I have a good customer in Norway and have been meaning to fly there (ENVA) for about 10 years. The TB20 can do EGKA-ENVA in one go. However, I have seen suitable wx maybe just a few times a year 
Aveling wrote:
Agreed refuelling is not easy in Norway, can you explain what you mean by Avinor “jumping off”? Many Avinor airports still have flying clubs with 100LL Pumps. You just have to have a BP card which was easy to get when I got mine
It’s nothing like it used to be. Pre 0911, no security. Fuel everywhere and they came with a truck. No cards of any kind needed. Then security came. Nothing really changed the first years because you just showed the pilot licence at the gate. No problems getting in or out. After a few years security got stricter. A special card for each airport is needed, greatly reduced opening hours. Today the airport and ATC is still great, free parking, low fees, it’s the availability/accessibility/practicality that has become a nuisance. Only the largest airports have fuel, 100LL only, self service, one of several cards are needed, and the fuel company changes.
I know only one Avinor airport where the club serves fuel in an accessible manner. An example to follow I guess, but it requires that one enthusiastic dude spend his spare time on it. There is no money in it. Lots of places with fuel though, but it’s not accessible in a swipe a card manner.
Thank you all for the feedback so far! The next part of the report will follow in a few minutes…
Patrick wrote:
It’s a shame that although I’ve lived in the North of Germany for almost three years now, I have not yet been flying to Norway.Definitely go as soon as you can and feel comfortable to do so! In my personal opinion, Norway is the most beautiful place to fly in northern Europe. Yes, Denmark and Sweden are nice as well, and not to forget some nice places in my homeland (Netherlands), but the Norwegian landscapes will just blow your mind away.
How is such a system going to work in Norway anyway? Way too many boneheads here saying “I’m not buying fuel from him”Very interesting! Why is this the case? For me, as long as the fuel prices are acceptable, I’m very happy with the self-service “just swipe the card through” fuel stations. I also pay a few cents per liter more for this self-service, as long as I’m not reliant on local flying clubs. Yes, I do like landing at small landing sites, talking and socializing with local pilots etc. , but being reliant on volunteers selling fuel is something I don’t like for planning purposes. Other than that, I had some great experiences in getting fuel from very friendly guys at Voss (ENBM) and Bjorli (ENLB), but as we also had the option to continue to an airport with a self-service fuel station (both times), we didn’t had any pressure to get fuel right on the spot.
Day 3
Our first non-flying day, but for sure not less exciting. After we enjoyed our great breakfast at the Sogndal Quality Hotel, including a lot of fish, we decided to use this day for a hike. As there are many options in the region, we looked on the internet for the best options. As we would like to have a great view over the Sognefjord, we decided to take our car to Balestrand and take a hike up to the Raudmelen (972 m). The drive along the Sognefjord via Leikanger alone was already magnificent!
End of the road at Hella, just missed the ferry to Dragsvik by less than a few seconds!
The next ferry departs already in 30 min, but this one goes to Vangsnes
Finally on the ferry towards Dragsvik. The highest snow-free mountain on the left is the Raudmelen, our goal for today.
It’s good to mention that you don’t pay any fees on-site for the ferry, instead, it will be charged on license plate or on the AutoPASS on-board unit system. Note that you pay 70 NOK (approx. 7€) administrative fees if you don’t have an AutoPASS or didn’t register your license plate online beforehand. Luckily, our rental car had already the AutoPASS unit on board, so the ferry fees were just added to our final bill, without additional costs.
The views during the (short) ferry were just terrific, but unlike you think of such kind of sunny pictures, it was quite cold! Here we see the entrance into the Fjærlandsfjord, which we will visit tomorrow from the other side.
Even though the villages Dragsvik and Balestrand are located almost next to each other, you need to drive around the tiny “Presthola” fjord, which is part of the Sognefjord and takes another 15 minutes. It’s just a tiny example to never underestimate driving time in Norway!
We start walking in Balestrand at the Kreklingen school, only 85 m over sea level! Raudmelen is marked as a “red” for advanced hikers, but in reality, it’s much easier than a “advanced” hike in the Alps.
The first rest area on the way to the top. There were some people walking from/to the mountain, but it was overall very quiet.
We’ve made it halfway through…
… and the views over the Sognefjord are already breathtaking!
After each full 100 meters over sea level, there was a little sign post, to keep the motivation up.
Almost reaching the top, on a perfect maintained hiking trail! This is pure luxury, compared to similar trails in the Alps!
