Chasing the Golden Glow of Midnight

Chasing the Golden Glow of Midnight
For July 5, 2025
Michael MacKuen

This evening we shall seek the golden glow of Norway’s midnight sun. We start north of the Arctic Circle in the Lofoten Islands and proceed up the coast through Tromsø and then on to Hammerfest and the North Cape. Having flown the region before, we shall take this chance to enjoy the textures and lighting of FS2024 to make this a new experience.


Midnight at the North Cape

We depart from Leknes [ENLK] and do a quick hop to Svolvaer and its airport Halle [ENSH]. The Lofoten Islands have long been the center of Norway’s core cod-fishing industry. During the winter months, cod migrate from the Barents Sea down to the spawn in the waters between the islands and the mainland … and thus create one of the world’s greatest fishing grounds. Nowadays, the successful fisheries are augmented by a thriving tourist industry. Svolvaer is one of the highlights of the Hertigruten cruise lines which, along with skiing, whale-watching, and boat excursions, generate about 200,000 visitors a year for the town of 5,000.

We proceed northeast to the regional airport Evenes [ENEV]. This airport provides jet service for the towns Harstad, Narvik, and the Lofoten Islands. We continue along the Ofotfjord to the important town Narvik. (The deep-water ice-free port is especially important as the main conduit for iron ore mined near Sweden’s Kiruna which is transported by rail to the Atlantic’s shipping routes.) Veteran pilots will remember Narvik’s lovely and challenging Framnes airport. In 2017, after the new Hålogaland Bridge improved road connections to the west, the old airport was closed in favor of Evenes and its more accommodating runway. Happily, we have the ability to execute a touch-and-go or a low-pass at Framnes [ENNK] whose posture has been “resurrected” for our enjoyment. We continue along the interior mountains to Bardufoss AB [ENDU]. This is a joint use military-civilian airfield which has gained increased importance in recent years. Then we fly to Tromsø [ENTC], the cultural and economic “capital of the north”. The city hosts a large university, scientific institutes, and museums. The city’s historic fisheries continue to prosper along with a growing center for Arctic research. In recent years, tourism has been on the increase. Just on the mainland, lies the Arctic Cathedral [ARTIC], a distinctive parish church (not really a cathedral) with a 1965 modern architectural flair and lovely glass mosaics. (On another note, since 2024 Tromsø can claim to host the world’s northernmost McDonalds restaurant.)

We fly northeast over mountain ridges to the small coastal airport at Sørkjosen [ENSR]. The curving/circling approaches are interesting in good weather and a challenge in low visibility conditions. (Though the airport is not a problem for our GA planes.) Then further over the islands to the village Hasvik [ENHK] on Sørøya island. And then to Hammerfest [ENHF]. This small city operates an ice-free port and this century has hosted a natural gas processing station on nearby island Melkøya – this is the largest industrial development in northern Norway. And naturally Hammerfest is on the summertime cruise ship circuit. Additionally, each summer thousands of reindeer migrate to the town, attracted by fresh grass. They consume flowers, urinate in public spaces, block traffic, and even wander into churches and homes. While tourists find the reindeer charming, residents are less enthusiastic.

Our penultimate point of interest is the North Cape [NCAPE] on the island of Magerøya. By “tradition,” this is the northernmost point of the European continent, where the North Sea meets the Barents Sea. The plateau is a popular tourist attraction with a monument perched on a 1,007 ft high cliff. The visitor center was built in 1988 and includes a café, restaurant, museum, theater, and of course a souvenir shop. (The fact is that the Cape Knivskjellodden, just to the west, is slightly more northern. And, because the two points are both on an island, perhaps Cape Kinnarodden, 43 miles to the east, is the northernmost point on the contiguous European continent.) After taking a good look, we head southeast to pivot over Honningsvåg which is the northernmost city/town in Norway and one of the main summer stops for the Hertigruten cruises – thanks to the available tourist bus trip to the North Cape. We turn to land at the commercial airport Honningsvåg Valen [ENHV] while taking care to execute the dramatic curved/circling approach into the short-ish runway. For our General Aviation aircraft, this should be fairly routine … as long as the weather cooperates.


Documentation
The flightplan can be found here.

Aircraft
The route is about 360nm and is designed for fairly fast piston twins such as the Aerostar 600, Cessna 404 Titan, Cessna 414 Chancellor, or Beech B60 Piston Duke. A TBM or PC-12 will do the job as well. I’ll take the Duke (or maybe the WIP Aerostar?). As ever, please fly what you like.

Scenery
Here are some airport improvements that you might appreciate. These are FS2020 sceneries that that work well in FS2024. Thanks for the authors for their excellent work.

Leknes [ENLK]. MazerMart
Solvaer Helle [ENSH]. WombiiActual
Evenes Airport [ENEV]. daghb
Evenes Scenery Pack [ENEV]. Sauron
Narvik Framnes [ENNK]. P3r
Bardufoss AB [ENDU]. Sauron
Tromso [ENTC]. Togstad_SP
Sorkjosen [ENSR]. Togstad_SP
Harvik [ENHK]. kjetihaa
Hammerfest [ENHF]. Teripolot
Honningsvag Valen [ENHV]. Sauron

In addition there are good payware versions of ENTC and ENHF. (The freeware versions are also very good.)

You may have many of these sceneries already. If you want a full package, go here. (760MB).

Time and Weather
For takeoff on Saturday, set the simulator at 10:00pm local for July 5, 2025.
We typically prefer real weather.

Multiplayer Particulars
Date and time: Saturday, July 5, 2025. 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!