DAY 6, LEG 30 - Rovaniemi to Longyearbyen
After a quick fuel stop in Rovaniemi it's time to continue even further north to our northernmost airport on the trip. Longyearbyen is situated in the Svalbard archipelago on the island of Spitzbergen. Our destination is halfway between Norway and the North Pole and is the northernmost airport in the world to operate scheduled flights. At 80 degrees north latitude the island is dark for nearly 6 months of the year so it was good timing that we get the chance to visit in Spring, where there is plenty of daylight to help us navigate the mountainous island safely.
The routing takes us northwest towards Tromso on the northern coast of Norway where we pick up an airway that routes overhead Bear Island and then towards Spitzbergen. We will have to take this route back south again as well. We leave Rovaniemi with full tanks even though we are only expecting a 3 and a half hour flight time. This gives us plenty of spare fuel in case the weather deteriorates at our destination. For now the forecast is generally good.
Climbing out of Rovaniemi towards Kittila following the Ounasjoki River.
Far northeastern Finland looking towards the fjords at Tromso, Norway.
Turning overhead Tromso and heading north out over the cold Norwegian Sea. I notice that the aircraft is consuming around 800pph of fuel compared to the 900pph that I plan for. I can only think this is due to the colder atmosphere at these high latitudes but it helps a lot by giving a total endurance of over 5 hours!
Svalbard coming into view.
Descending into Longyearbyen as the sun begins to set at 3pm.
Final approach to runway 10 at Longyearbyen. The temperature at the airport is -22 degrees centigrade! Wrap up warm.
EFRO - ENSB stats
Take-off time: 1215
Landing time: 1535
Flight time: 03:20
Fuel used: 1300kgs / 2860lbs
No comments:
Post a Comment