Heading South!

Departed Hamar in nice weather IFR to Kristiansand and thereafter as direct as possible to EDMS Straubing Airport NW of Munich. We flew the OSVAL 1L STAR to the ILS Z 04 at ENCN. Bumpy with good crosswind on the ILS. Departed via AMSEV 1A and quickly got direct routing to ALS south in Denmark. We levelled off at FL100. We picked up some ice during 1,5 hrs over Germany. We were just cruising in the top of the clouds. This was very expected, but not forecasted. We joined the RNAV GPS RWY 27 into Straubing. This was another carefully planned and safely executed IFR flight through the heart of Europe. 

This was also an important day for Oslo ACC because they launched the new STAR's into ENGM. I had uppdated both the onboard GPS and all the Jepp-plates on the iPad so we had no issue at all. Norwegian and SAS struggled to have their onboard systems updated.

Total flying time was 5:50 and we could have added just another 1:30 and we would have landed in Venezia, Juhu! I tested the Rocketroute application for flightplanning and it did a perfect job. I really like the Pilot Log layout. 

Th plane is on jacks for a 100-hrs inspection. Piloten-Service is a very professional Part-145 maintenance shop. Highly recommended! They have been doing the maintenance on the plane for the last 13 years and will continue to do so. In Straubing, there is also Avionik Straubing and MT Propeller, so it is one of the few (or only) places in Europe where you can do all aircraft work in one place! 

In one week, the 100hrs inspection was done, new ARC issued, all instruments were IFR approved for another year and ready for another full year in the sky! I am impressed by this airport and it's capabilities!!  

Winter Flight to ESOH - Hagfors

Weather forecast was good, RWY conditions were good, flightplans sent and accepted with the new items 10a, 10b and 18. My equipment is SDFGRYZ/S and Other Info is PBN/A1B2B4C2D2O2S1 NAV/GPS RNAV. Sounds logic heh.. ;-)
We met early to brief the flight. Intention was to fly ILS and NDB approaches at ESOH. Had to be back at ENHA before darkness. OAT was -13 deg C, clear sky and no snow on the RWY at ENHA. Very cold conditions. The engines had been warmed up for 3 hrs. Start-up was OK on first try and with a 35 Amp battery, there is no second try. We taxied over to the fuelpumps. Parashooters were in the air! They are bold people and not afraid of getting cold! OAT at 8000ft was -19 deg C! Run-up and takeoff was uneventfull and we quickly set course direct NDB HT north of ESOH. IFR Goggles on. We climbed to 4000 ft and picked up the IFR clearance from Oslo 120,450. Cleared as filed up to 7000ft direct ESOH. On the boarder we changed to Sweden Control 131,125 and descended at own discression since we were outside controlled airspace. We shot 4 ILS RWY 18 approaches down to minima and thereafter an NDB approach to RWY 36.

We climbed up to FL80 heading Hamar. OAT -19 deg C. Clear air and no icing condition. We flew an IFR let-down to 1000ft AGL (highest point within 8km) and inspected the RWY and wind condition and joined final 15 full stop landing. Just a little breeze from the east during final approach. We had perfect braking action and no need for braking. Called ATC in Røyken and closed the IFR flightplan. JUHU! Nice day and Smooth Ride!! The joy of completing a flight exactly as planned can not be underestimated! Good training and smooth Ride!

Approaching Hamar from the south. Due to the cold temp, the warm lake Mjøsa is creating some low stratus.

Those small little winter things

I made a small window today in plastic to stop heat from escaping through the storm window while the plane sits in the hangar with electrical cabin heat. Temperatures are going down these days. Worked pritty nice actually. Cost was 29,90 NOK + some superglue! Window is removable and allows for an electrical cable to pass through and keeps the warm air inside!

 I have E-Z Heat pads installed in the bottom of the oil sump on each engine. When they are connected to ground power, I send an SMS to the plane and engines start warming up. 1,5 hours before starting is sufficient and makes the engines start easily.

Nice little trip doing ARC-DME

Last sunday I was on a short trip with my pilot friend and we practized ARC DME procedures at the MES VOR. Perfect weather at 7000ft! Got a clearance from Oslo ATC on 124,775 and did some nice training. Allways good to have someone onboard who appreciates real flying!

I did it my way

I do not fly for a living, but as a way of life! I enjoy being back in the air whenever the opportunity comes my way! I have gradually built flying competence since I took my PPL back in 1984. Through renting Cessna 172's in the beginning, dropping sky divers, building an Experimental aircraft, flying that for some 300hrs and finally got my twin. I like flying long distances with it and having all aircraft systems in perfect condition! I just hate snag. By cruising the skies whenever I can, I do not have to worry about being a pilot for a living. No monthly flight schedules, no worries about pay cuts and no need to desperately land in crap weather at the destination! I can recommend this way of flying to all aviators!

Jeppesen Mobile FD - Great Stuff!

I have now used the Jeppesen Mobile FD app on the iPad2 for a year. It is awesome! I have all IFR plates for Europe with me all the time. Updating is a breeze! The newest version of JMFD downloads weather(icing, winds, lightning and turbulence) and overlays the info on the en-route chart. On the SID, STAR, Approach and Taxi plates, I can now highlight key info with a green marker pen! Super! Those guys at Jeppesen are doing a great job!
You can shift from day to night view and colors are great! Below you can see some screen samples.




Here you can see the night view with the route from ENHA to ENBR with icing at 5000ft overlayed.













Here you can see day view and with wind indicators overlayed for 10.000 ft. NICE!

Here, I used the drawing pen to mark the assigned STAR into ENBR.

New Landing Lights and Wingtip Lights

I have new LoPresti BoomBeam wingtip recognition lights and new dual BoomBeam landing lights! They are great and improves safety near and around airports an during approach and landing. I have been told that I am VERY visible in the pattern now. Nice!

On the above pictures, only one landing light in the nose was installed. Below, both are installed. The pictures don't really show how strong they are. It is basically as looking into the sun!