Recently I was invited to observe airliner pilot training, and it was great to see how the professionals handled engine fires, bad weather, and other unforeseen events. Flying the big bird myself was tons of fun.
One week ago I had dinner at Real Aeroclub de Grand Canaria Restaurante, and the temperature was +23C. Today I had lunch at Røros in -27C. I was afraid of freezing my nose off, but the aircraft engine stayed warm, with a blanket on top and the heater plugged in. The GPS, however, needed a few moments of body contact to get back to life after take-off for Kjeller.
Flying 350 NM over Southern Norway in CAVOK is a remarkable experience. It was chilly at Kjeller as Tore removed the ice accumulated in the hangar, and it got colder by the minute as we headed north.
At Vermundsjøen an ultralight trike had landed for the fly-in season opening of the local Diner, but we had not received confirmation of the ice condition on the lake, and kept on flying. Røros was cold but dry. Back at Kjeller the wings immediately froze as we pushed the plane back in the hangar. Tomorrow it is supposed to be snowing again. However grounded, I will still be elevated by today's experience.
Ok, I do have a love affair with the iPhone. And this great little gadget are now giving me current and precise weather conditions (METAR) as well as weather forecasts (TAF) from worldwide airport weather stations. Planning my own trips or just dreaming about future expeditions to distant fields, I can read the data in its original format or fully decoded into easy understandable texts. AeroWeather is a great widget for iPhone/iPod touch.
Ellen and Keith just moved to Bærum from Cairns, and he is looking forward to converting his Australian pilot license to European. I gave them a tour of the facilities of the flying clubs at ENKJ, and we took a look at the Oslo area in LN-NAG, on a nice Sunday morning with very smooth flying conditions.
Jostein (7) at Kjeller after his debut as co-pilot, flying LN-NAG over Oslo. He has been flying with me since he turned four, but never in the front seat before. Sitting on a car seat cushion he could not reach the pedals nor get a good view over the instrument panel, but he did a good job handling the stick while looking out the side window of the Warrior. 
Unn joined me for the last seaplane flight of the 2008 season on a beautiful Tuesday afternoon. We met at the University of Oslo campus and drove to Kilen on my HD, flew LN-AEG low level past Oscarsborg, Villa Malla, and Holmsbu, before returning to Kilen via Drammen. 
Fire fighters and other good helpers saving LN-HOE at the dock in Sandefjord after the first storm of the fall season. 50 trees and one seaplane was hit hard in Vestfold. More images taken by Jim Vold at Flightsim.no. 
Torgeir at Quality Spa & Resort Holmsbu. Cruising coastwise at 500 ft, we spotted a nice guest dock by the resort, and made a stop for tea before continuing for Holsfjorden, Husodden, and low level return to Kilen via Nordmarka.
Einar at idyllic Rica Havna Hotel, Tjøme. We flew 40 minutes in LN-AEG from Kilen to dine in the summer paradise at the end of the Oslofjord, as the season is fading out. The lobster soup starter and codfish main course was great, and the restaurant built into the rock has a wonderful view of the Røssesund. There are approximately 4,600 permanent residents on the island, but in the summer months this number rises to around 40,000 inhabitants, including the Norwegian Royal Family who have a summerhouse on the island. This was my first landing on floats in this area, and I’ll definitely be back.
Kjeller Aero Senter (KAS) wish to develop a new airfield for training activities close to ENKJ, due to heavy restrictions, and as a plan B if the Norwegian Air Force decides to move their activities from the airport. Today students have to fly 40 minutes to ENRY for touch-and-go practice. A KAS working group has sent a formal request to Aurskog-Høland, and the good news is a positive mayor and an initial search for location. However, a question left to be answered is; who is going to pay for this? 
Jostein and Petter familiarizing in LN-AEG by the dock at Kilen, after a visit to the grand "Båter i Sjøen" boat show by Sandvika. The boys had fun seeing all the nice new boats, and the good old AEG, but a picture of a flying boat in the Kilen clubhouse fascinated Petter the most. However, such a machine could we not spot at sea today.
Five years since flying conventional gear, an attempt of banking off some rust ended in a ground loop at Hamar this spring, Dagbladet reports. The Norwegian Accident Investigation Board recommends flying under instruction for pilots feeling rusty, according to the accident report.
For 50 years Willy (82) has been a member of the seaplane-flying club at Kilen, outside Oslo. Next year the Norwegian Directorate for Nature Management want to close the base, but local politicians and bureaucrats at Bærum are in favor of continued operations. See video story at TV.Budstikka.
Torgeir is washing DAH while we waited for the weather to improve. We had to fly under the tail of one system to Starmoen in order to return before meeting the next. Flying NAG back to Kjeller was the mission of today, and we decided on 1500 feet as minima before start, a promise we did not have to compromise.
This is a live web camera image of (*) LN-NAG at Starmoen (click to see a larger image). I hope to be able to get back and ferry our Piper to Kjeller early this week. In the mean time, please help me watch out for suspicious activities. Save and post the image if you observe something.
The annal MAF Fly-in a Starmoen was the best visited ever, with 50 people gathered for the sermon Sunday. Unfortunately a tradition of bad Sunday weather is evolving on this event. Last year I left the night before to avoid snow, the year before I had to follow the river, and today I left LN-NAG behind and got a lift by car back to Oslo. METAR SCT007 BKN009/TAF SCT009 BKN015 TEMPO BKN009 is below my limits.
Flying is always great, but there is something special about taking a short flight before breakfast. Margrete and her dad Gunnar joined me for a tour of the traffic circuit Sunday morning at Starmoen, and as you can see - it did something to them as well.
Kristoffer (15) was in for a surprise when uncle Jørn invited to MAF Fly-in at Starmoen. They started the 134 km drive from Nittedal, but stopped already at Kjeller, where I was waiting with LN-NAG. 
