Joining the board of MAF Norway

I am proud to be elected as member of the board of Mission Aviation Fellowship Norway. The picture was taken at the annual meeting Saturday. From left: Fred Karlsen (CEO), Jan-Ivar Andresen (chairman), Thomas Midtsund, Sissel B. Eggen, myself, Dag Kjetil Øyna (vice chairman) and Sam Norman. Lars Christian Svanholm was not present.

Tailwind Tale

Terje in NAG ready for return to Kjeller. With a nice tailwind we used 30 minutes less than our flight to Roskilde two days ago.

EKRK-Valby-NOA-Kulud-BAK-NOL-Regma-ENKJ 2:25
FL85

Flying over Copenhagen

Lisbeth and Terje joined me for sightseeing from Roskilde via Ishøj to downtown Copenhagen. Kastrup Tower gave us clearance for coastwise transit 1500 feet or below from Vallensbæk to Tuborg. Great service from friendly controllers. And a nice city too! [more images]

Roskilde Sunset

LN-NAG in the sunset at EKRK. Terje and I used 2:55 from ENKJ, following the Swedish coastline to the Copenhagen area. A smooth flight in FL70 and CAVOK.

Roskilde is home to more than half of the Danish fleet of GA-aircraft.

Taxi to Torp

Ingebjørg, Andrea, Jostein and LN-NAG at Kjeller before flying Ingebjørg to Torp. It is 13 years since her first GA flight with Alexander. Turid and I occupied the back seat, and I got my licence five years later.

Since then Ingebjørg has been one of my regular co-pilots.

For Andrea, this was the first flight. She co-piloted us safe back to Kjeller. At 17 she can operate an aircraft but not drive a car in Norway.

Fly-in on ice

The 9th annual fly-in at the Vermundsjøen lake by the Swedish border (604150N 1223E) and church service at Finnskog church was blessed with good flying weather after weeks of snow and fog, but the landing conditions were more challenging. Mild weather in the big forest led to blank ice with water on top - and bad braking action. I needed the total length of the 1300 meter runway on ice. MAF sponsored the event.

Saturday Sight Seeing

I woke up early to CAVOK, but the weather started to deteriorate rapidly. I had met Martha for the first time in about seven-eight years at the WAN/Telenor Digital Winners seminar Thursday, and we decided to go flying over Oslo Saturday afternoon. With the weather prognosis not looking too good, I gave her a wake up call, and at 09:35 we departed ENKJ for a local flight. A bit bumpy on the climb and strong winds aloft, by overall a nice Saturday morning sight seeing.

Fog and fun

Last time I flew with my dad (see picture) it was bright summer and we were heading for Gothenburg. Yesterday started with TAF's looking not very promising. Normally the ENKJ is the foggiest in the area, but this time the ceiling over ENGM and ENKJ opened up for a few hours. But the fog was all around, and all we got was 20 minutes in the air for a quick sight seeing over Oslo.

Staying current

Finally perfect VFR-conditions after weeks of snow. My co-worker Hilde and I took the morning off and flew LN-ULF from ENGM to ENTO for touch-and-go’s, and some sight seeing over Hildes home town before returning to Oslo and work at Oslo University College.

For me the flight was crucial to stay current. I needed three landings to continually fly legal with passengers, and one landing at ENGM to continue rental at Gardermoen Flyklubb.

Greetings from Atlanta

A new presentation of the Georgia Tech Yellow Jacket Flying Club. I joined the club in the fall of 2005 when I was a visiting scholar at Tech. Fun to see plains, people and the Georgia skies again! My favourite sightseeing route was Stone Mountain and downtown ATL.

Cool flying in Korea

I am going to Seoul as Head of Delegation for the New Media Network study tour in April, and started to do some research on the possibility of flying during my visit. Most information from the clubs and schools are not easily understood by a westerner, but the home page presentations are awesome. Turn on your speakers and visit Korea Flying Education Center or Aim High Aero Club. More addresses to sky sports in Korea at this site.

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 50-60 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 is probably fewer memberships for me, fewer hours sold and less revenue for the clubs, and more week-ends on the ground for family and friends.

Flying over Tenerife

Spending two weeks in Tenerife to shorten the cold reality of Oslo in January, I planned to do a sightseeing flight around the island, like Thor Gjermund and I did in Gran Canaria two years ago.

My first attempt to drop by Real Aeroclub de Tenerife was not very successful. The new European security regulations had closed the airport completely. From the outside of the fence I could see the entrance, but there was nowhere to park legally, and the security guard would not let med thru without appointment with an instructor. She gave me the phone number to the club secretary, and I had to leave with no business.

Contact by phone was no problem, and the instructors were more than willing to take me for a flight under instruction. However I discovered an alternative a lot closer to by base at Las Americas on the southern coast.

At Aeropurto Reina Sofia (GCTS), Trabajos Aéreros Insulares offered a flight under instruction for €200/hr. A bit more expensive than the Aeroclub at Los Rodeos/the North Airport (GCXO), but it would save me two hours of driving.

I was about to fly the day before heading home, but a typical tourist illness made the whole project go down the drain. May be next time...

Hangar flying at Kjeller

Jostein (5) and cousin Kristian (3) in action hangar flying LN-NAG while I was doing DI before a local flight from ENKJ, coastwise to Fredrikstad and up the river Glomma, back to the Øyern lake and Kjeller. Nice winter conditions and Kristians first time in a small plane.

Extreme slippery

The iced tarmac at Kjeller (ENKJ) today made moving a Piper Warrior by hand impossible. I had to start the engine of LN-NAG in order to move three meters up to the fuel pump. And after landing, turning for taxi back to parking was quite a challenge. I made it, but the next guy had to jump out to move the plane back on the runway.

This video I found on YouTube is obviously not quite as great as Simone Aaberg Kærn's "Smiling in a War Zone - and the Art of Flying to Kabul" (2005), aired on SvT this week. A must see! Until you get hold of it, a small teaser of the landscape...

1kW at ENTO

Jostein (5) in LN-NAG on our way to ENTO and a NOK1000 waffle (1kW) at the flying club.

And the winner is OCAS!

The life saving innovation by OCAS is the winner of "Årets ingeniørbragd 2006", Teknisk Ukeblad announced today.

Vote for OCAS today!

Obstacle Collision Avoidance System (OCAS) scans the area surrounding an obstacle. If a target is detected, the system immediately tracks the aircraft, calculates its speed, heading and altitude. If a collision hazard exists, the pilot is warned by either flashing lights and/or aural warning transmitted over the VHF band.

This innovation by a Norwegian company is nominated for "Årets ingeniørbragd 2006". Cast your vote before December 1st!

Removing Ice Before Take-Off

My students in Multi Media Production at the Oslo University College had to work for their flights as the aircraft accumulated ice after only a few hours outside. High humidity and temperature close to dew point did also result in rapid changes of fog formations over Oslo. We stayed close to the field...