versions and with the Safari Trim and will have a hitchweight of 80-110kg for the single axle and 110-140kg for the double axle.
Prices are estimated to be between 42.000,- and 65.000,- Euro.
To request more information go to the Airstream europe Homepage and send an email to Michael Hold who is responsible for the sales in europe.

Again: All pictures come and belong to Airstream Europe Ltd.

Airstream Inc. goes Europe

2006-01-31T16:02:00.000+01:00

After Airstream had announced to produce a modell for the euroepan market, they have now published a first picture of it and they wil introduce it on the British National Boat Caravan & Outdoor Show in Birmingham this February. The Show runs from February 17 to 26, 2006. More Infos on the Airstream Europe Website or on the National Caravan and Boat Website

Hopefully they will come to mainland europe as well!

Enjoy!!

BTW: Copyright of the Picture by Airstream Inc.

Winter update!

2006-01-31T15:13:00.000+01:00

Hello to all you out there!

If you think we quit restoring Dave - you are wrong!! Its more a short winter break due to the cold weather... Dave is in a Hangar on the Airfield of Stendal and the Hanger has no heating so the inside temperature is nearly the same like the outside temperature. We started to paint he frame with new anti-rust paint in silver and already have put in some new subfloor, but had to stop then and are now waiting for warmer weather. If you look at the pictures you can see that the floor is not fixed to the frame yet, we´ll probably do that this weekend.

Meanwhile we are still working on the new floorplan, which is the job of Bjoerns Mom, who is an interior designer and we hope that we can put it online next week.
It would be great to get some feedback on it then!
Another big project is the new wiring, which is a perfect job for the winter and what we do at moment too.

Maybe you like the new companion of Dave...

Its a 1942 Boeing Stearman which is in Winterstorage at the moment.

mmmhhh, it´s a Frappr! Map...

2005-11-29T15:06:00.000+01:00

Ok, I just added a Frappr! Map to the Page where you can enter your location. For doing that, you have to click on the Frappr! Button on the right side, right under the link section.

Come on and show us where you are from!!

Listen to the VAP!

2005-11-25T14:03:00.001+01:00

I just added a direct download link for the latest VAP Episode. VAP stand for Vintage Airstream Podcast and it is great fun to listen to Tim Shepard and his buddies Rob Baker and Colin Hyde.
When you click on the button on the right, a new window will open and you can choose one of the older Episodes or the newest Episode will play automatically.

Enjoy!!

5 days in Ireland - without dog and airstream

2005-11-10T17:02:00.000+01:00

My present for Steffis 35´s Birthday in the 29. of October was a 5 day roundtrip in Ireland... ehmmm, yes she was surprised... She thought we were going skiing in the alps! Damn, if I´ve only known before...

Ntl, we flew from Hamburg to Dublin on Sunday the 30th and got our rentalcar right at the Airport. It was a brand new Ford Fiesta with only 2100 km in the odo, but know what - they had put the stearing wheel on the wrong side, so I had to sit on the right, which lead me to driving on the left...
I am still not shure if this was right???

First days tour was from Dublin thru the Wicklow Mountains to good old Carlow, where I wanted to show Steffi were I lived and studied. Well, we reached Carlow in the late afternoon and stayed in the Hotel the rest of the day as it was the last day for the Hotel and its Crew and there was the best music playing in the hotels pub that I´ve ever heard in whole Ireland!!

Next day we drove from Carlow to Kilkenny and Rock of Cashel and ended up in Kinsale in a very very nice B&B (the Lighthouse). From where we went to Kenmare (hitting the roads of ring of Beara) and from there to Dingle (doing half the Ring of Kerry). The weather was quite good for November, only on the Dingle Penninsula we got into heavy rain and strong wind which resulted in wet trousers (from the rain!!) and quite impressive waves at Slea Head on the tip of the penninsula.

From Dingle we had to cross the whole country to get back to Dublin for our last night, which was a long long drive. It took about seven hours to complete the only 370 km that day, but these narrow roads can really drive you mad - and these roads were nearly the double width of what we had on ring of beara and Dingle!!

As our plane back to Hamburg was leaving on friday evening we had the whole day for dublin city, driving around town and enjoying the sun at howth harbour.

The whole trip was just fantastic and we enjoyed every second of it. Steffi fell in love with the country and now thinks of canceling our danmark holiday next year...

Oh, BTW the odo showed 3500 km after we returned the Car...

I know, I know...

2005-10-19T20:09:00.000+02:00

I know, I know... I promissed to post just a week later and not a month (or two). I am soooo sorry, but we were in Danmark for a two week holiday and I just forgot to post in the last weeks.
So here is what happend and what we got done:
We got some samples of rhoba polishes, thats the german producer and distributor for rolite polishes and we tried them out on the battery compartment door.

I would say it looks great, but not WOW or Yieppeeyeah like... So maybe we have to use an other paint stripper and polish it in more steps. We´ll try it out on the refrigarator door.
We started to take out the old and rotten floor, which is a quarter done, but we need to get this to an end on this weekend, as we have to paint the whole frame before we can install the new axles. We are running out of time for that paintjob, as the paint can only be painted at 15-25 Celsius and the winter is coming quick down here. Hopefully we get this done to the end of next week, as we are then heading to .........(sorry I can´t tell you now, as this is a birthday present for Steffi and she has no clue!!). I am going to pick up the new floor that I bought on ebay on saturday or sunday. Ebay is such a great source for buying parts. We bought the new fridge on ebay and saved about 490,- euro and it was really new and was just installed in a caravan before but was never used. The new floor is about 180,- euro cheaper than the floor we could buy in Stendal, and it is the same material...
We´ll work on the new floorplan over the weekend as well, as it get dark quite early now and we have no light in the hangar, at the moment we are thinking of adding a greywatertank right behind the axles and probably the new kitchen will be over the wheelwell. We´ll post a copy of the plan as soon as its done.

long time since the last update...

