Many people, few planes at Fly-in

It was good meeting new and old friends (like André and the aspiring pilot Margrete) at the MAF Norway annual Fly-In this weekend.

Low stratus and rain showers kept all visitors but me on the ground as the Fly-In at Starmoen started Saturday. We spent four hours waiting at Kjeller for conditions to be better. As we left a restaurant in Lillestrøm after a late lunch, a bit of sun came through the low sky base. The AeroWeather app on my iPhone said VMC at ENGM, and we called our friends at Starmoen for an update to receive good news. At 3 p.m. LN-NAG was the 2nd plane of the day to leave the busiest GA airport in Norway, and we followed the Glomma river in 500 ft. AGL. A few showers en route made it good to have a FlightSim enthusiast as my manual autopilot, and a pastor in the back seat was also nice. 1:55 of airtime. Only 0:30 going back on a direct track transiting ENGM CTR the next day.

A great weekend with good people doing very important work, 3:40 flying time, and a new airport in my logbook: ENAE at the national parachuting centre became my #93.

Good clean fun

Erik washing our white swan after landings on the dirt strip at Hokksund. He wanted to take his son Rune along for a birthday flight, but the airfield was in too bad condition for all three of us to get up from the 600 meters.

Solution: First Rune and I flew over Drammen, then Erik and I flew back to Kjeller while Rune drove Erik's car the 85 km.

Plan B for splash-in lunch

My college Vilde and I had plans for a working lunch in the nice sorroundings of Villa Fridheim, but LN-AEG had only 16 gallons of fuel, and the Kilen Seaplanebase were out of Avgas. Plan B became a short flight of the Oslofjord, and lunch at Sjøflyhavna Kro. Worked quite well.

Something old, something new

Øyvind (left) gave me a demo flight in the posh SR20 during the Cirrus gathering at Kjeller this weekend, and then Petter (over) joined me for my first flight in the good old C150. Quite different experiences. Both to be repeated.

My first G1000 solo

Einar studying the G1000 Cockpit Reference Guide after having joined me on my first glass cockpit solo. I remembered the basics, but the manual will be a dear friend for some time to come.

Glass Cockpit Checkout

Completing the G1000 checkout with CFI Odd at NRFK, I now know the basics about PFD, MFD, GDU, GMA, GIA, GDC, GRS, GMU, GTX, GEA, and GSD. While enjoying the integrated autopilot and a wealth of flight-critical data at my fingertips, I barely remembered to look out the window...

Splash-in at Holmsbu for Coffee

My sister-in-law Solfrid at Holmsbu Spa. After a full day at the Tusenfryd theme park with our families, we drove my Harley to the Kilen Seaplane Base and flew to Holmsbu for coffee. Then we continued flying into the sunset until we reached the Villa Fridheim fairytale castle by Krøderen, and returned to Kilen before dark. A nice summer day.

Petter's Flying Fun Day

Sigrid, Lise, Tone, and Liss had fun flying with Petter (6), celebrating him leaving kindergarten to start school this fall. His older brother Jostein also invited the nice people at Starveien Barnehage on a flight three years ago as he left for school.

Liss joined us for flying fun both times, and asked us to consider having more children...

Flying the Kodiak in Norway

N106MF Kodiak 100 arrived ENGM at noon Monday, and we did a couple of landings at Haga airfield (590 m grass) before going to ENKJ and ENHA. A great airplane that will help a lot of people.

I had had a fantastic time flying it from the right seat to Hamar, and I am looking forward to share the experience with many people during the three day visit.

Tuesday MAF will do demo flights for press and supporters from Hamar at noon at Kjeller from 6 p.m. More details at maf.no.

• Vårt Land: Fikk sin drømmedag i lufta
• Romerikes Blad: Lite fly - stor jobb
• TV 2 Nyhetene: Faddere for et fly
• Østlendingen: På vingene med MAF
• More images from the visit at ENKJ

See the Quest presentation of the Kodiak 100:

Low and slow over Drammen

The flying family Thomas, Jonas, Anne Merete, and Hanna after low flights over Drammen, due to weather. Flying the girls first, we had to do cumulus slalom to reach their home at Konnerud. I was happy to note that the sky base lifted a bit before we came back with the boys. Smooth return via the Oslofjord on both occasions.

Over the border for splash-in dinner

Flying along the Swedish/Norwegian border at Svinesund on our way back from dinner (above). Coastwise in 500 feet from the border and back to Kilen Seaplanebase was a perfect ending of a nice late summer night.

The Baldersnäs mansion has reopened under new ownership. The food was not as posh as it used to be, but quite acceptable. And Einar was complimented for his appropriate costume for a fly-in dinner in Sweden (small image).

The only disappointment was the removal of flying memorabilia from the hotel lobby. The legacy of a former owner and Sweden's flying pioneer Albin Ahrenberg is not present any more, and the annual Ahrenberg Day Fly-In and Aero Show seems to be history.

Planning a visit from MAF's new Kodiak 100

My niece Sara at ENHA (image left) joining me on the flight to a planning meeting for next weeks visit from MAF's new Kodiak 100 (large image from service in Haiti).

The ‘mountain rocket’ developed by Quest Aircraft Company of Idaho, USA, is an aircraft uniquely designed to overcome many obstacles of flying in a humanitarian or mission situation.

The pointed cowling maximises the Kodiak’s take-off thrust, and the 4-blade 96-inch propeller contributes to the same goal while having a 19-inch clearance to allow taxiing on rough terrain. Its restricted wingspan permits turning in the tight confines of a small airstrip, and the drooping wing tips give a dramatically lower stall speed.

