A short flight in Finland
| 3 minutes read, 600 wordsThis year we did a road trip to Finland for our summer vacation, and when traveling like this I like to find a place where I can get i the air. After all, I collect both airports and aircraft in my logbook - and when abroad like this I’ll get both a new airport and a new aircraft if I manage to get in the air. And that’s just what I did in Finland.
Actually finding a place where I could fly however, that was anything but easy! I sent several emails, to all the clubs and flight schools I could find in 1-2 hour driving distance from the house we had rented. None of them replied.
It was first when I got help from another Norwegian flight instructor, that knew a Finnish flight instructor, that I finally managed to find a place where I could get in the air. A huge thanks to both of you!
Nummela it was
The airport I was lucky enough to visit, was Nummela (EFNU). The layout was rather interesting, and optimized for the plethora of different operations there, including both gliders and winch launched paragliders. When I got there however, we were alone.
The aircraft of the day was OH-CVA, a baby Cessna (C-150). Other than being a bit smaller than I’m used to, it’s still a Cessna. And it flies like a Cessna - just a bit slower than I’m used to.
Back the way I came
Since I just wanted to go flying to get in the air, and experience how flying in Finland is, the route was really simple. Direct to the house we had rented, and back. In other words almost exactly the same as I had just done in my car. Even though it was a slow baby Cessna, and the Finnish highways are efficient, it was still faster than driving. And so much more fun!
Southern Finland is very flat, nothing like what I’m used to from back home. From the air however, I also noticed how much of the area that is covered in lakes and other bodies of water. From the highway you don’t see any of that.
It was easy to spot
Usually it can be hard to find the correct house when you are looking for it from the air for the first time. The house we had rented however was very easy to spot. I guess it helps to have very little else around, and a couple easily identifiable landmarks.
A prime example of how much easier it is to navigate somewhere you’ve been before - even though you never flown there before.
View over the vacation house
Heavy showers
We had looked at a couple heavy showers on the map before we left Nummela, and we had them in sight during most of the flight. On the way back they made for some interesting views when we passed them.
Passing the showers
Otherwise the weather was beautiful, and I enjoyed my first flight in Finland. Hopefully I’ll be able to fly here myself sometime also.
Back at Nummela
Did I mention that I collect airports and aircraft? I also collect transponder codes, dates and runways.
Today was a new date (day/month), and I got to add runway 22 to my log as well. Awesome!
Back at Nummela
It’s always interesting to see how other countries differ from Norway. And flying with different instructors is always interesting, and there’s always something new to learn, or interesting stories to listen to. I’m very happy I managed to get this flight done!
Picture gallery
