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Twin - Lofoten as a fly in destination

Not proselytising for the virtues of an MEP, but the Norwegian noir available on the BBC at the moment. Scenery may be the real star of the show, although the series is quite watchable-the Coen Brothers might have injected a bit more ironic humour if it had been their production.

My PocketFMS tells me there are several airports in the Lofoten archipelago, and Tromsø is not too further north.

Only around 1200 nm VFR and making a short sea crossing to Holland.

Perhaps this may be possible in August?

Oxford (EGTK), United Kingdom

RobertL18C wrote:

Perhaps this may be possible in August?

Maybe, but realistic? As of today there is a two week quarantine for everybody entering Norway. I have heard nothing about when the quarantine will be lifted, but I would guess it will be lifted for countries with similar “corona development” as Norway. That would mean Denmark, Finland, Germany etc

The elephant is the circulation
ENVA ENOP ENMO, Norway

It is a great place but I guess it is not worth to do any real planning during these circumstances.
You need to plan a bit to find fuel in that area but otherwise it is quite easy to fly there. As long as the weather is good…

ESSZ, Sweden

Looks absolutely stunning ! Would love to fly there one day. What is the rental situation in Norway?

Had a similar plan in mind before the pandemic struck, so would be game. Caveat: Must have finished my taildragger endorsement which is on ice due to the current NOTAMed stop of training flights in the EHAA FIR.

EHRD / Rotterdam

@Sebastian_H what a great trip outline, am not sure how I missed it. Perhaps the mods might merge this thread with your original post.

One of the issues when I have visited Norway, albeit in heavier equipment, is seeing lighter GA tucked in behind sheds and hangars, huddling out of the risk of a strong wind. The typical GA further north also looks quite wind worn with a nicely bleached patina of original paint.

I don’t recall seeing many tailwheel types, which may again reflect strong winds.

I think the RV-7 is quite adept in dealing with crosswinds, but you may need some extra practice in crosswind technique and carry extra strong tie down gear.

Does @LeSving know which airports on your itinerary carry AvGas?

Oxford (EGTK), United Kingdom

I spent a week flying there a few years back in may 2008 all the way to Tromso, Longyearbyen and King’s Bay / Ny Alesund

I don’t know if things have changed a lot since then but, in general,GA flying (procedures-wise) was quite easy and relaxed compared to other European countries (ample opening times, no PPR, ease to change VFR/IFR…

The Lofoten Islands are stunning, but terrain is significant, and the seawater, of which there is a lot around if you are going to be flying the islands, is cold! In my opinion serious consideration to dry-suiting should be given.

Last, I found wx to be very variable, especially North of Bodo, and freezing levels meet terrain rather often. You need to be ready to do a lot of wx-flying / wx-avoidance.

As I was told half-jokingly by a local regional airline pilot at the time when queried upon flying amidst the frequent snowstorms followed by sunny spells, as long as you have sufficient quantities of two liquids you’ll be fine. I said, what are those?

  • Fuel, in order to wait it out in the air while the storm passes
    , and the other one?
  • A good wine (or your favourite flying-compatible drink), to wait it out on the ground while the storm passes

The only strict-VFR flight I attempted was BOdo to Tromso via the Lofotens and ended up diverting back to Bodo due to Wx at the Lofotens …

Wx can change from this

to this in a matter of minutes

having said that, if you are VFR on top or IFR; wx systems do not go much above FL100

Antonio
LESB, Spain

Although I wrote this article for Instrument Pilot some 17 years ago, it is a description of a trip I took to Norway – which included the Lofoten Islands – in my SEP Archer. It might still be of interest and informative for someone contemplating the trip..
It is on pages 10 – 13 of the attached pdf. InstrumentPilot_63_282_29_pdf

Rochester, UK, United Kingdom

Wow @Peter_G ! It seems you had to do some wx-dodging of your own too!

Antonio
LESB, Spain

Thank you @Peter_G great write up. The Archer is a trusty cross country machine, the sort of weather you encountered puts into context the challenges of crossing the North Atlantic in a light aircraft.

Oxford (EGTK), United Kingdom
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