#5 Norway #6 Oslo

Today's flight is exactly what this tour is all about -- should be a great combination of natural wonders and man-made features. I'll start by heading north for a nice view of the fjords.

Start: ENSO, 0830; $9982.01 and 22gal

Heading almost perfectly north, the scenery is all that I'd hoped for. It looks as though someone took a perfectly plain coastal landscape, and crumpled it up before putting it down. Hills and valleys, sharp cliffs, hundreds of isolated little lakes, it's all here!

Of course, all these abrupt elevation changes does make approach and landing a bit more challenging! Luckily for me, Floro is located at the end of a nice delta, so I swooped down and followed the river right to the glideslope. My three passengers are off, none the worse for wear, and I'm picking up 1 Hurtigruten passenger for the trip back to Bergen.

Norwegian Fjords

End: ENFL, 0954; $10709.46 and 54gal

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An uneventful flight, back along the coast to the Norse-sounding Flesland airport.  Don't know what it's really like, but in FSX the town of Bergen is semi-rural with quite a few small farms scattered throughout. Another trade of passengers, this time for 1 scandiFLY passenger. I'll be heading east 175 miles across Norway to Oslo on this leg.

End: ENBR, 1050; $11432.16 and 48gal

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Wow -- Norway is beautiful! I knew the coastline would be dramatic, but even the interior is rugged and mountainous. I'm sure glad I'm flying over this terrain, instead of trying to drive it. I'm conflicted over what season I should use of my visit. When I think of Norway, I think of snow-covered hills. Since it's July, there isn't any snow. But the temperature is not much above freezing, and at 6500 feet it's 28°F! And the wind is blowing at 16 kts -- brrrr!

I'd rather be flying!

I'm giving FSX a challenge this time. On my way to Oslo, I'll be flying past Vøringfossen, reported to be Norway's most famous waterfall and #1 tourist attraction. It's located in Eidfjord, with a very nice hotel just across the chasm. Unfortunately, although the small lake and the chasm exist, the waterfall is missing. Darn -- it sounded really nice!

Where's my waterfall?!

It should look like this!

So, I press on to Oslo (Gardermoen airport).  I haven't included any photos, because although it was a perfectly nice looking city, it was pretty generic (in FSX). Back on the ground, it's 59°F. Quite an improvement, but still pretty chilly for July to me!

End: ENGM, 1323; $12172.50 and 33gal

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I'll stop off in Oslo for some lunch and a little sightseeing, and then I'll press on to Torp, mostly because I have 2 CAVA Midsommar passengers who want to go! Gives me a chance to overfly Fridrikstad, which is supposed to be another big tourist destination.

As you're traveling around Norway, if you find yourself in Jessheim, you really should try "Hot Pizza"! Just the place to get a great, filling, hot lunch (albeit not traditionally Norwegian!). Didn't really get too much of a feel of the local area, because I had to get back to the airport for this afternoon's flight.

End: ENTO, 1537; $13558.50 and 26gal