How GA friendly is Norway?
 

Thinking of a rather ambitious trip round Scotland, then up North to the Shetlands and possibly over to Norway at some stage in a PA28 - obviously when the weather was decent!

Has anyone been flying round Norway and how friendly / easy / costly is it?

thanks.

I fly mostly in the eastern part of Norway, around Oslo. The airspace is a bit more complex due to the proximity to Gardermoen (ENGM), Torp (ENTO) and Rygge (ENRY). Still not difficult to navigate but up-to-date charts is a must. The airspace around Oslo Gardermoen was significantly changed on April 7th this year. Most of the major airports have landing fees, and not all airports have 100LL. Check to make sure before you go there. Personally one of my favorite airports is ENHA, Hamar Stafsberg, a small uncontrolled field, 800m asphalt, 100LL available. It's located about 30 minutes of flying north of Oslo Gardermoen.

The Norwegian CAA has released a VFR-guide for flying in Norway, you can find it here - GA

On http://www.ippc.no you can find the Norwegian AIP as well as other information regarding wx and flightplanning.

Never been to Norway in a plane but its expensive even on a motorbike. I.e. makes you pucker expensive.

It's an oil based economy but don't expect cheap fuel, its more expensive than the UK.

Beers not cheap either.

@Kejim: you contributed the nicest first posting I remember seeing for a long long while on any internet forum. Congrats, and very much welcome!

VMC,

I was float flying there with a friend a few weeks ago. We were on the west coast. Though I am not familiar with the airports there, or costs, my Norwegian friend would be. I can make more detailed inquiries, or perhaps put you in touch, if you wish.

Sorry for the vagueness, but generally speaking, flying in Norway is:

a. Not difficult in terms of controlled airspace, etc., just pay attention to weather and terrain. ATC is friendly and efficient.

b. The expensiveness of Norway is relative--there is quite a bit of myth along with fact. If you do not drink, it is not significantly more expensive than elsewhere in Northern or Western Europe, and the quality/price rapport is often better.

c. Fuel, landing fees, and aircraft hire (if applicable) are usually cheaper than Germany/UK. Caveat: I haven't flown there since 2007.

As long as you don't mind paying £16 for a hamburger I guess it isn't expensive.

Not that I have ever been to Norway, nor intend to in the near future, but insisting upon exotic luxury food tends to be expensive everywhere.

The guy who owns Flyer magazine has just come back from a trip there. There are lots of photos and other related info on the Flyer forums.

The trip will feature in a forthcoming magazine issue.

You could always try Sweden. Lovely Airpark at Siljansnas near Leksand...Siljan Airpark. Grass and tarmac strips and visiting pilot accommodation. Very friendly place.

Cost of living the same as here

As someone who flew in Sweden when I got started, and based on info from that period, Norway and Sweden are pretty similar in airspace/fuel prices etc. That could have changed, but I doubt it has as they've always been joined at the hip a bit. Since they're small countries, aviation isn't over regulated. 90% is G airspace and have tons of smaller fields littered across. And in Sweden (and I think Norway) you have the right to land on pretty much any lake on floats. Back then there were no landing fee's, but you had to buy a yearly landing card, bit like a resident's parking permit to be able to land on the medium and bigger airports. Don't know if that's still going. Some of the small private airfields may charge.

Norway is gorgeous, it's like the hidden New Zealand of Europe in parts.

Avinor do a weekly landing card for about £60 which allows you to use any Avinor airport for "no" charge for the whole week. Doesn't include Gardemoen though :) Most airports are Avinor (Bergen, Stavanger, Trondheim, Kristiansund, Bodo, Hammerfest etc....).

Norway is expensive, a taxi fare from Trondheim airport to town - 30km - is about £70. But the SAS bus service is very good. I bought a round of B52's in a club in Oslo once, big mistake !

I might be slightly biased ( ;) ) but I think Norway is great for GA flyging.
The controllers are great :ok::ok::ok:

Bring up to date maps, and study the location of wires along your route. And have respect for the weather, lots of cumulus granitus when you get away from the Oslo area, and it often hides in cloud! Planning long flights in marginal VMC will more often than not end short of the destination....hopefully at an airfield.

Welcome :)

I flew from Germany to the tip (Hönnigwag... sorry for poor spelling) some years ago in a PA28 and it was great! VERY friendly controlers and helpful people at the airfields, incluging Bergen. They went out of their way to help find us accommodations.

And when one of our group left his passport in the bus, they called around, found the bus owner, found the passport, and arranged for it to be returned! I'll never forget their friendliness! :ok:

Here my report and pictures

thanks for all your help.

tips for norway flying
 

Flying to norway very very often. Several tips:

A) allways fill the FPL and alway be on radio with ATC even during VFR. If you get to IMC controllers do their best and you get IFR clearence in no time.

B) never ever, never ever, never ever fly inside valley or fjord. There is so many powerlines. Some are not mapped. They are able to put powerlines on very big distances.

C) always call to the AFiS of airport where you plan to fly. He will know about you and can tell you something what is not in notam or some local weather phenomena.

D) have a very good GPS with terrain warning (will save you ass one day).

Not really an answer ..... but there is a hell of a lot of Very Very cold water between the Shetlands and Norway !!!!!!! at any time of year -- especially in a single PA-28 -- even if it's an Arrow. Just a thought.

That´s a bit harsh I think. The trick is to read the map, and understand the limitation that SOME spans/masts/obstacles of less than 200ft AGL might not be marked.

That said......they found a cablecar that was not marked last year! :eek:

http://g.api.no/obscura/pub/728x1000...5728x1000r.jpg