Flight on first day of frost

After driving my motorcycle to winter storage on this first day of frost in Oslo this fall, I still got a taste of summer, flying to Langesund for lunch.

Nowhere to dock and a power issue with the plane led to a short five minutes taxing visit on the water before returning to Kilen and Seaplane Burger at Sjøflyhavna Kro.

Flying high and low

My students at the University of Southern Denmark god a short lunch break, for me to leave a few minutes early in order to reach Oslo/Kjeller (ENKJ) before dark.

While flying to Odense (EKOD) on FL75, the return started in 2500 ft. due to a low sky base. For 20 of the 35 minutes of ocean crossing from Denmark (NOA) to Sweden (RANAV) I had to fly on instruments, as the light drizzle took away most visual references. North of Gothenburg (NOL) the sky base came down to 1000 ft., and I revisited Lysekil for a hole in the sky to climb on top.

Then it was smooth sailing back to CAVOK in Oslo.

Route: EKOD-ODN-TNO-NOA-MOLUD-RANAV-NOL-SABAK-REGMA-ENKJ.

Time: 3:15.

Reaching Odense before dark in 30 kts crosswind

I left the Norwegian Radio Days at Oslo Plaza hotel at 2:45 p.m., and planned landing at Odense (EKOD) before dark (7:45 pm). Driving to Kjeller (ENKJ) outside Oslo during rush hours were our first obstacle. Then 30 kts. crosswind during cruise at the Swedish coastline and even a stronger wind component as we crossed over to Denmark became our second worry. Flying on top over the ocean we had to spiral through a hole as we reached the Aalborg area. Then the sun went down as we passed Aarhus, and it was pretty close to dark as my friend Einar landed at Odense 20 minutes later than planned.

A few extra challenges, but a smooth flight without any of the announced turbulence.

Route: ENKJ-REGMA-SABAK-NOL-EKLS-ML-BOGENSE-EKOD.

Time: 3:20.

News on floats in Lysekil

Taxiing to the dock after landing at the picturesque coastal town of Lysekil, Sweden, we were met by quite a few locals wanting to take a closer look at the C172 on floats.

The town is a major tourist destination during summer, but yesterday Tore and I was the news of the day. Even the local paper sent a reporter taking our picture.

The seaplane dinner destination Baldersnas was closed, hence we had pizza at Charlies, Arvika, and arrived Kilen a few minutes before dark.

Too little fuel, too little time

Tore and I had a great plan for touring South-Western Sweden yesterday, but the Kilen Seaplane Base was out of fuel. I have a dozen hours left on my seaplane lease for this season, and only a month left to fly this far north. After upcoming business trips to Cardiff, Odense, and San Francisco I just have to give fun on floats full priority...

Yesterday we had just enough fuel to fly 20 minutes to the Holmsbu Spa Resort for lunch, and return safe to Kilen.

Virtual plane spotting live

This service shows air traffic over Scandinavia in real time. You can also get information on aircraft, airlines and routes. The map receives current positions of aircrafts that are equipped with a Mode-S/ADS-B-transponder. This information is presented on a Google-map without delay. When you click on a plane, the path that this particular plane has taken is printed on the map.

Flygradar.nu is great fun for flying geeks on a rainy day.