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4th Jul 2015, 11:41

#58 (permalink)

Pilot DAR

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Join Date: Aug 2006

Location: Ontario, Canada

Age: 63

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I was invited to join a good Norwegian friend on his long desired flight around Norway, in his amphibian. Months of anticipation precede my arrival to Bergen.

I picked up the plane in Halland Lake, north of Bergen on the morning of June 20, and flew it up to pick up the owner. The plane is a 1978 Cessna 182Q, C-FJBI, which has been highly modified, with Aerocet 3400 amphibious floats, a carburetted Continental 550 engine driving an
MTV 9 three blade seaplane propeller, several wing STOL mods, Garmin glass cockpit, and many other mods. Though being imported to Norway, the plane remains Canadian registered while EASA STC approval of the mods is completed.

The weather was perfect, and I was inspired by the rugged beauty of the coast of Norway. After a fifteen minute flight, during which I had to refamiliarize myself with the lake (the previous waypoint I had entered had been lost during a software upgrade), I picked it out, and saw my travel partner, Johny, waving on the dock. I tucked in between the mountains for a curving final approach into the small lake.

We departed from the lake near Slovag an hour later, all equipped for our trip. Our first stop was to catch up to a lavish birthday party, of which Johny was an invited guest. The party was on the shore of a lake Oldenvatnet, up the fjord from Loen, an hour to the northeast. The lake, a few kilometers long, and a kilometer wide at most lies between the walls of the fjord, which extend skyward more than 4000 feet. The end of the lake is the end of the fjord, atop which is the glacier Briksdalsbre. Suffice it to say the water in the lake was clear, fresh, and cold! Johny had sought and been granted special one time only permission to land in the lake. A factor in this request, was our offer to fly the birthday boy in as a treat. Though a mooring bouy had been placed for us, I was nervous, as the frequent wind direction changes could result in the plane being swung into the shore. I located a small area on the rocky shore, where with wheels extended, JBI could be gently run aground. Tied up, she sat happily for the night. We enjoyed a fine welcome, and super food.

The next morning, after a fine breakfast, and weather check, we headed north. We climbed out the fjord, circling a little to gain altitude for the direct route to Trondheim, across the mountains.
The sky was clear, making this otherwise mountainous route possible. At 7500 feet, the view was spectacular, and the occasional forced landing area (maybe) could be picked out.
Trondheim was clear and fresh, with a good breeze. As usual, the 100LL fuelling area was well removed from everything airport. Fuel: yes, toilets, a garbage can, place to sit or water fountain:
no. As the weather was so nice, we elected to continue north. Bodo was the day's destination.
After crossing a lush farming area just north of Trondheim, we caught up to the coast again, and it's incredible rugged beauty. We followed north. It was sobering to see the remoteness of some homes along the way, places apparently only accessible by ocean going vessel. It must be a lonely life there! along the way, the "Seven Sisters" island mountains were clear, as were the coastal off shore islands. Bodo appeared on the horizon, and we were fit into sequence with several other aircraft and helicopters. Bodo is the headquarter city for the Norwegian CAA, and we had a meeting the following morning to discuss approval details with the CAA staff. After landing we walked to, and toured the very nice air museum in Bodo. It was with great interest that I viewed the display about Norwegian pilot training during WW2, at two Ontario airports I know very well. I requested a hotel room facing to the north, and entertained myself at midnight, June 21, watching the sun not set.

From Bodo, we set off cross country toward Lakselv close to the north coast, a jumping off point for tourism to "Nordkapp", the most northerly point in Europe. The weather was not quite so perfect, but certainly adequate VFR. Choosing to skirt a few dense rain showers, we arrived as planned. Lakselv airport lies along the side of a fjord, at the ocean. I took the opportunity to fuel and check JBI over, while Johny took a cab ride to visit his former military service camp. During my wait, I chatted with two adventurers, who had flown a smaller Flight Design CT aircraft from London. They were not as willing as I, with the less welcoming weather to the northeast, so once airborne, I offered them real time updates, and we both made it to Nordkapp with happy
spacing.

