* Aviation in the Arctic *

* Powered flight *

(Click the pictures, to load a larger image in a separate window! As you move the cursor over a picture, you'll be able to read a comment about this particular picture, and also find out how large (in bytes) the picture is for downloading to your computer!)

Go right ahead: Admire Alfred Tiefenthal's new home built, "The Defiant"! Testflying was successfully finished. We did the last 30 hours together. As of today the plane is certified, and Alfred flew ond an extensive trip to Europe summer 1998! Otherwise: "Operations normal"!

 
First flight was a success! Alfred and Svein are happy like kids on X-mas eve! - Congratulations! (37.456 bytes)
  
 
The Defiant parked on the tarmac in front of the tower at Longyearbyen Airport. (29.243 bytes)
The Defiant on the tarmac. The Opera Mountain in the background ... (26.145 bytes)
  
Important technical specs:
Twin engine (push/pull - 2 x 180 hp) "canard" configuration;
"The Defiant" is a roomy four place; cruising around 300 km/h.

Alfred in the workshop with the Defiant ... and the Kitfox. (30.735 bytes)

Birth of an aircraft ... The Defiant rolls out of the workshop. (34.791 bytes)
Alfred is checking The Defiant.

Svein ... in a tough working position ....

Overhead Longyearbyen at 4000 ft. (32.674 bytes)
The Defiant's instrumentpanel.
Cruisin' over the ocean.
South east of Longyearbyen at 3000 ft. (36.337I
But before The Defiant, the LongEZ was on the agenda:
Banking the LongEZ over Adventfjorden. (16.153 bytes)
Alfred and the LongEZ at Longyearbyen Airport in 1987. (28.450 bytes)
A ghostly reflection! (35.953 bytes)
A bird dog? Not at all; Jessie simply loves to look at the planes! (22.237 bytes)
Svalbard seen from the LongEZ. (24.113 bytes)
LongEZ LN-AKT in flight. (32.768 bytes)
And here's the Kitfox: Alfred had too much spare time, so he built a couple of Kitfoxes on the side! ... And I got to take part in both the work and the fun!
A nice day in Adventdalen, winter '97. (24.577 bytes)
The Kitfox, landed on top of Nordenskiöldf Mountain! (24.138 bytes)
Svea mining community seen from the Kitfox. (32.074 bytes)
We're certainly not alone up here; a beautiful winter day in Adventdalen ... (25.414 bytes)

Soaring in a powered glider above Longyearbyen - a silent Stemme S10. Here's from a beautiful midsummer's week in 1998, in the midnightsun!
Platåfjellet ("Table Mountain") and the airport.
Inside the hangar ... (29.415 bytes)
Out of the trailer comes an airplane ... (23.905 bytes)
Wingclipped, but just wait and see ... (20.937 bytes)
Outer wing panels are mounted. (22.794 bytes)
Anitha and Berit trying it on for size ... (20.721 bytes)
Wings mounted and secured. (25.125 bytes)
I'm running a preflight. (26.003 bytes)
Taxiing out for take off. (17.162 bytes)
Soaring above Isfjorden. (22.829 bytes)
Longyear Airport and Isfjorden. (15.459 bytes)
Banking over Longyearbyen. (26.696 bytes)
The instrumentpanel in the S10 Chrysalis. (33.805)
Taxiing in after landing. (21.488 bytes)
Sheer beauty! (15.428 bytes)

I was handed the responsability of ferrying Svalbard Fallskjermklubb's (Svalbard Skydivers Club) Cessna 182 from Longyearbyen to Tromsø in July 1993, and Stig Onarheim was my "flight crew". Here we're preparing for the trip by fuelling up ... all the way!
Preparations for a long stretch over arctic ocean. (37844 bytes)
We crossed the ocean from Spitsbergen to Norway;
the trip lasted about 4 hours. Check this map:


AirLift demonstrates the Super Puma
- "Public Relations-day" at UNIS
- The University in Longyearbyen
Click here to see the pictures!
(Norwegian text only - but the pictures
speak any language!)

My first home built project: "The Quickie":

I built The Quickie in my 430 sq.foot home in Kongensgt. 51 in Trondheim. First flight was in 1982. Here are a few glimpses from a pretty interesting building process:
My apartment before it turned into a workshop ... (33.036 bytes)
Some living room! - Behind the plastic sheet to the right, there's a "bedroom" - (46.912 bytes)
Playing "Up and away" - My pianoet, together with everything else, was covered in plastics! (35.450 bytes)
Nice place, before the Quickie arrived ... (30.849 bytes)
Allways something that needs adjusting. (34.432 bytes)
Wings are mounted at Jens and Borgny Losens in Kvål, south of Trondheim. (34.962 bytes)
Nice bird! (57.344 bytes)
... and a narrow cockpit!

The Quickie is trying to take off, even before it's ready to fly ... Jens and a few other friends. (39.363 bytes) Not too big, but pretty fast! (35.222 bytes)

Richard Grefstad's "Sea Hawker", which he built in his home in Sunndalsøra. I remember a job I did inside the tail section where I was practically stuck while working with my arms locked above my head. All of a sudden I got a nasty itching on my nose ...
Richard has every reason to look proud!

If you're interested in building your own airplane, check out this link:
THE PLACE for people who like to build their own airplanes!!

* Paragliding *

- I'm taking off from Mine 7 ... with a beautiful view of Adventdalen; Longyearbyen and Isfjorden in the background. (Photo © Silja Nordahl)
An incredible feeling of freedom! (28.220 bytes)
Between the mountains of Adventdalen; The Paraglider Blues! (© Photo: Nils Ivar Nilsen) And the "Paraglider Reds". Who, where ...?
A few flights - a few hours if I'm lucky. In the Mine 7-area ... (37.867 bytes)
... then it's time to fold my wings ... (24.576 bytes)

* April 6th, 2000 *
At long last: A new paraglider course in Longyearbyen!
(Click the pictures, to see a larger version in a separate window!)

Aksel Slørdal's first flight!
Nils Anton Sverkmo dressed in wings ...
Nils Anton Sverkmo getting a taste of a bird's life ...

Click on image for a larger version in a separate window!
Oddny Kjerstad taking off from the Mine7-mountain
in her "Yellow Hazard"!

* BRAATHENS makes aviation history in Svalbard *
737-700's first landing at Longyearbyen Airport 10.25.1998

Reidar Eide in his "office", fall of '96. We're enroute between Longyearbyen and Tromsø. (34.007 bytes)
LN-TUB - Actually we contemplated a temporary quaranteen period ... (24189 bytes)
... And Reidar landed the first 737-700 on Svalbard Airport. (31.066 bytes)
Boeing 737-700, first trip to Svalbard. (28.377 bytes)
Time for a brief cockpit check before the relieving crew boarded. This aircraft is slightly larger than what I'm used to ... but to Captain Reidar Eide it's a comfortable "office" -
Great working environment for those of us that love to fly!! (30.718 bytes)
Thanks for stopping by!

If you'd like to know more about BRAATHENS, check this link:

Check out the flying sport for the masses; Kite Flying:

American Kitefliers Association

Some important organisations for all aviation buffs:

Norsk Aero Klubb - Norsk Luftsportsforbund
All you need to know about Flight Sims for your PC!
THE PLACE for people who like to build their own airplanes!!

Fly safely! Drop in again soon!

Fly me back to
the Main Page, please!