Norwegian Fjord Fling

[Joe]

This encircles Bergen, Norway. I fly it about every winter.

Actually, the flight begins and ends at Bergen lufthavn, ENBR. One heads south and cuts east into the Hardangerfjord via the Bjornafjorden and across Varaldsoy Tysnesoy Island. Hardangerfjord ends in something of a crescent, and one finally takes the last left fork and climbs up for a 20-25 mile overland before catching a southerly finger of Sognefjord, which leads back west to the coastline north of Bergen.

One of the fun things about this flight is you can do it hot and low in a fighter, low and slow in the Maule Orion, or shoot some amphib take-offs and landings in the Grumman Goose.

I've probably posted about before, but it's been ages.

flightaware.com/live/airport/ENBR

upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c4/BGO_AIRPORT_BERGEN_FROM_FLIGHT_BGO-AMS_KLM_EMB_190_%2814610213400%29.jpg

[johnl]

Tempted to try that one. As a 10-year-old, I went on my first foreign holiday, flying from EGHI Southampton to ENBR Bergen in a chartered Fred Olsen Dakota, captained by an ex-Spitfire pilot, and flying back home from ENKV Stavanger/Sola.

A view years ago I invented the "Hardanger Fiddle*" route to explain how the Dakota got from Bergen to Stavanger to collect us (the truth is probably much more prosaic, but this is quite a fun low-flying (mostly over water) route (if you've not got the appropriate maps/charts, it's fairly easy to work out from Google Earth):-

From ENBR, head SSE for about 20 miles, then SE for about 15 to get into the Hardanger Fjord opposites Husnes. Carry on up the Hardanger Fjord until you get to Utne, where a right turn gets you into a narrow fjord heading SSW for about 22 miles. If you start climbing shortly after entering this fjord, you will be rewarded by the sight of the Folgafonna glaciers on your right and the Hardangervidda wilderness on your left. Climbing early may save you from adding to the geography at the end of the fjord. The valley climbs SSE from Odda to Skare, where you take the left hand fork towards Roldal (I think 4500' will get you over the top of the pass, and from there it's downhill all the way). From near Roldal a small lake and a valley take a southerly dogleg route to Nesflaten. From Nesflaten, follow a lake S, then SW, then over a small neck of land to get into a fjord heading WSW to Sand. At Sand, either cross another neck of land into a cross-shaped fjord system, or follow the water SW, past Marvik. EIther way, it'll get you to Hebnes, which is about 35miles SSW (a variety of approaches is possible from here, so the finish is up to you.

NB: I wouldn't recommend this one with a cloudbase below 5000'

*The real "Hardanger Fiddle" is a musical instrument with 4 bowed strings and 4 or 5 sympathetic strings, but this one involves fiddling your way through mountain valleys in the area where it originated.

PS. There is another way through from the lake near Soldal to Sand, which involves finding crossing a ridge west of the lake into a valley system which takes you past Sauda, and then south to Sand. (I've only flown it once, and that was by accident).

[davidrevans]

Sounds like just the flights for a tired Alaska bush pilot, will see if I can give both a try. with any luck they won't be using my rudder cables to make strings for there fiddle

[Joe]

I just flew the fjord fling again in the Goose, going north then south this time. I was reminded that a former(?) member, Hans Petter (I would butcher his last name now-- Roverude or something like that) was from Bergen and about 10 years ago he sent me the CH Products stick and pedals I still use. (AFIAK, this forum dates back at least to 1999, but that's another trip down memory lane)

Thanks, johnl, the Hardanger Fiddle sounds like a fun flight.

[Joe]

I finally got around to flying the Hardangar Fiddle, using the Aero Commander. It was pretty fun, and purdy. I had no idea Stavanger was even there-- it's the third or fourth largest metro area in the country.

Maybe I'll take a turbo-prop up the coast and then a jet up to Svalbard Island. There's one airport, iirc.

Looks inviting-- the arctic counterpart to Saba.

[Allen Peterson]

Just flew the Hardangar Fiddle in a Piper Aztec E. Great flight, almost didn't climb soon enough though.

[Joe]

It's about time of year to head back over to Norway again. I never did fly to or around Svalbard. Seems like I flew part-way up there but not the whole thing.

[Joe]

One more the books, this time in the almost-new FS 2020. The weather has been arctic here so it seemed appropriate.
I took the Diamond DA62, a sporty little twin that does 171 KTAS.

It had always been nice to do this flight with a new version of FS, but of course it's been a while, even with Prepar3D. 

Some notable new things:

1.  It looks great, even with "only" 1080p resolution.  (I'll need a new videocard to run higher)

2.  The transitions from fjord water to ice chunks to frozen fjord were a first, both gradual and realistic.

3.  Even the tiny fjord town of Flam, Norway, is accurately laid out and mostly accurately rendered.

4.  Elevation changes for rivers/streams is a lot more realistic.  It isn't great, but it's not non-existent or hideous like it was.

Anyway, much fun.  I've probably been doing this flight 15-20 years.  Hope someone is around to read this.

[steveg]

Hi Joe.
So you are enjoying FS2020. Do you mind sharing your computer/monitor specs?
What would you improve to get more from the sim?

Great screenshot of the DA62. Very realistic model

Cheers
Steve

[Joe]

Sure.
AMD Ryzen 7 2700X (4.3 GHz)(Maybe the first proc not overclocked in 18 years or so)
nVidia GTX 1070 (the weak link)
16 GB Team T-Force DDR4 3200 RAM
Asus ROG B-450 Motherboard
1TB Sabrent Rocket m2 2280 SSD
40" Sony Bravia @ 1080p

I need a better videocard but the prices are through the roof right now. I'd like to try VR and at least step up in resolution, 1080 is outdated for gaming.
I can't take credit for that screenshot, but that's definitely one of my favorite aircraft.

Of course, FS 2020 is a huge resource hog, and for a while I had a hard time with CTD's (Crash To Desktop) around certain places, with certain aircraft. SEA was particularly bad. I had to increase the size of my swapfile ~ 10x to make that go away.

At least they are updating and adding content.

[Joe]

YAY! I was finally able to upgrade my videocard from the above-referenced GTX 1070 to an MSI RTX 3060 (nVidia).

It's almost Fjord Fling time again!

[steveg]

Looking forward to some screenshots now Joe. The RTX 3060 ought to shine.

Cheers
Steve