Nedre Romerrike Flyklubb (Lower Romerrike Flying club, NRFK) which I'm a member of has the is responcible for the Oslo and Akershus county fire watches. We fly a route which normally takes around 2 hours, stretching from Mjøsa in the north east to Drammen in the south west. It's a beautiful flight on a nice day, and the good thing about the fire watches is that they're usually flown when the weather's dry, thus usually very good.

I flew this flight with Kjetil Kintel. He was the Pilot in Charge (PIC) and I was the observer and had the right seat, the radio and the camera. We got some very good pictures from this flight, and even though it's basically unpaid work, it really is a nice way to spend a couple of hours. It also looks good both on my CV and in a photo album, as shown here:

[View with PicLens]

We didn't see any actual fires this time, but I got to familirize myself with the route, and all free flying is a great thing in my book!

I have to admit I was really nervous before this flight. Previously I had only done solo flights in the close proximity to the airport, doing airwork, landing excercises etc. This flight was a round trip to Stafsberg at Hamar, an airport a little over 60nm or 110km from Kjeller, my home base.

I the a brief with my instructor, looking over my operational navigation plans, and the flightplans I had submittet prior to the flight to be assured rescue services if I for some reason shouldn't make it to my destination without beeing to announce distress.

I got in the plane, started the engine, did the checklists and taxi'd onto the tarmac. At the end of runway 12 I looked across the straight line of pavement reaching some 1100m in front of me and then pushed the throttle to full. I went through the takeoff checklist and called out «RPM >2350, airspeed increasing, airspeed 55kts: rotate». I was airborne...

I set the course for Sørum, my outbound reporting point. As I crossed the border to outside local airspace I felt nervous and quickly had to decide whether or not to proceed. I decided to not let my uncertainty get the best of me, to suck it up and fly!

As I established cruise I did the cruise checklists. I calculated Estimated Time Overhead (ETO) to know at what time I could expect to be at each navpoint in my navplan and I contacted Oslo Approach on the radio to open my flight plan. No response... I called out again «Oslo Approach, student Lima November November Alfa Romeo», but again I got no response. I decided to proceed regardless, and to alert nearby traffic of my presence, so I tuned the radio to 123.500 which is the frequency used outside controlled airspace almost everywhere in Norway, and on a lot of unmanned airfields as well.

I passed Wormsund and turned slight north by northwest up Vorma. Even through I had three navpoints along that stretch of river, I decided to focus on the last one, Minnesund which I had barely in sight. I flew up the river and got to Minnesund exactly on my ETO. I then tried contacting Oslo Approach again, and finally got through.

Even though I was now over half way in my flight I still decided to open my flightplan. Oslo approach said they had heard me earlier but that they didn't get any callback on their responses. I opened the flightplan and continued over lake Mjøsa. By the way, Mjøsa Norways largest inland lake.

As I got to Stange I had Hamar in sight. I still didn't see the airport but I had been there before so I had a general idea of where it was relative to the city core. I closed my flightplan with Oslo Approach and reported in on Hamar Traffic. There we're no other planes in the circuit, so I did a low pass over the airport at 1000 feet, noted the wind direction and approximate speed (which was next to none), and got on downwind parallel to the landing strip.

As I landed I felt great! Seriously, there is no greater feeling of accomplishment than when you beat your fears and push through, and I did just that. To add to it the weather along the route was overcast with some rain and quite heavy wind shears in some areas. For instance, on my return flight I was looking from something in the backseat, and a wind shear knocked me into a 45 degree tilt, and I had to fight pretty hard to get back into level flight! I did however manage to return unscathed, and I did get some nice picture along the way as well. Take a look:

[View with PicLens]

The route I chose went Kjeller->Eggemoen/Hønefoss->Leirin/Fagernes->Frya/Ringebu->Starmoen/Elverum and back to Kjeller, a total distance of roughly 270nm or 500km.