Finally reached the top!
We’ve spent quite some time at the top, eating our late lunch meal, enjoying the views and sun. Even though the landscapes were for us both breathtaking, my girlfriend said several times: “It’s just like the Vierwaldstättersee (Lake Lucerne) at home, except 10x bigger and less overbuilt.” And indeed she was right, it had quite some similarities with Lake Lucerne, but not in these kinds of dimensions, even though Lake Lucerne is also a pretty “big” lake in the Alps. And for the 1-2 hours we’ve spent on this mountain, we were alone all the time! Nobody seemed to hike up in the late afternoon.
Panoramic View at Raudmelen, what a place!
There was also a kind of wooden shelter on the mountain, in case one needs to stay here for the night and/or in bad weather.
Final mountain picture, time to go down, as it became already late and the way back would still cost around 1,5 – 2 hours.
On our way down, we met a local couple from Balestrand, how walk very regular up to the mountain and we both had some nice talks. Even though Norwegian people have the reputation of being reserved, we always encountered friendly and honest (local) people. Maybe it’s because Swiss and Norwegian people have in fact a quite similar attitude?!
Back down at the car, we decided to visit one of the only three restaurants at Balestrand, from which the one at the Kviknes hotel had very good reviews. Once on-site, we got a table at 8 pm and ordered some fish…
Monkfish with vegetables for me, and “fish and chips” for my girlfriend.
It was indeed very delicious food, but it was actually not enough and it did cost 335 NOK (approx 34€) without any side dishes! The few fries of my girlfriend was also an absolute minimum. Gosh, this makes Norwegian restaurants even more expensive than Switzerland, where you get at least a salad and a big portion of fries served with the main menu for a similar amount of money. But we don’t want to criticize Norway for its expensive food, we also don’t like it when people from abroad complain about Swiss prices…
Unfortunately, the ferry between Hella and Dragsvik only operates each 30 minutes during the day, but after 8 pm, it offers only a (very) limited service. So we enjoyed Balestrand a bit and planned to take the ferry at 9:40 pm.
On the ferry back to Hella. Even though the sun was already behind the mountains, it was now warmer than before, as we had full sun around midday!
Once at the hotel, we enjoyed the late daylight and went satisfied to bed!
Day 4
Another non-flying day. Today, we wanted to visit the biggest glacier on European mainland (Jostedalsbreen) from below. After again a great breakfast, we drove up to Fjærland by car, in order to visit the glacier museum first.
Are we still in Switzerland, or is this Norway?! Beautiful it is!
This looks like real Norwegian landscapes with long tunnels every now and then!
Visiting the “Bremmuseum” in Fjærland first, before going up to the glacier.
The museum offered a lot of interesting stories and information about Norwegian glaciers and fjords, which we both didn’t know yet, and also a big 180 degrees cinema with a spectacular movie of the Jostedalsbreen. Did you know that the Jostedalsbreen is still growing on the top? In times of global warming and fast melting glaciers in the Alps, this was something completely new to us! Sure, many glacier arms / side branches of the Jostedalsbreen lost their length down to the valley, but still, the ice and snow on top are increasing! Relatively warm and wet winters, together with dry and colder summers, keeps the glacier growing. It was also possible to do some experiments with glacier ice as well, which gives a good idea of how ice in the glacier “works”. After we finished the tour on our own, we got something to eat from the cafeteria and went on to one of the famous side branches of the Jostedalsbreen: The Bøyabreen! (Note: “Breen” is Norwegian for “glacier”)
Practical for German speaking visitors: All information was delivered in Norwegian, English and German! However, more Dutch than Germans were visiting the museum.
View from the roof.
Driving down the road towards the Bøyabreen
Walking on a trail towards the glacier lake, just fabulous!
View from the glacier lake. Note that the lake is only 100 meters above sea level and snow is here as well! The glacier comes down an incredible steep path!
Me enjoying this amazing place! Yes, we have glaciers and mountains in Switzerland, but Norway is still something different!
We decided to take this day easy and enjoying the view from a lonely bench. A lot of tourists came across this viewpoint, as it can be easily accessed from the main road, but almost nobody walked aside the main viewpoint, so we had a nice place for our own. It is something different sitting on the shore of a glacial lake, compared to sitting at the beach of a sea, but this was not less relaxing for us! Later on, we got a snack at the nearby “Brevasshytta” and continued our journey back towards Sogndal, but not before stopping at the “Berge” viewpoint.
