Norway Inland

[MM]

Norway Inland
For Saturday August 31, 2024
Michael MacKuen

We take a few hours to explore Inland Norway. We fly the historic route from Trondheim in the north to Oslo in the south. And we take a few exploratory diversions. This is the Norway less touristed. It is a rugged terrain that sustains a sparse population which, only in recent years, has begun to enjoy contemporary European prosperity. Worth our while to see an interesting part of Norway that is normally overshadowed by the spectacular coastal scenery.


Heading South from Trondheim

We depart from Trondheim Vaernes [ENVA], the main airport in the region, and head for the city itself. We get a look at the Tyholttarnet (a radio tower with a revolving restaurant on the top) and swing out over the harbor to Munkholmen. This small island, originally a monastery, has long been a fortress to protect the city and a prison for criminal and political prisoners. (In its early days, the island would post the severed heads of both types to warn others – first facing outward to fend off enemies and later facing inward to control the city.) It is now a tourist attraction. Then we turn south along Bakklandet, “old” Trondheim with its pastel-hued wooden homes, restaurants, shops and storehouses. Note the Nidaros Cathedral, which was the center of the church (first Catholic and then Lutheran) in northern Norway. It was northern Europe’s most important Christian pilgrimage site during the Middle Ages with the Pilgrim Route forming the basis of today’s itinerary. We pass the primary campus of NTSU (the much-respected Norway University for Science and Technology) and then Lerkendal Stadium (the home to Rosenborg BK, Norway’s most successful football club). We head south over the suburbs to land at Ler Airfield [ENLN], a small rural grass airstrip.

After a moment, we proceed along Norway’s main north-south land route. In the Middle Ages this was the “pilgrim route” along the river valleys through the inland region (now Innlandet County). These areas were hit hard by the Black Plague and never recovered. Only in the 20^th century, with the building of the Dovre railroad from Oslo to Trondheim, did the inland open up to commerce and tourism. We land at Oppdal Fagerhaug [ENOP]. A 1980s flying club airport, it was closed due to lack a maintenance in 2000 when billionaire Kjell Inge Røkke built a holiday home in Oppdal and needed a nearby airport for his business jet. The result is a 3000ft asphalt runway for the resurrected flying club. We continue south along the deep valley – following the railroad and European highway E6 – before turning southeast to Grimsmoen, a massive glacial deposit of sand and gravel on top of which lie sand dunes. We land briefly at Folldal Grimsmoen Airport [ENGN], a gravel strip which for years has attracted gatherings of RC pilots. Look out for reindeer.

Then south over Rodane National Park (Norway’s first national park). This is a high mountain area with large plateaus and ten peaks over 6,000ft. The climate is relatively mild but arid with the higher elevations almost entirely barren of vegetation – the stony plateaus are covered with a sprinkling of heather, moss, and lichen. The main inhabitants are wild reindeer – who enjoy special park protections aimed to maintain the herd and habitat. We pass through the deep narrow valley filled by lake Rondvatnet which is surrounded by high peaks on both sides. We descend to the Gudbrandsdal Valley to land at Ringebu Airfield [ENRI]. (You can see the railroad and the E6 highway running alongside the river.) Like much of the Inland, the valley floor is rich farmland and the nutrition-poor plateaus are used only for summer grazing.

We continue along the river Gudbrandsdalslagen over Kvitfjell ski resort. Built for the 1994 Winter Olympics, the large resort maintains snowmaking on 80% of its slopes and hosts a regular stop on the World Cup racing circuit. Twenty miles along lies Lillehammer (which hosted the 1994 Olympics) and the Lysgardsbakkene Ski Jumping Arena. The ski jumping facility has been renovated and is now used for year-round training – as well as hosting annual World Cup ski jumping events. (It is also a tourist attraction.) Then south along lake Mjøsa, Norway’s largest lake. We turn to the east and fly over the 18-storey Wood Hotel (Mjøstårnet), which when completed in 2019 was the world’s tallest wooden building. We land at Hamar Stavsberg [ENHA] which serves Hamar, the largest and most dynamic town of the Inland. With a tower, hangars and a terminal, the airfield historically supported commercial aviation, aircraft maintenance, and helicopter training. Nowadays, it is mostly a flying club and general aviation.

