The North Cape to Lofoten

[MM 426]

The North Cape to Lofoten
(ENHV-ENLK)
For July 27, 2022
Michael MacKuen

The Summer is starting to fade and it is time for all fliers to head south. We travel down the Norwegian coastal islands from the North Cape to the Lofoten Islands. Although going south, we have no worries about a heat wave because we remain north of the Arctic Circle. This is an opportunity to explore the natural beauty of the rugged coastline with its many islands and inlets and picturesque fishing villages. Six of our stops are along the classic Hurtigruten cruise line famous for its scenic beauty.



We depart from Honningsvag Valen [ENHV] with its short runway and terrain-mandated curved approach/departure and briefly fly northwest to take a look at the North Cape. While not technically the northernmost point of Europe, it is traditionally celebrated as such and flocks of tourists stop here every year to mark the spot (early visitors would write post cards, called “Cape cards”; nowadays this is a “selfie” point). The visitor center, perched on the 1,007 ft cliff, is vaguely depicted in a Blackshark-sort-of-way. We turn and fly south over the barren tundra to Hammerfest [ENHF]. Honningsvag and Hammerfest have a good-natured rivalry for being the world’s northernmost city (the matter is decided by the legal and semantic status of the word “city”.) Hammerfest is much larger (over 10,000) and has a longer history. As were many Norwegian wooden towns, it was partially destroyed by fire (1890). Interestingly, Germany’s Kaiser Wilhelm II contributed the largest donation for the rebuild (he had made several visits on his yacht). In 1891, the new town became Europe’s first town with electric streetlights. Currently, the city has prospered from the siting of a large liquid natural gas facility, Snøhvit, on nearby Melkøya island. On the downside, about 3,000 reindeer who winter on the Arctic plateau have decided to summer in Hammerfest. Fascinating for tourists...and annoying for residents.

We fly on to the small fishing village Hasvik [ENHK] whose lightly-used commercial airport is marked by an interesting approach into the windswept isthmus runway. We continue with small towns, flying to Sørkjosen [ENSR] with fewer than 800 residents. The Norwegian state supports both Hasvik and Sørkjosen (and other small regional airports) in order to maintain an effective national aviation infrastructure. Not to say that Sørkjosen’s airport is not busy, but its operation once shut down for five weeks when its three employees went on strike. The curved approach, with an LDA localizer, makes for fun flying when heavy weather settles down onto the inlet. We complete the northern portion of the journey when we travel to Tromsø [ENTC]. This is the main urban area of northern Norway, with a population of something like 77,000. The main enterprise is large scale fishing (this is Norway’s main fishing port) but the city is now characterized by its commercial center, cultural facilities, university research and student population, and increasingly successful tourism industry. Tromsø’s jet-capable airport was built in 1964 and it has since had the desired effect of closely connecting the scattered towns of northern Norway with the larger population centers in the south.

Then a long-ish leg over smaller islands on the edge of the Norwegian Sea to reach Andøya Island, the northernmost of the Lofoten Islands. We land at the northern point Andøya Andenes [ENAN] which serves both as a Norwegian Air Force Air Station and as a commercial airport for the local town of Andenes. The Air Station hosts Norway’s surveillance squadron of six P-3C Orions who provide air defense warning as well as a safety monitor for the northern shipping lanes. The airfield is also designed to handle fighters as a forward base for dynamic operations.  On the civilian side, Wideroe has flown subsidized links with the Norwegian national network. Nearby (2 miles away) is Andøya Space, a government/private venture that provides launch facilities for small near-earth satellites to Norwegian and other European satellite systems. Aside from these sorts of things, Andøya has long been known for its peat production.

We depart to the south over the mountain peaks of Andøya and then Landgøya to land at Stokmarknes Skagen Airport [ENSK]. This is another of the state-subsidized airports with Wideroe Dash-8 service. The town of Stokmarknes, just across the bridge to the south, is a little larger than many of the coastal fishing villages; it hosts a regional hospital and the headquarters and historic museum for the Hurtigruten company.

The penultimate stop is Svolvær Helle [ENSH], the small but busy field on Austvågøya Island that serves the famous fishing village Svolvær. The now-familiar small runway, here bordered by water at both ends, provides flying entertainment for the arriving and departing pilots. Three miles to the west lies the large historic harbor and town (4,000) of Svolvær. It was a center for the Cod fishing industry from as early as 800 AD and it remains a focal point for Norway’s fishing fleet. In the last quarter century, it has also become a successful tourist magnet for those visiting the Lofoten Islands as well as those on the Hurtigruten cruises.

The final destination is Leknes [ENLK] on the island of Vestågøya. This is the largest town in the Lofoten archipelago (10,000 in the municipality) and it is the commercial and shopping center for the local population. The town does not rely on fishing and thus is not quite so quaint as some of its neighbors. However the setting is spectacular with mountains, cliffs and white sandy beaches.

Documentation
The flightplan can be found here.

Aircraft
This route runs 343nm and indicates a “fast cruise” of at least 170-180ktas. Many general aviation light twins and fast singles will do nicely. I shall fly the Milviz C310R in the elegant N21GB livery (by Ron Attwood). As ever, fly what you like.

Additional Scenery
All the airports are in the default simulator. I highly recommend these attractive addon airport packages but they are not necessary.

Recommended:
Honingsvag Valen [ENHV]. sipigamer1. (25kb)
Hammerfest [ENHF]. craigr. (90kb)
Hasvik [ENHK]. kjetihaa. (12mb)
Tromso [ENTC]. donutsdemise. (52kb). Modest improvement.
Andoya Andenes [ENAN]. daghb. (32mb)
Andoya Andenes Scenery Pack [ENAN]. Sauron. (34mb).
Solvaer Helle [ENSH]. WombiiActual. (58mb).
Leknes [ENLK]. MazerMart. (104mb)
Treefix Northern Norway. CaptOle. (48kb)

Temporarily, you can download a package that includes all the airports here. (257mb).

In addition, I’d recommend the following payware airports:
Hammerfest [ENHF]. Finn Hansen. Orbx. Available at Orbx.
Tromsø [ENTC]. M’M Simulations. Available at Orbx and elsewhere including Flightsim.to.
(If relevant, be sure to drop the freeware renditions if you have payware sceneries active.)

Time and Weather
For takeoff on Wednesday, set the simulator at 4:00 pm local for July 27, 2022.
We typically prefer real weather. A few clouds are to be expected and given the variability of Norway’s coastal weather we may have to work through some heavier-cloud sections. But we don’t have time to do lots of IFR approaches so we should be willing to reset the weather if necessary. The forecast looks ominous with overcast clouds and rain all day. Perhaps things will change.

Multiplayer Particulars
Date and time: Wednesday, July 27, 2022. 1800 UTC
Where: AVSIM RTWR Teamspeak - Casual Flights Channel
Teamspeak Server Address: ts.teamavsim.com
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). Your courtesy will save others a lot of time and effort. Thanks!

[Ron Attwood 3,471]

I'm in for that!

If you are using Bijan Seasons keep in mind the Norway Trees Fix. Having been bitten by Trees, just sayin'.

[MM 426]

Good thought. I have been using both the Norway Tree Fix (CaptOle) and the Bijan Four Seasons Trees Package together. Seems ok here. But we should test to be sure.

[MM 426]

NOTAM. The weather is as bad as predicted. One reasonable option that would replicate weekend's general conditions would be "Scattered Clouds" with surface winds set to 7kts from 330 degrees.