Eggemoen is around 800m asphalt, situated north of Tyrifjorden between Hønehoss and Jevnaker in Buskerud county. The airfield is easy to spot and situated in a relativly flat area making it an easy approach and landing. I did however manage to misread the wind socket when choosing my runway, and ended up having to go around as I came in with the wind and because of that much faster than I should.

From Eggemoen the trip went to Leirin near Fagernes. I flew up lake Sperillen to Aurdal valley, which continues from the northern end of Sperillen all the way to Leirin airport. It was fairly easy to follow the valley up, and the view with mountains on either side was quite beautiful! As I approached Leirin, the AFIS service in the tower alerted me to another incoming flight, an SAAB A340 from LOT airways on approach with passengers. I agreed to hold off and did a 360 degree turn in a holding area east of the airport. I then landed on the highest situated airport in northern europe, 2697 feet (822m). The runway is 2049m long, so it didn't really offer a challenge, it just had me taxiing forever after touchdown!

I then went on to Frya airfield. The terrain now changed from lowlands and jagged valleys to highland plains while flying across the Valdres area in Oppland county. The highland plains we're fairly monotone with few distinct features to navigate by. I did however find a few lakes and valley to use as navpoints. The flight only took around 25 minutes, and upon arriving at Frya I had to drop 4500 feet from cruise at 5000 to the airfield situated at only 570 feet at the valley floor in Gudbrandsdalen valley. On either side mountains we're rising 3500 feet up to plains above. As I crossed the moutains edge and had the field in sight I started dropping. I slowed to below 80kts and set two knotches flaps to be able to drop faster. As I approached the airfield I realized that I was still flying way to fast, and I missed my first approach. I got down on the second attempt though, and the 800m airfield prooved more than sufficient when I planned my approach properly.

After takeoff from Frya I flew towards Starmoen near Elverum in Hedmark county (potato-country). After takeoff I first had to follow Gudbrands valley while climbing to a safe cruise of 5000 feet, 1500 feet above the top of the mountains sorrounding the valley. I first passed Hatfjelldal mountain village, a posh village of mountain cabins for rich people that like skiing. I continued the Mesna lake near Lillehammer (where the '94 olympics we're held), and as I was nearing the lake a rain shower suprised me and created a rainbow clear in my path. After lake Mesna I had to cross yet another monotone area, this time with mostly woodland plains below me. As I approached Starmoen I got a sail plane on the radio on long final towards the field, and I had to do a 360 degree turn on downwind to allow it to land first (non-motorized vehicles have right of way in the air). The airfield at Elverum is 660m long and only 8-13m wide. Luckily there wasn't much sidewind, and I set down straight on the centerline.

I departed on my final leg towards my home base at Kjeller. After more than 3 hours in the airplane I realized I was getting worn out, and I was looking forward to getting back, parking the airplane and opening a beer to celebrate. I first flew to lake Storsjøen north east of Gardermoen airport. From there I continued the Vormsund, and from Vormsund in I only had about 15 minutes flight left. I descended to 2000 feet and ate the rest of my food, a bun that had the time to get pretty dry while it had been lying in a paper bag in the back seat of the airplane for the last 3,5 hours. But it was worth it, and I deserved the change to celebrate as I was nearing the end! I crossed the reporting point and called out "Lima November November Alfa Romeo overhead Sørum at 2000 feet inbound for full stop landing, return from long nav solo", and a pilot departing Kjeller replied "Congrats and welcome back, runway 12 in use". I came in for my final, and flared the plane out slowly, letting it glide far in on the runway to avoid having to taxi further than nescessary, parked the plane and got out to a handshake and a congratulation from my flight instructor!

I considered this flight the final major hurdle on my way to getting my pilots license. I'm done with it now. It took me 4 hours flight time (3:10+runup 5x10 minutes), and a ton of energy. I flew across lakes, plains and down in valleys and I got to see some of the beautiful and diverse nature Norway has to offer. It is truly a beautiful country, and it's well experienced by air aswell as on the ground.