One day late, I'm sitting here over the Atlantic
Ocean on Business Class on my way back to the States
after a 2 week Christmas vacation back home in Norway.
It's been good to be back among family and friends
for a while now without having to worry too much
about reading. In the time ahead of me awaits 2
months of intensive reading to complete the last
certificates; Commercial, Multi Engine, Instructor
and Instructor Instrument.
The journey to Norway started on the 20th and ended
on the 21st of Dec. First with Continental Express
to New York, then with SAS to Oslo via Stockholm.
Originally I had a direct flight to Oslo, but the
flight was cancelled a month ago, so I was left
waiting for 6 hours at Arlanda. But it was completely
worth it, cause I got to experience the complete
approach into Arlanda from the cockpit. IMC down
to 400 feet, ILS 01L. Fantastic to see the pilots
take the A330 down to the runway when you understand
what's going on. I got my own set of approach plates
and found out that the procedures and communication
in Europe is fairly close to what I'm used to in
the States.
The 14 days I've had back home have gone by very
fast, but I'm satisfied with the amount of stuff
I managed to squeeze in. The whole Christmas together
with my family, with my grandfather on a visit for
a couple of days. New Years Eve at Beitostølen
(in the Norwegian Mountains) with my good friends
Nils, Fredrik and Mads. Good to finally see some
snow, cause it wasn't alot of that back in Asker.
I got 2 days at Beito and got to go both cross country
and down hill skiing. Other than that I got to see
alot of good friends and got a couple of good nights
out (which quickly gets 4 times more expensive than
in the States).
The reason I'm sitting here over the Atlantic Ocean
one day later than planned was complete chaos at
Gardermoen. I showed up in early, but because of
a hopeless bagage handling system and shortage of
SAS people, the lines were incredibly long. I was
first standing 50 minutes in line to check in. When
I finally got to the counter, my flight was closed
(20 minutes before departure) and the guy behind
the counter wouldn't take my ticket because I originally
had a direct flight from Oslo to New York (which
was correct in the system, but not on the ticket).
I was sent to the ticketoffice where I was standing
in line for one hour (60 numbers in front of me).
Then it took 45 minutes for the lady at the counter
to get me a new ticket, basically because everything
was filled up. I was sent home with a ticket for
the next day. As a compensation I was seated on
Business Class on the trans atlantic flight. Very
comfortable. I've previously only flown Business
class on Aeroflot to Moscow. Even though that was
comfortable too, it can't really be compared.
When I reach the States another couple of flights
await. To Myrte Beach (after a 4 hour wait) via
Charlotte with US Airways. After completing my trip
I'll have flown quite a few airplanes this Christmas;
EMB-145, A330, 737, A321, A340 and A319. When I've
in addition to this got an approach in the Airbus
cockpit and a seat in Business Class on the way
back, I have to say I'm pretty satisfied with the
flying part of this vacation.
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Embraer 145 from Myrtle Beach to New York.
Sunrise 2nd day of January at Beito fefore we went
out in the slopes.
From the cockpit in the Airbus 340. I sat in the
cockpit during both landings from and to the States.
Notice the wonderful glascockpit.
The view from my Business Class seat.
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