Destination Oslo

Monica flying over Oslo on my 2nd tour of the day, giving our holiday guests the Oslo-in-a-nutshell experience;  a 20 minutes tour of the capitol city, included the Holmenkollen Skijump, Bygdøy (the Kon-Tiki Museum, the Viking Ship Museum, and the royal estate), the Oslo Fjord, Ekebergsletta (Home of the Norway Cup), before returning to Kjeller Airport. 

See the slideshow!

Summer night flight

Anne, Simen and Martin joined me for a late night flight over Summer Oslo. Not too much traffic, a few seaplanes arriving at Kilen and the police chopper operating low level in Maridalen with a rescue chopper standing by at Holmenkollen, otherwise we had the airspace to ourselves, flying over the city, southbound following the fjord to Oscarsborg, and back via Tusenfryd. Simen (11) had his debut as co-pilot.

Summer morning on floats

Kristian and LN-AEG at Kilen after a morning tour of Holsfjorden, Husodden, Krøderen, Åros, and Hallangen. Perfect start on a beautiful summer day.

GC safety pilot

CFI Catharina at the Real Aero Club de Gran Canaria was ready to go, but I had left my license at home to be sure that this visit would be work only (writing my PhD thesis in Mogán), and no play :-(

Flying around the island takes about an hour, and the price tag, including safety pilot, is €174. A fun and easy way to fly in a Spanish language environment for people not speaking the language. I did the tour a few years ago, and it was a great way to see the island. Next time I might double the flying time and cross a small bit of the Atlantic to visit one of the airports at Tenerife. 

After hangar flying, I had dinner at the Aero Club Restaurant. As always - great food, friendly service and affordable prices.

Thea's first flight

Einar and Thea (15) at Hamar on our evening trip ENKJ-ENHA-Husodden-ENEG-ENSN-ENTO-ENKJ. Thea unveiled her talent as she co-piloted her first flight with me from Skien to Torp.

A bit bumby

Bård is departing Kjeller (ENKJ) in LN-NAG with a big Swede on his tail, short time after I returned from Torp (ENTO). The flying conditions today were a bit bumpy, but I was not hit as hard as the pilot pressed down in the treetops right after take-off at Gotterud, Vestre Toten.

GA News in Norwegian

I am assisting AOPA Norway in revitalizing their web site, and one of the new features is a news agent for coverage of General Aviation. Check it out and tell me what you think!

Winner Flight over Oslo

Jørn won a flight with MAF at the Kjeller Air Show, and I took him for some evening sight seeing over family in Nittedal and his home in Oslo. A nice and smooth evening flight in LN-NRF. Read more at MAF.no.

The sun always shines on TV

Tore is refueling at Skånevik before our return to Oslo in seaplane LN-AEG. We flew over sunny Southern Norway for my attendance in Torgrim's new show on TV Haugaland, and returned via the spectacular Hardangerfjord. I am home safe and sunburned.

Route: Kilen - DRA - Tuddal - SOROX - Skånevik - Ulvik - Dagali - TRF - Kilen.

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).