Valle is definitely one of my favorites!

Einar and my self logged 5:15 on a Saturday evening flying to Kjevik (ENCN), Lista (ENLI) and Valle (ENVE). With an endurance of five hours, we needed fuel en-route to complete the planned flight. At Kjevik the Shell self service technology did not accept neither LN-NAG's Statoil Card nor my Visa Card, and the fuel man had to come back to work for manual service. At Lista we did seven landings before heading up in the mountains.

And what a contrast. While the 2990 m Lista is located on a wide open field by the ocean (upper left picutre), the 800 m Valle is in the middle of a narrow Z-formed valley (upper right). Crosswind is at 4000 feet, and then I joined right base 01 (lower left) without any view of the field, starting my descend to 770 feet. Shortly after take-off, Einar had to make a 90 degree left turn climbing out of the valley. Flying in and out of this field close to high terrain feels quite dramatic, and should preferably be done in calm wind conditions. But I just love this field. Of the 92 airports I have visited as a pilot, Valle is fefinitely one of my favorites!

Taking off from Kjeller at 4 pm we had to fly slalom between CBs. Returning from Valle we met only one local rain system on our route (lower right). We arrived home at 9:55 pm - five minutes before closing - after logging 5:15 in six hours.

Blindleia on Floats

LN-AEG's summer base at Tregde, a small village near Mandal, is only a three quarters drive from our first vacation stop in Kristiansand. Beautiful Blindleia is famous at sea, and in my mind even better by air. Combining the experiences in a float plane is plain pleasure!

Blindleia is an inland waterway that starts in Gamle Hellesund in Høvåg (VFR reporting point to ENCN), and continues past Lillesand. It is a salt water fjord formed passage protected from the open sea by an elongated archipelago of skerries. There are several narrow gaps as part of the waterway, some of them only 10 metres wide. There are no tides, and very little current.

Our great hosts, the Ødegaard family, got a taste of it too. From Tregde we flew to Kjevik (ENCN) for change of crew and fuelling, continued Blindleia to Lillesand, and then Grimstad. Return to base in 500 feet over the beautiful coast line of Southern Norway.

Flying fun and fighting forest fire

A perfect day for touring southern Norway in a C182. Morning fog at the west coast made us reverse the original route and start with lunch in Kristiansand. Before continuing to Lista we helped the fire department observe a large forest fire, and we had to leave ENLI after 15 minutes due to airfield opening hours. Dinner in Bergen and return to Jessheim before dark.

A complete day of flying experiences from beatuiful coast landscapes to raging fires and high mountains. [More photos]

LN-ULF, C182 P
ENGM-ENCN, 1:35, 1500 ft.
ENCN-forest fire-ENLI, 0:55, 1000-3000 ft
ENLI-ENBR, 1:30, 4500 ft.
ENBR-ENGM, 2:05, FL90
Total flying time: 6:05

Revisiting my solo NAV

(KRISTIANSAND, Norway) LN-DAH at Kjevik. Yesterday I revisited the solo nav route I did as a student pilot in a Tomahawk seven years ago. ENKJ-ENCN is a scenic route and a no brainer to navigate along the coast. Continuing to ENNO is more of a challenge, in a mountain landscape with few landmarks. This time I had a handheld GPS, but still had some trouble knowing my whereabouts. Nototdden is as close as you get to the western Norwegian fjords in the eastern part of the country. Elevation of 63 feet, surrounded by high mountains. But leveling out at 3500, you have free sight to Oslo on a nice day.