The weather on the day I left Tromsø was a little bit challenging, as you can see from this picture of my parked plane . . .
. . . and this shot shortly after departure.
A black wood house in Røros.
June 21 — Tromsø, Norway to Røros, Norway, via refueling stop at Bardufoss, Norway
More new friends, and a nice small town
Heading south the day after the Midnight Sun Marathon was supposed to be a scenic flight down the coast toward Bergen, but the weather didn’t look good for scenery along the coast, with low clouds creating some potential challenges. Yes, I could fly low over the water just off the coast, but there was a risk that the ceiling would drop in places and leave me with no good options, other than turning around.
So I called an audible and chose an inland destination and a visual flight inland, where the clouds were supposedly higher and scarcer, with a clear bail-out area to the east in Sweden. In fact, my route took me inland enough that I was over Sweden for much of the flight, after a refueling stop at nearby Bardufoss, because Tromsø lacked avgas. (Avgas scarcity can be a major issue when flying outside the United States, and as a US-based pilot you have to force yourself to think about it when planning.)
The inland route turned out to be no walk in the park. It was more like west Texas turbulence, with some challenging low clouds that made me deviate to the east and, in one situation, make something close to a U-turn. Winding through mountains at low altitude while bumping along gets a bit tiring; I was happy when I reached Røros, an old copper mining town that is a UNESCO world heritage site for its more than 2,000 preserved wooden 17th-century houses with blackened façades. I was even happier when Nils and Ingrid met me at the airport, introduced themselves, and gave me a lift into town and hotel and restaurant recommendations. Nils owns a turbo Mooney based at Jönköping, Sweden, where I just happen to be scheduled to run a marathon the last weekend in August. Small world.