Trondheim Vlog part 3

The great adventure in Norway finally comes to an end as this post contains the third and last episode of the Vlog from Trondheim. Besides footage of a cranky Simon and rain, we also summarize the trip!

Of course you can activate English subtitles by pressing the CC icon in the player.

First week at Kungsair Flight Training in Norrköping

Simon is now living in Norrköping to complete the last part of his flight training to become an airline pilot. He has now been there for one week and gathered some photos from the flight school and the ordinary traffic at the airport!  

If you have been following us here at osdphoto then you know that I'm studying to become an airline pilot and that I have been living in Stockholm for the past year completing the theoretical exams for a commercial pilot license. Now when all the exams are done it's time for the last part of the flight training so I have moved to Norrköping to attend at Kungsair Flight Training. I'm going to stay here for twelve weeks to complete a multi engine rating, instrument rating and my commercial pilot license. 


This is the plane that I will fly during my multi engine training. It's a Beech D95A Travel Air built in 1966


Now this is a fun machine, this is the plane that I'm doing my instrument rating and comercial pilot training in. It's a Slingsby-T67M200 built in 1987! It's the only flying plane in Sweden of this model. It has an empty weight of just over 700 kilos and an engine with 200bhp, it's like flying a sports car!


The instrument panel of the Travel Air, it's old, no autopilot and no glass cockpit but it's doing it's job! I think it's great to learn the old way first and not just rely on computer systems!

Kungsair flight training is a private flight school located at Kungsängen airport outside of Norrköping, Sweden.  Kungsair started as a business charter company but was split up and made a flight school for commercial pilot training back in 1988 with Elving Persson as owner and head of training. In 1998 Sven-Erik Simonsson joined the company as a flight instructor and took over as head of training in 2003. Sven-Erik is now running the school himself as head of training and the single flight instructor of the school. Kungsair is operating four aircrafts, two single engine and two twin engined Beech aircrafts.  The students at the school are living in accommodations at the airport, on airside actually! This is great for me as an aviation photographer, it couldn't be better! I can leave my room and walk five meters and be on the apron where I can stand and snap some shots of the traffic! I'm going to continue to post photos during my stay down here, maybe not every week but I will keep everybody up to date with my progress at the flight school and the must interesting traffic!  


This Beech 300 is operated by the local private charter company Waltair. Waltair has been flying private, businesses charter, cargo and ambulance flights since 1994 with it's base here in Norrköping! Now this photo is taken just outside my front porch!


This Cessna-560XL is also operated by Waltair. This machine is for those who require higher speed and longer range. SE-LIR was built in 2008 and is owned by Fly Invest Sweden AB.

During my first week I have flown ten training flights, five instrument training flights and five flights with basic flight training but with higher precision than on my private pilot license. The first weeks we are only flying a single engine airplane, actually we have to fly 50 hours in the single engine before we step up to the twin engine witch we will fly for the last 30 hours. A big difference here from the flight school where I got my private pilot license is the way we work all the procedures. We are working in flows like in big airliner and we only have checklists for the "killer items" the most important things like the before landing checks. When you are flying a Cessna 172 or say a Piper PA28 you are doing every step according to checklists and you even have a bit different flying technics, now everything is about precision and working in flows to make if fast but safe. So this first week has been a lot about training on all the flows and procedures and learn how to manage this new aircraft witch is faster and harder to fly then the standard Cessna on you aeronautical club!  


This Beech 200C is splashing a lot of water on it's way to runway 09 for departure.


As a student at Kungsair, I have the possibility to ride in the backseat with other students. Here is Rickard during line up for another instrument training flight. The plane is SE-LKA, a Beech 76 Duchess also owned and operated by Kungsair, built in 1979.





Rickard is very concentrated as he follows the NDB-approach for runway 09.


Short final runway 09 in a rainy Norrköping!

The last year has been really hard, no flying at all and just studying for the final exams. In Europe we have to write 13 exams in subjects like laws of the air, principles of flight, metrology, aircraft systems, performance and so on, so it's so great to have all that behind me now and focus everything on the flying! I'm having a great time so far down here, flying a minimum of two times a day and I have already meet a lot of fun and interesting people! That's one part of my love for aviation, I get to travel and live in different places and meet a lot of new people! 


Finncomm operates daily flights to Norrkoping from Helsinki, normally they fly this route with ATR but here is a Embraer ERJ-170, OH-LEI.


Direktflyg is flying to Norrköping during this week, seen here on her way out to runway 27 for departure to Borlänge. Note the new propeller with five blades to lower the noise in the cabin!


Thomas Cook is flying once a week from Norrköping to Palma with a Airbus A321. Seen here after departure from runway 27.


JetTime is the most common charter company in Norrköping, flying to destinations around the Mediterranean sea with Boeing 737-700. Seen here on it's way out to runway 09 for departure to Larnaca, Cyprus.


SunExpress is flying once a week to Antalya from Norrköping during the summer with Boeing 737-800. Seen here after landing runway 27 in the last sun of the day.


An incredibly beautiful rainbow and clouds after a heavy rain the other night.

As I said before, I'm going to post more on my progress here and photos from the airport later but until then, stay tuned on the site for more interesting reports from us at OsdPhoto! 

TEXT AND PHOTO
Simon Brygg
simonbrygg@osdphoto.com

Trondheim Vlog part 2

Hopefully you enjoyed the first part of three of our Vlog from when Simon and Jonas were in Trondheim. Now the saga continues in part two!



Of course you can activate English subtitles by pressing the CC icon in the player.
Be sure not to miss part three that is due during next week!