Viewpoint Berge at the Fjærlandsfjord, looking in the direction of Balestrand, shortly before the Frudalstunnelen.
Once back at our hotel, we decided to leave our car at the hotel and walking down the center by foot. We also wanted to take a view at the little park on the other side of the Barsnesfjorden.
For me a duck, and for my girlfriend a good old Norwegian salmon. Both dishes were very tasty!
Walking down the bridge over the Barsnesfjorden in Sogndal.
Reaching this peaceful park, at the other side of the bridge.
View towards Sogndal-“City” (Sogndalsfjøra). Note that it was already 9 pm!
On the way back towards our hotel…
…walking at the shore towards the harbor.
The “speed boat” from Bergen just arrived around 9.30 pm. A trip to the city from here would cost around 5 hours of boat drive, per direction! Giving only a few hours’ time in Bergen. That would be so sad, so why not flying it?!
That said, I checked once again the weather for Bergen, as this is one of the most riskiest VFR destinations of Europe. The weather looked nice for several days and I could give it already a careful “go” for the next day. Time to take a nice drink at the bar and go to sleep! Oh, and did I already mention the big football stadium of Sogndal, which the Norwegian manage to build in a small raised valley? Quite impressive to see, but unfortunately, I didn’t take any picture of it. Good night!
Day 5
Finally, another flying day! And a spectacular one! We checked the weather once again, and it all still looked fine for Bergen! Today was Saturday, so the airfield of Sogndal-Haukåsen was only open during the morning, however, at least until 2 pm local time. This would give us some time in Sogndal to visit a famous Norwegian stave church first. I already prepared a flight plan for 1.30 pm, after which we enjoyed a great breakfast at the quality hotel for the last time.
Good morning Sogndal! (Our view from the hotel room)
The stave church of Kaupanger, shortly before the mountain road up to the airport.
This church was originally built in the end of the 12th century, after the old church was destroyed by a fire. According to archaeological findings, 3 former churches must have been here in the past! Unlike the more famous stave church in Borgund, the church of Kaupanger is not in an original state, but had several modifications and renovations during the last couple of centuries. It is however still one of the most oldest stave churches of Norway, which is located just 15 minutes from the airport!
Even though the church was open for visiting inside, it did cost quite a lot per person. As we had only limited time, we decided to stay outside and enjoy the views from here. Most of the graves around the church are pretty old, but some are quite new. Impressive to see a new grave of only a few years old, right next to a grave of more than 100 years old.
Goodbye Kaupanger! What a location, so close to the fjord… Time to go back to the airport!
Some sheep lying on the road towards the airport.
On the way to the airport, we discovered that we didn’t refuel our rental car yet… oh dear… so we turned around and quickly went back to Kaupanger, in order to refuel the rental car at the local Shell station. Returning a half-full car to the rental company means often very high additional fees.
Back at the airport. No parking barriers here, only pictures from license plates are taken. If you don’t pay on-site, you get the bill at home, including additional fees. That’s the way Norwegians make money! At least we could ignore the fees at the airport, as we had to return our rental car here.
Watching a Widerøe airplane depart from Sogndal, on the way towards Oslo, via Sandane-Anda!
We packed our stuff back in the Dimona, checked everything and settled us in for departure. We didn’t want to fly directly towards Bergen, but instead, visiting the Jostedalsbreen first. Once again, I have to repeat the great ATC services in Norway. Even though Sogndal is just an “AFIS”-airport, the AFISO passed our plans towards Polaris Control and gave us a squawk for the entire flight. As the Widerøe aircraft already left, we had the airport completely for ourselves and could depart on runway 24. As it was already midday, I was expecting some thermals and turbulences once airborne, but the air was surprisingly quiet. After I reported right crosswind, Sogndal handed us over to Polaris on 124,7. Wait… 124,7 ? Sounds like the FIS frequency for Zurich at home!
And indeed, Polaris knew all our plans already and warned us for some other traffic above the Jostedalsbreen. Officially, one needs to fly at 1.000 ft AGL, due national park rules, but the other airplane seemed to operate right above the snow/ice! Not something I wanted, so I climbed up to a safe altitude of around 9.000 ft, which gave me the legal terrain clearance.
Once airborne, we got a treat of fantastic views all over the place!
Sogndal with the bridge over the Barsnesfjorden.
Reaching Fjærland with the glacier museum, which we visited the day before.
