Back from Sunny California to the Winter Wonderland, I decided to fly-in for a lunch at Oset Hotel in the mountains of Southern Norway. This turned out not to be a totally safe venture. The hotel's runway manager reported on good conditions in the morning, and a departing aircraft did not warn us about the runway conditions as we arrived. We learned later that this aircraft had skis, while we had wheels. As I applied brakes on the P28A after landing, the main wheels broke through the ice surface. The same happened while turning and taxing several times. We spoke briefly with the airfield manager, without turning off the engine, and took off as soon as possible, using soft field technique. I was happy to be able to return the plane without hanging under a helicopter.
The NRK television news tonight reported on a three-day-old warning from the Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate, stating unsafe ice on regulated waters.
Never trust a runway manager selling fancy lunches...
The Tisleia Lake on 2750 ft. has a 1000 meters runway on ice during the winter season (15 km on water during summer). The winter runway was closed by the hotel this afternoon.
Tore and I had lunch at Notodden before returning to Kjeller.
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