Nordkapp is also served by Honningsvag airport, though we crossed it on our way out to
Nordkapp, it was under us on Johny's side, so I did not see it. when we returned to land there after the Nordkapp overflight, I got my first glimpse at a not so common airport. Cleared to land
on 26, approaching from the north, I identified the approach lights, which marked the required curved approach to final. Final approach would only be straight, and on the runway heading and centerline for the last thousand feet to the threshold. The departure path was similarly obstructed by nearby mountains, and curved. Add to that, the 2500 long runway had an obvious downslope toward a rocky overrun, and the ocean. I asked Johny if he felt comfortable with this, and his reply was "you land...". Lots of attention, no problem. Our hotel nearby afforded a nice hiking opportunity, which we enjoyed rather than a bus ride to Nordkapp, which had looked rather busy when we overflew.

The next morning was much nicer weather. Before setting off for another, brighter, overflight of
Nordkapp, I asked Tower if we could fly a few circuits. Probably an uncommon request, but granted. After a briefing, we flew off 26, teardrop back to 06, turn around and again. With no wind, this made the best advantage of runway slope, and avoided the more tight approach to 26 again! I now have a much greater appreciation of the skill of the Wideroe pilots who fly this in
Dash 8's! Curiosity satisfied, we reflew Nordkapp, and then east along the coast toward Russia. Destination Vardo.

Arriving to the Vardo area, we overflew the island town, planning our sight seeing, then landed
at the mainland airport. The trip from the airport to town was by taxi - through a tunnel under the ocean! The island was the location of a WW2 German outpost (and I suspect a very large turret cannon), and a fort built more than 300 years ago. The fort is now a fine museum, with exhibitions from several eras, including an enigma code machine.

From Vardo, we departed for Kirkness, and most easterly city in Norway. Just airborne, the
Russian coast lay directly ahead. As we flew south to Kirkness, I think it was possible that the left wing tip just touched Russian airspace, but not so long as to attract any Migs! We were asked if we could see a fire, and indeed we could, in Russia. I thought we might be invited in, to help with initial spotting, but that request was not made. we landed in Kirkness, and were very well hosted by the tower controller -coffee, and a fresh weather report printed.

Our most wise route, weather considered, took us to Rovaniemi, Finland, with changing
weather, and a caution that it would not be the CAVU we had been enjoying all day. Indeed,
Rovaniemi was cloudy, and windy, but otherwise just fine. Based upon the information we had, we continued south. Return was possible, and Kemi, Finland was a suitable alternate - or so I thought...

Our flight was fine, and following the Finnish coast along the Baltic Sea looked good, but the ceiling began to come down, and rain was close, so my planned alternate of Kemi looked better.
The problem was that Kemi had closed shortly after my talking to them on the way south. Oulu tower answered their frequency, and let me know that Kemi was not an option. Upon my request, Oulu allowed special VFR to enter and land. I had chosen to remain at 700 feet, believing that there were no windmills that high, and indeed the terrain and obstacle warning was clear. In the well equipped aircraft, and ILS was not a problem, but happily the runway lights came into view about 3 miles back at 500 feet. The available weather suggested that an early departure the next morning would be appropriate, to “end run” the weather, around the north end of the Baltic, and down the coast of Sweden. This worked fine.

We stopped as planned in Umea, Sweden for gas. A nice welcome, other than BP credit card or cash – no other payment accepted. We did not have the card, so my last stash of Euros was accepted for less than a full refill. From there, Kalmar, Sweden would be the night stop. Again, payment for fuel was not possible with our means.

We departed west, for a planned stop on a coastal runway near Kampinge, Sweden, but with what might turn out to be a 20 knot direct crosswind, I suggested Malmo instead. Though welcomed and fueled, our visit endured all the aspects of big airport security. We continued on to Billund, following the straight between Denmark and Sweden. I considered all the people who crossed that short passage under great duress during WW2.

From Billund, and a requisite visit to Legoland (which is a quick walk from the GA parking apron), we set off the next day back to Norway. We made land at Kristiansand, and after a pleasant stop, continued to Stavanger for dinner with a friend, then home again to the lake that evening.

In total our trip was about 30 hours, with more than 2900 nautical miles flown. It was all VFR, with the emphasis on sightseeing. The flight was flown at about 60%-60% power, and average 47 LPH for economy, which gave an average cruise speed of 105 knots.