NATO in Twilight
For Saturday, November 16, 2024
Michael MacKuen

Today we fly fast jets over the North of Norway, Sweden and Finland. We shall get a chance to visit a number of air bases in the late Fall twilight of northern Scandinavia. And we have some fun in powerful aircraft.

We begin above the Arctic Circle in Norway at Bodø [ENBO]. For three-quarters of a century, this air station had been the heart of the northern defenses for the Royal Norwegian Air Force (RNoAF). With the introduction of the F-35, the main fighter base was moved south to Ørland. And in 2023 the NATO Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) was moved north to Evenes. We pay our respects to this long critical air base that hosted not only Norwegian but also NATO defense operations. Then we fly north to Evenes [ENEV] which is a joint facility that serves a busy civilian commercial airport and the RNoAF military mission. Currently, the station hosts the QRA flight with up to 15 fighters (typically fewer) at the ready. And next we visit Bardufoss Air Station [ENDU] which hosts two helicopter squadrons as well as the RNoAF Flight Training School. (Lots of special winter training here.) In the last year, the Air Force has refurbished the underground hangar for basing F-35 fighters.  


Climbing out of Järvitalo highway-airstrip

We depart to the southeast for Kiruna [ESNQ], the northernmost city and airport in Sweden. The town originally served the iron ore mines here and in the broader region. The iron ore was transported by rail to Luleå on the Gulf of Bothnia, which is ice-bound half the year, and to Narvik, which remains ice-free year round. Nearby Jukkasjärvi hosts the Kiruna Ice Hotel which is rebuilt each year as part of the region’s wintertime tourist attractions (brief look, longer personal experience). The actual city of Kiruna is slowly being moved slightly eastwards due to mine-related subsidence. (Note that the mine and its deep open pit are as large as the city.)

Then south toward the coast for Luleå/Kallax [ESPA], a joint civilian airport and Swedish Air Force base. The civilian side opened in the 1980s and quickly became Sweden’s fifth airport – a position it has held steadily for thirty years. Since 1941, the southern side has been the site for the  Norrbotten Wing which now operates Sweden’s northern fighter squadron of Saab JAS 39 Gripens. (You can see several Gripens along the southeastern parking areas.)

We press on toward Rovaniemi [EFRO], the capital of Finland’s Lapland located just south of the Arctic Circle. This has become a tourism magnet as the official home town of Santa Claus and celebrates Santa Claus Village and SantaPark Arctic World – making Rovaniemi Airport Finland’s second busiest after Helsinki Vantaa. The peak season is, naturally, Christmastime. The airport’s runway is also used by Lapland Air Command’s front line fighters (now F/A-18s and soon F‑35s).

En route we swing north to see one of Finland’s road-airstrips that can handle contemporary fighter jets. We can do a quick touch-and-go or low pass at the Vuojarvi strip which is a mile long and whose surface has been widened and specially prepared. (On his trip to Finland this past summer, Buzz was surprised by this spot on an ordinary narrow country highway.) In modern warfare these roadside airstrips can increase combat aircraft survivability by dispersing the force and reducing vulnerability to attack. In addition, the ability to use unconventional airstrips will allow aircraft to operate close to the zone of combat. Here are a couple of videos of an exercise in September 2024 on the Hosio Highway near Ranua, Finland. First a film of the three different aircraft (the German Typhoon, the Finnish F/A-18 Hornet, and then the US F-35) landing and departing during the operation. And second a cockpit view from the same day of the two F-35s in action. We pass over what looks to be the Hosio Highway site about 41nm after leaving Rovaniemi. (If we have extra time…) Thanks to Jeff and Buzz for their knowledge about these highway-strip operations.

Flying south from Rovaniemi we have two options. Routinely (a) we may land at Oulu [EFOU], the “capital” of Northern Finland with a population of a quarter million. Once known for wood, tar and salmon, it has become a high-tech center specializing in health technology. Alternatively (b) we may overfly Oulu and instead land on the Järvitalo highway-airstrip. (The landing surface is widened and about 7,000ft long. It does require some care – but tests indicate that this is very doable in the simulator. Look for the lake to set up your controlled approach.)

We continue south to Kuopio [EFKU] where the city and airport are separated and almost surrounded by lakes. The joint use airport is fairly busy. And the Karelian Air Command supports the second of Finland’s frontline fighter squadrons. Next is Jyväskylä [EFJY] another joint use airfield. It hosts the Finnish Air Force Academy as well as the large squadron of operational BAE Hawks. Our final joint use airport is Tampere-Pirkkala [EFTP]. The bustling commercial terminal is on the north and the air base is on the south. This base hosted a frontline fighter wing here until 2014 and it now maintains a low-key organizational presence for transport and logistics operations. Time permitting, we shall finish our flight at Helsinki-Vantaa [EFHK] and enjoy an evening in Finland’s capital city.

Documentation
The flightplan can be found here.

Aircraft
This is a flight of 1,008nm with 10 landings. It is designed for fast jets. Popular choices might include the BAE Hawk, Leonardo M-346, Hawker Hunter, Grumman F-14 Tomcat, McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle, Panavia Tornado, Lockheed F-16 Falcon, Eurofighter Typhoon, Lockheed F‑35, as well as the (default) Boeing F/A-18E Hornet. (A fast business jet or commercial jet will do the job.) I’ll probably choose the Tornado or the F‑35A. Please fly what you like.

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

Bodo [ENBO]. WombiiActual
Evenes Airport [ENEV]. daghb
Bardufoss Airport [ENDU]. Airside Designs
Lulea [ESPA]. Lennart Arvidsson (rbdesign.se)
     [This scenery uses:   Lennarts_swd_library, Lennarts-fb-library vehicle,
           Lennarts Air Force-lib, modifly-model-lib]
Rovaniemi [EFRO]. Tatu
Kuopio [EFKU]. Hergi1234
Jyvaskyla [EFJY]. Teripilot
Tampere-Pirkkala [EFTP]. WildLynxPilot
Helsinki-Vantaa [EFHK]. Epixeri [324MB]

Temporarily, you can obtain the full freeware package here (655MB). Alternatively, the same package without Helsinki is here (345MB).

You can spiff up the scenery with a handful of bridges if you like:
Evenes Scenery Pack [ENEV]. Sauron [21MB]
Bardufoss Scenery Pack [ENDU]. Sauron [10MB]
Bergnäsbron (Bridge near Lulea ESPA). michelvp [230kb]
Gäddviksbron (Bridge near Lulea ESPA). michelvp [308kb]
and if you expect to land here: Oulu [EFOU]. jaf [57MB]

You can find payware renditions of Rovaniemi, Tempere-Pirkkala, and Helsinki.

Time and Weather
For takeoff on Saturday, set the simulator at 10:00am local for November 16, 2024. We typically prefer real weather. If the weather is awful, consider Jeff’s Partly Cloudy.

Multiplayer Particulars
Date and time: Saturday, November 16, 2024. 1900 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!
 

The forecast for the flight window is as follows. Bodo-Kiruna: Clouds, Overcast, Fog, Snow. Lulea-Rovaniemi-Kuopio: Few Clouds or more. Tampere-Helsinki: Clearish.
For the first bit, I would recommend Jeff's Partly Cloudy. Enough clouds for atmosphere, enough light to see in the dim sunlight.
Afterwards, we may or may not switch to Live Weather - to suite our needs.