The 750-horsepower Pratt & Whitney PT6A-34 turboprop engine is able to pull the aircraft along at a 180-knot cruising speed. Landing is at 60 knots. Load is up to nine passengers. The plane carries up to 320 gallons of fuel – so it can fly 1,200 nautical miles before refuelling.

The Kodiak can also land on a really short runway – needing little more than half the 835 feet required by the Cessna 206.

BI by Air

Working at BI Norwegian School of Management you should not be afraid of heights (image left from the cantina). I have shared office with the Romanian visiting scholar Viorela for a few months, and yesterday we decided to inspect the business school from even higher above. At 2000 feet we did the touristic flight of Oslo, including the fjord and the Holmenkollen ski jump. On our way back to Kjeller we got a nice view of Nydalen and our colleagues working hard below.

Valle is definitely one of my favorites!

Einar and my self logged 5:15 on a Saturday evening flying to Kjevik (ENCN), Lista (ENLI) and Valle (ENVE). With an endurance of five hours, we needed fuel en-route to complete the planned flight. At Kjevik the Shell self service technology did not accept neither LN-NAG's Statoil Card nor my Visa Card, and the fuel man had to come back to work for manual service. At Lista we did seven landings before heading up in the mountains.

And what a contrast. While the 2990 m Lista is located on a wide open field by the ocean (upper left picutre), the 800 m Valle is in the middle of a narrow Z-formed valley (upper right). Crosswind is at 4000 feet, and then I joined right base 01 (lower left) without any view of the field, starting my descend to 770 feet. Shortly after take-off, Einar had to make a 90 degree left turn climbing out of the valley. Flying in and out of this field close to high terrain feels quite dramatic, and should preferably be done in calm wind conditions. But I just love this field. Of the 92 airports I have visited as a pilot, Valle is fefinitely one of my favorites!

Taking off from Kjeller at 4 pm we had to fly slalom between CBs. Returning from Valle we met only one local rain system on our route (lower right). We arrived home at 9:55 pm - five minutes before closing - after logging 5:15 in six hours.

First Splash-In lunch of the season

Tore at Quality Spa & Resort Holmsbu on the first seaplane lunch this season.

Quite a few alternatives are within 15 minutes flying time from the Kilen Seaplane base. We started at Holmen Fjord Hotel, and continued coastwise until we found the first acceptable alternative with good landing and docking conditions, decent food, and a crowd of people. Holmsbu Spa became the choice du jour.

Two Seaplanes Equals Double Fun

Morten, my flight instructor and aviation doc, gave his approval: I am now checked out to fly the Smith Aviation Daytona Cub, a 180hp experimental with an endurance of seven hours.

From today I have access to two seaplanes at the Kilen Seaplane Base: ABK (D-CUB) and AEG (C172). Summer, where art thou?

Flying to Legoland

Turid flying LN-NAG on family vacation to Legoland. We made the hotel reservation seven months ago and gambled on flying weather. We did hit Jackpot with smooth air and only easy to spot CBs to avoid. But paperwork came close to stop us. The N-ARC (Airworthiness Review Certificate) arrived by e-mail four hours prior to departure. Just in time for sending notice to customs in order to leave Norway directly from Kjeller.

Route: ENKJ - REGMA - SABAK - NOL - MAKUR - AAL - INTET - EKBI.
Flying time: 2:40
Level: 65.

Planning the return after two great days in Legoland, we had the option of travelling through strong and gusty winds or making a major detour: It was gusting 38 kts on the ground and blowing 40 kts aloft at Northern Jutland. We decided to go low level via Ängelholm, and got away with a headwind component of 'only' 30 kts on the Southwestern Swedish coast. On the Norwegian border a new coastwise detour was needed to avoid a major Cumulonimbus (CB), and at Larkollen we were sent in holding waiting for Ryanair to land at ENRY. Arriving the standard ENKJ pattern after four hours of flying, a local Top Gun with a one-way radio (not able to send anything understandable) decided to jump in front of us on final, and we had to make a go-around. That just made my day!

Route: EKBI - ODN - TNO - NOA - SVD - NOL - SABAK - REGMA - ENKJ.
Flying time: 4:10
Level: 2000 ft.

Ready 4 the Sea Season

After 40 minutes and four landings, I am ready for my 6th season on floates. Meum, the flying legend, also tested my language skills, and I am very happy with the grade 5 - giving me approval for international flying for the next five years. Hoping not to forget all my English aviation phraseology by that time...

Flying home on top

Thor Gjermund flying home from the Nordic Media Festival in Bergen. A bit bumpy and broken clouds  at 8000 feet made me decide to fly on top at 9500 towards clear sky in the Oslo area. Gaustadtoppen, the highest mountain in Telemark,  became our point of reference as we crossed Hardangervidda. Thanks to the holes in the broken sky base (⅝ to ⅞ of sky obscured) we could postpone Plan B of flying the Sørlandet coastwise detour to another occasion.

Kvikk Lunsj over Hardangervidda

Flying over Sørfjorden at 8500 feet en route from Kjeller (ENKJ) to Bergen Flesland (ENBR) and the Nordic Media Festival. Over Hardangervidda we lost contact with ATC, hence we followed the routes of the commercial traffic in case we needed help to relay a message. But the only thing to report was clear sky and smooth air over the mountain. We opened the Norwegian tour snack Kvikk Lunsj after the end of radio silence and established contact with Stavanger Control at the SOPAR intersection.

Excellent landing at Flesland Bergen from Jan Thoresen on Vimeo.