Welcome to the mighty Jostedalsbreen!
Just a little part of the massive ice plate.
God: “How much glacier do you guys want?” Norwegians: “Yes!”
The Jostedalsbreen is over 6x times bigger than the Aletschgletscher, which is the “biggest” glacier of the Alps. 78 km² (decreasing) vs 474 km² (increasing)!
Turning around the glacier, observing all engine instruments carefully.
Already enough of those glacier views?
Not for us, but unfortunately, we had to fly towards Bergen, in order to have enough fuel for our flight. This was one of my all-time favorite places to fly! Yes, I know also the Matterhorn and Jungfrau, which is fabulous as well, but we don’t have so much ice and snow in high summer!
Reaching the Sognefjord on the way towards Bergen.
As the ATIS of Bergen reported some low and mid-high clouds, I decided to go down below the clouds after the Sognefjord. This was not an ideal decision, as it became very bumpy and an unpleasant last part of the flight. The sights were not ideal and I needed to be very careful, picking the right valley to circumnavigate the mountains, which were hanging in the clouds.
Masfjorden
Getting closer towards Bergen, Polaris handed us over to Flesland Approach. They gave me an immediate clearance into the TMA below 6.000 ft, which was very welcome, so I climbed a bit again to stay high enough, in order to keep my options open. As the turbulences were increasing, I stopped taking pictures. Also, the fuel display did made my girlfriend a bit nervous. As I did knew that there was nothing to worry about, as the fuel display is not that precise, it made all in all the last part of the flight not so relaxed anymore. Even though the ATIS reported only 8 knots of wind at the airport itself, it was extremely bumpy between the mountains. Approach finally instructed us to fly and descend to 1.500 ft until VRP Sandviken. This gave us an incredible view over the city center of Bergen. And for a short time, the unpleasant turbulences were forgotten, as the views over the city were just too nice! So I took quickly my smartphone again to take a few pictures:
Bergen at VRP Sandviken, how cool! While taking this picture, Approach handed me over to the Tower and informed me about a seaplane, landing on the shore below me.
Sorry Tower, you have to wait a few seconds… Check out this view: Here you can see the entire city center of Bergen, with the UNESCO world heritage site of Bryggen on the left of the harbor and the main newer part on the right.
After taking the pictures, the Tower instructed me upon initial call to continue towards VRP Kokstad and to join downwind runway 17. This is a tricky part, as you enter the CTR limited to 1.500 ft, but can’t see the runway yet, as there is a mountain in between, which is higher than the CTR! So you need to continue into a valley, between two mountains towards Kokstad, before seeing the airport. Never experienced such a spectacular CTR entrance before, even though I was in Bergen last year with @boscomantico. But as a co-pilot (non-flying), you don’t get the same “feeling” as a PIC for the flight.
As it was still extremely bumpy, I asked the Tower if I could quickly join base for runway 17. “Continue inbound Kokstad for now.” was his first answer, but just a few seconds later, he asked me: “Could you make a short final runway 17?”, which I answered with a clear “Affirm!”. That again was answered with a “continue to short final, number 1, without delay”. The controller also gave an Norwegian airliner instructions to reduce his speed. Upps… that means an airliner is on his way as well… But for now, nothing was better than to get quickly on the ground. “D-SV, wind 220 degrees, 8 knots, runway 17 cleared to land” Those words sounded like music in my head, almost forgot the light side wind component. But again, I made (according to my girlfriend) a very nice landing. I missed the A3 exit, but went quickly to the next one (A4). After I was instructed to contact Ground, I watched my left wing and saw a Dreamliner from Norwegian landing on runway 17. Holy cows, hands down for this ‘cool’ controller how managed me right in front of this big jet!
We could continue towards the GA-apron, following a follow-me car. I reported my intension to refuel first, hoping the Ground controller would pass my intensions to the follow-me car driver as well. As everywhere in Norway, my request was of course no problem at all.
After engine shutdown, the follow-me car driver seemed to be a very nice young guy. He helped us while refuelling Avgas 100LL. Just like last year with @boscomantico, it was quite difficult to get the fuel pump working correctly. Even the follow-me driver was surprised by the “difficult handling”. After I authorised my AirBP-card for the second time, the pump was working fine and I could refuel 67 liters in no-time. As the Dimona can only carry 79 liters, from which only 77 usable liters, this would mean I had 10 liters remaining in the tank, just enough for 30 minutes. Next time, less flying around the Jostedalsbreen, before heading for Bergen… Yes, a few orbits in the CTR, in order to wait for some airliners wouldn’t have been any issue, and if the airport was closed, we could also have made it into our alternate Os (ENUL), but still, exactly 30 minutes remaining is a bit below my personal comfort zone.
