Four years later

Four years ago today I had my first flight lesson, in the form of my discovery flight. Three years later, I had completed the flight instructor training in Hungary. Today another year has passed, and a lot has happened! On this day, four years after I started flying, I want to look back at some of the highlights during the last year.

In addition to taking the whole family to a bunch of museums in Sweden, we also completed our third flight with a baby onboard. Time for the fourth trip now.

A taste of something new

During last year’s late summer vacation, I tried a seaplane for the first time, and a short flight in Sweden.

Getting a seaplane rating has been on my wish list for a long time, and eventually, I will get it done - it was incredibly fun!

A slow last half of 2023

In last year’s summary, I wrote:

First priority now is to complete the CPL theory, and actually start instructing. Then I have a plan to continue building TMG hours so that in the next 1-1.5 years I can complete the training for FI(S).

The CPL theory was about all I did for the last half of 2023, and I wore myself out. I conducted three sittings (1, 2, 3), before I had to take a (long) break. The combination of intense reading on my own (not doing it in a organized way/in a flight school), exams on the other side of the country, questions that make absolutely no sense, a day job I didn’t enjoy, the loss of a family member, and way too much else going on, finally became too much. Therefore, there was very little flying in the last half of 2023, and I didn’t finish the theory either.

I still have four exams left, and the ambition is still to do it!

On a more positive note, I have finally started acting as an instructor! Still “only” a LAPL instructor, but I get to instruct. So it’s a start, and that helps a lot with the self-esteem! It’s a bit of a defeat to still not be done with the CPL theory, but when the season is over I hope to finally get started again.

The Norwegian Air Sports Federation turned into a huge part of my life

In last year’s summary I wrote that I would get a bigger role in OBSREG, little did I know then that I would not only take over the whole of OBSREG - but I would end up doing much more than that in the Air Sports Federation…

As the OBSREG manager, I was told to come to the GA conference, to talk about OBSREG. Before the conference, I had already submitted a job application for the position of Membership and communications officer in the federation.

Just before Christmas, I went to Ullevål Stadium for the job interview. A couple of months earlier, I was in the same place to train new OBSREG coordinators.

Shortly afterwards the, contract was signed, and already on January 15th, I was at the office in Oslo in what is now my full-time job. It’s still a bit hard to believe that I’m allowed to work with my hobby. At the same time, there is no doubt that there is a lot of work, and I have a lot more I want to get done!

Being employed in the federation means I’m suddenly very busy, bit it’s also very rewarding work! I get to do a lot of fun things, like attending AERO 2024, Flydagen Kjeller and Sola Airshow

I’ve gotten to know Starmoen

Just after the previous year’s summary, was Luftsportsuka 2023. It was my first stay at Starmoen. In May I was there for almost a whole week, to work during the Sailplane Grand Prix. Then I also got to try my first glider flight, and get airsick for the first time.

Starmoen is a fantastic place, and I hope to spend more time there in the future.

Is the future electric?

I have no idea if the future is electric or not, but I have spent a lot of hours in the electric aircraft over the past year. In fact, 40% of all my flying hours in the last period have been in LN-ELB - which means that it is the plane I have flown the most in that period!

In addition to flying the electric plane at Luftsportsuka, I had the honor of starting the autumn tour and flying at Bømoen and Leirin.

This month we had another tour, and I got to both start and end it. First I was allowed to bring the airplane home to Karmøy, before we continued to Sola and eventually to Geiteryggen (the airplane also made a stop at Kjevik without me, between Sola and Geiteryggen).

New club airplane

Haugaland Flyklubb bought a club plane during the winter, an old Cessna 172B - LN-BIH.

Unfortunately, LN-GJP has been on the ground a lot for maintenance over the past year, and this spring it had a hard outlanding as well - so it might take a while before I get to fly TMG again. So my plan for FI(S) is going to take quite a bit longer than planned.

I’ve still flown a lot

Despite a slow autumn, I’ve still flown a lot during the last year. All the goals I set myself for 2023, were achieved. I also have some memorable trips in the book, such as when went looking for Aurora (northern lights) - and was reported so many times to Haugesund’s Avis (the local newspaper), that we ended up on the front page.

The winter ain’t too bad either when you fly light aircraft - aviation has taught me to enjoy all seasons. Which I didn’t do until I became a pilot.

And of course I was able to complete my traditional May 17th flight, even though it looked like I wouldn’t be able to this year due to the airport closing (very) early. But they stayed open a little extra so that I could fly!

Thank you for the support

I can’t continue without thanking my wife for all her support. I’ve been flying a lot, both day and night, and traveled a lot all by my self. I would not have been able to do everything I do without the support I get at home. So, thank you!

Thank you also to all of you that read my blog, and especially those of you that take the time to comment and tell me when you meet me!

To know that someone is actually reading this, and even find some value in it, makes it worth all the time I spend on it!

The year behind us

I have been in the air as much as I have been able to, which has turned out to be a lot more than I thought. I have a very understanding, patient and supportive family - they are the reason I’m able to do all of this.

I love taking pictures, and try to record most of my flights with one or several of my GoPros mounted in random places.

This video is a short summary of the year behind us (remember to watch in 4k):

The year ahead

When the summer season is over, I have to get back to working on the CPL theory - otherwise all the hard work will be a waste. I have to finish everything within a set amount of time from when I started the first attempt.

Like last year, I hope I’m able to continue adding both airplanes and airports to the list, and that I’ll finally get to cross the border as pilot in command. It’s about time I do that now.

Otherwise, the plan is to continue flying as much as possible, and preferably do more flight instruction - because I’m having so much fun doing it! And then I hope to be able to continue taking people on trips with me, because that’s also a lot of fun! And I thoroughly enjoy sharing the joy of aviation.

Some statistics

Between June 22nd, 2023 amd June 21st, 2024 I’ve managed to fly a total of 107 hours (36 hours and 50 minutes less than during the previous period), the majority of them as pilot in command. In the same period I’ve logged 349 landings (125 less than during the previous period).

I’ve visited a total of 10 airports (one of them a seaplane base), and flown a total of 10 aircraft (LN-ELB, LN-BEH, LN-FMU, LN-HOG, LN-GJP, LN-ASB, SE-GDL, LN-MTM, LN-BIH og LN-GAO) during the last year. 40% of the flight hours has been in LN-ELB, which makes it the aircraft I’ve spent the most time in during this period.

Details and tracks from most of my flights can be found in Flightbook

• PPL
• SPL
• Yearly summary