This trip was done in a DA42 over 4 days. Colleagues were playing a football game there (new york vs london), so it seemed a good excuse. I have some fascination with the North, and my 2 previous trips had been aborted due to engine issues (near total loss of engine power on the way to svalbard in Feb last year, fried starter engine before setting off to scotland (for iceland) in Aug last year).
I had decided once getting there either to do a bimble to greenland, or some domestic flying (Likelihood of getting injured or injuring a colleague playing football would have been high).
Ended up doing the domestic flying, and boy it was worth it! My only regret is to not having allowed more days (at least a week).
Plane: DA42 (2007)
Company: My brother
Flying stuff:
2 ipads
ADL130
Batteries
O2 (Mountain high)
Safety
Lifejackets
Immersion suits
Raft
Grab bag
PLBs
Other
Very light backpacks with personal effects
My 2 bicycles, a brompton and a road bike
So, to start:
Friday morning, North Weald EGSX → Benbecula EGPL
I had to refuel north of Scotland. Even if there had been strong enough tailwinds to allow a direct flight, I’d prefer to avoid as much as possible having to compute a point of no return / being relatively tight on fuel on arrival.
I decided on Benbecula (despite a potential 100 pounds refuelling fee) because stornoway EGPO had a bunch of ATC closures during the day (staff shortage), and in good UK fashion, you can’t land / takeoff without an indemnity.
The closures were NOTAMed, but didn’t show on many of the tools (Autorouter briefing back, online NOTAMs). I found out by calling them the day before (and then saw the notams on the NATS website / skydemon).
I wanted to get in Reyjkavik early, because of a potential Customs surcharge if arrived after 18:00Z
As I was getting into the plane, someone mentioned an airport on the east coast which catered to international flights. It was too late to change plans, but I thought I’d look at it during the flight and make a decision at Benbecula.
We’d cross a cold front on the way, weather was theoretically far less than ideal, with high potential for icing:
Optimal altitude for flight was FL80, right in the nasty zone. We had about 2h extra fuel and plenty of refuelling options on the fuel, with the option to climb or descend, so I wasn’t too concerned. I wanted to avoid using much deice on the first leg of the trip, as didn’t have the WB reserve to take many reserves.
Departing north weald, EGSX, “grumpy” was in the tower. Asked him if he could get my clearance, and as I’m taxying to do my power checks, he tells me there’s going to be a delay because “there is an emergency, you’ll have to be patient”. After a couple mins and not hearing anything on the frequency, I ask him if emergency is with him or with NATS, he says “with them, be patient, it’s an emergency”. Okaaayyyy.. Couple mins later, I’m ready. I ask if he has any news, another “be patient”, so just departed VFR and decided to pick up en route.
Routing departing London had a good 30min “detour”:
Trip was relatively uneventful, but used about 5L (20%) of the deice. (most of it during the initial climb)
Very nice people at Benbecula, but it was a short stop: Went to tower, to be told didn’t have to pay a landing fee, toilet, put immersion suits.
I called the Airport on the east coast of greeland, who confirmed there wouldn’t be any fees to pay (customs / landing). I could then fly domestic to Reyjkavik, and avoid a potentially high customs fee (my brother doesn’t have a licence, and the scheme of fees mentioned 250 euros for PAX).
EGPL → BIEG: Egilsstaðir
Some doglegs, but given I was in uncontrolled airspace, told I’d fly direct to destination
Radar contact was soon lost with Scottish, but turns out Reyjkavik seems to have better radars than we have. They asked a minor course correction to pass via RATSU (which I took as to avoid Shanwick Oceanic).
After a while, they told me to report to frenquency when passing 63N, then the following frequency would be . I reported to A, and stayed there. After a bit, got a call on guard to tell I should have then immediately called B. No biggie, but comforted me on habit of having 121.5 on guard.
Once approaching the field, got told I might have to hold. Prepared for that, but then when saw visual with airfcraft in front and runway, cancelled IFR to proceed visually.
When told to switch to Egilsstaðir, the problem is I had no idea how to pronounce it for the radio call. Went for the best I could, and then spelled BIEG.
Very warm welcome, customs officer didn’t even want to see IDs, just to fill in our details on a piece of paper. Easy. No landing fees either.
BIEG → BIRK Reyjkavik
We had plenty of time now to get to Reykavik, so decided to do a bit of scenic flying, and check out the Jokulssarlon and Diamonds beach:
Views didn’t disappoint:
The glacier from above. Not small!
From the famous viewpoint (although slightly closer)
Sadly, no “Diamonds” to see on the beach (I had previously seen them in January)
Another “exit”
Nice blue colour
Nice colours
Closer to Reyjkavik, ceiling was getting low so just requested IFR join. It was immediate, with no fuss.
On the ILS
We were welcomed by one of the operations managers of one of the FBOs. We explained we were arriving domestic, and so would only need handling for departure flight (and eventual flights to iceland). He was very welcoming, with a “can do, anything you want, let me know” attitude. Service was stellar thoughout the stay, so I would recommend them.