Once finished refuelling, we were escorted to the first additional GA parking spot, behind some trees, as the parking lot right in front of the fuel pump was already occupied by some private jets. The friendly follow-me driver helped us to put some concrete tires below our wings and ordering a crew bus, to pick us up. After some further nice talks, he went away, we packed our stuff, closed the Dimona and the crew bus already arrived. This driver also welcomed us with a friendly “Welcome to Bergen!” and drove us to gate 5, right next to the Helicopter Terminal. Unlike last year with bosco, there was a small bus with “premium” seats picking us up.
Parking the Dimona for the next 2-3 days.
Private jets right in front of the fuel station.
The tower of Bergen-Flesland Airport, also right next to the helicopter terminal.
The bus driver was so nice to gave us the correct number to call, once we return, including the instruction “Ask for a drive to GA parking 1”. We walked down the way to the main terminal in 7-8 minutes, were we decided to take the local light rail (Bybanen) to Bergen-City. Even though the Flybussen are operating again, the train just costs 4€ per person, compared with 24€ for the Flybussen. We decided to take the train, which costs only around 20 minutes more time towards our hotel, but as we still had plenty of time, that was all fine for us. Talking about hotel… We found a special last-minute offer on Booking.com for the Radisson Blue Hotel, right in the famous Bryggen part of the city. As the train ticket is also valid for all other official public transportation in the city, we could change at the end station to a bus, which took us right to our hotel.
Nice hotel room! Not as spacious as in Sogndal, but still with a good bed and modern and clean bathroom. Even including a iron for clothes.
Walking in the UNESCO Bryggen part of the city, towards our restaurant “To Kokker”.
Having Deer for dinner!
After dinner, we decided to have a evening walk through the city.
The small city lake “Lille Lungegårdsvannet”, with mount Ulriken (643 m) in the background. Unlike many people might think, this small lake is a natural one, and was once connected with the fjord.
Bybanen end station in the city center. The train has a connection directly to the airport every 10 minutes!
Back in the main harbor of the city.
On our way to a local bar, to finish the day with a tasty Norwegian cocktail!
Walking down to the hotel at midnight, passing Bryggen.
And that was it for today! Hope you enjoyed this trip so far and didn’t got bored by the non-flying days so far. See you in a few days!
What an amazing trip report !! Hiking, visiting, flying, everything we love !
And a great ad for visiting Norway too.
Yours and the one from ASW are amazing gifts for those who can’t fly far away
Thanks a lot.
The only thing strange to me is that systematic online fees system for parking lots, ferries etc… tourists beware !
Thanks! Yes, maybe I should send this report to the Norwegian tourism office, as soon as I’m finished with all the parts. They need to know that tourists visit Norway also by GA…
Indeed, it’s not only with the online fees for parking lots, ferries, and toll roads: It’s also the case for take-off and parking fees at most airports and airfields. Either you buy a weekly or yearly card upfront for all Avinor airports, or you pay for each single take-off online by creditcard right before, during or after your stay. If you don’t, Avinor will send a bill to the aircraft owner, including administration fee. Other non-Avinor airfields send also a bill to the aircraft owner, or charge via MyPPR.no. It’s quite seldom if you can pay on-site by cash and even never saw the option to pay on-site by debit or creditcard. Parking at Avinor airports is free up to 2730 kg, but others might charge some fees, with Sandefjord as worst example (over 100€ for more than 4 hours incl. VAT).
Did you ever overfly the famous Vemork power plant ?
Edit : did you change cash for NOKs during your trip ? How did you do ?
Yes, I flew there back in 2019 from Fyresdal to Sandefjord. I did make a video from that leg, but sadly didn’t mention it in the video, as also the cameras were almost empty.
Fortunately, we didn’t need any cash in Norway. Almost everything can be paid by card, even food on the market or a ticket from the busdriver, without additional fees. If not, people are also happy with Paypal or Vipps, however, Vipps is for Norwegian citizens only. You just need to make sure that your debit or creditcard doesn’t charge additional fees for transactions abroad in other currencies. If you need or want to pay by cash anyway, you can get it at any ATM.
