Nine landings and ready to go

Today I did the combined type check of C172 on floats and season check at Kilen Seaplane Club. First Arne the LN-AEG owner gave me an introduction. 55 minutes and nine landings later Kjell gave me the formal signatures.

Potluck Fly-in

Rolf and his tax free goods from Jönköping International Airport (ESGJ). He used to be my professor at BI Centre for Media Economics, now he is affiliated with the Media Management and Transformation Centre at Jönköping International Business School. I was MMTC Visiting Scholar earlier this spring, and yesterday we flew in for the MMTC Potluck. Route information and more images at Flickr.

Promoting MAF at Kjeller Air Show

15,000 people attended the annual Kjeller Air Show on a beautiful Sunday. Dag Kjetil and I represented MAF. More pictures at RB.no.

New times at Näsinge

My last logbook entry from Näsinge (ESGS) is a few years back. Today we drove by - by car, and learned that tings have changed. The sailplanes are not longer welcome. Most have moved to Notodden or Starmoen in Norway. And grand plans of transforming the grass field to a hard surface airport are developed by local businesses and the municipality. Grants from the European Union are also expected. In the mean time life is slow at Näsinge, and the local grocery store closed a couple of years ago. No ice cream outlet was the most dramatic change for Jostein (in the picture).

Ready for the sea season

Today I got confirmation of being one of five pilots flying LN-AEG (C172) this season. 20 hours are reserved. Now, let's hope the summer arrives soon...

Swedish Tour Restricted by Heavy Rain

Last week the runway at ESSI cracked due to drought. Yesterday 49 millimeters of rain fell, and today only one of the grass runways was usable. All other grass strips in the area was not operative, and a low cloud base to the east restricted our original plan to visit most local fields surrounding the two major Swedish lakes Vänern and Vättern.

Visingsö and its beautiful airfield dating back to the 30's definitely live up to its slogan as Vätterns Pearl, and will be visited again.

Route: Kjeller (ENKJ)- Arvika (ESKV) - Skövde (ESGR) - Falköping (ESGK) - Visingsö (ESSI) - Trollhättan (ESGT) - Baldersnäs - Arvika (ESKV) - Kjeller (ENKJ)
Aircrafts: LN-NAG and SE-GAN

Mountain Flying

Route: ENKJ-ENFG-ENSG-Voss-Eidfjord-ENDI-ENKJ

Aircraft: LN-NEW (P28A)

Flying time: KJ-FG-SG 1:45 // SG-DI 1:05 // DI-KJ 1:00

See slide show!

My slowest Q1 ever

First quarter of 2008 I accumulated only 4.8 hours of flying time, my slowest ever since I got my PPL in 1999.

Sun'n'fun

A day too beautiful to stay grounded. I met a friendly fellow at ENKJ as he was making plans to fly small planes again after years flying big birds abroad. Like my Facebook friend and sky sister Simone, he had experience from Kabul and other exotic places. Today a lunch flight over Oslo and Øyern in LN-NAG was all it took to make the day for both of us.

Easter on left base 07

I did the tour of the Gran Canary Island three years ago from El Berriel, with a safety pilot from the Real Aero Club de Gran Canaria.

This Easter we relaxed on the Monte Feliz poolside on left base 07, letting the sounds of departing aircrafts bring back good memories. I did visit the club hangar and a brought my family for dinner at the great Real Aero Club Restaurant, but managed to stay on the ground this time. :-)

Fly-in Sunday Dinner at Notodden

Lars and LN-NAG at ENNO after Sunday dinner at Oasen, Notodden. We went coast wise from Oslo to Holmestrand, and Larvik to Langesund, then Skien and Nautesund Bridge inbound Notodden (1:20). Return direct Kjeller (0:40).

No tunnel celebration by air

The deepest undersea tunnel in the world opened today, and 40,000 people in the Sunnmøre region got connected. The Eiksund Tunnel is 7,765 m (25,476 ft) long and 287 m (942 ft) deep. I planned to see the ceremony from the air, but LN-ASH at the VØF hangar on ENOV was grounded. Even the sun came out for a few moments celebrating the event. I'll test the tunnel by car tomorrow...