We cross the lake for a quick uphill landing at Reisnsvoll [ENRV], a small local flying club strip with a gravel runway, two hangars, and a spacious clubhouse. Then on to Hønefoss Eggemoen Airport [ENEG]. This large 1944 facility has seen only modest use over the years. Considered as Oslo’s new commercial airport (rejected in favor of Gardermoen) and as Oslo’s main general aviation airport (rejected by a local government due to noise), it is now renovated and part of an aviation-oriented technology park with limited GA activity.

Then south around the Tyrifjorden (Norway’s 5^th largest lake) to see Oslo, the nation’s political, economic and cultural capital. First is the Holmenkollbakken ski jumping hill, scene for competitive events since 1892 and host for the 1952 Winter Olympics and for regular Ski Jumping World Cup events since the 1980s. The stadium has a capacity for 70,000 spectators. And with one million visitors a year, it is the most popular tourist attraction in Norway. Next the Ullevaal National Football Stadium. Then in quick succession: Frogner Park (with sculptures, museums, baths, small stadium); the Royal Palace (royal residence since 1849); Storting (Parliament building since 1866); the Oslo Opera House (2008); the Munch Museum (new building in 2021, Edvard Munch “The Scream”, “Anxiety”). Then the Intility Arena (since 2017 football stadium for a local team).

Finally, we head 7 miles northeast to our final destination Kjeller Air Force Base [ENKJ]. Kjeller was established in 1912 as a military airfield and it served as a mainline operational base for many years. After 1945, the Royal Norwegian Air Force (RNoAF) converted it to a central maintenance facility. The runway has been reconstructed and lengthened several times to accommodate higher performance RNoAF aircraft. From 1964, the local aero club began to operate out of Kjeller. This is now Norway’s largest GA community. The airfield hosts many private aircraft, flight schools and a Veteran Aircraft Group (with 20 aircraft over 50 years old). At the aero club’s invitation, we shall park at the clubhouse on the NE corner of the airfield and look forward to their hospitality.

Documentation
The flightplan can be found here.

Aircraft
This is a flight of 300nm with 8 landings. Any GA aircraft capable of something like 150kts should do the job nicely. I shall probably fly the Asobo-WT Cirrus SR22T in the HB-KHR livery by etan.

Additional Scenery
All of the airports are in the default simulator. That said, several addons will enhance the scenery appreciably. Thanks to these talented addon creators.

Trondheim Vaernes [ENVA]. Dudlileif
Ler Airfield [ENLN]. twodogzz
Oppdal Fagerhaug [ENOP]. jantorre
Ringebu Airfield [ENRI]. PixelOfLife
Hamar Stavsberg Airport [ENHA]. Steffiskruff
Reinsvoll Airport [ENRV]. ehindur
Eggemoen [ENEG]. ehindur
Kjeller AFB [ENKJ]. daghb

You might like the payware Trondheim by Aerosoft (at Orbx and elsewhere).

Temporarily, you can obtain the full freeware package here (591MB). And if you prefer, an “economy-size” pack leaves out Trondheim, Reinsvoll and Eggemoen because they are unnecessarily large. (It retains the large-ish Kjeller because the scenery will please.) You can get the small(er) freeware package here (284MB).

Time and Weather
For takeoff on Saturday, set the simulator at 11:00am local for August 31, 2024. We typically prefer real weather.

Multiplayer Particulars
Date and time: Saturday, August 31, 2024. 1800 UTC
RTWR Multiplayer Discord Channel
Microsoft Flight Simulator Multiplayer: United States East server.

If you want to help others enjoy the multiplayer experience, don't forget to enter your aircraft details on the multiplayer spreadsheet (linked here). Please be kind enough to enter the title exactly as it stands in the title=”xxx” line of the aircraft.cfg file. Your courtesy will save others a lot of time and effort. Thanks!