10 airports after work

We had to cancel our planned Baltic Tour to Tallinn and Riga due to weather, and improvised an evening trip to small airports in Norway and Sweden. No time for meals en route as we had to get back to ENKJ before closing at 10 pm. [see pictures!]

Route: ENKJ - Bøverbru (Vestre Toten)- ENHA (Stafsberg, Hamar) - ENRI (Frya, Ringebu) - ENGN (Grimsmoen, Folldal) - Tynset - Sølenstua - ESUE (Idre) - ESVM (Malung) - ESST (Torsby) - ENKJ.

Ready for Plan B

I planned to take my dad for lunch at Airparc Fyresdal by seaplane, but it was not my lucky day. The weather was deteriorating, the plane had engine problems, and Airparc did not serve lunch today. We left Kilen for Kjeller and Plan B; some sight seeing over Oslo with LN-NAG.

Evening on floats

Irene joined my Linked-in network a few days ago and reminded me of my promise on Pål's 40th birthday party to take her flying. And since we are both linked to Teleplan, close to Kilen sea plane base, the natural choice was floats. At the picture she is in control of the LN-UXC Piper Super Cub.

Later Lars was my co-pilot on a low level coast wise slow flight around the fjords of Oslo, Drammen and Hol.

New layer of asfalt on Fyresdal

I arrived at Airparc Fyresdal by seaplane LN-UXC today and did not get the opportunity to test the new runway layer. I did also arrive on the wrong day for other services normally offered to the European GA community. The hotel had a day off after a very busy start of the season, and the café nearby prepared for season opening tomorrow. Lesson learned: Call Airparc when planning.

Great nature and friendly people mad the trip a nice experience anyway. I got some ice-cream at the café and was offered coffee at Ariparc.

Visiting Oslo from Beijing

Dr. Wang Yu is visiting scholar at OUC, and I recently met her and her husband Li Xiaoxiao in Beijing. Now they are both visiting Oslo, and last night we went sightseeing in LN-NAG. Great conditions aloft, and a bit more challenging at the ENKJ runway; crosswind 30 and headwind 12. We departed 30 on a slightly bumpy ride straight in to the low sun. Landing the opposite direction an hour later was very pleasant.

Starting the seaplane season

After a 0:45 check flight with Bjørn in LN-UXC, I was ready for the 2007 seaplane season. I continued solo 1:15 in the PA18-150 Super Cub, but had to return to base at Kilen after engine problems, probably due to water in the tanks after a few days of heavy rain. Next time I'll definitely drain properly!

First day of summer

Vice President of MAF International, Arne Nordahl, was my co-pilot on a promotional flight, with passengers Målfrid and John Ole. On the first day of wonderful summer weather, we left Gardermoen (ENGM) in LN-AGM for sight seeing over Oslo and Bærum, and made at stop at Kjeller (ENKJ) for ice cream on our way back.

Flying C206 with G1000

Cessna fly-in at Notodden (ENNO) offered Garmin 1000 course with Cessna's single engine chief pilot Kirby Ortega and demonstration flights in Skyhawk (C172) and Turbo Stationair (C206).

I got the left seat for 15 minutes and flew my first time in C206 from take off to the base leg. The G1000 displayed all flight critical data, and was very intuitive. Lot's of fun!

On a mission at ENZV

Dag Kjetil, Margaret and Fred at ENZV after a visit to Sola Flyklubb, informing about the work of Mission Aviation Fellowship. We had a beautiful trip back to ENTO in LN-MAJ, a C310. [More photos]

Flying fun and fighting forest fire

A perfect day for touring southern Norway in a C182. Morning fog at the west coast made us reverse the original route and start with lunch in Kristiansand. Before continuing to Lista we helped the fire department observe a large forest fire, and we had to leave ENLI after 15 minutes due to airfield opening hours. Dinner in Bergen and return to Jessheim before dark.

A complete day of flying experiences from beatuiful coast landscapes to raging fires and high mountains. [More photos]

LN-ULF, C182 P
ENGM-ENCN, 1:35, 1500 ft.
ENCN-forest fire-ENLI, 0:55, 1000-3000 ft
ENLI-ENBR, 1:30, 4500 ft.
ENBR-ENGM, 2:05, FL90
Total flying time: 6:05

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.