Many people, few planes at Fly-in

It was good meeting new and old friends (like André and the aspiring pilot Margrete) at the MAF Norway annual Fly-In this weekend.

Low stratus and rain showers kept all visitors but me on the ground as the Fly-In at Starmoen started Saturday. We spent four hours waiting at Kjeller for conditions to be better. As we left a restaurant in Lillestrøm after a late lunch, a bit of sun came through the low sky base. The AeroWeather app on my iPhone said VMC at ENGM, and we called our friends at Starmoen for an update to receive good news. At 3 p.m. LN-NAG was the 2nd plane of the day to leave the busiest GA airport in Norway, and we followed the Glomma river in 500 ft. AGL. A few showers en route made it good to have a FlightSim enthusiast as my manual autopilot, and a pastor in the back seat was also nice. 1:55 of airtime. Only 0:30 going back on a direct track transiting ENGM CTR the next day.

A great weekend with good people doing very important work, 3:40 flying time, and a new airport in my logbook: ENAE at the national parachuting centre became my #93.

Flying priest in crosswind

Thomas the Flying Priest at Starmoen MAF Fly-in, the summer version of Vermundsjøen. A great weekend for fellowship and flying. Landings in 15 kts crosswind and flying Aerostar from the right seat were some of my highlights.

Welcome to MAF Summer Fly-In

Join us for a Sunday at ENHN or a full week-end with MAF friends.

Waiting for the weather

Torgeir is washing DAH while we waited for the weather to improve. We had to fly under the tail of one system to Starmoen in order to return before meeting the next. Flying NAG back to Kjeller was the mission of today, and we decided on 1500 feet as minima before start, a promise we did not have to compromise.

NAG live at Starmoen

This is a live web camera image of (*) LN-NAG at Starmoen (click to see a larger image). I hope to be able to get back and ferry our Piper to Kjeller early this week. In the mean time, please help me watch out for suspicious activities. Save and post the image if you observe something.

*= LN-NAG was flown home Tuesday 2nd Sept.

Great weekend, bad weather

The annal MAF Fly-in a Starmoen was the best visited ever, with 50 people gathered for the sermon Sunday. Unfortunately a tradition of bad Sunday weather is evolving on this event. Last year I left the night before to avoid snow, the year before I had to follow the river, and today I left LN-NAG behind and got a lift by car back to Oslo. METAR SCT007 BKN009/TAF SCT009 BKN015 TEMPO BKN009 is below my limits.

I love the smell of avgas in the morning

Flying is always great, but there is something special about taking a short flight before breakfast. Margrete and her dad Gunnar joined me for a tour of the traffic circuit Sunday morning at Starmoen, and as you can see - it did something to them as well.

 

The aspiring pilot Margrete also joined me yesterday on a mission to a local Fly-in at Trysil, promoting the Sunday MAF Fly-in sermon at Starmoen. We met a lot of friendly people, and I hope to see some of them later today.

Flight surprise

Kristoffer (15) was in for a surprise when uncle Jørn invited to MAF Fly-in at Starmoen. They started the 134 km drive from Nittedal, but stopped already at Kjeller, where I was waiting with LN-NAG. 

Jørn is a flight sim enthusiast, and had made sure that Kristoffer was well prepared for flying the aircraft. A nice confirmation gift from his uncle, and a relevant introduction to aviation ministry the day before his church ceremony.

See slideshow!

Windy day at Trysil

ENTS is only a short flight from the annual MAF Norway Fly-In at Starmoen (ENHN). Four aircrafts (P28A, C172, C182, and C310) transported the group to and from in a bit of wind and gust. Take a look at the windsock...

Me and LN-ULF left the Fly-In Saturday night on a beautiful night flight to ENGM in CAVOK. The next morning VFR was not an option: TAF (FC) 161100Z 161221 VRB05KT 6000 RA SCT004 BKN012 TEMPO 1221 1500 -RADZ BR FEW002 BKN004.

MAF Fly-in at Starmoen

BKN in 1900 made it a challenge to fly NAG from Kjeller to Starmoen. I had to follow the river due to high terrain.

It is always very inspiring to see how Mission Aviation Fellowship organize their great work of bringing help and hope to the most needy people. New airplanes are needed. See how you can contribute at maf.no

Mind the GAP

(ELVERUM, Norway) Last week-end I visited the GAP Starmoen fly-in. This used to be Norway's largest gathering of active private pilots, but the attendance and level of activities offered was not at the level of the golden years of this flight safety project. I left for Gardermoen in LN-AGM before sunset without any time in conventional gear, the object of my visit.