Reportage: On board Daisy the DC-3

Last Sunday Åre Östersund Airport was visited by the 69-year old Daisy. Jonas Herjeby represented us onboard this old lady for a flight around the Östersund area.



We were fourteen aviation enthusiasts who met up by the check-in counters at Åre Östersund Airport, all eager to board the plane that landed a few hours earlier. Many among the crowd had worked on aircrafts like this as mechanics in the military or for airlines that once operated them. We were all curious on what we could expect, even the ones that had flown this lady before. 
   What we were waiting for to see was of course the DC-3 named Daisy that waited on the tarmac outside. During the day it had flown down to Östersund from Kramfors carrying members of the nonprofit organization Flygande veteraner (Flying veterans) to let the local members of Östersund have a chance to fly the classic DC-3. Thanks to Bernt Olsson, who arranged the flight, Ostersund Photography was invited to join in, too.


Daisy on final runway 12 after the flight from Kramfors.

On my way out to the airport I met a few drops of rain and immediately hoped this would not interfere with this flying experience I had been looking so much forward to. The DC-3 Daisy is a plane I have photographed on a number of occasions, but never had the chance to actually fly. Lucky for me and the other thirteen, the rain stayed away for the remainder of the afternoon.
   We were met up by Bernt by the check-in counters and he handed us each a folder of information about Daisy and a boarding card.
   – Here they are still analogue, he says about the card and laughs. He also explains that it's more of a souvenir than a actual boarding card.
   When we all are ready we head out to the awaiting Daisy resting outside. And there she stands, all shiny with her retro SAS color scheme, as if we had transported trough time to the 1950's. Many of my fellow passengers picked up their cameras and began photographing every possible angle of her. And of course so did I, too.



By the door we were greeted by our cabin attendant Monika Norlén, dressed in a retro uniform. When we all were seated she told us about the organization and the flight we were about to do.
   I was surprised by how big the cabin felt and by how much space you have for your legs when you sit down. At least twice the space offered by most airlines today. By every window there was a small towel hanging on a hook on the wall. Monika explained to us that since this old aircraft has no pressurized cabin the windows tend to get foggy. So to be able to see out you might have to use the towel to wipe of the fog from the plastic windows.
   Everywhere around me people were chatting and sharing old anecdotes and stories of Daisy or other DC-3:s. All of a sudden a generator like noise spread through the cabin and shortly after the whole plane started to shiver when the right engine ignited with a puff. The left one followed and we were ready to taxi.
   Once out on the runway the two Pratt & Whitney engines rev up with a roar. On such an old plane there is not much of a wall between you and the noisy engine outside and the whole cabin is filled with a diffused rolling noise. We started to move down runway 12 and Daisy rised up on her main gear and started to lift of. At first it was a bit bumpy, but the pilots a few meters in front of me handled their lady well as we climbed up to 2,500 ft.


Daisy spreading her 69 years old wings over Storsjön at 2,500 ft.

Daisy is an old gal, built during the war back in 1943 and is not really a DC-3. Actually she is a converted C-47, the military name for the transport version of the DC-3. She was first stationed in Algeria during World war two but was rebuilt to the civilian DC-3 version in 1946. This was when she discharged from the military and moved to Norway to fly for DNL (Det Norske Luftfartselskap, or The Norwegian Aviation Company), that eventually became a part of SAS Scandinavian Airlines.
   In 1960 she enlisted again, this time in the Swedish airforce where she remained until 1982. In 1983 the organization The flying veterans was formed to preserve this beautiful and historical aircraft and keep her flying. And she still is, offering flights like the one I was on to the members of the organization.


Pilots Mikael Holm and Anders Ahlberg taking us out over the landscape outside Östersund.

While we were up in the air everyone onboard was allowed to visit the crew in the cockpit to take photos and ask questions. Up in the cockpit it is hard to find modern equipment and instrumentation. The only modern thing I was able to spot was the GPS placed on top of the dashboard.
   Back in the cabin I sat in my seat looking around and trying to understand how much this machine actually has been through. With her 69 years of age one kind of expects her to wear marks and… well, be old. But the organization has really done a great job keeping her going both in appearance and aesthetics as well as mechanically. But I never felt like as if I was flying in a piece of museum junk, but in a actual lady of the skies!


The cabin of the DC-3 is comfortable and offer good space for your legs. 

After making a few turns over the beautiful landscape below us it was time to head back to the airport. We had been airborne for about 25 minutes when the main gear once again touched the runway and Daisy began to slow down. There was a soft bump when the tail-wheel hit the ground and the flight was over.
   Back on the apron everyone was happy and had really enjoyed themselves. And so had I! I'm really glad I was able to come along on this flight and share this experience. To me it's really important that there are enthusiasts and initiators that are willing to keep old planes flying. The DC-3, for instance, is an important piece of the aviation history and if it were not for these people we would not be able to experience it. History is history, but sometimes it's important that it is being retold. And Daisy sure does it well.


The crew. From left mechanics Lennart Hallén and Lars Rosén, cabin attendant Monika Norlén and pilots Anders Ahlberg and Mikael Holm.

Many thanks for inviting us!

TEXT AND PHOTO
Jonas Herjeby
jonasherjeby@osdphoto.com

Trondheim Vlog part 1, finally!

Two weeks ago Simon and Jonas went on a spotting trip to Trondheim, Norway. Here is the delayed first part of the Vlog!



Sorry for the delay, but now you can finally enjoy the first part of our vlog from the Trondheim trip, Of course you can activate English subtitles by pressing the CC icon in the player.

Parts two and three can be expected within the following days, so keep an eye open!