2005-08-24T23:46:00.000+02:00

Ok, Sorry folks, know it´s a long time since our last update...
After a 3 week pause we only took out the blackwater tank last weekend, but we will be working on the Trailer from tomorrow until sunday. New Pictures and the next update will come next week!

This week we ordered some parts from the USA:

First of all 2 Fantastic Vents Mod. 6000rbta from Adohen Surply.
Then 3 new locks for the compartment doors from Mr.Lock
and a new Fridge from Dometic which we found on ebay.

We´ll post a list of all items with prices and sources later next week and we´ll try to keep it updated, so that other may be guided to the cheap and good places for Airstreamers!!

More next week! Thanks for reading!!!!!!!!!!

Lots of work done on this last weekend...

2005-07-05T12:11:00.000+02:00

Whow, this was a hard weekend... I was in Stendal without Steffi and the dog, so I had much much time to work on Dave and that was what I did!! I arrived on friday and started gutting the rest like the kitchen and the old bedroomwalls out, after that I took the furnace to the dumbster and all the old plumbing...

So Dave is empty now and I could start tearing down the interior wallpanels, which was a real mess with all the old insulation stuff and the mouse nests...

This is a mouse nest...

...and this the mouse rest!

Well, not a comfortable place, but warm, very warm, too warm!!

Dear PO if you are still searching for your strawberry candy, I found tons of them in the mouse nest... Call me if you still want some!!!

So, after removing the wallpanels and letting all that old mice dirt rain down on me Dave look very empty and sort of naked.

Next weekend I will take the Challenge to remove the underbelly aluminium sheets, on which I already drilled out all the rivets and which fell down on the ground. Only problem now is, that I can´t pull it out as it is stuck at the axles, so I probably have to cut it into pieces. Another big challenge will be to remove and redo the old blackwatertank. It is rusted out of any holding as far as I have seen it. My only hope is that the frame is not too rusted in that area... More infos on that after the next weekend!!

2. Public day in Stendal 2005

2005-06-27T12:46:00.000+02:00

Hi Folks,

what happend the last three weeks?? Well, first of all the interior is gutted except of the kitchen and the credenza, but that will happen next weekend. The bathroom is completly gutted and the interior walls a loosend but still in place.

We couldn´t gut the complete trailer, as there was a public day on the Airfield in Stendal on the 19th of june. Steffi, my mom and several other Aeroclub members sold coffee, cake, pies and tartes in front of Dave and the used him for storing stuff and cooking coffee inside.

Dave was one of the top eyecatcher that day. Although he is not that shiny anymore (who is after 35 years??) people were really dazzeled by him sitting in the sun infront of the Tower.
The public day was not like the Stendal Airshow, which is held every two years, but some planes did come such as one of the Airforce Transalls, the Boeing Stearman Group, the Antonov An-2 and a JAG. Nearly 10.000 people were attrcted by the free-entrance and the sunny weather and the chance to do some passenger flights with the JAG, An-2, several Cessnas or with a ASK-13 glider. The Airshow will be next year again and we hope that we have Dave completed then,lets see...
The week before the Prachuters from Stendal hired one of famous Pinks, which came to Stendal for three days. The Pink can carry 25 Parachuters at a time and the guys had great fun going up and down.

What I just can´t understand is - why jump out of an airplane that is in perfect order??? Sick isn´t it... :-)

2005-06-06T14:21:00.000+02:00

Our new Tow Vehicle...

2005-06-06T14:18:00.000+02:00

Dave in the Hangar

2005-06-06T14:16:00.000+02:00

Dave on the flatbed

Time for an update...

2005-06-06T14:06:00.000+02:00

So Dave is here now since two weeks and we already started working on him.
He was delivered to the Stendal Airport on Monday the 23, of May at 10:30 pm, so unloading was the next morning. This was our morning view, right after opening the curtains...
What a view!!
We used a tractor for pulling him of the flatbed trailer, everything had to go quite quick as the truck was heading to the south of italy the same day.
With the help from the airport staff everything was done very quick and without any problems and they even towed him right into the big hangar II and now Dave sits side by side with the gliders of the Aeroclub Stendal.

2005-05-19T19:25:00.000+02:00

Close-up from Dave behind the fence...

2005-05-19T19:23:00.000+02:00

Dave at the port.

He is here!! Well, almost...

2005-05-19T19:17:00.000+02:00

We have been to the port of Bremerhaven today to take a first look on our new Family Member... Well, it was not a close look due to a big and high fence, but it was a look! And how he looks!! Woohoo, Dave we love you already yet.

Dave will be flatbedded to us in the next days and then the dream can begin again.

Dave goes to Europe...

2005-05-02T14:13:00.000+02:00

Today Dave will be boarding the Vessel Frisia in Charleston, South Carolina, which will leave the port later today... Hopefully he will arrive in Bremerhaven on Friday the 13th (!!) where he will be put on a flatbed truck, which will transport him to the airfield of Stendal.
We can´t wait to see him the first time, maybe we can go to Bremerhaven to see him when the vessel is unloaded...

We found Dave!

2005-04-19T03:11:00.000+02:00

We found Dave! He is a 1971 Airstream Ambassador and is sitting in Bat Cave, North Carolina. We paid the previous Owner last week and our bank charged us today, so now it is ours!!

It will take another 3 to 4 weeks before we have him here in Germany, but we waited so long for the right one, that we can stand this waiting time as well. We hope...

2005-04-18T18:43:00.000+02:00

This is Dave!