Aerial work in the holidays

Dreadful weather today, but last weekend (Whit holidays in English?) the weather was perfect for some “aerial work”. Towing gliders to be precise. Here are some pictures from my phone. WingsWaterAndWheels also came along for the ride, he probably also got some pictures? I don’t tow as much as I used to, but 2-3 days per year is a “must”

We flew from ENVA (Trondheim) to ENOP (Oppdal) in the club’s P2008. We bought it last summer, a nice little aircraft, VLA, rated for VFR-N with Garmin G3X touch. Not exactly a good climber due to the weight and only 100 HP, but cruises at respectable 105-110 KIAS, maybe up to 120 by using 20+ liters per h instead of 14-16 Not much movement in the air when we started, but when getting closer to ENOP it started becoming bumpy and harder to keep exact alt, which is a good thing for gliders. Didn’t take a picture of it, but here is an older picture during take off.

When landing at ENOP they were pushing out the gliders to the “line”.

Skydivers were also in operation. For “everyday use” they have their own 206. For larger gatherings they use Twin Otters etc. The tow plane is an UL, a WT-9 Dynamic with a tuned engine. The engine is a Rotax 912 with big bore kit and fuel injection for EdgePerfomance. Instead of 100 HP, it has around 120-130. The propeller is a ground adjustable carbon thing, especially made and adjusted for towing. The aircraft climbs like a rocket, but cruises at only 80kt at 5400 rpm due to the prop (a normal WT-9 cruises at 130+ knots). Then again it tow gliders at 750+ kg with no problems. We used to have a Pawnee, but the WT-9 is almost as good, and 1/5 the cost.

It’s always nice to spend a day flying at ENOP – for two legged and 4 legged

A motorglider came to visit. When he left, he climbed up to 4-500 meters, turned the engine off, soared up to 3000 m and glided back home. A glider came later in the day all the way from Elverum (Starmoen ENSM), which should tell a bit about the conditions

The good conditions made it an easy life for the tow pilot only 9 launches that day (for 7 gliders). I tried to take a picture of the glider in the mirror. With only a phone and rather bumpy conditions I managed to get one picture (barely).

ENOP (Oppdal) is in the middle of the main mountains in Norway. It has 4 (or 5?) valleys converging. It is perfect for gliding, lots of thermals and waves, especially waves, due to the mountains. It also makes for rather peculiar wind conditions. When we started flying the wind was about 250 at 5-10 kts. Later in the afternoon, suddenly without notice (within seconds literally), it changed to the opposite at 10+ knots. When the evening approached, it turned back again to 250.

When flying back home to ENVA at 20:00 approximately, all the thermals was gone. A perfect steady ride at 4000 feet Landed at 27 at ENVA with 10 kts headwind just before 21:00.