Aviation nostalgia

The fine old fuel pump at Arvika (ESKV) does still have avgas at old fashion rates (SEK 9.50 / NOK 8.07 / €1). Ingvar gave me the Arvika Flygklubb check ride today, enabling me to rent great planes at affordable prices.

After take-off 01 at Arvika I turned left and joined extended long final 30 at Kjeller. The cross border ferry of 30 minutes from high cost ENKJ to affordable and friendly ESKV is recommended.

Flying Warrior in a VFR window

Mats and I both had cancelled flights, but a VFR window opened up for a few hours, and we joined forces in Piper Warrior LN-NAG, flew low over Nordmarka and viewed one of my favourite seaplane destinations: Villa Fridheim by Krøderen. Something nice to remember as we seek shelter for the next wave of winter weather:

301818 [...] 0009 0500 FZFG VV001 BECMG 0912 4000 -SN BKN014 TEMPO 1218 17020G30KT 2000 SNRA BKN006

4th failed attempt for Arvika

Flying to Arvika (ESKV) for a club check is not plain sailing at this time of year. Neither low sky base and strong winds aloft nor snow and fog makes VFR conditions. Today I was stoped by the latter.

Payable before First Flight

The benefit of being a member of a handful of flying clubs gives great access to aircrafts. But the trend of increasing annual fees for pilots is resulting in an extremely high cost of the season’s first flight.

I am member of two clubs at ENKJ (Oslo's GA airport), and the clubs at ENGM (Oslo's main airport, open 24h), ENTO (summer hang-out), ENOV (my home town), and Kilen (Oslo's Seaplane Base). I do fly 50-70 hours every year, but the increasing fee payable before first flight in most clubs makes me think twice about the season’s first take-off.

The result will probably be fewer memberships for me, fewer hours sold and less revenue for the clubs, and more week-ends on the ground for family and friends (did I state the same last year?).

My friend Tore has left for Sweden, and I just joined him as a member of Arvika Flygklubb. Another membersip to pay, but my total cost before first flight in Sweeden was only € 127.

Last flight of 2007

Wenche and Helle joined me for a tour of Østfold in LN-NAG on the 2nd last day of 2007. We departed Kjeller (ENKJ) and did a touch-and-go at the new Moss Airport (ENRY), before looking up Wenche's summer place in Hvaler and landing at Rakkestad (ENRK), switching co-pilot. After weeks of bad weather, the air traffic at Kjeller was considerable this Sunday afternoon.

My total flying time this year is 69:25. An all time high. Happy landings in 2008!

(Picture © 2007 Johnny Beach All Rigths Reserved. WildEarthPhoto.com)

Investigating a Canadian Mystery

In his new book, my second cousin Mark Fremmerlid tells the story of Albert Johnson aka "The Mad Trapper Of Rat River", a man who went to extraordinary lengths to avoid the RCMP. The question of who he was has plagued authors, police and reporters alike. Now, a new theory emerges that explains why he shot a police officer during a routine RCMP visit, why he was so well prepared for the following seven week chase and why he chose to be "Albert Johnson".

An airplane, manned by Wop May, was also used to tracker this fugitive.

Finally, after 75 years, this true story is revealed. A fiction writer couldn't dream this one up. Mark researched this book for 25 years. It is loaded with never before published, well documented information, about our grand uncle Sigvald and The Mad Trapper Albert Johnson. In today’s edition of Møre, the local newspaper in Sigvald's Norwegian home town Volda, I wrote a piece about the story.

Mark Fremmerlid is a pilot with nearly 25,000 hours, most of this as a bush pilot in Wabasca, AB. He currently works as a medivac co-pilot for Can-West Corporate Air Charters.

Flying for Life!

Margaret and Jan Tore shared their experiences and insight from flying for MAF in Congo and Mongolia at Kjeller last night. 60 pilots attended the event. Read more (in Norwegian).

Sunday fun at Kjeller

The 1c class mascot Mr. Nilsson (right) and the Eiksund/Sæthre family (over) joined us for an afternoon of hotdog pick-nick at Kjeller and flights in LN-DAX (observing the new permanent restriction area over Oslo).

Mr. Nilsson stays at one of the pupil's houses every week-end, and this time it was Jostein's responsibility to be the host. What better way to entertain than go flying ;-)