7 Minutes cycle to the airbnb, so it wasn’t even a big deal when I had to come back to the airfield to get my chargers back.
That’s it for Day 1, Day 2 coming shortly.
Saturday.
In the morning, we looked at possible destinations. We looked at BIKE Kerlingarfjoll (suitable since we had bicycles) and BISV Skalavatn, both in the missle of the coutry, in areas that looked beautiful. Runways were gravel though, and when enquired about condition (/ if it was stabilized), the FBO guy (who also flies privately and commercially! forgot his name sadly) said that it wasn’t stabilized, and that he usually went there in a cub and wouldn’t recommend in a DA42. We asked for recommendations, and he suggested a couple of places. Spoiler alert, he did a great job at it.
He also confirmed in Iceland, no need for PPR, and there are no landing fees. Just go as you please. They do like flightplans for SAR though.
BIRK → BIRF Rif.
First recommendation was Rif as it would be nice to cycle. They have 2 runways, one is stabilized gravel, so no loose stones.
Short flight, with potentially nice views. No need to fly high
Did a low pass at 500 ft to check the winsock, picked a runway and got set up on base. You can see the town (Rif) to the side
High on final
Bikes out
The best bike path I have ever seen
Small waterfalls along the way made a beautiful music
Cycling on the wrong side of the road (habits die hard)
Small lake at altitude
Winding rivers
Views from the top
No sheep were eaten on the trip
Spot the airfield / plane:
Storing bikes for next flight
BIRF Rif → BIIS Isafjordur
I was told that this would be a nice place to go as the approach is spectacular, as you have to “hug” the Fjord until the last minute, and then turn on final.
I decided to go below cloud (if possible), then pass overhead the airfield, descend in the fjord, then turn around to land. GPS tracked failed on some occadions, sadly:
As you can see, rate of descent was high (3-4k ftm). Idle power and gear down will keep the DA42 at about 120kts at that rate of descend, so perfectly manageable.
Slowed down to reduce a bit turning radius. From mountain training, it’s important to use lots of fererences for the U-turn. In this case, the full 90 degrees to be achieved at a 3rd of the width.
Facing the opposite side (from the aiport)
Hugging the opposite side (to leave lots of room to turn)
Gentle 2nd half of the turn (since plenty of room)
Runway is there
Hugging the mountain for final
And finally straight
Not a ton to see in town. Funny thing is they had some nordic ski competition, so it seemed well over 80% people we’d see in town were in skiing gear.
Trip definitely worth for the fun of the approach.
BIIS → BIRK
Nice views on the way
Return was conveniently timed so that I could see my friends playing.
Asked Reyjkavik for a couple orbits on downwind (where the stadiums are). No issues with them, just “report complete”
Team was easy to spot:
Nice “vfr trip report”, would have been a shame to miss that beauty in clouds ;)
The bike path looks awsome ! was it from Rif?
Sunday, BIRK → Grimsey BIGR
Again, we picked some destinations picked by our “tour guide” at the FBO. Grimsey is a tiny island in the arctic circle (the only part of iceland in it).
Views on the way:
We explored most of the island (and it’s city of 50 inhabitants). 6km riding total.
Some fun statue:
Iceland on the other side:
The only restaurant in town only opened for dinner, so had to skip the meal. Shop opened 15:00-16:00 which we also missed, so we left relatively hungry
Yes. Ibra wrote:
The bike path looks awsome ! was it from Rif?
Yes, about 200m away from the main terminal:
Grimsey BIGR → Reykjahlid BIRL.
We had seen online that there were some nice lakes / mud pools / lagoons.
We were short on time (you need someone to escord you out BIRK, and there is a surcharge after 19:00), so did a recon from the air to see what looked like worth visiting:
Mud pools
Lagoon
Lake
Given we were short on time, we settled for the Mud pools, with an option for the lagoon (our recon had showed it should all be doable by car).
We decided for the mud pools. We knew the road was OK :)
The after a long uphill, the mud pools didn’t disappoint:
Also some steam:
Sadly, no way to put sound on this:
Sulphur steaming
steam everywhere
We spent more time there than reasonable, so we had to really rush back. Some nice wattage for the legs, 15min on the return vs 25 on the way there. I went ahead to prep what needed, as I was riding the fastest bike (the brompton is a bit scary at 55km downwill), and also a bit more power on the legs.
Return to BIRK:
No trip report would be complete without a pilot’s glory:
We had a little bit of time so decided to pass by the Thingvellir national park (where the little "kink on the track is)
Lots of Glaciers on the way there
Some interesting “crasks” around where the ice has to make way for the rock
Looks like a volcano
Approaching the rift
Not easy to take pictures with the propellers on the side. Zig zags help
The best we could manage
Great trip and report. Thank you for sharing.
