Six years later
| 8 minutes read, 1697 words - Norwegian version hereSix years ago today, I tried something I’d been dreaming about for a long time — I went on my discovery flight. My first time at Haugaland Flying Club, and in LN-HOG.
I never could have imagined, in my wildest dreams, that six years later I’d be flying that very same kind of discovery flight myself, this time with a budding pilot in the right seat. Still the same flying club, but it feels like I’ve been here a lot longer than six years.
When I sat there six years ago, my ambitions were so modest that I imagined I’d maybe use this to fly a handful of times a year. Ha. These days that can easily be a handful of times in a single day.
Over the last year I’ve logged more than 200 hours in the air, far more than I ever dared hope for. The seed sown six years ago also led me to a job at the Norwegian Aviation Federation. Mixing work and hobby definitely isn’t for everyone, but for me it turned out to be a way to put a lot of my varied knowledge and background to use — while doing something I genuinely care about.
Becoming an instructor became a goal pretty quickly — getting to share the joy of flying with others is what I like best about this. Watching the curiosity, the nerves, and the butterflies turn into one big smile after another. It’s magical. Almost as magical as flying itself.
It’s busy.
It’s demanding. But it’s also, honestly, completely amazing!
So now, six years after my first flight, I want to look back at some of the highlights from the year behind us.
Haugesund Airport, Karmøy in its winter coat
There’s of course been a fair share of aviation museums with the family over the last 12 months too.
I’ve reached most of the goals I set for myself, except for the ones related to TMG and FI(S). Unfortunately, LN-GJP has been grounded for far longer than expected. Still, I did manage to get airborne again in a Super Dimona, when last year’s summer vacation took us via Valdres.
A little trip to Finland too
As I usually do while on vacation, I managed to fit in a flight in Finland. It was a close call though — Finland turned out to be a country where it was surprisingly hard to get a response from flying clubs and flight schools. But the ones I did get hold of were lovely, and they got me in the air.
On a flight in Finland
After the summer vacation, I wrapped up the electric flying season with a short stay at Frya. There I got to take part in Aviation Day, organized by Gudbrandsdal Flying Club to mark the airfield’s 40th anniversary. It was blowing rather a lot up there that weekend, so there weren’t all that many flights — but it was still a nice way to close out the season!
On an electric flight in Gudbrandsdalen
Club trip to Bringeland
The weather ruined the planned club trip to Leirin, but the weather was lovely on the west coast — so toward the end of August, the trip took me to a new airfield, Bringeland, with a student in the seat next to me. Three aircraft flying together, and a fantastic trip in beautiful autumn weather.
We got to borrow Airlift’s grill and grilling area, so lunch at Bringeland it was
A little rush of students
As autumn went on, several students arrived in fairly quick succession, and I figured it was time to write a short piece about radio use and air traffic controllers.
In November it was, as usual, time for Aviation Safety Week and the GA conference, where I once again took part as an NLF employee. There were a lot of strong, good talks this year, and without it being planned there ended up being something of a common thread running through them all: training and cross-collaboration. We have to train to get good. And we have to work together.
Winter is in no way off-season, this year either
The students who arrived during the fall kept up full speed through the whole winter. That meant the two darkest months, December and January, became two of my most active. I’ve now truly reached the goal I set myself several years ago — I now have my own students that I get to transform from pedestrians into pilots. It’s incredibly fun and rewarding, and simply amazing to be part of.
With such capable students, it’s no wonder I’ve become a proud instructor.
In LN-BIH with student, now pilot, Joe Eriksen
Things moved so fast toward the end of the year that I beat all of my previous personal records. 2025 simply turned into a record year for me.
And then, suddenly, they were done
When the three most active students flew as much as they did this winter, it’s not surprising they also finished their training this winter. And even though it meant long days, with flights to and from Sola several times, there’s something special — for both student and instructor — when the student, having passed their skill test at one of the country’s biggest airports, signs the book themselves and brings the instructor home again as a passenger.
In LN-HOG on the way to Sola for a skill test
A new cohort of students
There wasn’t much of a pause before new students started showing up, several of them with quite a bit of home-simulator experience. It keeps proving true that training with a home simulator can be very useful.
Compared to winter, spring has been fairly slow. LN-BIH was grounded for several months for its annual maintenance, and HOG was also in for maintenance for several weeks during the same period. On top of that, we’ve had the worst weather-wise summer in a very long time. Fortunately, though, I’ve still managed to get a fair number of hours in the air.
In LN-BIH between the clouds in Skjold Training Area
I traveled down to Friedrichshafen for AERO again this year too, where it became even clearer this year that there’s seemingly quite a bit of stagnation in the development of zero-emission aircraft for our segment. Several of the big manufacturers who had electric prototypes on display a couple of years ago were notably absent again this year. It seemed like the big focus now was on business and jet aviation.
My annual May 17th flight ended up not happening at all, for the first time since I started flying. Both aircraft were grounded due to expired annual/ARC.
Back in LN-ELB
When Sola Flying Club was granted a lease on the electric aircraft LN-ELB to try out regular club operations with an electric plane, I had the honor and pleasure of being part of the launch. It got me on TV, radio, and in the paper. Whether it turned out well or not, I have no idea, since I don’t tend to watch or listen to myself afterward. But the setup at Sola turned out really well!
The club has proven what I already knew — electric aircraft can absolutely already be used in flying clubs today. They also got a lot of valuable PR for both the flying club and the flight school.
Among the clouds during departure from Sola in LN-ELB
Thank you for the support
It’s absolutely appropriate (this year, as in years past) to thank my wife for all her support. There have been a lot of early mornings, late evenings, flying at all hours of the day, and travel for work. I wouldn’t have had a chance at any of this without proper support from home. So, thank you! 😘
Thank you also to all of you who read the blog, and especially those of you who tell me so when you meet me!
Knowing that someone reads what I write, and maybe even finds some of it useful, makes it worth all the time I spend on it.
The year behind us
I’ve been in the air as much as I’ve managed to, and it’s turned out to be far more than I ever dared hope for when I started six years ago. Back then, my ambition was honestly just a handful of hours a year.
I have a patient, understanding, and supportive family, which is the reason I’m able to keep doing this.
I love taking pictures, and I also try to film a bit here and there. Turns out it might have ended up being a bit more often than just here and there.
Here’s a short clip of the year behind us (recommended in 4k):
The year ahead
The goal, as usual, is to keep flying as much as possible — preferably still with students. I also hope to get in some more (motor)glider flights once our aircraft is operational again. Hopefully at the latest sometime this winter, and this time I really hope that holds true.
If the summer goes as planned, I might have a new rating on my certificate by the time autumn arrives. The plan is to do a seaplane checkout during the summer vacation.
For several years running now, I’ve been saying it’s time to cross the national border as pilot in command — and it truly is! Otherwise, I hope to get as many aircraft and airfields as possible into the logbook.
Some statistics
Between June 22nd, 2025 and June 21st, 2026 I’ve flown a total of 204 hours (an increase of 93 hours and 5 minutes compared to the previous period — nearly double), almost all of it as pilot in command. In the same period I’ve logged 693 landings (an increase of 300 compared to the previous period).
I’ve visited a total of 11 airports, and flown 5 aircraft (LN-BIH, LN-ELB, LN-GFG, LN-HOG, OH-CVA) during the last year. LN-BIH accounts for just over 57% of my hours this past year, making 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